Hell: The word means terror, darkness, and eternal separation from God. Some people think the Bible is clear about hell, but what if they're mistaken? With gripping narrative and solid scholarship, Sweeney charts hell's "evolution" from the Old Testament underworld Sheol, through history and literature, to the greatest influencer of all: Dante's Inferno. He reveals how the modern idea of hell is based mostly on Dante's imaginative genius-but in the process, he offers a more constructive understanding of the afterlife than ever before. Disturbing and enthralling, Sweeney will forever alter what we think happens to us after we die-and more importantly, he will make us reconsider how we live.

Hell: The word means terror, darkness, and eternal separation from God. Some people think the Bible is clear about hell, but what if they're mistaken? With gripping narrative and solid scholarship, Sweeney charts hell's "evolution" from the Old Testament underworld Sheol, through history and literature, to the greatest influencer of all: Dante's Inferno. He reveals how the modern idea of hell is based mostly on Dante's imaginative genius-but in the process, he offers a more constructive understanding of the afterlife than ever before. Disturbing and enthralling, Sweeney will forever alter what we think happens to us after we die-and more importantly, he will make us reconsider how we live.

The universe’s Inventor designed us like he did the world: with passion and precision and purpose. He made us for confidence and significance, joy and relationship. He made us to be part of something massive and majestic—to contribute to his work of remaking this world and to play vital parts in his Kingdom.But we have a vicious enemy, hell-bent on thwarting us. Our enemy spins lies that convince us into distraction and dependence—on alcohol, drugs, pornography, success-at-all-cost. But Jesus said, “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” (MSG, John 10:10) He said that about us. Invention is an invitation to join a band of renegades and revolutionaries, change-makers and troublemakers—men who won’t be daunted, because they know there is more. It’s a guide for living, finally, with depth and purpose. It will expose the lies that obscure God’s intent, and will help reveal His design for your life. There is so much more. Come and see.

Over half of Americans believe in a literal heaven, in a literal hell. Most people who hold these beliefs are Christian and assume they are the age-old teachings of the Bible. Ehrman shows that eternal rewards and punishments are found nowhere in the Old Testament, and are not what Jesus or his disciples taught. He recounts the long history of the afterlife, ranging from The Epic of Gilgamesh up to the writings of Augustine, focusing especially on the teachings of Jesus and his early followers. Ehrman shows that competing views were intimately connected with the social, cultural, and historical worlds out of which they emerged. -- adapted from jacket

What if everything we’ve heard about hell is wrong? Eternal torment. A lake of fire. Wailing and gnashing of teeth. Many of us have sat through enough sermons to know what awaits us if we slip up. These dark visions of the afterlife seem a bit sadistic. Is there any hope within the Christian faith if this is the God of Love we serve? In this lively debut, Derek Ryan Kubilus makes the case for universal salvation. Kubilus shows how our ideas about hell have been distorted by mistranslation of the Greek and Hebrew Scriptures. Armed with proof-texts, those in power have used threats of eternal damnation as an instrument of control. Arguing that such torture is contrary to God’s nature, Kubilus offers an alternative understanding of hell—a temporary and holy rehabilitation, reconciling all creation in Christ. Theologically serious and culturally engaged, Holy Hell will shake readers’ assumptions about a seemingly implacable Christian doctrine that chains so many to eternal dread. In its place, Kubilus offers a vision for a church that serves all people with compassion, wherever they are in their journey toward Christ.

From an early age, Richard Hell dreamed of running away. He arrived penniless in New York City at seventeen; ten years later he was a pivotal voice of the age of punk, cofounding such seminal bands as Television, The Heartbreakers, and Richard Hell and the Voidoids—whose song "Blank Generation" remains the defining anthem of the era, an era that would forever alter popular culture in all its forms. How this legendary downtown artist went from a bucolic childhood in the idyllic Kentucky foothills to igniting a movement that would take over New York and London's restless youth culture—cementing CBGB as the ground zero of punk and spawning the careers of not only Hell himself, but a cohort of friends such as Tom Verlaine, Patti Smith, the Ramones, and Debby Harry—is a mesmerizing chronicle of self-invention, and of Hell's yearning for redemption through poetry, music, and art. An acutely rendered, unforgettable coming-of-age story, I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp evokes with feeling, lyricism, and piercing intelligence both the world that shaped him and the world he shaped.

Arguably the greatest science fiction writer who ever lived, Isaac Asimov also possessed one of the most brilliant and original minds of our time. His accessible style and far-reaching interests in subjects ranging from science to humor to history earned him the nickname “the Great Explainer.” I. Asimov is his personal story—vivid, open, and honest—as only Asimov himself could tell it. Here is the story of the paradoxical genius who wrote of travel to the stars yet refused to fly in airplanes; who imagined alien universes and vast galactic civilizations while staying home to write; who compulsively authored more than 470 books yet still found the time to share his ideas with some of the great minds of our century. Here are his wide-ranging thoughts and sharp-eyed observations on everything from religion to politics, love and divorce, friendship and Hollywood, fame and mortality. Here, too, is a riveting behind-the-scenes look at the varied personalities—Campbell, Ellison, Heinlein, Clarke, del Rey, Silverberg, and others—who along with Asimov helped shape science fiction. As unique and irrepressible as the man himself, I. Asimov is the candid memoir of an incomparable talent who entertained readers for nearly half a century and whose work will surely endure into the future he so vividly envisioned.

A long-awaited collection of comics, art, and stories by artist Steven Cerio that explores silly, psychedelic, and strange worlds. Smiling cartoon critters carouse with threatening cutout whales against a shifting comic landscape in these unique illustrated stories. The psychedelic meets Saturday morning cartoons in stories with such intriguing titles as "A Private History of Sunbeams and Head Colds," "The Add Witch in The Berry Patch," and "Ninny Noonday Ninny." Steven Cerio is a prominent rock poster and magazine illustrator. His work is best known from his ongoing collaboration with San Francisco-based performance art and music group The Residents.

For much of Christian history, greater focus has been paid to Jesus’ death than to his three years of ministry, and his crucifixion has often been understood primarily as a means to salvation in heaven. But retired pastor Tim Lehman contends that we’ve drastically missed the point by not looking closely at and learning from Jesus’ words and actions before his death. As a result, we lose out on the joy and freedom of living fully as his disciples and experiencing salvation already in this life on earth. In this broad study of Matthew’s Gospel, Lehman challenges readers to view Jesus’ death in light of his life. He urges us not just to believe in Jesus, but to believe Jesus—to take seriously all that he taught and how he lived. As Lehman leads readers along a carefully laid path, Christians and non-Christians alike will have to rethink long-held assumptions: the place of violence in the Christian life; the givenness of division in our modern world; the meaning of “atonement,” “salvation,” and “the kingdom of heaven”; and more. But along the way, we are sure to learn, grow, and, hopefully, come to know more deeply God’s unconditional love for all.

In her new account of an old religion, Lynn Picknett explains that Lucifer means 'the light bringer' and was a personification of the Morning Star, the planet Venus and its goddess. 'He' was originally 'she' -- a divine representation of love, light and human warmth. The early Christian Church appropriated the name Lucifer, and it became synonymous with darkness and the Devil. Yet many great thinkers have covertly followed the old Luciferan way, most famously Leonardo da Vinci, who encrypted the symbols of his heretical beliefs in his work, visible only to those who have the key.