Agenda 2013

The Torah, the Gospel, and the Qur'an
Three Books, Two Cities, One Tale
Anton Wessels
PAPERBACK; Coming Soon: 9/30/2013
ISBN: 978-0-8028-6908-1

Available for Backorder

Price: $ 28.00

DESCRIPTION
A well-thought-out Christian plea for interreligious unity

Discussing the Bible and the Qur'an in one breath will surprise some Jews, Christians, and Muslims. But Anton Wessels argues that all three traditions must read the Scriptures together and not against each other. As his book title suggests, the three books, in the end, are actually one tale.

Wessels accepts Muhammad as a prophet and takes the Qur'an seriously as Holy Scripture along with the Old and New Testaments -- without giving up his own Christian convictions. Respectfully reading the Torah, the Gospel, and the Qur'an together, he argues, is of crucial importance: our world often sees these religious books as the cause of conflicts rather than the solution to them.

 Van Gogh and the Art of Living
The Gospel According to Vincent van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh believed that one had to learn to read, just as one had to learn to see and learn to live. Van Gogh conveyed a message in his work about the path that he himself followed that was “more true to life,” the path that human beings walk in their turbulent existence, the pilgrimage along the various stages of the road of life. He does not speak about the meaning of life but about the true art of living. It is fascinating to see and read the moving way in which he wrestled with the deep human questions of the whence, why, and whither of life. He did not see himself doing this on his own but acknowledged kindred spirits and allies in preachers, preacher-poets, painters, writers, and other artists who also attempted to find their own way through life in a similar fashion.
Van Gogh was aware, like no other, of his duty and task in life: his vocation as human being and artist. That means that he was well acquainted with lone- liness, fear, and despair, including suicidal tendencies. Nevertheless, he understood himself as cut out for faith, rather than resignation. Human beings follow their life’s path, through storms and dangers, on land and on sea, where the “star of the sea” (the Virgin Mary) helps them and provides light. Van Gogh rejected the unhealthy, sickly forms of religion, electing instead to embrace authentic forms of piety.

 WIPF and STOCK Publishers
Eugenen, Oregon
ISBN 978-1-62564-109-0
cover design: C. Amondson
Van Gogh and the Art of Living    Amton Wessels
± 23 Dollar