A review of and a response to the book "The Better Angels of our Nature" by Steven Pinker. Mr. Pinker's book presents an atheistic view of modern western history, and this is intended to present an alternate Christian view, while also reviewing the content of his book.

The Bible mentions angels nearly 300 times, yet until recently many doubted their existence.

The biopic presents a profound paradox—its own conventions and historical stages of development, disintegration, investigation, parody, and revival have not gained respect in the world of film studies. That is, until now. Whose Lives Are They Anyway? boldly proves a critical point: The biopic is a genuine, dynamic genre and an important one—it narrates, exhibits, and celebrates a subject's life and demonstrates, investigates, or questions his or her importance in the world; it illuminates the finer points of a personality; and, ultimately, it provides a medium for both artist and spectator to discover what it would be like to be that person, or a certain type of person. Through detailed analyses and critiques of nearly twenty biopics, Dennis Bingham explores what is at their core—the urge to dramatize real life and find a version of the truth within it. The genre's charge, which dates back to the salad days of the Hollywood studio era, is to introduce the biographical subject into the pantheon of cultural mythology and, above all, to show that he or she belongs there. It means to discover what we learn about our culture from the heroes who rise and the leaders who emerge from cinematic representations. Bingham also zooms in on distinctions between cinematic portrayals of men and women. Films about men have evolved from celebratory warts-and-all to investigatory to postmodern and parodic. At the same time, women in biopics have been burdened by myths of suffering, victimization, and failure from which they are only now being liberated. To explore the evolution and lifecycle changes of the biopic and develop an appreciation for subgenres contained within it, there is no better source than Whose Lives Are They Anyway?

Kaitlin Singer needs time off-from a philandering husband, from a writing career stalled on a buzzard as a main character, and from the stash of chocolate in her lingerie drawer. Her decision to return to her childhood home might seem like the perfect way to get her life back together were it not for her mother foisting two visitors on her, guests who claim to be guardian angels. Perhaps not all is lost, for the angels might just be the companions she needs to help her solve the murder of a local newspaper columnist. To uncover clues to the crime, Kaitlin takes over the dead woman's work, writing the column as well as volunteering in the senior center, moves that put her in the path of the killer. She and her guests will need assistance from a pot-bellied pig and some pool skills to bring the murderer down.

Gay spirituality represents a hidden strand in Western thought that was only publically declared from the Gay Liberation of the 1970s. Since "coming out", expressions of gay spirituality have proliferated in both number and diversity. Beginning with gay theology within Christianity, the phenomenon has now reached as far as Buddhism and neo-paganism. But, so far, critical analysis of the movement has been very limited largely because gay spirituality has been treated as a political and social movement arguing for rights and acceptance within religious circles. 'A Special Illumination' offers an indepth analysis and argues that gay spirituality should be placed at the heart of religion.

This sumptuously illustrated volume analyzes artists' representations of angels and demons and heaven and hell from the Judeo-Christian tradition and describes how these artistic portrayals evolved over time. As with other books in the Guide to Imagery series, the goal of this volume is to help contemporary art enthusiasts decode the symbolic meanings in the great masterworks of Western Art. The first chapter traces the development of images of the Creation and the Afterworld from descriptions of them in the Scriptures through their evolution in later literary and philosophical works. The following two chapters examine artists' depictions of the two paths that humans may take, the path of evil or the path of salvation, and the punishments or rewards found on each. A chapter on the Judgment Day and the end of the world explores portrayals of the mysterious worlds between life and death and in the afterlife. Finally, the author looks at images of angelic and demonic beings themselves and how they came to be portrayed with the physical attributes--wings, halos, horns, and cloven hooves--with which we are now so familiar. Thoroughly researched by and expert in the field of iconography, Angels and Demons in Art will delight readers with an interest in art or religious symbolism.

The premise behind The Angel Babies .X. DOME is that I wanted to ask myself, what does heaven beyond the pearly gates really actually look like? And from then on, I wanted to explore this theme or theory from there, which was for me was to take on thus minds imaginary subjective journey through and beyond the steps of the pearly gates and into the realms of heaven itself, if only for us to examine and to explore this unfamiliar territory that is the kingdom of heaven that I dare say is often presented to us through the narrative of scholars, who have always portrayed or even suggested to us as to what view or should insightful understanding should be held and taught upon such a topical subject, whether it be from the view point of Armageddon or the apocalypse or even the book of Revelations. As it has always somehow religiously been depicted from a biblical and theological perspective, that once we arrive upon that fateful day at the gates of heaven, that somehow we are all found to be awaiting some profound trial or judgment to take place if only for some sentence to be passed upon us, based upon our previous deeds or actions on how we have lived our lives accordingly for such judgments to be made, for us to be deemed to live among the damned or the redeemed, or persecuted or liberated for our free will of expression. And yet, much before we have gained any reasonable access as to whether we should be permitted to go any further into these realms of heaven or not, then is it not quite surreal to suggest that somehow we are to stand in line, quietly queuing to find out if we are to be turned around and somehow denied any entry at all, or if we should somehow be sent to the regions of hell for a punishment, for our previous deeds or sins, or even sentenced to the abyss for our misguided choices in life. For is it not in our favor to see and to know that this very idea and notion in our own principal thinking and in engaging in our own understanding and analysis that if we attempt to find the truth behind the fiction, if only for us to seek and to know and to learn the answers to such profound questions as these, that through this prism of our own intuitive and deductive reasoning that once we have been permitted or have arrived and gotten beyond these pearly gates and entered therein into paradise, or upon becoming face-to-face with God and becoming reunited with our loved ones, that if we are to meet with our fate and judgment accordingly, then is it not a befitting challenge to consider all of these things, in actually asking ourselves, what does heaven actually look like? Although even in this truth and reality, none of us can really say for sure or certain of what form or shape heaven may truly take, as we cannot be so sure or certain of what it is that exactly take place, if anything at all, at such a lifetime-defining moment, but it would be nice to know more about it if that was the case, dont you think?

What do you get when you add a woman going through a divorce, a cat named Angel, a dog named Neville, and a man who just wants to be left alone for the holidays? A delightful holiday romance that will brighten your day and warm your heart. A year after a difficult marital separation, fifty-six-year-old Helen wants to escape town and spend her holiday away from everyone who knows her or her ex-husband. When her friend Sylvia calls from Sunshine Bay to ask her to cat-sit Angel, Helen jumps at the chance for a peaceful holiday away from everything she has known. All is well until she meets the neighbors: Neville, a devilish Westie determined to escape his yard to pursue Angel, and Joe, Neville’s grumpy, reluctant dog-sitter, who makes Helen’s heart beat a little faster whenever he’s around. Joe is spending the holidays alone this year except for his son’s West Highland terrier, Neville, a dog that hasn’t met an obstacle he can’t dig under or squeeze through. Neville’s antics are interfering with Joe’s ability to get his work done. Worse, Neville has attracted the attention of the new neighbor, Helen, a bewitching woman Joe is finding hard to ignore. The more Helen and Joe try to keep Neville happy and out of trouble, the more sparks fly between them. Will the pair solve the problem of Neville and be able to have the peaceful holiday they both crave? Or with Neville's help, will they see they belong together? If you like a story of friendship, love, and second chances in the second half of life, this one may be for you. Angel and the Neville Next Door is the third in the Sunshine Bay Series featuring Angel the cat. Other books are: Love’s Fresh Start Come Home to Love And if you like Winter holiday books try: Christmas Trees and Mistletoe Scroll up and grab your copy today!