Church History
Showing 101–150 of 789 results
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Separated Siblings : An Evangelical Understanding Of Jews And Judaism
$36.99Add to cartIn the minds of many American evangelicals today, Judaism exists in two places: the pages of the Bible and the modern nation of Israel. In Separated Siblings, John Phelan offers to fill in the gaps of this limited understanding with the larger story of Judaism, including its long history and key facets of Jewish thought and practice. Phelan shows that Judaism is anything but monolithic or unchanging. Readers may be surprised to learn that contemporary Judaism exists in a multiplicity of forms and continues to evolve, as recent changes in scholarly Jewish perspectives on Jesus and Paul attest.
An evangelical Christian himself, Phelan addresses what other evangelicals are often most curious about, such as Jewish beliefs concerning salvation and eschatology. Nevertheless, Separated Siblings is geared toward understanding rather than Christian apologetics, aiming for an undistorted view of Judaism that is sensitive to the painful history of Christian replacement theology and other forms of anti-Semitism. Readers of this book will emerge with more informed attitudes toward their Jewish brothers and sisters-those in Israel and those across the street.
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Anchored In The Current
$34.00Add to cartIn this volume, internationally known leaders like Marian Wright Edelman, Parker Palmer, and Barbara Brown Taylor invite the reader into creative engagement with Thurman’s writings.
Howard Thurman was famously known as one of the towering giants of American religion in the twentieth century. His writings have influenced some of the most important religious and political figures of the last century, from Martin Luther King to Barack Obama. Theologians such as James Cone and Cornel West regularly signal their indebtedness to him. He was a mystic, a preacher, an educator, a theologian, and much more. It is impossible to understand the African American church today without an appreciation for his contributions.
And yet, while Thurman’s name is often recognized, his seminal ideas have not received the attention they deserve. In this volume, internationally known leaders like Marian Wright Edelman, Parker Palmer, and Barbara Brown Taylor invite the reader into creative engagement with Thurman’s writings. Anchored in the Current illuminates how Thurman’s life and wisdom lead these influential names on the ancient quest to connect with the Ultimate, all while discovering the contemporary need to seek racial justice and sharpening the minds and faith of those who come after us. Readers will find important and enduring answers in the works of this indispensable prophet and teacher.
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Voices Of The Martyrs Graphic Novel Anthology AD 34-AD 203
$29.99Add to cartVoices of the Martyrs, A.D. 34 – A.D. 203 covers the earliest period of church history. Though we will never know how many have given their lives for following Jesus Christ, this volume contains the stories of the first, and best known. Men and women who were faithful to their Savior, regardless the cost.
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God Has Chosen
$30.99Add to cart“He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world . . .” Among the traditional tenets of the Christian faith is the belief that God chooses or elects people for salvation. For some Christians, such an affirmation is an indication of God’s sovereign and perfect will. For others, such a notion is troubling for it seems to downplay the significance of human agency and choice. Throughout the church’s history, Christians have sought to understand the meaning of relevant biblical texts and debated this theological conundrum. With care and insight, theologian Mark Lindsay surveys the development of the Christian doctrine of election. After exploring Scripture on this theme, he turns to the various articulations of this doctrine from the early church fathers, including Augustine, and medieval theologians such as Aquinas, to John Calvin’s view, the subsequent debate between Calvinists and Arminians, and Karl Barth’s modern reconception of the doctrine. On this journey through the Bible and church history, readers will discover how Christians have understood the notion that God has chosen.
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Retrieving Augustines Doctrine Of Creation
$30.99Add to cartHow might premodern exegesis of Genesis inform Christian debates about creation today? Imagine a table with three people in dialogue: a young-earth creationist, an old-earth creationist, and an evolutionary creationist. Into the room walks Augustine of Hippo, one of the most significant theologians in the history of the church. In what ways will his reading of Scripture and his doctrine of creation inform, deepen, and shape the conversation? Pastor and theologian Gavin Ortlund explores just such a scenario by retrieving Augustine’s reading of Genesis 1-3 and considering how his premodern understanding of creation can help Christians today. Ortlund contends that while Augustine’s hermeneutical approach and theological questions might differ from those of today, this church father’s humility before Scripture and his theological conclusions can shed light on matters such as evolution, animal death, and the historical Adam and Eve. Have a seat. Join the conversation.
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Questions Of Context
$40.99Add to cartThe gospel is for every tribe, tongue, and nation (Revelation 7:9), but there is no single biblical or theological model for the relationship between the gospel and these diverse cultures. Indeed, every suggested approach carries its own range of philosophical and theological commitments that all too often remain unexamined. Contextualization is fraught with challenges-yet wrestling with questions of context is essential for how we understand mission, theology, and the embodiment of the Christian faith. German missiology has engaged these questions in a variety of ways that can both inform and critique Anglo-American traditions. In this compilation and analysis, John Flett and Henning Wrogemann translate and comment on a core thread of German missiological works, explaining both their historical and current significance. Drawn from journals and books across a century of academic discourse, these classic writings trace developments from Gustav Warneck, the father of contemporary missiology, through key thinkers such as Karl Hartenstein, who coined the term missio Dei, down to twenty-first century discussions of intercultural hermeneutics. Along the way they reveal advances, mistakes, and changing definitions as German missiologists interacted with the cultural and political realities of their time. This longitudinal study, showcasing many texts available in English for the first time, tackles the history and dynamics of contextualization head-on and sheds new light on the state of missiology today. We are reminded, Flett and Wrogemann argue, that we must keep working to honor difference within the worldwide Christian community as necessary to the fullness of our being in Christ.
