Christian Churches, denominations, groups Books
Yale University Press Going to Church in Medieval England
Book SynopsisAn engaging, richly illustrated account of parish churches and churchgoers in England, from the Anglo-Saxons to the mid-sixteenth centuryTrade Review“Christmas is the time of year when people are most likely to attend divine service, and Going to Church in Medieval England . . . tells us how they did it 800 years ago. . . . Orme also describes how the churches that punctuate our landscape came about, and who ran them.”—Simon Heffer, Daily Telegraph, “2021’s Best Histories”“Nicholas Orme writes with an engaging lightness of touch while clearly laying out the functions, use and management of medieval parish churches. The result is so skilfully, successfully and thoroughly executed that it belies the complexity and scope of the task.”—John Jenkins, Times Literary Supplement“Orme’s book, a vast intricate mosaic resting atop a mountain of research, is often funny, often moving, and always fascinating. You finish it with a real feeling for the lives of normal people (so often absent from history books) in a world of great contrasts . . . a world of humour, and of sadness; a world not entirely unlike our own.”—Duncan Morrison, Daily Telegraph“A thrilling reconstruction of what you might have seen in church 800 years ago, from parishioners licking relics to noblemen punching vicars in the face.”—Daily Telegraph“Eye-opening. . . . Orme deftly shows how church language became part of everyday English.”—Harry Mount, Spectator“Prof Orme’s beady eye for lively human interest makes him very good company.”—Ysenda Maxtone Graham, Country Life“Orme explains in impressive detail what churches (and church-going) were like in the Middle Ages.”—The Week“A distinguished and highly accessible contribution to the unfolding scholarly landscape of this subject. . . . Orme is known for his scholarship on medieval children. Despite the fact that he concludes that they are an elusive presence, he provides some fascinating details.”—Kitty Turley, The Tablet“It is perhaps the particular virtue of this book that its author is every bit as interested in the everyday life of the church as he is in the sacred highpoints of sacred theatre and the beauties of medieval architecture. . . . This is, in other words, a complete picture of a whole world.”—William Whyte, History Today “Orme is an authoritative and accessible guide, and this exhaustive and lavishly illustrated study is a must-read.”—Katherine Harvey, Church Times“Professor Orme’s detailed, but very readable (and affordable) book, brings together recent scholarship to provide an accessible account of how people worshipped and practised religion in their local church. . . . It is definitely a ‘must have’ addition to any medievalist’s bookshelf.”—Richard Halsey, Friends of Friendless Churches“The book provides an accessible account of what happened in the daily and weekly services and how churches marked the seasons of Christmas, Lent, Easter and summer.”—Methodist Recorder“Nicholas Orme provides a vivid and detailed look at what it was actually like to attend church in medieval times—the sights, sounds and smells. He includes delightful details about seating arrangements, how the interior of the church would have looked, what happened to those who didn’t attend church, and much more. . . . An engaging read that will stay with you long after you finish the last page.”—Rachel Bellerby, Family Tree Magazine“Yale has served Orme especially well, with superb colour illustrations integrated straight into this text. . . . His subject is inherently visual in all its aspects, from the architecture of church buildings to the teeming daily activity that went on inside and around them.”—Diarmaid MacCulloch, London Review of Books“Orme’s mastery of the subject shines through soon enough; given his long and distinguished career, this is hardly a surprise. With a light and accessible touch he leads his readers through the give-and-take of churchgoing from the origins of the parish among the newly converted Anglo-Saxons to the role it inevitably played in the implementation of the Reformation at local level. . . . The depth and detail of his work lies in his characters, both saints and sinners with all their wants, needs, foibles, hopes, and fears.”—Serenhedd James, The Critic“This is a wonderful book; I recommend it to everyone who wants to know what actually happened in a medieval church.”—Heather Falvey, Local Historian“Nicholas Orme’s latest book on the buildings, staffing, congregations, and uses of the medieval church offers instead a broad work that is rich in detail, as it draws together geographical, social and religious complexities into a comprehensive and engaging whole.”—British Catholic History, British Catholic History“This truly fascinating book, packed with extraordinary details, was a joy to read and often a revelation.”—Marc Lloyd, Global Anglican“As well as being highly instructive, this is an enjoyable volume to read, and should be on every church archaeologist’s bookshelves.”—Warwick Rodwell, Medieval Settlement Research“The great strength of the book lies in the fact that the author never confines himself to the prescriptive but constantly strives to uncover what actually happened in medieval English parish churches . . . it will surely become essential reading for anyone seriously interested in religion in England in the Middle Ages.”—Clare Cross, Ecclesiology Today“Alert throughout to change across time, the complexities of sources, and the variety of past experience, Nicholas Orme has written a wonderful book. With great clarity and insight, he captures the human and material reality of quotidian Christian worship across the middle Ages.”—John H. Arnold, author of Belief and Unbelief in the Middle Ages“Drawing on both surviving churches and contemporary literature and attentive to gender, status, and geography, Orme explores what ordinary men and women saw, heard, and experienced when they attended church.”—Katherine L. French, University of Michigan“What actually happened in a medieval church? What was medieval worship like? Turn to this book, and you’ll find answers to all the questions you’ll ever ask.”—Nigel Saul, author of Richard II“For many years Nicholas Orme has been enlightening readers with incisive appreciations of the religious and social institutions of medieval England. Beautifully illustrated throughout, this study brings home to readers the reality of formal Christian witness as experienced by England’s medieval parishioners.”—Roger Bowers, University of Cambridge
£12.34
Faithlife Corporation The Care of Souls
Book Synopsis2020 Christianity Today Book Award Winner for Church/Pastoral Leadership 2019 TGC Ministry Book of the Year Winner Drawing on a lifetime of pastoral experience, The Care of Souls is a beautifully written treasury of proven wisdom which pastors will find themselves turning to again and again. Harold Senkbeil helps remind pastors of the essential calling of the ministry: preaching and living out the Word of God while orienting others in the same direction. And he offers practical and fruitful advice—born out of his five decades as a pastor—that will benefit both new pastors and those with years in the pulpit. In a time when many churches have lost sight of the real purpose of the church, The Care of Souls invites a new generation of pastors to form the godly habits and practical wisdom needed to minister to the hearts and souls of those committed to their care.
