Young Ancients

Ancient Near Eastern texts such as The Baal Cycle portray the pagan god Baal as a rebel—the hero of a revolution, worshiped and glorified for his long string of victories. In The Baal Book: A Biography of the Devil, Fr. Stephen De Young shows that the Hebrew Scriptures consciously turn the Baal story on its head, depicting him as a failed and defeated rebel who nonetheless tries to steal the glory that belongs to Almighty God. From these Scriptures, the figure of the Devil emerged within Jewish and Christian Tradition.

In this groundbreaking new book, Decoding Göbekli Tepe: Biblical Anatolia & the Watchers, the authors reexamine the ancient site of Göbekli Tepe, offering a compelling new perspective that transforms its traditional interpretation as a communal center into a sacred space for ancestor deification. Key book themes: - Deified Ancestors: The ancients' sought immortality by deifying the first ancestors, regenerating the dead into gods and to the cosmos. Göbekli Tepe's central stone pillars represent deified Adam and Eve in this divine process. Adam is tied to the Sumerian bull-god Anu, ...

Rev. Dr. Stephen De Young, creator of the popular The Whole Counsel of God blog and podcast, traces the lineage of Orthodox Christianity back to the faith and witness of the apostles, which was rooted in a first-century Jewish worldview. The Religion of the Apostles presents the Orthodox Christian Church of today as a continuation of the religious life of the apostles, which in turn was a continuation of the life of the people of God since the beginning of creation.

The centuries after the Protestant Reformation brought about a radical reinterpretation of the epistles of St. Paul, disconnected from any historical reality. But Paul operated, during his entire life, as a faithful Pharisee within the Roman Jewish world. In Saint Paul the Pharisee: Jewish Apostle to All Nations, Fr. Stephen De Young surveys Paul’s life and writings, interpreting them within the Holy Tradition of the Orthodox Church.

Imagine the following scene: Eric Schliemann having to get the permission of scientists, telling them that, based on Homer’s descriptions, he believes he can discover the mythical Troy. Besides laughing their hearts out, do you believe there would even be the slightest chance for Schliemann to have gotten their permission? And it is not just Troy nor just Knossos nor just the Mycenae, most major archaeological findings in the entire world, despite the references in the ancient texts, were a complete surprise for the scientific establishment. If that establishment had full control, all ...

In The Whole Counsel of God, popular writer and podcaster Fr. Stephen de Young gives an overview of what the Bible is and what is its place in the life of an Orthodox Christian, correcting many Protestant misconceptions along the way. Issues covered include inspiration, inerrancy, the formation of the biblical canon, the various texts and their provenance, the place of Scripture within Orthodox Tradition, and how an Orthodox Christian should read, study, and interpret the Bible.

Violence in the Old Testament has long been a stumbling block for Christians and skeptics alike. God Is a Man of War offers a fresh interpretation of Old Testament accounts of violence, by exploring them through the twofold lens of Orthodox tradition and historical context. Father Stephen De Young examines what these difficult passages reveal about the nature of Christ and His creation, bearing witness to a world filled not only with pain and suffering - often of human making - but also with the love of God.

Many Christians today divide ancient Jewish and Christian literature into two categories: what is in the Bible and what is not. The Christian East, however, has traditionally described a third category considered beneficial for Christians to listen to in the home: “apocrypha.” These texts, from the centuries before and after the Incarnation of Jesus Christ—beyond even the larger canons of the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Old Testaments—reveal to us the religious world and theological framework of the apostles and early Church Fathers.

The Roman Republic stood at the edge of collapse. The Senate cowered. Only one man refused to bend. The story of Rome's last defender and the impossible choice that made him immortal —Roman Stoic Marcus Porcius Cato, Stoic philosopher, incorruptible Roman senator, and Caesar's most relentless opponent, spent his life defending constitutional government against the forces tearing it apart. He walked barefoot with his troops, managed Rome's treasury without stealing a coin, and opposed Caesar for two decades with absolute conviction. But principle without power couldn't save the Republic. ...

Cast into the sea as an infant and raised in obscurity on a small island in the Bronze Age Aegean, Perseus has no special power and no divine gift to call on. When the king of his island traps him with his own words — bring me the head of Medusa, or lose everything — Perseus has no choice but to set out across the known world and beyond its edge. To reach the Gorgon, he must find three ancient sisters who share a single eye, cross into a land where the rules of the world no longer apply, face creatures that turn men to stone, and return alive. But the quest will take him further than ...

