Weird Religion

The first Christians were weird. Just how weird is often lost on today's believers. Within Roman society, the earliest Christians stood out for the oddness of their beliefs and practices. They believed unusual things, worshiped God in strange ways, and lived a unique lifestyle. They practiced a whole new way of thinking about and doing religion that would have been seen as bizarre and dangerous when compared to Roman religion and most other religions of the ancient world.

In Weird Earth: Debunking Strange Ideas About Our Planet, Donald R. Prothero demystifies these conspiracies and offers answers to some of humanity's most outlandish questions. Applying his extensive scientific knowledge, Prothero corrects misinformation that con artists and quacks use to hoodwink others about geology - hollow earth, expanding earth, and bizarre earthquakes-and mystical and paranormal happenings - healing crystals, alien landings, and the gates of hell.

Using academic, comprehensive, logical, and, at times, mathematical approaches, The Science of Weird Shit convincingly debunks ESP, communicating with the dead, and alien abduction claims, among other phenomena. All the while, however, French maintains that our belief in such phenomena is neither ridiculous nor trivial; if anything, such claims can tell us a great deal about the human mind if we pay them the attention they are due.

What exactly are the weird and the eerie? In this new essay, Mark Fisher argues that some of the most haunting and anomalous fiction of the 20th century belongs to these two modes. The weird and the eerie are closely related but distinct modes, each possessing its own distinct properties. Both have often been associated with horror, yet this emphasis overlooks the aching fascination that such texts can exercise. The weird and the eerie both fundamentally concern the outside and the unknown, which are not intrinsically horrifying, even if they are always unsettling.

If we follow Christ, we're not supposed to be like everyone else. We’re supposed to be a little bit…well, weird. The whole point of Christianity is to become more like Jesus and less of who we are when left to our own devices and desires—to become less like the rest of the world, less normal.

From the Silicon Valley tech billionaires currently trying to work out whether or not the universe is one giant video game simulation to the self-proclaimed community of Italian time-travelers who are trying to save the world from destruction; The Theory of Everything Else will act as a handbook for those who want to think differently.

Tom Cruise and John Travolta say the Church of Scientology is a force for good. Others disagree. Award-winning journalist John Sweeney investigated the Church for more than half a decade. During that time he was intimidated, spied on, and followed, and the results were spectacular: Sweeney lost his temper with the Church's spokesman on camera, and his infamous 'exploding tomato' clip was seen by millions around the world.

Look down as you buzz across America, and Oklahoma looks like another “flyover state.” A closer inspection, however, reveals one of the most tragic, fascinating, and unpredictable places in the United States In this book, Russell Cobb tells the story of a state rich in natural resources and artistic talent, yet near the bottom in education and social welfare. Raised in Tulsa, Cobb engages Oklahomans across the boundaries of race and class to hear their troubles, anxieties, and aspirations and delves deep to understand their contradictory and often stridently independent attitudes.

Mary Katherine Backstrom shares heartbreaking and hilarious stories of how God uses each "mess" in our lives to bring us closer to him. She shows us that it's okay to celebrate exactly where we are right now - holy hot mess and all.

Being a Catholic hipster is all about an attitude - an attitude grounded in being part of a countercultural community of believers dedicated to something bigger than themselves in a world dominated by self-centeredness. It’s about yearning to learn more about the faith by seeking out “Catholic cool” - overlooked saints, forgotten prayers and feast days, and traditional practices long set aside by mainstream believers. The Catholic Hipster Handbook will help listeners realize the only way to go against what’s normal and accepted in the culture is to be authentically Catholic.

Why are we here? Do ghosts exist? Will we ever travel back in time? Are we being visited by extraterrestrials? Will we ever talk to animals? Are we being told the truth? Are mysterious creatures roaming the Earth? And why, when you’re in the shower, does the shower-curtain always billow in towards you? We don’t know the answers to any of these questions. But don’t worry, no matter what questions you have, you can bet on the fact that there is someone (or something) out there, investigating it on your behalf – and this book collects their latest findings.

Ireland has a rich folklore. Everyone knows about the fairy folk and leprechauns and many have heard of the fearsome banshee. There are also the usual ghost stories found in every old land. The stranger side of the Emerald Isle goes much deeper than that, however, with tales of phantom armies marching through the sky, sea monsters swimming in the waters around the island, and stories of strange powers and dark magic.

Most of us grow up believing it's more important to fit in than to stand out. But there's something different about you, and it matters. What if your weirdness was the key to changing everything? What if the outrageous, imaginative, crazy ideas that live inside your wildest dreams are actually there on purpose, divinely preinstalled to help others? Knowing what makes you weird is the best thing you can offer your art, your business, your friends, your family, and yourself.

Jesus is different. Go and do likewise. Many Christians have become comfortable letting the world mold them instead of being set apart by God. Many churches have traded in their biblical roots for complacent conventionality. But Jesus and the church are anything but conventional. The hallmark of our faith is that it sees the world differently than the world sees itself. We are called to be eccentric. By the grace of God, we are not only dissatisfied by sin, but increasingly uncompelled by conventionality.

The myths of giants and demigods goes back for centuries. Even today, we marvel at the idea of men with superhuman abilities with incredible stature. Does the Bible tell us about the origins of these legends? Who are the Nephilim of the Bible? This is a source of great controversy amongst Bible scholars and Bible enthusiasts.

Lisa Jakub has always been a little weird. Sensitive. Emotional. Introverted. What else would you expect from a former child actor turned writer? But the issue wasn't just an artistic temperament; Lisa was constantly trying to hide her debilitating anxiety and depression. She assumed that retiring from her 18-year acting career and leaving Hollywood was going to be the cure for all of her issues. Guess how that worked out?

Approximately 80 percent of Americans admit they haven’t read the Bible. If they did, they’d be pleasantly surprised by its impressive quantity of sex and poop jokes. David danced naked. Noah was basically a moonshining hillbilly. Ezekiel baked poop bread. Herod was eaten by worms. Jesus cursed a fig tree, just to prove he could. Mark went streaking. Hosea married a prostitute. Lot was date-raped by his own daughters. It turns out, there’s a lot of weird stuff in the Bible.

Welcome to the second jam-packed volume of Tales of the Weird by the internationally recognized expert of the supernatural - Tom Slemen. From teleportation secrets to a mysterious being that tried to entrap a girl in a nightmare world, you will hear of horrors and intrigues across the world which will send a tingle down your spine and give you nightmares.

Not everything in Scotland is as it appears. Some Scots say this is a land haunted by spirits, a place of strange disappearances and unexplained phenomena. There is no shortage when it comes to the strange stories Scotland has to offer, and the legends and lore have compelled many to dig a little deeper and even explore this wonderful land for themselves.

Did you know soap can burn? It can, my pretties. It can and it does. Fortunately, it cleans up so easily! But yes, the house didn’t smell as “wonderful” as it did “wonder what that smell is” for a couple of weeks. In good news, I found out I can literally leave my crockpot turned on low for weeks without it catching fire, so that’s a handy fact to know. Part how-to, part memoir, My Life as a Kitchen Witch was a surprise hit for fiction writer Red Tash.