£16.19
Yale University Press The Dissolution of the Monasteries
Book SynopsisThe first account of the dissolution of the monasteries for fifty years—exploring its profound impact on the people of Tudor EnglandTrade Review“The most important book on the subject for two generations. . . . Clark’s achievement is unmistakable. . . . Carefully researched, beautifully structured, and courageously argued, The Dissolution of the Monasteries is precise, polemical, and sweeping. It should be instantly recognized as a classic.“—Crawford Gribben, Wall Street Journal“Deeply researched . . . steeped in primary sources, scrupulously polite and anti-sensational. . . . The result may well be the most important book on the English Reformation since Eamon Duffy’s The Stripping of the Altars.”—Dan Jones, Sunday Times“Clark . . . builds up a huge mosaic of life on the eve of the Reformation, taken from letters and law cases, wills and account books.”—Christopher Howse, Daily Telegraph“This is a book about people, though, not ideas, and as a detailed account of an extraordinary human drama with a cast of thousands, it is an exceptional piece of historical writing.”—Lucy Wooding, Times Literary Supplement“A terrific work of scholarship and profoundly dispiriting with it. . . . The big narrative is enlivened by riveting accounts of individuals caught up in the great events.”—Melanie McDonagh, Catholic Herald, “Books of the Year”“James Clark’s absorbing and formidable study presents much that is refreshingly new. . . . It was easy to misread Henry VIII . . . in the 1530s. This is where Clark’s account is at its most rewarding. . . . For there is no sign until the very last twelve months of monastic life that there was any masterplan for complete suppression.”—Diarmaid MacCulloch, London Review of Books“Important and original . . .; it will deservedly become the standard textbook for the next generation of scholars.”—Hugh Willmott, BBC History Magazine“This book is a considerable achievement, absorbing in its detail, not easy to do justice in a short review. Among many striking discussions, there is vivid, wide-ranging treatment of monastic life in late medieval England and Wales.”—Ann Hughes, Times Higher Education Supplement“An impressively detailed study that yields a rich harvest. Clark has unearthed a wealth of overlooked details to challenge centuries of controversy and misconception, and provides a welcome new perspective on Henry VIII, his ‘henchman’ Thomas Cromwell and other powerful members of the court.”—Tracy Borman, BBC History Magazine, “Books of the Year”“One of the most interesting elements of James Clark’s excellent, substantial new book is the epilogue on the afterlife of the religious houses and indeed of the religious themselves—right into Jacobean England.”—Melanie McDonagh, The Tablet“Clark’s epic work fills the gap for a modern readership: he provides a massive account, the first dedicated one in half a century, which, unfortunately for many historians, will mean that an additional such book will hardly be needed again for another 50 years.”—Sean McGlynn, Spectator“It has been decades since we last had a history of the Dissolution and Clark has made excellent use of recent research, including archaeological reports, alongside his own exceptional and extensive work in the archives. . . . This is quite simply the best history yet written on English monasticism in the 16th century, and it will surely remain so for years to come.”—Mathew Lyons, History Today“Invaluable. . . . A major addition to our understanding of the whole process of the Henrician Reformation [and] the fullest account of the Dissolution ever written.”—Eamon Duffy, The Tablet“Most studies with ‘a new history’ in their title have their obsolescence built in. Newness is a quality rarely long retained. Clark’s book is something different: the product of that most impressive of conjunctions—fine historical writing, high analytical intelligence, and Stakhanovite labours in the archives—it takes its subject to a new level. It looks set to be the authoritative account of the dissolution of the monasteries for decades to come.”—John Adamson, Catholic Herald“Direct quotations of records, complete with the original spellings, involves a bit of enjoyable light work to decipher what the subjects are discussing; it is totally engaging as a motif, and enables Clark to draw the reader deep into his narrative.”—Serenhedd James, The Critic“This is an immersive and thought-provoking read that looks at the social changes from all perspectives.”—Family Tree Magazine“A starting point for all future students of the Dissolution. . . . The book’s strongest point is its back-story. . . . You will not read this book for its account of government policy: rather, for its view of how that policy looked and felt to the communities that were destroyed by it.”—Alec Ryrie, Church Times“Immense scholarship . . . an enjoyable and essential read.”—Susan Doran, Journal of Religious History“By any standards this is a remarkable book. . . . It sets the standard for the kind of work that is needed to clarify the process of Reformation.”—Raymond Gillespie, Search“It is hard to see how Clark’s account could be improved upon: it is to be admired not only for its scholarship and attention to detail, but also for the understanding that it generates. . . . Clark has achieved much in this extensive study and it will, in time, become the leading examination of this complex subject.”