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Clare Of Assisi
$19.99Add to cartClare of Assisi is generally known as “the female friend” of Saint Francis of Assisi and for centuries her legacy has remained obscured by his shadow. Yet Clare’s life and story ought to shine in its own light and on its own terms (her name, after all, means “light”). She is a figure of true heroism, tenacity, beatitude and grit who plotted her improbable course in the context of the raucous and explosive period of the Middle Ages. Much went wrong for Clare after the day when, as a teen, she fled the home of her noble and wealthy family to follow Francis in a life of poverty. No one would have begrudged her if, when the trials had become onerous, she had decided simply to “go home.” Yet she stayed the course, even after Francis had died. She pulled from the fire of her trials embers that would become her crown. In this new book, Wendy Murray digs deeply into Clare’s decision to abandon rank and wealth for allegiance to Christ (and in no small way, Francis) and explores the circumstances which, later on, tested Clare’s devotion. Clare’s curious and vivid spiritual vision galvanized her ability to persevere amid difficult circumstances and enabled her to stay her course and lay claim to a legacy that shines brightly among the host of medieval saints.
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Gloss And The Text
$28.99Add to cartScripture opens itself up by its own words and interpretation.
William Perkins is the father of Puritanism, often remembered for his preaching manual, The Art of Prophesying. Much attention has been given to the Puritan movement, especially in its later forms, but comparatively little has been given to Perkins.
In The Gloss and the Text, Andrew Ballitch provides a thorough examination of the hermeneutical principles that governed Perkins’s approach to biblical interpretation. Perkins taught that the Bible was God’s word as well as the interpretation of God’s word. Interpretation is no private matter; it is a public gift of the Spirit of God for the people of God. Ballitch’s study sheds light on Perkins as a preacher, theologian, and student of Scripture.
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History Of The Early Church
$34.95Add to cartThe History of the Early Church is an attempt to get behind the popular myths which have dominated church life for nearly 2000 years by bringing together accounts from the New Testament and a few other works which describe the same incidents from different perspectives and often distort the narrative for security reasons. He points out the anomalies and comments on speculations which now seem to have a sounder base than most theologians would acknowledge. The result will disappoint many fundamentalists who have used the most tortuous arguments to support their version of events. However the essential message which emerges is that God is Love.
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Brown Church : Five Centuries Of Latina/O Social Justice, Theology, And Ide
$30.99Add to cartInterest in and awareness of the demand for social justice as an outworking of the Christian faith is growing. But it is not new.
For five hundred years, the Latina/o culture and identity has been shaped by its challenges to the religious, socio-economic, and political status quo, whether in its opposition to Spanish colonialism, Latin American dictatorships, US imperialism in Central America, the oppression of farmworkers, or the current exploitation of undocumented immigrants. Christianity has played a significant role in that movement at every stage. Robert Chao Romero, the son of a Mexican father and a Chinese immigrant mother, explores the history and theology of what he terms the “Brown Church.” Romero considers how this movement has responded to these and other injustices throughout its history by appealing to the belief that God’s vision for redemption includes not only heavenly promises but also the transformation of every aspect of our lives and the world. Walking through this history of activism and faith, readers will discover that Latina/o Christians have a heart after God’s own.
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They Also Serve
$29.99Add to cartWhen a bishop is elected-as is done in The United Methodist Church-it is not only the one elected who is asked to serve but his or her spouse and family as well. Hear the stories of the women and men whose commitment to service often meant leaving behind careers and lives of their own to embark on a life-changing journey revolved around the ministry of their spouse. Through hardships, celebrations, and everyday struggles, these spouses found their own paths of ministry, answering the calls that were also placed upon their lives.
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Multitude Of All Peoples
$35.99Add to cartChristianity is not becoming a global religion. It has always been a global religion.
The early Christian movement spread from Jerusalem in every direction, taking on local cultural expression all around the ancient world. So why do so many people see Christianity as a primarily Western, white religion? In A Multitude of All Peoples, Vince Bantu surveys the geographic range of the early church’s history, revealing an alternate, more accurate narrative to that of Christianity as a product of the Western world. He begins by investigating the historical roots of the Western cultural captivity of the church, from the conversion of Constantine to the rise of European Christian empires. He then shifts focus to the too-often-forgotten concurrent development of diverse expressions of Christianity across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. In the process, Bantu removes obstacles to contemporary missiological efforts. Focusing on the necessity for contextualization and indigenous leadership in effective Christian mission, he draws out practical lessons for intercultural communication of the gospel. Healing the wounds of racism, imperialism, and colonialism will be possible only with renewed attention to the marginalized voices of the historic global church. The full story of early Christianity makes clear that, as the apostle Peter said, “God does not show favoritism, but accepts those from every people who fear him and do what is right.”
