NBS recommends books for Holy Week

Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years

By Diarmaid Macculloch

P995

MANILA, Philippines - Christianity, one of the world’s great religions, has had an incalculable impact on human history. This book, now the most comprehensive and up-to-date single-volume work in English, describes not only the main ideas and personalities of Christian history, its organization and spirituality, but also how it has changed politics, sex, and human society. Diarmaid MacCulloch ranges from Palestine in the first century to India in the third, from Damascus to China in the seventh century and from San Francisco to Korea in the twentieth. He is one of the most widely travelled Christian historians and conveys a sense of place as arrestingly as he does the power of ideas. He presents the development of Christian history differently from any of his predecessors. He shows how, after a semblance of unity in its earliest centuries, the Christian church divided during the next 1400 years into three increasingly distanced parts, of which the western Church was by no means always the most important: he observes that at the end of the first eight centuries of Christian history, Baghdad might have seemed a more likely capital for worldwide Christianity than Rome. This is the first truly global history of Christianity.

Daily Readings From It’s Your Time

By Joel Osteen

P845

It’s your time to declare your faith, to look for God’s favor, and to give control of your life to Him so that you can find fulfillment in His plans for you. In Daily Readings from It’s Your Time, pastor and best-selling author Joel Osteen helps you turn every day into an opportunity for a better life as you incorporate messages of hope and faith more deeply into everything you do. No matter where you stand, this 90-day devotional provides new approaches for transforming your life.

Jesus Of Nazareth: Holy Week: From The Entrance Into Jerusalem To The Resurrection

By Pope Benedict XVI

P695

For Christians, Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, who died for the sins of the world, and who raised from the dead in triumph over sin and death. For non-Christians, he is almost anything else: myth, a political revolutionary, a prophet who’s teaching was misunderstood or distorted by his followers. Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, and no myth, revolutionary, or misunderstood prophet, insists Benedict XVI. He thinks that the best of historical scholarship, while it can’t “prove” Jesus is the Son of God, certainly doesn’t disprove it. Benedict XVI presents this challenge in his new book, Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, the sequel volume to Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration. Benedict brings to his study the vast learning of a brilliant scholar, the passionate searching of a great mind, and the deep compassion of a pastor’s heart. In the end, he dares readers to grapple with the meaning of Jesus’ life, teaching, death, and resurrection. Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection challenges both believers and unbelievers to decide who Jesus of Nazareth is and what he means for them.

Light Of The World: The Pope, The Church, And The Signs Of The Times

By Pope Benedict XVI

P395

Never has a Pope, in a book-length interview, dealt so directly with such wide-ranging and controversial issues as Pope Benedict XVI does in Light of the World. Taken from a recent week-long series of interviews with veteran journalist Peter Seewald, this book tackles head-on some of the greatest issues facing the world of our time. Twice before these two men held wide-ranging discussions, which became the bestselling books Salt of the Earth and God and the World. Then, Seewald’s discussion partner was Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Vatican’s chief doctrinal office. Now, Joseph Ratzinger is Pope Benedict XVI, the spiritual leader of the world’s over one billion Catholics. Though Seewald now interviews the Pope himself, the journalist “pulls no punches”, posing some of the thorniest questions any Pope has had to address. Believers and unbelievers will be fascinated to hear Benedict’s thoughtful, straightforward and thought-provoking replies. This is no stern preachment or ponderous theological tract, but a lively, fast-paced, challenging, and even entertaining exchange.

Change Anything: The New Science Of Personal Success

By Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, Roc McMillan and Al Switler

P649

If you’re like most human beings, you’re stuck in one or more areas of your life to change, but you think you lack the willpower. But suppose willpower isn’t the answer? The truth is, there are subtle influences that shape your choices. This innovative book explains what they are and how you can make them work in your favor. Based upon the latest social science research, it features fascinating real-world examples that will empower you to transform your life.