—Paul Flux, Albion Magazine“A wonderfully researched and engaging account of this terrible calamity.”—Barney White Spunner, Aspects of History“This extraordinary and impressive piece of scholarship, delivered in marvellously clear prose, offers a forensic investigation of how and why, under Henry VIII, monasticism in England was brought to such a swift and merciless end, and charts, as no other work has done, the profound social consequences of this seismic change. This long-awaited study is required reading.”—Suzannah Lipscomb, author of The King Is Dead“Exceptional. . . . The author’s extensive research has unearthed a wealth of previously overlooked details that challenge centuries of controversy, rumour and misconception. As well as providing a fresh perspective on well known characters such as Henry VIII and his ‘henchman’ Thomas Cromwell, the narrative brings the people who lived and worked in the monasteries vividly to life. A stunning achievement.”—Tracy Borman, author of Thomas Cromwell“Establishes Professor Clark as the leading authority on Tudor monasticism and the experience of its end; and it is therefore now the main text in that major field.”—Ronald Hutton, author of The Making of Oliver Cromwell“This is a landmark book. Clark has swept away many old generalisations and assumptions in favour of a much more detailed and nuanced account of this social (as well as religious) revolution. The end result is nothing short of magnificent—yet also intricate, intimate, touchingly human and endlessly fascinating.”—Ian Mortimer, author of The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England
£18.04
Thomas Nelson Publishers NKJV Personal Size Reference Bible Sovereign
Book SynopsisThis elegant Bible edition honors the beauty and richness of the New King James Version in a convenient portable size with essential study tools and traditional red-letter text for the Words of Christ.The New King James Version in the Sovereign Collection reflects the legacy and majesty of the King James Version Bible produced more than 400 years ago, but in language updated for today. This beautiful Bible, which contains design flourishes that pay tribute to the Bible produced in 1611, comes in a convenient portable size with essential study tools and traditional red-letter text for the Words of Christ.The Sovereign Collection continues Thomas Nelson''s long history and stewardship publishing Bibles, featuring elegant letter illustrations leading into each chapter combined with clear and readable Comfort Print®, connects you to the legacy of faith, and inspires your time in the Word to be enjoyable and fruitful.Features i
£30.00
Church Publishing Inc Dogspell
Book SynopsisTrade Review“Here is a modern classic. Ashcroft demonstrates that theology is not dull: indeed it is playful as well as profound. The metaphor of ‘Dog’ leaps out of the pages with puppy-like enthusiasm, unleashing laughter and truth in surprising places. If you love dogs, this book will help you understand why. If you don’t, you’ll realize that’s not what matters, compared to God’s abounding love of you.”—Jo Bailey Wells, Associate Professor of the Practice of Ministry and Bible, Director, Anglican Episcopal House of Studies, Duke Divinity School“Wise, insightful, spiritually powerful, funny, charming and totally outside the boxes we church folk often get stuck in. . . . This little book reveals the compassion, abundant, extravagant, wasteful, over-the-top crazy love God/Dog has for us. Mary Ellen captures this better than all the densely packed theological tomes, with all the intelligence and insight of the great theologians, but in a way that is accessible to all—young, old, children and young adult. It is too good to believe that God would love us as much as our dogs, but it is true!”—The Reverend Canon Howard R. Anderson, President, Cathedral College of Washington National Cathedral “By carrying us into the joy of the love of dog, Mary Ellen Ashcroft plunges us into the greatest mystery and gift of all—the love of God. This is theology at its best, with dog helping us begin to see, to hope, to believe.”—The Rev. Susan J. Buchanan, Rector, Christ Episcopal Church, North Conway, New Hampshire “Mary Ellen Ashcroft is one of the most important voices in contemporary Christian writing . . . startling, fresh understandings so winsome and profound that we wonder why no one sniffed down this path before.”—Daniel Taylor, author, Before Their Time“If you’ve ever experienced the unconditional devotion of dog, you’ll love this wacky and witty theology as much as I did, laughing and crying all the way to the end of the book.”—Luci Shaw, author, Water My Soul and The Angles of Light“In prose that is witty, graceful, and wise, Mary Ellen Ashcroft takes incarnational theology to a whole new place. I began reading Mary Ellen’s ruminations about Cluny years ago and I’m delighted with this new volume. ‘Where Love is, there is Dog.’ Amen.”—Krista Tippet, NPR * NPR *
£12.34
Oneworld Publications Queens and Prophets