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Recapturing An Enchanted World
$30.99Add to cartWhile the Free Churches rightly sought to cleanse the church of the abuses of sacramentalism, in that process they also set aside some of the church’s historic practices and theology. In response to this liturgically thin space, Mennonite theologian and minister John D. Rempel considers the role of the sacraments and ritual within the Free Church tradition, helping us perceive the sacramental nature of our faith and worship.
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Dynamics Of Spiritual Life (Expanded)
$45.99Add to cartIn this expanded edition of a classic work of spiritual theology, historian Richard Lovelace presents a history of spiritual renewals in light of biblical models. With scholarly and pastoral insight, he offers a powerful vision of renewal that can unify various models across traditions, combining individual and corporate spirituality, social activism, and evangelism.
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Color Of Compromise
$22.99Add to cartAn acclaimed, timely narrative of how people of faith have historically–up to the present day–worked against racial justice. And a call for urgent action by all Christians today in response.
The Color of Compromise is both enlightening and compelling, telling a history we either ignore or just don’t know. Equal parts painful and inspirational, it details how the American church has helped create and maintain racist ideas and practices. You will be guided in thinking through concrete solutions for improved race relations and a racially inclusive church.
The Color of Compromise
*Takes you on a historical, sociological, and religious journey: from America’s early colonial days through slavery and the Civil War
*Covers the tragedy of Jim Crow laws, the victories of the Civil Rights era, and the strides of today’s Black Lives Matter movement
*Reveals the cultural and institutional tables we have to flip in order to bring about meaningful integration
*Charts a path forward to replace established patterns and systems of complicity with bold, courageous, immediate action
*Is a perfect book for pastors and other faith leaders, students, non-students, book clubs, small group studies, history lovers, and all lifelong learnersThe Color of Compromise is not a call to shame or a platform to blame white evangelical Christians. It is a call from a place of love and desire to fight for a more racially unified church that no longer compromises what the Bible teaches about human dignity and equality. A call that challenges black and white Christians alike to standup now and begin implementing the concrete ways Tisby outlines, all for a more equitable and inclusive environment among God’s people. Starting today.
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Born Again : The Evangelical Theology Of Conversion In John Wesley And Geor
$23.99Add to cartThe Christian life is a life of growth.
The gospel message is simple but not simplistic. Learning the gospel and its implications is a lifelong process, but modern evangelicals are often too focused on the moment of conversion while ignoring the ongoing work of sanctification. For John Wesley and George Whitefield, justification and sanctification were inseparable.
In Born Again, Sean McGever maps Wesley’s and Whitefield’s theologies of conversion, reclaiming the connection between justification and sanctification. This study helps evangelicals reassess their thin understanding of conversion, leading to a rich and full picture of the ongoing work new Christians face.
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Inexplicable : How Christianity Spread To The Ends Of The Earth
$17.99Add to cartA Trilogy Christian Publishing Title
The name of Jesus and his teachings captured people’s hearts and minds throughout much of the world long before Christianity was legal. Long before armies and governments protected or supported it, and then long after Emperor Constantine’s reign as many leaders misused it for their own gains or religious views. Christianity also survived brutal persecutions during many centuries, including the present. Its growth seems inexplicable.
While there are innumerable possible explanations for this, in the final analysis there are relatively few viable answers. One leading contender is that there really is something to the mystical power of the Holy Spirit, and the life-changing message of Jesus recorded in the New Testament. Another is, at the least billions of people have held passionate beliefs in Jesus’s miraculous powers over life and death, and his eternal promises. The Pew Research Center’s recent work supports the claim that “Christianity is the only religion in the world with a major presence on every continent.”
Inexplicable traces this remarkable spread of Jesus’s followers, including many of the heroic actions from those believing in his deity, and those horrific actions of those misusing his teachings. The Gospel’s journey is ongoing, and its story remains an engaging one. From Coptic monasteries and the Roman Colosseum to a small church in Franklin, Tennessee or mega churches in Laos or Seoul, it’s a rich narrative. Whether standing in the Sistine Chapel, looking at a Nestorian stone in China, or a Christian school in Kigali, this narrative continues and here we provide its historic context.
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Piercing Heaven : Prayers Of The Puritans
$24.99Add to cart“That prayer is most likely to pierce heaven which first pierces one’s own heart.”
For the Puritans, prayer was neither casual nor dull. Their prayers were passionate affairs, from earnestly pleading for mercy to joyful praise. These rich expressions of deep Christian faith are a shining example of holy living.
The Puritan combination of warm piety and careful intellect have fueled a renaissance of interest in their movement. This combination is on display in Piercing Heaven, a collection of carefully selected prayers from leading Puritans. The language in these prayers has been slightly updated for a modern audience while still retaining the elevated tone of the Puritans. With prayers from Richard Baxter, Thomas Brooks, John Owen, and many more, each prayer reminds us that heartfelt prayer is central to the Christian life.
