George M. Marsden is the Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame. His books include Fundamentalism and American Culture, Jonathan Edwards: A Life, The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship, and The Soul of the American University. He lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The life and times of C. S. Lewis's modern spiritual classic Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis's eloquent and winsome defense of the Christian...

Garry Wills is the bestselling author of many books on religion and American history, including the Pulitzer Prize–winning Lincoln at Gettysburg, a biography of Augustine, and a translation of Augustine's Confessions. From Pulitzer Prize–winner Garry Wills, the story of Augustine's Confessions In this brief and incisive book, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Garry Wills tells the story of the Confessions--what motivated Augustine to dictate...

"While many of us are familiar with such famous words as, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here." or "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust," we may not know that they originated with The Book of Common Prayer, which first appeared in 1549. Like the words of the King James Bible and Shakespeare, the language of this prayer book has saturated English culture and letters. Here Alan Jacobs tells its story. Jacobs shows how The Book of Common Prayer--from...

"In his retirement, Thomas Jefferson edited the New Testament with a penknife and glue, removing all mention of miracles and other supernatural events. Inspired by the ideals of the Enlightenment, Jefferson hoped to reconcile Christian tradition with reason by presenting Jesus of Nazareth as a great moral teacher--not a divine one. Peter Manseau tells the story of the Jefferson Bible, exploring how each new generation has reimagined the book in its...

"Exodus is the second book of the Hebrew Bible, but it may rank first in lasting cultural importance. It is here that the classic biblical themes of oppression and redemption, of human enslavement and divine salvation, are most dramatically expressed. Joel Baden tells the story of this influential and enduring book, tracing how its famous account of the Israelites' journey to the promised land has been adopted and adapted for millennia, often in unexpected...

"One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2012" "Winner of the 2013 Cover/Jacket Merit Award in the Professional, Scholarly Series category, New York Book Show" Richard J. Smith is the George and Nancy Rupp Professor of Humanities and professor of history at Rice University. His many books include Fathoming the Cosmos and Ordering the World: The Yijing (I-Ching, or Classic of Changes) and Its Evolution in China. How the I Ching became one...

"Winner of the 2013 Cover/Jacket Merit Award in the Professional, Scholarly Series category, New York Book Show" "One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2013" Paul C. Gutjahr is professor of English at Indiana University. His books include Charles Hodge: Guardian of American Orthodoxy and An American Bible: A History of the Good Book in the United States, 1777–1880. The surprising career of Joseph Smith's famous book Late one night in...

Vanessa L. Ochs is professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia and an ordained rabbi. Her books include Inventing Jewish Ritual, which won a National Jewish Book Award; Sarah Laughed: Modern Lessons from the Wisdom and Stories of Biblical Women; and Words on Fire: One Woman's Journey into the Sacred. She lives in Charlottesville, Virginia. The life and times of a treasured book read by generations of Jewish families...

The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila is among the most remarkable accounts ever written of the human encounter with the divine. The Life is not really an autobiography at all, but rather a confession written for inquisitors by a nun whose raptures and mystical claims had aroused suspicion. Despite its troubled origins, the book has had a profound impact on Christian spirituality for five centuries, attracting admiration from readers as diverse as mystics,...