Book SynopsisA groundbreaking examination of female power in pre-Islamic Arabia‘A genuinely paradigm-shifting work by one of the most exciting and innovative scholars in the field... compelling and powerful...’ Reza Aslan Arab noblewomen of late antiquity were instrumental in shaping the history of the world. Between Rome’s intervention in the Arabian Peninsula and the Arab conquests, they ruled independently, conducting trade and making war. Their power was celebrated as queen, priestess and goddess. With time some even delegated authority to the most important holy men of their age, influencing Arabian paganism, Christianity and Islam. Empress Zenobia and Queen Mavia supported bishops Paul of Samosata and Moses of Sinai. Paul was declared a heretic by the Roman church, while Moses began the process of mass Arab conversion. The teachings of these men survived under their queens, setting in motion seismic debates that fractured the earlTrade Review‘A genuinely paradigm-shifting work by one of the most exciting and innovative scholars in the field. Queens and Prophets upends popular assumptions concerning Arab women in late antiquity. Drawing on an impressive range of extensive research, Emran El-Badawi sheds new light on the history of the Near East by studying three female rulers alongside the most significant holy men of the era. In doing so, he reveals the importance of these women to the history of the late antique Near East. It is a compelling and powerful narrative that is sure to provoke thought and discussion amongst scholars and curious readers alike.’ -- Reza Aslan, author of Zealot and An American Martyr in Persia‘In this remarkable book, Emran El-Badawi brings to light the stories of influential noblewomen and female deities, to show how female power shaped religion and politics in late antique and early Islamic Arabia. Despite their importance, these female figures have been marginalised in the historical record over time, from Roman and Arabic histories till modern writings about early Islam. El-Badawi sensitively engages the historical memories preserved in these sources, disentangling kernels of truth from topoi, legend, and embellishment. This clear and well-written account should change how we consider women’s impact upon these patriarchal societies.’ -- Karen Bauer, Senior Research Associate, The Institute of Ismaili Studies‘A breathtaking journey through the religions and cultures of the late antique Near East. El-Badawi brings to life accounts of warriors and queens who defy standard notions of the social and religious history of the Arabs. His masterful book offers new insights into the intimate relationships between paganism, Christianity, and early Islam in the Near East, and on the distinctive roles that women played in all of these traditions.’ -- Gabriel Said Reynolds, Crowley Professor of Islamic Studies and Theology, University of Notre Dame‘Emran El-Badawi provides a landmark contribution to scholarship, grasping the nuance and depth of women’s power, spirituality, and presence in late antique Near East, when pagans, Jews, and Christians allied militarily and worshiped at the Oak of Mamre. Queens and Prophets cogently narrates this complex historical and cultural context, demonstrating the patriarchal polemics of Abrahamic and Roman traditions that gloss this powerful force and ultimately empower the birth of Islam.’ -- Roberta Sabbath, Religious Studies Director, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and editor of Troubling Topics, Sacred Texts
£23.75
Thomas Nelson Publishers NKJV Personal Size Reference Bible Sovereign
Book SynopsisA classic NKJV Bible that looks and feels like the majestic heritage it comes from, with historically rich design details including elegant drop caps, line-matched text, and traditional covers.
£30.00
Thomas Nelson Publishers Nkjv Personal Size Reference Bible Sovereign
Book SynopsisThis elegant Bible edition honors the beauty and richness of the New King James Version in a convenient portable size with essential study tools and traditional red-letter text for the Words of Christ.The New King James Version in the Sovereign Collection reflects the legacy and majesty of the King James Version Bible produced more than 400 years ago, but in language updated for today. This beautiful Bible, which contains design flourishes that pay tribute to the Bible produced in 1611, comes in a convenient portable size with essential study tools and traditional red-letter text for the Words of Christ.The Sovereign Collection continues Thomas Nelson''s long history and stewardship publishing Bibles, featuring elegant letter illustrations leading into each chapter combined with clear and readable Comfort Print®, connects you to the legacy of faith, and inspires your time in the Word to be enjoyable and fruitful.Features i
£30.00
Fulcrum Publishing God Is Red: A Native View of Religion
Book SynopsisA 50th anniversary revised edition of the beloved classic, God is Red. First published in 1972, Vine Deloria Jr.'s God Is Red 50th Anniversary Edition remains the seminal work on Native religious views, asking new questions about our species and our ultimate fate. Celebrating three decades in publication with a special 30th-anniversary edition, this classic work reminds us to learn "that we are a part of nature, not a transcendent species with no responsibilities to the natural world." It is time again to listen to Vine Deloria Jr.'s powerful voice, telling us about religious life that is independent of Christianity and that reveres the interconnectedness of all living things.
£20.66
Harvard University Press Life of the Virgin Mary
Book SynopsisJohn Geometres’s Life of the Virgin Mary, a work of outstanding theological sophistication animated by deeply felt devotion to the Mother of God, remains largely unknown today. This new edition of the Byzantine Greek text and the first complete translation in a modern language presents a masterpiece of early Marian writing to new audiences.