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Evangelicals : Who They Have Been, Are Now, And Could Be
$35.99Add to cartThe past, present, and future of a movement in crisis
What exactly do we mean when we say “evangelical”? How should we understand this many-sided world religious phenomenon? How do recent American politics change that understanding?
Three scholars have been vital to our understanding of evangelicalism for the last forty years: Mark Noll, whose Scandal of the Evangelical Mind identified an earlier crisis point for American evangelicals; David Bebbington, whose “Bebbington Quadrilateral” remains the standard characterization of evangelicals used worldwide; and George Marsden, author of the groundbreaking Fundamentalism and American Culture: The Shaping of Twentieth-Century Evangelicalism. Now, in Evangelicals, they combine key earlier material concerning the history of evangelicalism with their own new contributions about present controversies and also with fresh insights from other scholars. The result begins as a survey of how evangelicalism has been evaluated, but then leads into a discussion of the movement’s perils and promise today.
Evangelicals provides an illuminating look at who evangelicals are, how evangelicalism has changed over time, and how evangelicalism continues to develop in sometimes surprising ways.
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Story Of Creeds And Confessions
$38.00Add to cartCreeds and confessions throughout Christian history provide a unique vantage point from which to study the Christian faith. To this end, Donald Fairbairn and Ryan Reeves construct a story that captures both the central importance of creeds and confessions over the centuries and their unrealized potential to introduce readers to the overall sweep of church history. The book features texts of classic creeds and confessions as well as informational sidebars. Additional resources are available through Baker Academic’s Textbook eSources.
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Challenging The Spirit Of Modernity
$25.99Add to cartGod’s word illumines the darkness of society.
Dutch politician and historian Groen van Prinsterer’s Unbelief and Revolution is a foundational work addressing the inherent tension between the church and secular society. Writing at the onset of modernity in Western culture, Groen saw with amazing clarity the dire implications of abandoning God’s created order for human life in society. Groen’s work served as an inspiration for many contemporary theologians, and he had a profound impact on Abraham Kuyper’s famous public theology.
In Challenging the Spirit of Modernity, Harry Van Dyke places this seminal work into historical context, revealing how this vital contribution still speaks into the fractured relationship between religion and society. A deeper understanding of the roots of modern secularism and Groen’s strong, faithful response to it gives us a better grasp of the same conflict today.
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Jesus Remembered : Christianity In The Making, Volume 1
$77.99Add to cartJames Dunn is regarded worldwide as one of today’s foremost biblical scholars. Having written groundbreaking studies of the New Testament and a standard work on Paul’s theology, Dunn here turns his pen to the rise of Christianity itself. Jesus Remembered is the first installment in what will be a monumental three-volume history of the first 120 years of the faith.
Focusing on Jesus, this first volume has several distinct features. It garners the lessons to be learned from the “quest for the historical Jesus” and meets the hermeneutical challenges to a historical and theological assessment of the Jesus tradition. It provides a fresh perspective both on the impact made by Jesus and on the traditions about Jesus as oral tradition — hence the title “Jesus Remembered.” And it offers a fresh analysis of the details of that tradition, emphasizing its characteristic (rather than dissimilar) features. Noteworthy too are Dunn’s treatments of the source question (particularly Q and the noncanonical Gospels) and of Jesus the Jew in his Galilean context.
In his detailed analysis of the Baptist tradition, the kingdom motif, the call to and character of discipleship, what Jesus’ audiences thought of him, what he thought of himself, why he was crucified, and how and why belief in Jesus’ resurrection began, Dunn engages wholeheartedly in the contemporary debate, providing many important insights and offering a thoroughly convincing account of how Jesus was remembered from the first, and why.
Written with peerless scholarly acumen yet accessible to a wide range of readers, Dunn’s Jesus Remembered, together with its successor volumes, will be a sine qua non for all students of Christianity’s beginnings.
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Loving God And Neighbor With Samuel Pearce
$12.99Add to cartThe love of God and neighbor is the heart of the Christian faith. Forgotten saint Samuel Pearce teaches us how to live a life faithful to the greatest commandment.
Pearce was a Baptist pastor known in eighteenth-century England for his moving preaching and strong, pious character. In his short life, he supported believers in his own parish as well as in the many cities where he preached and helped send missionaries. Yet his personal faith, founded on the “holy love” of God, formed his most compelling witness to the world. By getting to know Pearce’s story, readers will learn from his example what it looks like to love God and neighbor – in good times as well as challenging and seemingly mundane ones.
The Lived Theology series explores aspects of Christian doctrine through the eyes of the men and women who practiced it. Interweaving the contributions of notable individuals alongside their overshadowed contemporaries, we gain a much deeper understanding and appreciation of their work and the broad tapestry of Christian history. These books illuminate the vital contributions made by these figures throughout the history of the church.
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Engaging The World With Abraham Kuyper
$12.99Add to cartChrist declares “Mine!” over every square inch of creation.
