Religious Biographies

As president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and Utah’s first territorial governor, Brigham Young (1801-77) shaped a religion, a migration, and the American West. He led the Saints to Utah, guided the establishment of 350 settlements, and inspired the Mormons as they weathered unimaginable trials and hardships. In this new biography, historian Thomas G. Alexander draws on a lifetime of research to provide an evenhanded view of Young and his leadership.

When Jeremy Camp lost his beloved wife Melissa just three months after their wedding, the last thing he wanted to do was sing praise to God. But even as he struggled through unimaginable grief and fought to hold on to his faith, God had other plans: Pick up your guitar. I have something for you to write.

Ida Scudder was sure she would never follow in the footsteps of her medical missionary father. But when she witnessed Indian women dying because their religious beliefs didn't allow male doctors to treat them, Ida heard herself pray, "God, if You want me to, I will spend the rest of my life in India trying to help these women." Serving for nearly sixty years, Dr. Ida Scudder lived out the truth and compassion found in Christ.

God spoke to Don Bosco in dreams. These fascinating dreams of St. John Bosco involve prophecy, parables, and reading of hearts, with a powerful spiritual message. These stories include: "To Hell and Back", "Two Boys Attacked by a Monster", "The Snake and the Rosary", and many more. Those dreams led to many conversions and will instruct, admonish, and inspire many today!

The Vatican's silence in the face of Nazi atrocities remains one of the great controversies of our time. History has accused wartime pontiff Pius the Twelfth of complicity in the Holocaust and dubbed him "Hitler's Pope". But a key part of the story has remained untold. Pius ran the world's largest church, smallest state, and oldest spy service. Saintly but secretive, he skimmed from church charities to pay covert couriers, and surreptitiously tape-recorded his meetings with top Nazis.

Grammy Award–nominated artist Kem shares his life in this “breathtaking” (Michael Eric Dyson, New York Times bestselling author) and revealing memoir tracing his transformative journey from homelessness to gold-selling artist.

"Ayez pitié, monsieur le Président." C'est par ces mots que l'évêque Mariann Edgar Budde, au lendemain de l'investiture de Donald Trump, a dans un acte exceptionnel de résistance demandé au Président de faire preuve de compassion envers ceux qui ont peur et craignent pour leur vie. Si ce sont la force et l'écho extraordinaires de ses paroles qui ont fait connaître Mariann Edgar Budde dans le monde entier, celles-ci sont le reflet d'une existence passée à penser le courage comme un défi quotidien et l'entreprise d'une vie. Apprendre le courage est le fruit de ces années de réflexion.

Mark Kenzer is familiar with suffering. In My Miserable Search for Enlightenment: A Quest for God and the Eternal Self, Mark details how he navigated past abuse, betrayal, and loss to begin on a path to enlightenment. He was born so ill that the doctor thought he would die, and he grew up suffering in a home with abusive parents. Despite his struggles, Mark continually worked to change his karma and learn more deeply about the true nature of existence. Through dreams, meditation, and trances, he began to perceive past the material world.

This is the incredible, true-life story of Michael and Delane, an ordinary couple who listened as God led them from joblessness to starting and growing a business, then into ministries that have taken them from underprivileged neighborhoods in the United States to rural villages and orphan care in sub-Saharan Africa.

C.T. and his companion were lost in the African jungle. All the warning others had given the two missionaries rushed into C.T.'s mind. He had the uneasy sensation of being watched. C.T. shivered as he stared into the dense foliage surrounding him. He was exposed on all sides, clearly visible to anything or anyone concealed in the jungle.

Few figures have had such an influence on history as Jesus of Nazareth. His teachings have inspired discussion, arguments, even war. Yet few have ever held forth as movingly as Jesus on the need for peace, forgiveness, and mercy.

In 1991, Wallace Jeffs was coerced to become an FLDS polygamist. In 2011, Wallace rebelled against the sect, and the FBI helped him reclaim his kidnapped children. Then an "accident" put Wallace into a 45-day coma. Growing up as half-brother to future Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saint prophet Warren Jeffs, Wallace tried to follow FLDS teachings.... As his prophet-brother increasingly manipulated him, Wallace started hearing about FLDS atrocities.... Wallace defied the prophet and soon ended up in a coma.

This is the book that launched William F. Buckley, Jr.'s career. As a young, recent Yale graduate, he took on Yale's professional and administrative staffs, citing their hypocritical diversion from the tenets on which the institution was built. Yale was founded on the belief that God exists, and thus that virtue and individualism represent immutable cornerstones of education. However, when Buckley wrote this scathing expose, the institution had made an about face.

This audiobook offers a vast look at the life of St. Teresa. Authored by her own hand, she details her life and experiences, along with her mystical encounters with God.

With the trademark wisdom, humor, and honesty that made Anne Lamott's book on faith, Traveling Mercies, a runaway best seller, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith is a spiritual antidote to anxiety and despair in increasingly fraught times.

“If anyone knows how to be a pastor in the contemporary context that person is Eugene Peterson. Eugene possesses the rare combination of a pastor’s heart and a pastor’s art. Take and read!” (Richard J. Foster, author of Celebration of Discipline) “I’ve been nagging Eugene Peterson for years to write a memoir. In our clamorous, celebrity-driven, entertainment culture, his life and words convey a quiet whisper of sanity, authenticity, and, yes, holiness.” (Philip Yancey, author of What Good is God)

Solitary confinement, mental and physical torture, extreme hunger and bitter cold—these were the daily realities for Pastor Richard Wurmbrand during his combined 14 years of imprisonment in Communist Romania. Richard's crime, like that of thousands of others, was his fervent faith in Jesus Christ and his outspoken witness to the grace and love of God. In Tortured for Christ, Richard shares the inspiring story of his faithful discipleship amid Communist oppression and his powerful witness of Christ's love and forgiveness even before his persecutors.

He burst upon the fusty corridors of Victorian spirituality like a breath of fresh air, regaling the prime minister with his sense of humor, and touching the lives of seven presidents.

In A Change of Affection, Becket Cook shares his testimony as someone who was transformed by the power of the Gospel. His dramatic conversion to Christianity and subsequent seminary training inform his views on homosexuality - personally, biblically, theologically, and culturally - and his compelling audiobook guides listeners through this complex and controversial issue while revealing how to lovingly engage with those who disagree.

On February 29, 1948, Richard Wurmbrand was arrested by the secret police. His crimes? Leading Christian worship and witnessing—both of which were illegal under the atheistic Communist regime of Romania. Richard spent fourteen years in prison. He was tortured, beaten, and locked into a solitary confinement cell. Sabina Wurmbrand spent three years in a labor camp,nearly freezing to death as she and other prisoners worked on the Danube Canal. She was repeatedly told her husband had died behind bars.