£25.46
Christian Focus Publications Ltd A Christian’s Pocket Guide to Eastern Orthodox
Book SynopsisWe may associate a number of images with the Eastern Orthodox church – ornate church buildings, services with candles and incense, men wearing embellished robes – but what does the Eastern Orthodox church actually believe? What are the similarities and differences between them and western evangelical churches? What is their history? In this short book Panagiotis Kantartzis introduces us to Eastern Orthodoxy from an Evangelical perspective and tells us what we need to know.Trade ReviewPastor Kantartzis covers the most important points with clear, concise and well–researched prose. If you want the best engagement with Orthodoxy from an evangelical perspective, look no further. -- Michael Horton (J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary California, Escondido, California)Blessed with wide learning, acute theological insight, and pastoral experience from living in an Orthodox country, Dr. Kantartzis is outstandingly qualified for this task, which he does superbly. -- Robert Letham (Wales Evangelical School of Theology, Bridgend, Wales)Kantartzis offers a unique book that combines careful and sensitive analysis of Orthodox Christianity with a respectful and constructive engagement from the perspective of his own Evangelical faith. -- Aristotle Papanikolaou (Professor of Theology and the Archbishop Demetrios Chair in Orthodox Theology and Culture, Fordham University, New York Co–founding Director, Orthodox Christian Studies Centre)… reminds us that the differences between Evangelical Protestantism and Eastern Orthodoxy are rooted in fundamental principles that touch on every aspect of theology. The presentation is clear and fair to both sides, making it a reliable resource for dialogue between these two very different Christian traditions. -- Gerald Bray (Research Professor, Beeson Divinity School at Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama)
£5.99
Princeton University Press Through the Eye of a Needle
Book SynopsisJesus taught his followers that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven. This book offers a sweeping intellectual and social history of the vexing problem of wealth in Christianity in the waning days of the Roman Empire.Trade ReviewWinner of the 2012 Gold Medal Book of the Year Award, History category, ForeWord Reviews Winner of the 2012 Award for Excellence in Humanities, Association of American Publishers Winner of the 2012 R. R. Hawkins Award, PROSE Awards, Association of American Publishers Winner of the 2013 Jacques Barzun Prize in Cultural History, American Philosophical Society Winner of the 2013 Philip Schaff Prize, American Society of Church History Winner of the 2012 PROSE Award in Classics & Ancient History, Association of American Publishers One of Bloomberg's Best Books of 2016 One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2013 Honorable Mention for the 2013 Cundill Prize in Historical Literature, McGill University "To compare it with earlier surveys of this period is to move from the X-ray to the cinema... Every page is full of information and argument, and savoring one's way through the book is an education. It is a privilege to live in an age that could produce such a masterpiece of the historical literature."--Garry Wills, New York Review of Books "[O]utstanding... Brown lays before us a vast panorama of the entire culture and society of the late Roman west."--Peter Thornemann, Times Literary Supplement "[I]t's the gloriously ambitious panorama of Through the Eye of a Needle that most impresses. This is a book written in Cinemascope, and like the best intellectual and social history it features a polyphony of voices."--Christopher Kelly, London Review of Books "[M]agisterial... The formidably learned historian challenges commonly accepted notions about the role of wealth in the decline of the Roman empire and examines the roots of charity, two subjects relevant to contemporary economics."--Marcia Z. Nelson, Publishers Weekly "It is exciting to watch a historian who has already written so extensively on Late Antiquity absorb so much new scholarship, revise his old reviews, and re-imagine the world we thought we knew from him... Through the Eye of a Needle is a tremendous achievement, even for a scholar who has already achieved so much. Its range is as vast as its originality, and readers will find everywhere the kinds of memorable apercus and turns of phrase for which its author is deservedly famous... There can be no doubt that we are in the presence of a historian and teacher of genius."--G. W. Bowersock, New Republic "As Brown (Augustine of Hippo), the great dean of early church history, compellingly reminds us in his magisterial, lucid, and gracefully written study, the understanding of the role of wealth in the developing Christian communities of the late Roman Empire was much more complex. Combining brilliant close readings of the writings of Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, and Paulinus of Nola with detailed examinations of the lives of average wealthy Christians and their responses to questions regarding wealth, he demonstrates that many bishops offered such Christians the compromises of almsgiving, church building, and testamentary bequests as alternatives to the renunciation of wealth... Brown's immense, thorough, and powerful study offers rich rewards for readers."--Publishers Weekly "Brown's goal in this book is patiently to reconstruct the debates on wealth among late Roman Christians: in other words, to set out the context for the tendentious claims of ascetic minorities, which have misled so many later interpreters."--Conrad Leyser, Times Literary Supplement "His sparkling prose, laced with humour and humanity, brings his subjects to life with an uncommon sympathy and feeling for their situation."--Tim Whitmarsh, Guardian "This book should be daunting but it is not; for while the book is heavy to lift, it is even harder to put down. It makes utterly compelling reading."--Eric Ormsby, Standpoint "Brown may be an emeritus professor of history at Princeton, but his research is resolutely up-to-date... A hefty yet lucid contribution to the history of early Christianity."--Kirkus Reviews "[A]n unprecedented resource... Brown creates broad, deep landscapes in which the reader can watch the ancients moving. You can, in places, just crawl in and have a true dream about the ancient world. Moreover, the topic holds fascinating implications about the formation of modern Western culture... It's a significant and suggestive story."--Sarah Ruden, American Scholar "The sheer scope of this history is daunting, but scholars, theologians, and anyone interested in late Roman history or early Christianity will find this a fascinating view not only of the Church's development, but also of the changing concepts of wealth and poverty in the last centuries of the Roman empire."