Young Ancients

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 ...

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.

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.

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 ...

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.

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.

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 ...

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. ...

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.

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.

From a preeminent King scholar, the origin story of the man, minister, and civil rights hero who would lead the nation and change the world. We know who Martin Luther King, Jr. became, but who was he at the beginning of his life? How did his youth inform his outlook and activism? Before Martin...

The 40 days of fasting before Christmas are meant to prepare us for the Feast of the Nativity, but the busyness of the secular celebration can interfere with our best efforts to center our hearts on Christ. Behold a Great Light is a daily devotional, designed to help listeners contemplate the mysteries of the Incarnation, from the beginning of the Nativity fast on November 15, through Christmas and Theophany, ending with the Synaxis of St. John the Baptist on January 7.

Here are the great stories of the Heroic Age, from the myths of the making of the universe to the death of Heracles. Set against the colorful background of Greece and the Aegean, the adventures of heroes such as Perseus the Gorgon-slayer, Dionysus, Theseus, and Jason and the Argonauts once again come to life.

The New York Times bestselling and legendary author of Helen of Troy and Elizabeth I now turns her gaze on Emperor Nero, one of the most notorious and misunderstood figures in history. Built on the backs of those who fell before it, Julius Caesar’s imperial dynasty is only as strong as the...

The Mummy meets Death on the Nile in What the River Knows, Isabel Ibañez's lush, immersive historical fantasy set in Egypt and filled with adventure, a rivals-to-lovers romance, and a dangerous race. Bolivian-Argentinian Inez Olivera belongs to the glittering upper society of nineteenth century...

The Gilded Wolves meets A Magic Steeped in Poison in the first of a new pulse-pounding YA fantasy duology about two thieves who go after the same mythical treasure, from #1 New York Times-bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz. Once upon a time, there was a shining kingdom floating on the sea...

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 ...

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, ...

Where the Library Hides is Isabel Ibañez's stunning conclusion to the story that started in What the River Knows. A lush immersive historical fantasy set in Egypt filled with adventure, and a rivals-to-lovers romance like no other! "Ana Osorio and Ahmed Hamad are consistently excellent as they...