Far be it from me to toot my own horn; however, I've written a few books, and if you could spare a bit of change to buy them from the publisher, it will help finance my somewhat less than extravagant lifestyle and keep this site up, running, and expanding for the future.  Thus, please take a moment to peruse

Books by the Author:  M. Joseph Young

There are currently seventeen that have been in print; more are nearing publication, although in this business exactly what that means is anybody's guess.  Quite a few of them are now out of print, available only as used copies if at all.  I've listed first the most recent, not exactly because it is the most recent but because if you've been here before you already know about the older books.  Personally, I think you'll all find something good in each of them.

The links will take you to more information, including links to reviews, pricing, a bit more about the contents, and links for ways to order the books online.

An Analytical Commentary


Series
Mark Joseph Young


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In the early aughts the author began creating a detailed lesson plan to teach the New Testament, beginning with The Apostle Paul's Epistle to the Romans, which became the text for the Christian Gamers Guild's Chaplain's Bible Study.  Those texts have been growing, with all of the Epistles, Revelation/Apocalypse, and three and a half Gospels prepared for teaching.

And now they are being reformatted and made available for those who missed that class, or who would like the material in a more accessible format.

Since the full series would overwhelm this page and drive all the other excellent books out of view, and since we hope to have new ones released at intervals over the next couple years until they are all in print, we'll keep this page to a brief list with a link to another page that has more detail about each book as it becomes available.

Currently the list of available commentaries is limited to Romans.  It is available in paperback and Kindle formats.

RPG Theory 101


and Other Essays on Role Playing Games
Mark Joseph Young
ISBN 978-1989940624 (Paper)


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Some of the author's best contributions to role playing game sites around the web are collected here, drawn from Places to Go, People to Be, RPG-net, RoleplayingTips.com, The Forge, Wounds Unlimited, and elsewhere.  Within are articles on game theory, legal systems, game design, game play, horror, and more.

The book includes a foreword by former Places to Go, People to Be French edition editor-in-chief Regis Pannier.  More information about individual articles is available at the link beneath the cover image.

It is available in paperback and Kindle formats.

RPG-ology Volume I


Mark Joseph Young
ISBN 978-1989940600 (Paper)


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The first five years--sixty monthly articles--of the RPG-ology series at the Christian Gamers Guild is compiled in this volume, supplemented by a few extra articles about gaming, discussing role playing game theory, design, and play, and recovering numerous articles which were originally part of the lost Game Ideas Unlimited series at Gaming Outpost.

The book includes a foreword by Dave Mattingly, former President of Blackwyrm Publishing and former Vice President of the Christian Gamers Guild.

It is available in paperback and Kindle formats.

Faith in Play Volume I


A Christian look at leisure
Mark Joseph Young
ISBN 978-1989940563 (Paper)


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The first five years--sixty monthly articles--of the Faith in Play series at the Christian Gamers Guild is compiled in this volume, supplemented by a few extra articles about Christian games and Christian faith, a look at our leisure activities going beyond games to include books, television, holidays, and more.

The book includes a foreword by "Geek Preacher" Derek White.

It is available in paperback and Kindle formats.

About the Fruit


Second Edition
Mark Joseph Young
ISBN 978-1-989940-50-1 (Paper)


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This is a new edition of the book which expanded on my web page about the fruit of the spirit, giving an examination of why it is called fruit, what it is, and how it relates to living by the Spirit within the context of the letter to the Galatians.

The book includes a bit of history of events in the first century church extrapolated from the accounts, and shows how grace works in relationships.

It is available in paperback and Kindle.

What Does God Expect?

A Gospel-based Approach to Christian Conduct


Second Edition
Mark Joseph Young
ISBN 198994048X (Paper)


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This is a new edition of my first Christian book originally published in 2006 but languishing due to limited publisher support.  Dimensionfold Publishing has taken it in hand to re-release it with a new cover and better promotion.

The book answers the question of how Christians can know what to do without resorting to laws or rules, giving a fully grace-based approach to conduct.  Reviewers were universally positive.

It is available in paperback.

Do You Trust Me?


Second Edition
Mark Joseph Young
ISBN 978-1-989940-45-7 (Paper)
  978-1-989940-46-4 (E-book)

This very important book was published originally in 2009, but never properly released.

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The theory of the book is that the message of salvation by grace through faith is not the new message of the New Testament, but the message of the entire Bible beginning with Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and including Abraham and the patriarchs, Moses and the Law, and all of God's chosen people throughout history.  Dimensionfold Books has kindly agreed to republish this significant exposition of the gospel through history.

It is available in paperback and in the Kindle electronic format.

The Essential Guide to Time Travel


Temporal Anomalies & Replacement Theory
Mark Joseph Young
ISBN 978-1-989940-29-7 (Paper)
  978-1-989940-30-3 (E-book)

This is the long requested concise yet comprehensive volume covering time travel theory.

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From Dimensionfold Publishing, it summarizes most of the important information from the two-hundred page temporal anomalies website, and should provide the reader with a comprehensive understanding of the various time travel theories, what works and what doesn't, and how to make sense of a time travel story.

It is available in paperback and various electronic book formats.

Why I Believe


Mark Joseph Young
ISBN 1989940099

One and a half decades in the writing,

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this is a fairly comprehensive yet compact presentation of the evidence for the existence of God and for Christianity specifically.

From Dimensionfold Publishing, it is the answer to the question of how it is that even some of the most intelligent people in the world believe in God.  It covers the classic and more modern arguments for the existence of God, plus other evidence of that existence, and responds to objections raised against such belief.

