Julianna Baggott presents her beautifully written, riveting, breakout novel, PURE, the first volume in her new post-apocalypse thriller trilogy. We know you are here, our brothers and sisters . . . Pressia barely remembers the Detonations or much about life during the Before. In her sleeping cabinet behind the rubble of an old barbershop where she lives with her grandfather, she thinks about what is lost-how the world went from amusement parks, movie theaters, birthday parties, fathers and mothers . . . to ash and dust, scars, permanent burns, and fused, damaged bodies. And now, at an age when everyone is required to turn themselves over to the militia to either be trained as a soldier or, if they are too damaged and weak, to be used as live targets, Pressia can no longer pretend to be small. Pressia is on the run. Burn a Pure and Breathe the Ash . . . There are those who escaped the apocalypse unmarked. Pures. They are tucked safely inside the Dome that protects their healthy, superior bodies. Yet Partridge, whose father is one of the most influential men in the Dome, feels isolated and lonely. Different. He thinks about loss-maybe just because his family is broken; his father is emotionally distant; his brother killed himself; and his mother never made it inside their shelter. Or maybe it's his claustrophobia: his feeling that this Dome has become a swaddling of intensely rigid order. So when a slipped phrase suggests his mother might still be alive, Partridge risks his life to leave the Dome to find her. When Pressia meets Partridge, their worlds shatter all over again.

Authentic prayer begins when we realize that we do not know how to pray. But what do we do after this realization? Pure Faith is a hardcover devotional written to help people deepen their interior life so that they can encounter God on a daily basis. It contains prayers for every occasion, prayers before and after Mass and Confession, prayers to various saints, and a wealth of advice on how to develop a rich prayer life.

In Pure, Linda Kay Klein uses a potent combination of journalism, cultural commentary, and memoir to take us “inside religious purity culture as only one who grew up in it can” (Gloria Steinem) and reveals the devastating effects evangelical Christianity’s views on female sexuality has had on a generation of young women. In the 1990s, a “purity industry” emerged out of the white evangelical Christian culture. Purity rings, purity pledges, and purity balls came with a dangerous message: girls are potential sexual “stumbling blocks” for boys and men, and any expression of a girl’s sexuality could reflect the corruption of her character. This message traumatized many girls—resulting in anxiety, fear, and experiences that mimicked the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder—and trapped them in a cycle of shame. This is the sex education Linda Kay Klein grew up with. Fearing being marked a Jezebel, Klein broke up with her high school boyfriend because she thought God told her to and took pregnancy tests despite being a virgin, terrified that any sexual activity would be punished with an out-of-wedlock pregnancy. When the youth pastor of her church was convicted of sexual enticement of a twelve-year-old girl, Klein began to question purity-based sexual ethics. She contacted young women she knew, asking if they were coping with the same shame-induced issues she was. These intimate conversations developed into a twelve-year quest that took her across the country and into the lives of women raised in similar religious communities—a journey that facilitated her own healing and led her to churches that are seeking a new way to reconcile sexuality and spirituality. Pure is “a revelation... Part memoir and part journalism, Pure is a horrendous, granular, relentless, emotionally true account" (The Cut) of society’s larger subjugation of women and the role the purity industry played in maintaining it. Offering a prevailing message of resounding hope and encouragement, “Pure emboldens us to escape toxic misogyny and experience a fresh breath of freedom” (Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Love Warrior and founder of Together Rising).

Purity doesn’t mean playing the game of How Far Is Too Far. A pure life is a full life—one that goes way beyond the ideas of dating, sex, and being a “good girl,” and focuses instead on what it means to be your true, powerful self. Purity can feel like a dirty word sometimes. After all, who wants to be told what not to do, how not to be, and who not to spend time with? Haven’t we proven women are smart, strong, and able to make their own decisions? But the reality is, what we’ve always been taught about Christian purity isn’t 100 percent true. The idea has been twisted over the years into a list of “don’t” rules that have obscured the facts: that purity empowers you to become who you were made to be, and it’s about a lot more than sex and dating. Here’s the real truth: God designed purity as a whole-life experience, where you have the choice to follow your heart and be true to yourself as long as you’re also following his Word. With honest advice, real-life examples, and tools to navigate the temptations and frustrations you face every day (including dealing with those who don’t respect your boundaries), Pure Love, Pure Life meets you where you are—wherever you are—to illustrate why living the pure life isn’t as constricting as it sounds, and how it’s worth the effort. “This nonfiction book is real and honest, and should be required reading for teenage girls and their parents.” — Christian Library Journal Pure Love, Pure Life: looks at the idea of purity from a new angle, focusing on the do’s instead of the don’ts contains stories from real girls who talk about their own purity decisions, and what being pure means to them is for any girl looking to live a happy, healthy life—no matter what they have or haven’t done in the past touches on issues relevant to a #metoo world