--Kathleen McCallister, Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Columbia, Library Journal "This is a masterpiece that more than justifies its length. Peter Brown is the greatest living historian of late antiquity, a periodization which he virtually invented, and Through the Eye of a Needle an achievement which stands to his earlier career as a great cathedral does to a pilgrimage route."--Tom Holland, History Today "[N]o other scholar could have produced Brown's characteristically intricate, spectacular and joyous synthesis... One of the captivating qualities of Brown's new book is the sheer energy and intellectual excitement that sparkle through it. He might, in recent years, have rested of his laurels--perhaps, like his beloved Augustine, written his memoirs. Instead, he celebrates the continuing expansion of the field and demonstrates his continued mastery of it in a groundbreaking study of wealth in the late antique Church... Towards the end of the book, Brown describes how a basilica might have looked around the year 600: glowing with candles, glittering with mosaics, gleaming with gold and silver vessels. 'The church itself', he says, 'had become a little heaven, filled with treasures.' It is a description irresistibly applicable to Peter Brown's own book: as rich a monument to the life of the mind as was any late Roman basilica to the life everlasting."--Teresa Morgan, Tablet "[A] predictably brilliant re-appraisal of the Roman world during the fourth to sixth centuries... Through the Eye of a Needle is a vast book, but is remarkably readable. Brown's intimate knowledge of Augustine and his times is presented with human empathy and a sense of the relevance of these long-ago events... [T]he latter chapters of Through the Eye of a Needle contain much essential information about the establishment of Christian influence throughout Europe following Rome's fall... [A] wonderful book."--Ed Voves, California Literary Review "Peter Brown, professor emeritus at Princeton University and the leading historian of late antiquity, has written a masterful study... His book is characterized by lively prose, mastery of the primary sources and original languages, comprehensive use of changes in the study of antiquities (especially the 'material culture' of archaeology), gorgeous plates, nearly 300 pages of bibliographic end material, and a number of important revisions to the standard historiography."--Dan Clendenin, JourneywithJesus.net "Through the Eye of a Needle (Princeton University Press) is the crowning masterpiece of Peter Brown, the great historian who virtually invented late antiquity as a periodisation. The book's theme might seem specialised: the evolution of attitudes towards wealth in the last century and a half of the Roman empire in the west, and the century that followed its collapse. In reality, like so many of Brown's books, it gives us a world vivid with colour and alive with a symphony of voices. It is not only the most compassionate study of late antiquity in the west ever written, but also a profoundly subtle meditation on our own tempestuous relationship with money."--Tom Holland, History Magazine "Brown, in this masterful history, makes the writings of Augustine, Ambrose and Jerome more accessible to the average reader, and scholars will welcome the voluminous notes and index."--Ray Saadi, Gumbo "[D]eliriously complicated... As usual, Brown leaves no stone unturned in his search for insight and evidence... He paints a colorful social setting for early church debates about theology and ethics without becoming reductively sociological, and often overturns accepted mytho-history in the process. He quietly draws on contemporary theory but typically lets ancients speak for themselves because his aim is to introduce us to an exotic world. Through it all, he focuses on the masses of details by treating attitudes, beliefs, and practices about wealth as a 'stethoscope' to hear the heartbeat of late Roman and early Christian civilization... Brown has captured the rough texture of real history. It is testimony to the success of Brown's subtle, provocative, and beautifully written book."--Peter Leithart, Christianity Today "A fascinating book by the great historian of late antiquity, Peter Brown, on the development of Christianity in Rome... Through the Eye of a Needle is a serious work of scholarship and an important study about how Rome became Christian."--John Roskam, Executive Director of the Institute of Public Affairs "Thoroughly researched, making use of the new materials that have emerged in the recent years, The Eye of the Needle is a scholarly work not just on early Christianity but relates its growth to the later developments and offers a new reading of the old sayings. It definitely is a source book for readers on religion and society."--R. Balashankar, Organiser "Its achievement is plain. It explores, with Brown's characteristically profound empathy, the great paradox of how a church with a world- and wealth-denying ideology came to acquire temporal riches and respectability... [H]is approach is to offer the reader extraordinarily vivid portraits of individual Christian thinkers faced with the moral contradictions of worldly riches... This much anticipated book, described by Brown as 'the most difficult book to write that I have ever undertaken,' fulfils expectations. Its success is grounded in its unerring moral balance. Perhaps for the first time, the problem of wealth in early Christianity is treated in full, with no righteous fury at blatant hypocrisy nor any apology for a church that rationalized its enrichment by feeding the poor... It is the virtue of Through the Eye of a Needle that it prompts and enables one to think about the largest questions. It is a gift to have such a beautiful, authoritative, and humane study that cuts to the heart of all that is most challenging in the relationship between the spiritual and the material in late antiquity."--Kyle Harper, Bryn Mawr Classical Review "Brown ... offers a masterful study on how converting to Christianity transformed the ways that economic elites in Europe and North Africa viewed their own wealth's source and purpose. A vivid storyteller, Brown transforms evidence from written, archaeological, and material sources into compelling portraits of early Christian leaders like Ambrose and Augustine... [Through the Eye of a Needle] will quickly become required reading for students of early Christianity and late ancient history, but others interested in history and theological studies also will find it engaging."