Absent from the Body, Present with the Lord

by Thomas J. Gentry

2019 · Wipf and Stock Publishers

What happens when Christians die? Some conclude that purgatory—a place of final purging and purification—is what awaits most believers after death in order to prepare for them to eventually fully enjoy God in heaven. But is purgatory what the Bible teaches? What are the theological implications of purgatory? Is purgatory, as some claim, a rational conclusion based on human freedom and moral transformation? In this introductory consideration to the topic of what Christians experience after death, it will be argued that there are clear biblical, theological, and rational reasons to reject any teaching of purgatory. Rather than anticipating a time of future purgation, the joyful expectation of every Christian is that, at the moment of death, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

Essays on Literature

by Thomas Carlyle

2020 · Univ of California Press

Essays on Literature brings together ten of the most important literary reviews and essays written by the acclaimed Victorian philosopher, social critic, and essayist Thomas Carlyle. Spanning his writing career, the essays allow the reader to track Carlyle's development as a reviewer and stylist, the evolution of his perennial themes, and the tremendous impact of his writing on the development of British and American literature. In keeping with the Norman and Charlotte Strouse Edition of the Writings of Thomas Carlyle, these essays are accompanied by a thorough historical introduction to the material, extensive notes providing historical and cultural context while expanding on references and allusions, and a textual apparatus that carefully details and explains the editorial decisions made in reconciling the many editions of each essay.

Man and the Natural World

by Keith Thomas

1991 · Penguin UK

'Man and the Natural World, an encyclopaedic study of man's relationship to animals and plants, is completely engrossing ... It explains everything - why we eat what we do, why we plant this and not that, why we keep pets, why we like some animals and not others, why we kill the things we kill and love the things we love ... It is often a funny book and one to read again and again' Paul Theroux, Sunday Times 'The English historian Keith Thomas has revealed modes of thought and ways of life deeply strange to us' Hilary Mantel, New York Review of Books 'A treasury of unusual historical anecdote ... a delight to read and a pleasure to own' Auberon Waugh, Sunday Telegraph 'A dense and rich work ... the return to the grass roots of our own environmental convictions is made by the most enchantingly minor paths' Ronald Blythe, Guardian