In his well–known quote, Abraham Kuyper expressed the defining characteristic of his public theology: Jesus’ sovereignty extends over all things. He believed Christians should engage the whole world in all of its various spheres. But what does that comprehensive calling practically look like for us today?
In Engaging the World with Abraham Kuyper, Michael Wagenman explores the practical application of Kuyper’s public theology. Using Kuyper’s own life as an example, he shows us how the gospel can permeate all aspects of society: our identity, public discourse, education, the church, politics. Ultimately, this means engaging the world with perceptive truth that’s mindful of the dynamics at work in our time and place.
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Greater Things : The Story Of New Wine So Far
$14.99Add to cartIn conjunction with the 30th anniversary of New Wine, this book is a celebration of all the work of the New Wine family, from summer conferences to New Wine network churches, and both within the UK and across the world. With first-hand content from the Pytches and Coles who saw the New Wine story from the beginning, the book follows the journey of the movement from its origins, through its current work and focus, and ends with a brief look at New Wine’s dreams for the near future. Compiled of chapters from a number of people involved in New Wine, the book includes content from leaders and movements which have sprung out of New Wine, such as Soul Survivor’s Mike Pilavachi and worship leaders Matt Redman and Tim Hughes. These chapters provide an opportunity to hear the story directly from the people most involved in the movement: the challenges they’ve faced, the lessons they’ve learned, and the blessings they’ve seen over the years.
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Ancient Christian Commentary On Scripture Set
$1,500.00Add to cartThis unique thirty-volume series from general editor Thomas C. Oden–now in paperback for the first time–offers you the opportunity to study for yourself key writings of the early church fathers. Arranged canonically and employing the RSV, each volume allows the living voices of the church in its formative centuries to speak as they engage the sacred page of Scripture.
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Meaning Of Protestant Theology
$36.00Add to cartThis book offers a creative and illuminating discussion of Protestant theology. Veteran teacher Phillip Cary explains how Luther’s theology arose from the Christian tradition, particularly from the spirituality of Augustine. Luther departed from the Augustinian tradition and inaugurated distinctively Protestant theology when he identified the gospel that gives us Christ as its key concept. More than any other theologian, Luther succeeds in carrying out the Protestant intention of putting faith in the gospel of Christ alone. Cary also explores the consequences of Luther’s teachings as they unfold in the history of Protestantism.
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Reformation And The Irrepressible Word Of God
$30.99Add to cartThe Protestant Reformers were transformed by their encounters with Scripture. Bringing together the reflections of church historians and theologians delivered at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, these essays consider historical, hermeneutical, theological, and practical issues regarding the Bible, revealing that the irrepressible Word of God continues to transform hearts and minds.
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Balm In Gilead
$28.99Add to cartPulitzer Prize-winning novelist Marilynne Robinson is one of the most eminent public intellectuals in America today, and her writing offers probing meditations on the Christian faith. Based on the 2018 Wheaton Theology Conference, this volume brings together the thoughts of leading theologians, historians, literary scholars, and church leaders who engaged in theological dialogue with Robinson’s work–and with the author herself.
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Putting Joy Into Practice
$16.99Add to cartPutting Joy into Practice: Seven Ways to Lift Your Spirit from the Early Church is an invitation to a life of joy. Phoebe Farag Mikhail explains what joy is and how to experience it through seven spiritual practices that cultivate our inner lives and connect us to our communities. These seven practices, which include giving thanks, hospitality, praise, and more, take us on a journey that leads to joy through the giving and receiving of sacrificial love. She describes her own experiences and struggles with joy and offers practical ways to implement these practices to increase joy in our own lives and in the lives of all those around us.
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Unimaginable : What Our World Would Be Like Without Christianity
$17.00Add to cartIs God dying? Some people think so–and more want it so. They say Christian beliefs and our way of life aren’t relevant anymore. But what critics, and even many churchgoers, don’t realize is the life-changing importance of Christianity.
Showing how the world would be a dark place without Christianity, Unimaginable guides you through the halls of history to see how Jesus’s teachings dramatically changed our world and continue to be the most powerful force for good today. Learn how Christianity has stood against slavery, racism, eugenics, and injustices toward women and children why freedom as a universal value and modern education and legal systems owe much to Christianityhow Christians throughout the ages have demonstrated the value of human life by sacrificially caring for the sick, marginalized, and dying how people of faith are extending God’s kingdom through charities, mental health initiatives, and other ways.
This provocative and enlightening book is sure to encourage believers and equip them to respond to doubters.
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Larger Hope : Universal Salvation From The Reformation To The Nineteenth Ce
$51.00Add to cartThis book aims to uncover and explore the ideas of notable people in the story of Christian universalism from the time of the Reformation until the end of the nineteenth century. It is a story that is largely unknown in both the church and the academy, and the characters that populate it have for the most part passed into obscurity. With carefully located bore holes drilled to release the long-hidden theologies of key people and texts, the volume seeks to display and historically situate the roots, shapes, and diversity of Christian universalism. Here we discover a diverse and motley crew of mystics and scholars, social prophets and end-time sectarians, evangelicals and liberals, orthodox and heretics, Calvinists and Arminians, Puritans, Pietists, and a host of others. The story crisscrosses Continental Europe, Britain, and America, and its reverberations remain with us to this day.