--Choice "Compelling... One can see in Brown's narrative that the disputes of the fourth century stand between the old civic generosity and a new concern for otherworldliness. Perhaps that transitory radicality could not be sustained. But it has bequeathed to the church a 'conglomerate of notions' that link the wealth of the church, the care of the poor and the fate of the soul."--Walter Brueggemann, Christian Century "Peter Brown's achievement is not least in having placed us all in his debt with so rich a work... [D]o not be put off by thinking that this is a book only for academics; all of us can enjoy what is, simply, accessible and well-written reading matter that does not require the possession of academic qualifications. It deserves to be enjoyed on the beach, as well as in the Bodleian!"--John Scott, Fairacres Chronicle "[B]oth masterful and friendly... Through the Eye of a Needle, an important revisionary account for scholars of the ancient world, should also be read by a general public and by beginning undergraduates as an example of the humanity, the generosity, and the clarity of scholarship at its best."--Caroline Walker Bynum, Common Knowledge "Through the Eye of a Needle demonstrates Brown's mastery of an enormous range both of source material and of secondary work. It is crammed with stimulating ideas, and striking, very Brownian observations and metaphors... Brown has taken us on a long and highly informative journey with numerous fascinating detours through late antiquity. We can only be grateful."--J. H. W. G. Liebeschuetz, American Historical Review "Through the Eye of a Needle, an important revisionary account for scholars of the ancient world, should be read by a general public and by beginning undergraduates as an example of the humanity, the generosity, and the clarity of scholarship at its best... It is both masterful and friendly."--Caroline Walker Bynum, Common Knowledge "[T]his book, like Brown's many others, has done [much] to illuminate the late-ancient world, and he has opened many avenues for others to continue exploring."--Michael Kulikowski, Catholic Historical Review "Through the Eye of a Needle challenges the widely held notion that Christianity's growing wealth sapped Rome of its ability to resist the barbarian invasions, and offers a fresh perspective on the social history of the church in late antiquity."--World Book Industry "In typical fashion, Peter Brown has delivered a text that is masterly in scale, broad in scope, ... and admirable in readability for a large audience."--M.A. Gaumer, Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses "In addition to vast erudition formed by a range of reading in well over a dozen languages, Brown has something of the cinematographer's ability to compose a narrative by moving between panoramas and individual close-ups. The results are often dazzling."--Patrick Cook, Cambrdige Humanities Review "[T]his is an impressive and monumental piece of scholarship that casts western late antiquity into clearer relief than it has received. It will long be required reading for anyone wanting to understand the social realities of Christianity in the late antique West."--Geoffrey D. Dunn, Journal of Early Christian Studies "Through the Eye of a Needle is Peter Brown at his best, his very best: a thoughtful and thought-provoking travel-guide whose beautiful prose opens up previously unseen horizons of real people living in a variety of landscapes around the Mediterranean at different moments in a period of epochal change that was fundamental for the making of Western European civilization. Using a fine brush and a light touch, Brown paints his pictures with a palette of an astonishingly broad and erudite up-to-date scholarship."--John Behr, Marginalia "[C]learly a magisterial achievement. Through the Eye of a Needle should be read by anyone interested in the late Roman Empire, ancient Christianity, or the complex origins of attitudes towards wealth and poverty in the modern world."--Benjamin H. Dunning, European Legacy "Through the Eye of the Needle will remain ... as massive and reassuringly immovable landmarks in the horizon of our understanding."--Kate Cooper, Journal of Roman Studies "Elegantly written and amply sign-posted, this long book is a pleasure to read."--Alexander Skinner, Journal for Late Antique Religion and Culture "Those readers interested in the evolution of the Western church or in a good social approach or both will find this book a splendid treatment... This thorough work will become the standard go-to study of the early Christian church in the West."--Lee L. Brice, The Historian "Magisterial... Brown's newest monograph belongs on the bookcase of every late ancient and medieval historian... A stunning accomplishment."--Elizabeth DePalma Digesner, H-Net ReviewsTable of ContentsList of Maps xv List of Illustrations xvii Preface xix Part I Wealth, Christianity, and Giving at the End of an Ancient World 1 *Chapter 1 Aurea aetas - Wealth in an Age of Gold 3 *Chapter 2 Mediocritas - The Social Profile of the Latin Church, 312-ca. 370 31 *Chapter 3 Amor civicus - Love of the city - Wealth and Its Uses in an Ancient World 53 *Chapter 4 "Treasure in Heaven" - Wealth in the Christian Church 72 Part II An Age of Affluence 91 *Chapter 5 Symmachus - Being Noble in Fourth-Century Rome 93 *Chapter 6 Avidus civicae gratiae - Greedy for the good favor of the city - Symmachus and the People of Rome 110 *Chapter 7 Ambrose and His People 120 *Chapter 8 "Avarice, the Root of All Evil" - Ambrose and Northern Italy 135 *Chapter 9 Augustine - Spes saeculi - Careerism, Patronage and Religious Bonding, 354-384 148 *Chapter 10 From Milan to Hippo - Augustine and the Making of a Religious Community, 384-396 161 *Chapter 11 "The Life in Common of a kind of Divine and Heavenly Republic" - Augustine on Public and Private in a Monastic Community 173 *Chapter 12 Ista vero saecularia - Those things, indeed, of the world - Ausonius, Villas, and the Language of Wealth 185 *Chapter 13 Ex opulentissimo divite - From being rich as rich can be Paulinus of Nola and the Renunciation of Wealth, 389-395 208 *Chapter 14 Commercium spiritale The spiritual Exchange - Paulinus of Nola and the Poetry of Wealth, 395-408 224 *Chapter 15 Propter magnificentiam urbis Romae - By reason of the magnificence of the city of Rome - The Roman Rich and their Clergy, from Constantine to Damasus, 312-384 241 *Chapter 16 "To Sing the Lord's Song in a Strange Land" - Jerome in Rome, 382-385 259 *Chapter 17 Between Rome and Jerusalem - Women, Patronage, and Learning, 385-412 273 Part III An Age of Crisis 289 *Chapter 18 "The Eye of a Needle" and "The Treasure of the Soul" - Renunciation, Nobility, and the Sack of Rome, 405-413 291 *Chapter 19 Tolle divitem - Take away the rich - The Pelagian Criticism of Wealth 308 *Chapter 20 Augustine's Africa - People and Church 322 *Chapter 21 "Dialogues with the Crowd" - The Rich, the People, and the City in the