Secrecy and the Gods is a comparative mythological study of the human reception and treatment of divine secret knowledge in ancient Mesopotamia and biblical Israel. The human royal council was the social model for ancient ideas about divine knowledge being secret - just as human kings had secrets so too did the gods. Diviners who received this knowledge from the gods in an on-going, ad hoc manner were an essential link between the divine assembly and the human royal council for whom such knowledge was intended. Scribes eventually adapted the ad hoc divinatory means of receiving divine communications to their culturally significant texts. By discursively asserting a historical connection between themselves and unique mediators with a close divine affiliation (the apkallus and Moses), the scribes constructed myths that legitimated their texts as divine revelation and claimed these were received in history through normal scribal channels. In this manner, scribes fixed the secret of the gods permanently among humans in textualized form that valorized their own position within society. Although the origin of divine secret knowledge was rooted in a common mythological idea of the divine assembly, its treatment was quite distinct. The Mesopotamians guarded divine secret knowledge through various scribal means, including the attachment of a Geheimwissen colophon to certain tablets (treated exhaustively), whereas biblical Israel published it openly. The contrast in treatment of divine secret knowledge was directly related to different mytho-political self-understandings: Mesopotamia's imperial aspirations versus biblical Israel's vassaldom. As vassals to Yahweh, the divine imperial king, the kings of Judah and Israel as presented in the biblical material were not to formulate secret orders; they were only to obey them.

Is Humanity Ready for the Passage into the Golden Age? From Material Masonry to Spiritual Masonry. The Knowledge of the Gods describes the spiritual growth of a woman who managed to awaken as a result of the hardships she experienced in her life. Because of her experiences, she decided to make a sacrifice "" to sacrifice herself for the benefit of the people around her as well as for the benefit of humanity. Her willingness to make the sacrifice came from her aspiration to see all the people of the world live in peace, love and harmony. Because of her belief that sacrifice can assist in the fulfillment of her aspirations, she turned to God and asked him to accept her sacrifice. She asked to give up her life for the benefit of others. Not long after that, the author of this book developed the ability to conduct channeling. Gradually, the level of her spiritual guides rose, according to the level of knowledge and spiritual awareness she accumulated. Her continued sacrifice and progression in knowledge caused the angels and higher gods to connect with her. The high gods of light began to offer her their knowledge. They wanted to assist her in achieving her spiritual destiny. Through her, they wished to pass on their knowledge and science. The gods asked her to write a book and through that book, to offer their knowledge to all the people of Earth. With the aid of channeling, a connection was established with the gods of light from the Egyptian era, especially with the Gods Amun-Ra and Michael, who reached the spiritual level of the creator; thanks to their knowledge. The high gods of light, as you will read in the book, passed their knowledge and information during numerous channeling sessions, through journeys and fascinating experiences from different eras of life on Earth and other planets. Meetings were held in all those places, with people who had lived in various eras. Those people and the gods themselves passed on their information through personal stories taken from their own lives. The God Amun taught about the masonry and architecture of his time, as well as about how the universe itself is constructed. Also, he explained what needs to be done in order to change current material masonry into spiritual masonry. The God Amun taught the knowledge of masonry with the aid of diagrams, symbols, numeric calculations and more... during many different journeys.

A study of God's attributes and their relevance to daily living.

Are you tired of the same old boring god you've worshipped for years? Looking for something new and exciting? The Book of the Gods has the answer! Explore hundreds of deities of all shapes, sizes, genders, colours with myriad powers.This is the official book of the leading mythological website Godchecker and is packed full of extraordinary facts and mythological trivia. Who is the god of shoes? The god of football? The god of fluff?From the gods of Greece and Rome to the bizarre and often downright scary gods of Oceania and the Aztecs you will find there is a deity for every occasion. Alongside the A-Z listings are 20 introductory essays that give an entertaining and accessible overview of each pantheon.

How privileged adolescents in China acquire status and why this helps them succeed Study Gods offers a rare look at the ways privileged youth in China prepare themselves to join the ranks of the global elite. Yi-Lin Chiang shows how these competitive Chinese high schoolers first become “study gods” (xueshen), a term describing academically high-performing students. Constant studying, however, is not what explains their success, for these young people appear god-like in their effortless abilities to excel. Instead, Chiang explores how elite adolescents achieve by absorbing and implementing the rules surrounding status. Drawing from eight years of fieldwork and extensive interviews, Chiang reveals the important lessons that Chinese youth learn in their pursuit of elite status. They understand the hierarchy of the status system, recognizing and acquiring the characteristics that are prized, while avoiding those that are not. They maintain status by expecting differential treatment and performing status-based behaviors, which guide their daily interactions with peers, teachers, and parents. Lastly, with the help of resourceful parents, they rely on external assistance in the face of potential obstacles and failures. Chiang looks at how students hone these skills, applying them as they head to colleges and careers around the world, and in their relationships with colleagues and supervisors. Highlighting another facet of China’s rising power, Study Gods announces the arrival of a new generation to the realm of global competition.

Do you know who - and what - you are? Do you know who you're meant to be? Do you know how to find the answers to questions like these? Knowledge of Self is the result of a process of self-discovery, but few of us know where to begin when we're ready to start looking deeper. Although self-actualization is the highest of all human needs, it is said that only 5% of people ever attain this goal. In the culture of the Nation of Gods and Earths, commonly known as the Five Percent, students are instructed that they must first learn themselves, then their worlds, and then what they must do in order to transform their world for the better. This often intense process has produced thousands of revolutionary thinkers in otherwise desperate environments, where poverty and hopelessness dominate. Until now, few mainstream publications have captured the brilliant yet practical perspectives of these luminary men and women. Knowledge of Self: A Collection of Writings on the Science of Everything in Life presents the thoughts of Five Percenters, both young and old, male and female, from all over the globe, in their own words. Through essays, poems, and even how-to articles, this anthology presents readers with an accurate portrait of what the Five Percent study and teach, as well as sound direction on how to answer timeless questions like: Who am I, and why am I here? Why is there so much injustice in the world, and what can be done about it? Who is God and where on Earth is he? How do I improve myself without losing myself? Why are people of color in the situations they're in? What can we do about the global problems of racism and poverty?

Reissued because of the current interest in Ecstasy, this is McKenna's extraordinary quest to discover the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. He wonders why we are so fascinated by altered states of consciousness, do they reveal something about our origins as human beings and our place in nature?

This 10-week study of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon mines the Wisdom Literature not only for wise principles for living, but also for the wise person these books point to through their drama, poetry, proverb, and song. In her accessible and authentic style, Nancy Guthrie focuses on seeing Jesus in the Old Testament instead of emphasizing works-based moralism. She presents clear commentary and contemporary application of gospel truths, speaking directly to issues such as repentance, submission, happiness, and sexuality. Each weekly lesson includes questions for personal study, a contemporary teaching chapter that emphasizes how the passage fits into the bigger story of redemptive history, a brief section on how the passage uniquely points to what is yet to come at the consummation of Christ's kingdom, and a leader's guide for group discussion.

This is an analysis of how 16th- and 17th-century astronomers and theologians in Northern Protestant Europe used science and religion to challenge and support one another. It argues that these schemes can solve the enduring problem of how theological interpretation and investigation interact.

This is a clear Bible-based refutation of those who teach that God does not know the future. It established by careful detailed exegesis from the Greek and Hebrew text that God not only knows the future, He controls it.