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Christian Mission : A Concise, Global History
$26.99Add to cartA deeper understanding of the grand history of mission leads to a faithful expression of God’s mission today.
From the beginning, God’s mission has been carried out by people sent around the world. From Abraham to Jesus, the thread that weaves its way throughout Scripture is a God who sends his people across the world, proclaiming his kingdom. As the world has evolved, Christian mission continues to be a foundational tradition in the church.
In this one-volume textbook, Edward Smither weaves together a comprehensive history of Christian mission, from the apostles to the modern church. In each era, he focuses on the people sent by God to the ends of the earth, while also describing the cultural context they encountered. Smither highlights the continuity and development across thousands of years of global mission.
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Restless Faith : Holding Evangelical Beliefs In A World Of Contested Labels
$22.00Add to cartOne of the most influential evangelical voices in America chronicles what it has meant for him to spend the past half century as a “restless evangelical”–a way of maintaining his identity in an age when many claim the label “evangelical” has become so politicized that it is no longer viable. Richard Mouw candidly reflects on wrestling with traditional evangelical beliefs over the years and shows that although his mind has changed in some ways, his core beliefs have not. He contends that we should hold on to the legacy that has enriched evangelicalism in the past. The Christian life in its healthiest form, says Mouw, is always a matter of holding on to essentials while constantly moving on along paths that we can walk in faithfulness only by seeking the continuing guidance of the light of God’s Word. As Mouw affirms the essentials of the evangelical faith, he helps a new generation see the wisdom embodied in them.
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ReGrace : What The Shocking Beliefs Of The Great Christians Can Teach Us To
$18.00Add to cartThe church is tired of seeing Christians act ungraciously toward one another when they disagree. Social media has added to the carnage. Christians routinely block each other on Facebook because of doctrinal disagreements. The world watches the blood-letting, and the Christian witness is tarnished.
But what if every Christian discovered that their favorite teacher in church history had blind spots and held to some false–and even shocking–views?
Bestselling author Frank Viola argues that this simple awareness will soften Christians when they interact with each other in the face of theological disagreements. In ReGrace, he uncovers some of the shocking beliefs held by faith giants like C.S. Lewis, Luther, Calvin, Moody, Spurgeon, Wesley, Graham, and Augustine–not to downgrade or dismiss them, but to show that even “the greats” in church history didn’t get everything right. Knowing that the heroes of our faith sometimes got it wrong will empower us to treat our fellow Christians with grace rather than disdain whenever we disagree over theology.
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Larger Hope : Universal Salvation From The Reformation To The Nineteenth Ce
$31.00Add to cartThis book aims to uncover and explore the ideas of notable people in the story of Christian universalism from the time of the Reformation until the end of the nineteenth century. It is a story that is largely unknown in both the church and the academy, and the characters that populate it have for the most part passed into obscurity. With carefully located bore holes drilled to release the long-hidden theologies of key people and texts, the volume seeks to display and historically situate the roots, shapes, and diversity of Christian universalism. Here we discover a diverse and motley crew of mystics and scholars, social prophets and end-time sectarians, evangelicals and liberals, orthodox and heretics, Calvinists and Arminians, Puritans, Pietists, and a host of others. The story crisscrosses Continental Europe, Britain, and America, and its reverberations remain with us to this day.
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John Henry Newman And His Age
$47.00Add to cartMany books exist devoted to the life, thought, and writings of Blessed John Henry Newman, the premier Catholic theologian in nineteenth-century England. His influence has been enormous, perhaps especially on Vatican II (1962-65). This book is a Newman primer, and not only a primer about Newman himself, but also about his time and place in church history. It attends to the papacy during his lifetime, his companions and friends, some of his peers at Oxford University, the First Vatican Council (1869-70), as well as some of his writing and theology. It should be especially helpful to an interested reader who has no particular background in nineteenth-century church history or in Newman himself.
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5 Events That Made Christianity
$14.99Add to cartWith characteristic style, John Pritchard takes us on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, as he unpacks the five great events that made Christianity – Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension and Pentecost. We explore: “What happened?” “What did it mean?” “What does it mean for us?” Absorbing, immediate and full of stories, this volume offers deeply considered theology, brilliantly communicated to connect with life as we actually experience it.
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Lion Of Judah
$16.99Add to cartIf Jesus is a Jew, why is there a wedge between Christianity and Judaism?
If Jews and Christians both believe in the same God, why is there such division? Why is history littered with deathly accounts of this division, from the early Jewish persecution of Christians to the Crusades’ slaughtering of Jews?
The Lion of Judah unpacks the roots of this division, showing how jealousy, theology, the law, and the integration of Gentile believers into what was once a predominantly Jewish early church contributed to the schism. It then goes on to reveal how Jesus magnificently fulfilled every word in the Bible. Readers will discover why the Lion of Judah is the rightful Lord and King of all people-Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, atheists, and the rest of creation.