Odysseus is thirteen years old. The son of a king on a small island in the Bronze Age Aegean, he has the gift of seeing what others miss—and the courage to act on it. When a Phoenician ship arrives carrying a boy who has been kidnapped into slavery, Odysseus recognizes the truth no one else will acknowledge. To save him, he must journey across dangerous waters to the mainland, climb a sacred mountain where a supernatural boar stands guard, face magic and trickery in his grandfather's estate, and ultimately confront a conspiracy that reaches into his father's own household. What begins as ...

What clue connects a howling jackal, a vanishing mummy, and a big stone covered in hieroglyphics? Kid detective Zet is determined to find out. Zet has solved enough mysteries to know when something doesn’t add up, and this case is full of clues that don’t fit. A mummy that always disappears before anyone can catch it. A strange sandbank that wasn’t there before. A Mummy Maker with secrets he won’t share. A hieroglyph-covered stone where it shouldn’t be. So when the local police overlook the pieces that don’t fit, Zet does what he does best: he keeps asking questions, follows the...

Ten thousand Greek soldiers, a thousand miles inside enemy territory, with their employer dead and their generals murdered. This is how they got home. In 401 BC a Persian prince named Cyrus hired the finest heavy infantry in the world and marched them east without telling them where they were going. Only deep into Asia did the Greeks learn the truth: they had been bought to take the throne of Persia from the man who held it, Cyrus's own brother. They met the king's army at Cunaxa, near Babylon. The Greeks charged, broke the wing in front of them, and did not lose a single man. Then word ...

We all know Venus was destroyed, but few people know how, why, when, and who the participants were. You have been lied to as it was not some crazy catastrophic global warming. What we know now is that a plasma discharge destroyed the planet's moon which, in turn, destroyed and almost split the planet in half. Get rid of all you thought you knew about how, when, why, and everything else. You need to know the truth about How Noah, his daughter, an Egyptian King, Satan, Dinosaurs, Massive Colonization, Worldwide War, and Plasma all played their part. It was a beautiful planet filled with life,...

Academic Links “Quick Read” series is a history collection designed to introduce readers to important topics from the past and spark an interest to learn more. These books contain short, easy to read articles that relate to the main topic and make each subject engaging and accessible. The series encourages curiosity, helps readers explore new ideas, and opens the door to deeper learning about history and the world. Each book introduces different time periods, events, and topics in history while helping readers build a stronger understanding of the past and how it connects to today. ...

Princess of Egypt.... Cleopatra Selene is the only daughter of the brilliant Queen Cleopatra of Egypt and General Marcus Antonius of Rome. She’s grown up with jewels on her arms, servants at her feet, and all the pleasures of a palace at her command, and she wants only to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a great and powerful queen. Prisoner of Rome.... Then the Roman ruler Octavianus, who has always wanted Egypt’s wealth, launches a war that destroys all Selene has ever known.

Discover the mysteries that led to the best-selling fantasy adventure that began with Raising Dragons. With heart-stopping fantasy action and clear spiritual insights, Eye of the Oracle will captivate young and old alike, and it will challenge every listener to search deep within for answers to the mysteries in their own hearts.

An Odyssey Honor Audiobook In a novel-in-verse that brims with grief and love, National Book Award-winning and New York Times-bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives. Don't miss the...

KID DETECTIVE ZET: The World's Favorite Way To Learn About Ancient Egypt 12-year-old Zet is on the trail of his latest mystery: priceless amulets are disappearing all over ancient Egypt. Worse, his best friend is being treated more like a prisoner than a student at a secretive jewelry apprentice school. Are the evil teachers and jewel thefts related? When Zet receives a desperate message hidden inside an amulet, he's determined to rescue his friend. Armed with a brainy sister who can read and write hieroglyphics, Zet searches for clues. Can he expose the wicked plot and take down the ...

Ten thousand slaves toil on a demon ship sailing into uncharted waters. One such wretch, unable to use her sorcery, is Bridget Burns. Mired in cutthroat survival, she fosters two allies: a terrified boy, and a gargoyle “cursed” with empathy.