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Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth by C. I. (Cyrus Ingerson) Scofield. In it, Scofield describes the distinction between many facts in the scriptures. This rendition is beautifully narrated by Bryan Nyman.

Theodore Roosevelt began this 1899 speech with his thesis: “I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life.” He discusses how the many hardships of his life shaped him for the better. Roosevelt believed that if Americans wished to succeed in the world, they would need to embrace the virtue of hard work. He applied this same belief to foreign affairs, stating that America must establish itself as a powerful military force and exert this power when necessary.   

Mark Twain delivered this humorous speech on taxation and morality at the Tuskegee Institute to commemorate its 25th anniversary. With his signature ironic wit, he told the audience woefully of the public vs. private morals of Christians. He says the Christian maintains the nation’s integrity 363 days a year, but the "other two days of the year he leaves his Christian private morals at home and carries his Christian public morals to the tax office and the polls, and does the best he can to damage and undo his whole year's faithful and righteous work."

Timothy Shay Arthur wrote many popular moral stories in the 19th century. In this tale, a family sends their son to a prestigious boarding school where he can academically prosper. Though things start off well, he soon falls in with the wrong crowd. The story mirrors the plot of the New Testament parable of the prodigal son, which shows the depth of forgiveness and the power of redemption. 

"Plough with an ox which will not miss a farrow." (Charles Spurgeon) "A Spur for a Free Horse" is a classic sermon by Charles Spurgeon. This audio edition is beautifully narrated by Bryan Nyman.

Hippocrates earned the title “Father of Medicine” for his extensive work in ancient Greece. He effectively established medicine as a profession. Modern doctors still swear to uphold the ethical standards he laid out in the Hippocratic Oath. His work On Surgery provides a fascinating look into medical history and the historical practices of this great physician. 

On the Decay of the Art of Lying is a classic essay penned by Mark Twain in 1880. This narration is performed by Larry G. Jones.

The Wicket Gate is the term first coined by Paul Bunyan for the narrow path to Heaven. In Around the Wicket Gate, Spurgeon speaks to those who are near the gate but have not yet walked through.

Surely Charles Spurgeon, one of the most prolific and important preachers of the 1800s, had plenty of reasons to be prideful. In this sermon, however, he notes that “of all creatures in the world the Christian is the last man who ought to be proud”. He provides examples from Scripture of prideful Christians whose lack of humility drove them apart and hindered their spread of the Gospel.

Lovecraftian themes abound in the tales of an intern at a madhouse and an illiterate madman. Slater, the madman whose unspeakable crimes led him to the madhouse, is continuously awakened in this story by surprisingly literate hallucinations of a glowing entity seeking revenge. Inspired by Slater’s uneducated background and the telepathic machine that he had made in his yesteryear, the intern delves deep into Joe Slater - who is receiving telepathic messages from a being of light.

A plague known as the Red Death has swept through the country, killing half the kingdom. Prince Prospero hides away in his castle with his favorite courtiers, unconcerned. One night, he throws a lavish masquerade ball, but the party goes south when a mysterious guest appears dressed as a plague victim. 

These 31 devotionals have the power to transform your prayer life in just one month. Andrew Murray, a 19th-century South African missionary, penned this collection of Christian meditations to guide believers into a closer relationship with God. How often are our prayers concerned primarily with ourselves? Murray asks. He encourages listeners to shift the focus to patient meditation on God and then wait to see what this awareness will bring. 

The Roman statesman Sulla had the nickname “Felix” - meaning “lucky.” Yet his accomplishments were more a matter of brute force than good fortune. He put an end to a civil war, declared himself dictator, and used his power to bring Rome back to its former value system, purging thousands of Roman enemies along the way. Plutarch’s biography of Sulla shows how one man’s use of force to obtain political power influenced many who came after him, most notably Julius Caesar.   

St. Teresa of Avila was a Carmelite nun, Spanish mystic, and reformer in the 16th century. She claims to have received visions from God, which are the subject of her written work. In this text, she emphasizes the importance of living a contemplative life in order to achieve complete union with God. 

Einhard served Charlemagne, king and Holy Roman Emperor, for 23 years. From that experience, combined with his in-depth research, Einhard penned this biography of Charlemagne in the style of Suetonius’ Lives of the Caesars. Because he felt indebted to Charlemagne, Einhard wrote in a partial tone, exalting the man’s achievements and overlooking certain unflattering details about his life. Despite this, historians regard The Life of Charlemagne as an important historical account that, while not far-reaching, is largely reliable.  

Revenge, death, and destruction abound in this early short story by H.P. Lovecraft. The story follows Antoine, a count who is last in line to die at the age of 32 due to a curse put on his family hundreds of years prior. His ancestor, being responsible for the death, brought about the curse, and Antoine was left to watch all his family, including his manservant, die an early death. But when his time comes and he is exploring the castle in wait, he manages to successfully end the curse by deflecting the fatal blow of Charles - the son of the man who was killed so many years ago.

The Life of Aratus is one of the many biographies detailed in Plutarch’s integral work, Parallel Lives. In The Life of Aratus, Plutarch details the dynamic work done by the successor of Nicocles and talks about his advocacy to turn Greece into a united country. Working as a soldier first and then a diplomat, he fought for the betterment of his fellow countrymen. Disaster hit during his later reign, as it so often did, and though many wanted him dead, the great Oracle at Delphi had other plans.   

The public mourns when a beloved magistrate dies, a man of upstanding character who had a reputation for bringing criminals to justice. Yet when our tale’s narrator stumbles upon the man’s diary, he discovers another side to this public servant. One entry reads: “It must be a pleasure, unique and full of zest, to kill.”  

When it came to Athens and their leaders, few were as influential as the politician and Stratego Nicias. In Plutarch’s Parallel Lives, he documents the Peloponnesian War and other great achievements of the time through the life of Nicias. Most importantly, he helped negotiate peace after a decades-long war, which made him popular after an unsuccessful start in politics. However, after many years of political truces and actions, his life took a turn for the worse.   

Daniel Webster gave this speech in honor of George Washington on the centennial of the first US president’s birth. In it, he praises Washington’s attributes and recounts his service to America. He states that Washington is a man “whose name is intimately blended with whatever belongs most essentially to the prosperity, the liberty, and the renown of our country”. In recounting the life and work of Washington, however, Webster’s speech also serves as a reflection on the past 100 years in American history and the birth of a great nation.