It is available in hardcover, paperback, and various electronic book formats.

Faith and Gaming
Revised and Expanded Edition


M. Joseph Young
ISBN 978-1-61318-152-2

In my role as chaplain of the Christian Gamers Guild, I wrote and published a series of articles, forty-nine in all, one per month for

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just over four years, exploring issues in role playing games and other hobby and leisure activities.  Christians and hobby gamers from around the world embraced these articles as a significant contribution not only to the hobby but also to the effort to make peace in the midst of conflict and misunderstanding.  BlackWyrm Publishing's Blessed Words Books division has now reprinted them in an expanded edition including several other articles on the subject, and at a better price.

This is available through booksellers everywhere.

Faith and Gaming


M. Joseph Young
ISBN 1-4116-4602-9

This is the original edition of the Faith and Gaming book, republished in a revised and expanded edition as described above, but still available in its original form from Lulu Press.

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  It contains the articles in the original series and the original cover art.

Game Ideas Unlimited


M. Joseph Young
ISBN None

In June, 2001, the Game Ideas Unlimited series began

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running weekly on Gaming Outpost.  Each week a new article appeared, averaging 1500 words, exploring aspects of creativity in fiction and games.  Over the course of those four years, the series explored everything from the details of character creation to the nature of thought to the nuances of games

Valdron Inc had decided to publish the entire series in an eight-volume set, in partnership with Cafe Press.  The first of these was released in April, 2008, but for various reasons this is no longer being pursued.

About the Fruit


M. Joseph Young
ISBN 978-0-6151-6379-6

Examining the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22, this compact study identifies half a dozen important aspects of "fruit" that are

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relevant to understanding God's work in our lives, then proceeds to examine in detail how the one fruit proves to be love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, yet not nine things but one thing described nine ways.  It continues to examine the situation in Galatia and in the Christian church at the time the Galatian epistle was written, unraveling the nature of the gospel as Paul understood it and why it is so opposed to the law preached by others at that time, then uncovers what it is to walk by the Spirit, and how that is accomplished in our lives.

This is the book for which readers have been asking for a long time.  The paperback version is worth the price to have it in hand and on the shelves, but it is also available for half the price as an electronic book in PDF format.

What Does God Expect?

A Gospel-based Approach to Christian Conduct
M. Joseph Young
ISBN-1-4116-4602-9

Presenting a compact but comprehensive view of how the Gospel of

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Jesus Christ informs our conduct, this short book packs in discussion of The Two Commandments, the Weaker Brother, Humility, Guidance, Renewing Your Mind, and more.

Early reviews mark this as the book to read for an understanding of Christian conduct that is not in any way legalistic but built on the fundamental principles of Christian faith.  At the same time, the book is praised for being readable, clear, and concise.  It is worth its price for the paperback edition, but is available as a downloadable PDF file for half the price.

Verse Three, Chapter One

The first Multiverser novel.
M. Joseph Young
ISBN-0-9700368-3-3

Available in hardcover, with an absolutely gorgeous dust jacket, this is the novel of which sci-fi buff John A1nut said, "This is one of

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the most original concepts I have ever read in a novel in my life", and Christian gamer Eric Ashley wrote for RPGnet, "This book is intelligent....thoughtful, upbeat...unpredictable, fun, down-to earth, and truly adult (its heroes are adults) SF," and rated it five out of five for both style and substance.

This novel has now been released in serialized form on the web to read for free, and the second Multiverser novel followed it, and the third, and several more in a continuing series of free hopefully quality fantasy/science fiction fiction.

Multiverser:  Referee's Rules

E. R. Jones, M. Joseph Young
ISBN-0-9700368-0-9

RPGnet's seasoned reviewer Justin Bacon said this game was "Unlike anything I've seen before."  Diana Jones award winner and Sorcerer

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author Ron Edwards called it "One of the shining lights of coherent simulationist design," and said that it offered "some of the best answers" to many of the problems in role playing games today.  This is the complete-in-one-book game system that lets you go anywhere and do anything your mind can dream.  When E. R. Jones brought me the core ideas, I knew it had to be made available to gamers everywhere.

Multiverser:  The First Book of Worlds

E. R. Jones, M. Joseph Young
ISBN-0-9700368-1-7

Even if you're not a Multiverser player, you're going to want this book for whatever games you play.  Justin Bacon said, "The

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First Book of Worlds, even moreso than the main rulebook, is something unique....The First Book of Worlds defies expectation."  He went on to say that the book provided gamers with "dozens of things which they can use in games of their own."  RPGnet's Breton Stron agreed that it was "everything a module should be."

If you are a Multiverser player, then you probably already know that this is a must-have book.  It contains NagaWorld, the most recognizable world in the Multiverser game, and one of the most alien places ever imagined.  The Zygote Experience, a thorough description of how to run a role playing scenario about being born, is within these pages.  The five other worlds provide space travel, swashbuckling, fairytale, dungeon crawl, medieval history, alternate modern, and survival settings, for a truly varied gaming experience and a ton of examples for use in creating more worlds.

Multiverser:  The Second Book of Worlds

M. Joseph Young, Dimitrios P. Denaxas
ISBN-0-9700368-2-5

When Willard Bowzer saw this volume, he declared, "The authors

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really did the game system justice by making the product line better."  Again the seven worlds provide nine playable scenarios, and again they are easily adapted to whatever game you prefer.  This batch includes a completely different fantasy world with nothing at all familiar within it, a historical adventure, a witch trial, an alien invasion, a primitive frozen world, an alternate modern, a post-apocalyptic, and a time travel story.

M. J. Young Net