About the Book

From the moment of his birth, Siddhartha Gautama never doubted his specialness. He arrived with magnificently webbed digits and could lick his own earlobes. His karma had been that good. Thus, the question was never whether he would become a king, but rather, what type of king he would become. Siddhartha's journey took a sudden spiritual turn when he came to the first of his many realizations: things die, and before they die, they suffer, a lot, for real. This harrowing insight formed the first of his eleven Four Noble Truths (not including the five other parts) and informed his ascetic-minded mission: to free the world of pain, even if he was very glad to no longer care about anything or anyone in it. Having already experienced an incalculable number of past lives, Siddhartha wondered, how could he himself escape this endless cycle of suffering? With this question came an enlightened answer that promised a possible way out: only those who live can die. As his body begins to fail following an ill-prepared meal, Siddhartha faces his ultimate test: will he achieve his blessed wish—to cease to exist once and for all—or will he be reborn yet again into another oozing life of pain.

About the Author

Chris Matheson is a screenwriter whose credits include the Bill & Ted movies and Rapture-Palooza. He is also the author of The Story of God and The Trouble with God. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Details

ISBN: 9781634312004
Format: hardcover
SRP: $16.95
Page count: 160 pages
Trim size: 5.5 x 8.5
Pub date: August 2020

“The new edition of Caught in the Pulpit extends and reinforces the message of the first: that many who preach religion do not themselves believe what they preach, for the good reason that they have more insight into its vacuity than those to whom they preach. Some are tragically trapped in this hypocrisy, some choose to keep living the lie: but knowing this adds to our sense of the lie that is religion itself. This is an important book, because it reveals an important truth.”
—A.C. Grayling, Master of the New College of the Humanities London

About the Book

What is it like to be a preacher or rabbi who no longer believes in God? In this expanded and updated edition of their groundbreaking study, Daniel C. Dennett and Linda LaScola comprehensively and sensitively expose an inconvenient truth that religious institutions face in the new transparency of the information age—the phenomenon of clergy who no longer believe what they publicly preach. In confidential interviews, clergy from across the ministerial spectrum—from liberal to literal—reveal how their lives of religious service and study have led them to a truth inimical to their professed beliefs and profession. Although their personal stories are as varied as the denominations they once represented, or continue to represent—whether Catholic, Baptist, Episcopalian, Methodist, Mormon, Pentecostal, or any of numerous others—they give voice not only to their own struggles but also to those who similarly suffer in tender and lonely silence. As this study poignantly and vividly reveals, their common journey has far-reaching implications not only for their families, their congregations, and their communities—but also for the very future of religion.

About the Author(s)

Daniel C. Dennett is the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University and the codirector of the Center for Cognitive Studies. He is the author of numerous books, including Brainstorms, Breaking the Spell, Consciousness Explained, Darwin’s Dangerous Idea, Elbow Room, Freedom Evolves, and Intuition Pumps. He lives in North Andover, Massachusetts. Linda LaScola has been a qualitative researcher for more than 25 years and has traveled around the United States interviewing people on numerous subjects, including health, mental health, public policy, and religion. She lives in Washington, DC. Richard Dawkins (foreword by) is a Fellow of the Royal Society and was the inaugural holder of the Charles Simonyi Chair of Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University.

Details

ISBN: 9781634310208
Format: paperback
SRP: $16.95
Page count: 280 pages
Trim size: 6 x 9
Pub date: May 2015

“Part Kurt Vonnegut, part Douglas Adams, but let’s be honest, Matheson had me at ‘Based on the Bible.’” 
—Dana Gould, comedian and writer

About the Book

The Bible offers some clues to God’s personality—he’s alternately been called vindictive and just, bloodthirsty and caring, all-powerful and impotent, capricious and foresighted, and loving and hateful. But no one has ever fully explored why God might be such a figure of contrasts. Nor has anyone ever satisfactorily explained what guides his relationship not just with angels, the devil, and his son, but also with all of creation. Might he be completely misunderstood, a mystery even to himself? Might his behavior and actions toward humankind tell us much more about him than it does about us? Enter the mind of the creator of the universe, travel with him through the heavenly highs and hellish lows of his story, from Genesis to Revelation, to better understand his burdensome journey: being God isn’t easy. After hearing his story—at times troubling and tragic but always hilarious in its absurdity and divine in its comedy—you’ll never look at a miracle or catastrophe—or at our place in the universe, or God’s—the same way again.

About the Author

Chris Matheson is a screenwriter whose credits include Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, and Rapture-Palooza. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Details

ISBN: 9781634310772
Format: paperback
SRP: $12.95
Page count: 144 pages
Trim size: 5.5 x 8.5
Pub date: September 2015

Also available in hardcover (ISBN: 9781634310246; SRP: $16.95)

“What’s the fastest way to become an atheist? Read the Bible. What’s the funnest way to become a know-it-all-smartass atheist? Read Chris Matheson.”
—Penn Jillette, Emmy Award–winning magician and New York Times best-selling author

About the Book

The Bible offers some clues to God’s personality—he’s alternately been called vindictive and just, bloodthirsty and caring, all-powerful and impotent, capricious and foresighted, and loving and hateful. But no one has ever fully explored why God might be such a figure of contrasts. Nor has anyone ever satisfactorily explained what guides his relationship not just with angels, the devil, and his son, but also with all of creation. Might he be completely misunderstood, a mystery even to himself? Might his behavior and actions toward humankind tell us much more about him than it does about us? Enter the mind of the creator of the universe, travel with him through the heavenly highs and hellish lows of his story, from Genesis to Revelation, to better understand his burdensome journey: being God isn’t easy. After hearing his story—at times troubling and tragic but always hilarious in its absurdity and divine in its comedy—you’ll never look at a miracle or catastrophe—or at our place in the universe, or God’s—the same way again.

About the Author

Chris Matheson is a screenwriter whose credits include Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, and Rapture-Palooza. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Details

ISBN: 9781634311502
Format: hardcover
SRP: $16.95
Page count: 136 pages
Trim size: 5.5 x 8.5
Pub date: April 2018