This book will help Christians understand the history of Christianity and Judaism, get into greater alignment with God’s plan of redemption, be better equipped to share the gospel with Jewish people, and become more sensitive to and appreciative of their Hebraic heritage.
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Foxes Book Of Martyrs
$19.99Add to cartIn 1563, John Foxe published an account of the life of Christian martyrs, beginning with Stephen, the first to die for the cause of Christ, and ending with the most recent martyrs of his day–Protestants killed during Bloody Mary’s reign. He knew that dangers lay in forgetting the martyrs–in being insensitive to their struggles. They faced torture and death in their fight of faith, willing to stand for their beliefs and the Word of God regardless of the price. The faithfulness of such historical figures as John Wycliffe, John Huss, Martin Luther, William Tyndale, and so many others has given us our rich Christian heritage. Their courage and dedication inspire us to live for Christ today.
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Uncommon Virtues : Seven Saints Who Shaped Our Faith
$12.99Add to cartMany have heard of the Cappadocian Fathers that trio from the fourth century who shaped much of the way we think about our faith today. What some don’t realize is that these men were surrounded by several devout women who had a profound influence on their lives and their theology.
DR. CARLA SUNBERG has uncovered the fragments of details that remain about seven revolutionary women, whom she calls the Cappadocian Mothers. In so doing, Sunberg introduces to us a group of saints who practiced some very Uncommon Virtues. You’ll be challenged and inspired by the stories of these incredible and courageous women who model a new way of following Christ.
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Swords And Plowshares
$24.99Add to cartEvangelicals are warmongering nationalists–right?
Many assume that evangelicals have always shared the ideology and approach of the Moral Majority. But the truth is much more complex. Historically, evangelical rank and file have not held to one position about war; instead, they are strewn across the spectrum from love of peace to glorying in war.
Timothy Padgett presents evangelicals in their own words. And in so doing he complicates our common perceptions of evangelical attitudes towards war and peace. Evangelical leaders regularly wrote about the temporal and eternal implications of war from World War II to the Vietnam War. Padgett allows us to see firsthand how these evangelicals actually spoke about war and love of country.
Instead of blind ideologues we meet concerned people of conviction struggling to reconcile the demands of a world in turmoil with the rule of the Prince of peace.
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7 Books That Rocked The Church
$19.95Add to cart7 Books That Rocked the Church, by Daniel Crane, explores controversial books throughout history that the Christian church has famously disavowed–and asks the question why?
Engagingly written and thoughtfully researched, this book explores what the “fuss” was all about with books ranging in date from the second century after Christ to more contemporary authors. Books by Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, Galileo Galilei, and many others profoundly upset the church by calling into question foundational Christian doctrines or beliefs. Most of the books discussed here were banned at some time by Christian authorities.
The author’s aim is to challenge Christians to respond critically but open-mindedly to books that oppose a Christian worldview. Readers of 7 Books That Rocked the Church will come away better equipped to answer the charge that the church is intolerant of competing ideas. They will also develop the ability to interact with new and possibly dangerous ideas that comport with Jesus’ admonition to be wise as serpents but gentle as doves. This book also includes discussion questions for further study.
1. Valentinus the Gnostic: Who Doesn’t Love a Conspiracy Theory? (Think The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown)
2. Galileo Galilei: A Scandal of Religion, Science, and Politics
3. Voltaire’s Candide, Enlightenment Rationalism, and the Church’s Thin Skin
4. Darwin’s Origin of Species: The Many Faces of Evolutionary Theory
5. Marx’s Communist Manifesto: The Red Bull of the Masses
6. Sigmund Freud’s Ego
7. Joseph Campbell: Christianity as an (Almost) Enlightened Myth (A book that strongly influenced George Lucas’s Star Wars films)
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Why Study The Past
$21.99Add to cartThe well-worn saying about being condemned to repeat the history we do not know applies to church history as much as to any other area of history. But how can we discern what lessons we need to learn from the many centuries of church history?
In this small but thoughtful volume, respected theologian and churchman Rowan Williams opens up a theological approach to history, an approach that is both nonpartisan and relevant to the church’s present needs. As he reflects on how we consider the past in general, Williams suggests that church history remains important not so much for winning arguments as for clarifying who we are as time-bound human beings. Williams particularly addresses North American readers in his new preface to this perennially timely invitation to remember who we are.
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Disputed Teaching Of Vatican 2
$43.99Add to cartThe Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) radically shook up many centuries of tradition in the Roman Catholic Church. This book by Thomas Guarino, a noted expert on the sources and methods of Catholic doctrine, investigates whether Vatican II’s highly contested teachings on religious freedom, ecumenism, and the Virgin Mary represented a harmonious development of-or a rupture with-Catholic tradition.
Guarino’s careful explanations of such significant terms as continuity, discontinuity, analogy, reversal, reform, and development greatly enhance and clarify his discussion. No other book on Vatican II so clearly elucidates the essential theological principles for determining whether-and to what extent-a conciliar teaching is in continuity or discontinuity with antecedent tradition.
Readers from all faith traditions who care about the logic of continuity and change in Christian teaching will benefit from this masterful case study.