When Iseabail is employed by a wealthy merchant to be his daughter's companion, her life changes forever. Transported from her remote island home to the Scottish borderlands, Iseabail is unnerved both by her precocious young charge and the house's secrets: a hidden chapel, servants who speak in a foreign tongue, a mute stableboy. And then the merchant returns with a mysterious cargo. Why has Iseabail really been summoned here? And will she ever make it back home?

A portrait of history’s first complex Christian society as seen through the lens of Christian philanthropy and gift giving As the Roman Empire broke down in western Europe, its prosperity moved decisively eastward, to what is now known as the Byzantine Empire. Here was born history’s first truly affluent, multifaceted Christian society. One of the ideals used to unite the diverse millions of people living in this vast realm was the Christianized ideal of philanthrōpia. In this sweeping cultural and social history, Daniel Caner shows how philanthropy required living up to Jesus’s injunction to “Give to all who ask of you,” by offering mercy and/or material aid to every human being, regardless of their origin or status. Caner shows how Christian philanthropy became articulated through distinct religious ideals of giving that helped define proper social relations among the rich, the poor, and “the pure” (Christian holy people), resulting in new and enduring social expectations. In tracking the evolution of Christian giving over three centuries, he brings to the fore the concerns of the peoples of Early Byzantium, from the countryside to the lower levels of urban society to the imperial elites, as well as the hierarchical relationships that arose among them. The Rich and the Pure offers nothing less than a portrait of the whole of early Byzantine society.

"Pure Heart: Restoration of the Heart through the Beatitudes" is a journey into the deep treasures of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Each chapter addresses one of the eight Beatitudes in a unique approach to inner healing. God longs for us to know Him, and He wants to heal the wounds in our hearts. You may find it difficult to receive love from God or from others because of past abuse or neglect, but desire to go deeper into the Lord's heart. This book is for you. You will discover God's abiding affections toward you and explore His promises over you. As you seek Him for healing, may He restore your heart to wholeness and fulfill the promises of blessing in your life. Tom and Donna Cole have ministered in restoration of the heart and inner healing since 1989. Their desire is to see the Church walk in fullness without the hindrance of wounds and shame. They have spoken nationally and internationally on the healing heart of the Father and speak at conferences, seminars and retreats on issues such as the deeper Christian life and having a life of prayer. They also speak at Pure Heart seminars and retreats, based on this book. For more information, you can visit their website at www.pureheartseminars.com.

Experience Freedom from Sexual Sin through the Power of the Savior Many women and men trapped in sexual sin believe willpower is the key to overcoming temptation, but your shaky self-discipline doesn't have to be the source of your strength. Sharing from his personal struggles, J. Garrett Kell explains that life-long transformation rests in the supernatural power of the Savior and the support of a local church. He offers profound insights into Jesus's teachings on purity and provides you with long-term strategies for your own pathway to freedom. Written for both men and women struggling with temptation, this book is a vital resource for the church, encouraging a healthy, empathetic community to help brothers and sisters in Christ resist sin. The goal isn't purity for purity's sake, but delighting in God and trusting him for ultimate victory.

The year is 1858. Thomas Glover is a gutsy eighteen-year-old who grasps the chance of escape to foreign lands and takes a posting as a trader in Japan. Within ten years he amasses a great fortune, learns the ways of the samurai, and, on the other side of the law, brings about the overthrow of the Shogun. Yet beneath Glover's astonishing success lies a man cut to the heart. His love affair with a courtesan - a woman who, unknown to him, would bear him the son for which he had always longed - would form a tragedy so dramatic as to be immortalised in the stories behind Madame Butterfly and Miss Saigon. The Pure Land relives in fiction the arc of Glover's true-life rise and fall, and forges a hundred-year saga that culminates in the annihilation of Nagasaki in 1945.