Showing results by narrator "S.D. Cousins" in All Categories

A great many Jewish holidays and practices, in their earliest understanding, reflect the great innovation of Biblical religion. The Bible emphasized historical events in contrast to nature. Other ancient Near Eastern religions stressed the latter. As Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel noted, in the Jewish tradition, faith is memory. The observances of Jewish holidays and various Jewish practices articulate theological ideas reflective of collective Jewish memory.

The year was 1391. Spring was about to turn into summer. By the end of the summer, 80 Jewish communities in Castile and Aragon were torn by violence. A third of the Jewish community had been murdered. Perhaps another third of the Jewish community had converted. Only a third of the Jewish population remained intact. While their conversions had initially been met with a grand celebration by their Christian neighbors, those Jews who had yielded to baptism to rescue their lives and those of their families eventually proved a thorn in the side of the church. Could they be trusted?

Sister and brother, Cara and Brom, from the Earth-like planet Ammeron, visit nearby idyllic planet Jashar. There, at a young age, they meet and befriend Boda, a very gentle, advanced, and ageless sage who becomes their teacher.

The Twin is the fictional retelling of the story of Jesus of Nazareth from the point of view of Thomas Didymus, known to most as Doubting Thomas. The narrative draws upon the belief of many that Jesus traveled to Kashmir during the “missing” years of his youth, studied Buddhism, and then returned to Galilee to begin his ministry.