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Reading Marks Christology Under Caesar
$25.99Add to cartAcknowledgments
Introduction
Abbreviations
1. Reconstructing Mark’s Historical Setting
2. Mark’s Christological Titles
3. The Powerful Jesus Of Mark 1-8
4. The Suffering Jesus Of Mark 8:22-10:52
5. A Roman Reading Of Mark’s So-Called Secrecy Motif
6. Jesus And The Temple
7. Jesus In Mark’s Passion Narrative
Conclusion
Appendix: Yahweh Christology In Mark’s Gospel
Bibliography
Author Index
Subject Index
Scripture IndexAdditional Info
The Gospel of Mark has been intensively studied from multiple angles using many methods. But often there remains a discontent, a sense that something is wanting, that the full picture of Mark’s Gospel lacks some background circuitry that-if properly supplied-would light up the whole. Adam Winn finds a clue in the cataclysmic destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70. For Jews and Christians it was an apocalyptic moment. The earth shook, the sun went dark in the cosmic canopy, and Rome danced on the ruins of the holy temple. The gods of Rome seemed to have conquered the God of the Jews. And Roman Christians’ allegiance to a messiah crucified by Rome renewed sharp questions.Could it be that Mark wrote his Gospel in response to Roman imperial propaganda surrounding this event? However else they might function, are Mark’s themes and christological titles coded subversions of empire? Have we missed clues to understanding Mark’s messianic secret? Could a messiah crucified by Rome really be God’s Son appointed to rule the world?Adam Winn takes us on the adventure of rediscovering how Mark might have been read by Christians in Rome in the aftermath of the fall of Jerusalem. He introduces us to the Roman imperial propaganda of the Flavian emperors and excavates the Markan text for themes that address the Roman imperial setting.Here is an intriguing look into a first-century response to the question Christ or Caesar? Entering a first-century house church in Rome, we hear this Gospel again as if for the first time. -
Religion And American Culture
$33.99Add to cartWhile Americans still profess to be one of the most religious people in the industrialized world, many aspects of American culture have long been secular and materialistic. That is just one of the many paradoxes, contradictions, and surprises in the relationship between Christianity and American culture. In this book George Marsden, a leading historian of American Christianity and award-winning author, tells the story of that relationship in a concise and thought-provoking way.
Surveying the history of religion and American culture from the days of the earliest European settlers right up through the elections of 2016, Marsden offers the kind of historically and religiously informed scholarship that has made him one of the nation’s most respected and decorated historians. Students in the classroom and history readers of all ages will benefit from engaging with the story Marsden tells.
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Protestant Reformation Of The Church And The World
$55.00Add to cartFrom a distinguished assembly of twelve internationally acclaimed scholars comes this rich, interdisciplinary study that explores the Protestant Reformation and its resultant effects on the church as well as the world.
The Reformation extended from the church to revolutionize art, music, literature, architecture, and aesthetics and transformed economics, trade, and banking; these transformations shifted power away from the church to the state as they unleashed radical new campaigns for freedom, equality, democracy, and constitutional order.
Each contributor to this volume draws on distinctive methods and themes in an effort to understand the Reformation on its own complex terms, as well as to reconstruct its teachings and warnings for our day.
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New Testament Christological Hymns
$34.99Add to cartAcknowledgments
Abbreviations
1. Introduction
2. Cultural Matrices
3. The Philippian Hymn
4. The Colossian Hymn
5. The Prologue Of The Gospel Of John
6. A Wider Look: Other Hymnic Passages In The New Testament
7. Conclusion
Bibliography
Author Index
Subject Index
Scripture IndexAdditional Info
We know that the earliest Christians sang hymns. Paul encourages believers to sing “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.” And at the dawn of the second century the Roman official Pliny names a feature of Christian worship as “singing alternately a hymn to Christ as to God.” But are some of these early Christian hymns preserved for us in the New Testament? Are they right before our eyes?New Testament scholars have long debated whether early Christian hymns appear in the New Testament. But where some see preformed hymns and liturgical elements embossed on the page, others see patches of rhetorically elevated prose from the author’s hand.Matthew Gordley now reopens this fascinating question. He begins with a new look at hymns in the Greco-Roman and Jewish world of the early church. Might the didactic hymns of that cultural current set a new starting point for talking about hymnic texts in the New Testament? If so, how should we detect these hymns? How might they function in the New Testament? And what might they tell us about early Christian worship?An outstanding feature of texts such as Philippians 2:6-11, Colossians 1:15-20, and John 1:1-17 is their christological character. And if these are indeed hymns, we encounter the reality that within the crucible of worship the deepest and most searching texts of the New Testament arose.New Testament Christological Hymns reopens an important line of investigation that will serve a new generation of students of the New Testament. -
Rapture And Revelation 3rd Edition
$11.95Add to cartThe world is a mess. Something is desperately wrong in many families and common ground hides wherever common sense went. There’s an end to business as usual in this world and it’s here. Not the literal last day, but the last times. This book won’t tell you what to believe, but will challenge you to get real about why you believe what you do.