Sacred Origins of Profound ThingsWhy We Believe
What We Believe: Introduction
Part 1. Popular Piety
1. Prayer Postures: Hands Joined to Heads Covered
2. Best-Loved Prayers: Apostles' Creed to Agnus Dei
3. Acts of Devotion: Rosary to Hajj
Part II. Heavenly Hosts
4. Angels: Messengers to Guardians
5. Archangels and Demons: Michael to Metatron
Part III. Wise Words
6. Moral Codes: Ten Commandments to Golden Rule
7. Biblical Phrases: "Writing on the Wall" to "Eye to Eye"
Part IV. Rites and Rituals
8. Sacred Symbols: Halo to Star of David
9. Dressed to Kill: Vestments to Vessels
10. Sacraments: Godparents to Seven Deadly Sins
11. Vows That Bind: Celibate Priests to Ordained Women
Part V. Feasts And Festivals
12. Christian Feasts: Ash Wednesday to Palm Sunday
13. Jewish Feasts: Passover to Hanukkah
Part VI. Saints And Their Bones
14. Saints: Abused Virgins to Celibate Clerics
15. Relics: Buddha's Tooth to Christ's Cross
16. Patron Saints: AIDS to Cyberspace
Part VII. Celestial Personae
17. God: Appearance to Existence
18. Christ: Son to Trinity
19. Allah: Abraham to Koran
Part VIII. I Do
20. Marriage: Mazal Tov to Diamond Ring
21. Divorce: Get to Jackie Kennedy Onassis
22. Annulment: Impotency to Senator Edward Kennedy
Part IX. Extraordinary Evil
23. Satan: Lucifer to Genies
24. Exorcism: Satan to Dybbuk
25. Antichrist: "666" to Apocalypse Now
Part X. Divine Dos And Dont's
26. Forbidden Foods: Pork Chops to Meatless Fridays
27. Forbidden Sex: Gay to Lesbian
28. Contraception: Condoms to Crushed Testicles
Part XI. Religious Realms
29. Heaven: Soul to Immortality
30. Hell: Hot to Hotter
31. Purgatory: Divine Comedy to Sale of Indulgences
32. Limbo: Original Sin to the Harrowing
Part XII. Acts Of Faith
33. Miracles: Raising the Dead to Stigmata
34. Virginity of the Virgin: Immaculate Conception to Virgin Birth
35. Visions of the Virgin: Guadalupe to Medjugorje
36. Papal Infallibility: Tradition to Dogma
References and Reading
Index