Sermons of Augustine 339 *Chapter 22 Dimitte nobis debita nostra - Forgive us our sins - Augustine, Wealth, and Pelagianism, 411-417 359 *Chapter 23 "Out of Africa" - Wealth, Power and the Churches, 415-430 369 *Chapter 24 "Still at that Time a More Affluent Empire" - The Crisis of the West in the Fifth Century 385 Part IV Aftermaths 409 *Chapter 25 Among the Saints - Marseilles, Arles and Lerins, 400-440 411 *Chapter 26 Romana respublica vel iam mortua - With the empire now dead and gone - Salvian and His Gaul, 420-450 433 *Chapter 27 Ob Italiae securitatem - For the security of Italy - Rome and Italy, ca. 430-ca. 530 454 Part V Toward Another World 479 *Chapter 28 Patrimonia pauperum - Patrimonies of the poor - Wealth and Conflict in the Churches of the Sixth Century 481 *Chapter 29 Servator fidei, patriaeque semper amator - Guardian of the Faith, and always lover of [his] homeland - Wealth and Piety in the Sixth Century 503 Conclusion 527 Abbreviations 531 Notes 533 Works Cited * Primary Sources 641 * Secondary Sources 654 Index 719
£23.75
Penguin Putnam Inc Christianity
Book SynopsisThe New York Times bestseller and definitive history of Christianity for our time—from the award-winning author of The Reformation and SilenceA product of electrifying scholarship conveyed with commanding skill, Diarmaid MacCulloch's Christianity goes back to the origins of the Hebrew Bible and encompasses the globe. It captures the major turning points in Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox history and fills in often neglected accounts of conversion and confrontation in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. MacCulloch introduces us to monks and crusaders, heretics and reformers, popes and abolitionists, and discover Christianity's essential role in shaping human history and the intimate lives of men and women. And he uncovers the roots of the faith that galvanized America, charting the surprising beliefs of the founding fathers, the rise of the Evangelical movement and of Pentecostalism, and the recent crises wit
£28.80
Arcturus Publishing Ltd The Rule of St. Benedict
Book SynopsisThis beautiful hardback edition presents the classic text, The Rule of St. Benedict, presented with a gold embossed cover design and gilded page edges. Composed by St. Benedict of Nursia around 529 CE, The Rule of St. Benedict serves as a guidebook for communal Christian living within monasteries. It consists of a comprehensive set of instructions that promote a balanced life centered around prayer, work, and community. The philosophy within the Rule advocates moderation, humility, obedience, and stability, providing a blueprint for harmonious living among individuals committed to a monastic life. The Rule of St. Benedict has had a profound and enduring influence, shaping not only monastic life but also serving as a guide for those seeking a disciplined and purposeful existence in modern times. Its principles of balance, discipline, and community continue to resonate across cultures and generations, offering timeless wisdom for thos
£8.54
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Opening the Field of Practical Theology
Book SynopsisOpening the Field of Practical Theology introduces students to practical theology through an examination of fifteen different approachesranging from feminist to liberationist, Roman Catholic to evangelical, Asian American to Latino/a. After an introduction to the field of practical theology and its broad range of practice today, the book features chapters written by leading experts in the discipline. Each chapter has an identical structure to facilitate comparison, covering historical context, key features and figures, norms and sources of authority, theory-practice, contexts, interdisciplinary considerations, areas of current and future research, and suggested readings.Opening the Field of Practical Theology is an ideal introduction to the field, highlighting the diverse ways practical theology is engaged today.Trade ReviewThis valuable volume provides an introduction, 15 contextual essays, and a conclusion by experts in practical theology. The book succeeds in 'opening the field,' recognizing the discipline's provisionality and permeability as open-ended and conversational in nature. To aid comparisons, each chapter is structured with the same eight key features. These begin with historical context and proceed through themes such as norms and source of authority, views of the theory-practice relationship, interdisciplinary conversation partners, and areas of current and future research. . . .The editors identify 11 focal concerns that are characteristic of practical theology and that forge an overall unity for the field. Yet the ways practical theologians put these together result in numerous trajectories or approaches. As Stephen Bevans says, 'In practical theology one begins from an experience or a practice.' This perspective leads to the distinctive identities of the chapters, which cover practical theology as it pertains to African Americans, Evangelicals, feminists/womanists, Roman Catholics, and US Latinos/Latinas. This overview approach should be very helpful for readers at all levels. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. * CHOICE *With the publication of Opening the Field of Practical Theology: An Introduction, Kathleen A. Cahalan and Gordon S. Mikoski have deepened and expanded the tent with a superb collection of essays. The book deepens out understanding by inviting fourteen different authors to examine common features of practical theology from diverse perspectives in an accessible and systematic way. . . .The structure is genius because it makes it possible to read the book in a number of different ways. . . .The endnotes add to the aim of this excellent new resource: they open the field of practical theology. * International Journal of Practical Theology *Opening the Field of Practical Theology offers practical theology students and teachers abundant access points into studying, teaching, and engaging diverse practices. This book will be required in doctoral studies in practical theology, will support life-long reflection on ministerial practices and vocational development, and will empower collaboration among diverse practical theologians. . . .Opening the Field of Practical Theology invites readers to enter practical theology’s convergences (named in the conclusion as valuing self-reflection, context, and interdisciplinarity) and divergences (named in the conclusion as differing interpretations of human experiences, historical contexts, and normative sources). The editors also encourage readers to play with the order of the chapters, underlying commitments, organization provided by the common template, and additional convergences and divergences. . . .[T]he volume affirms practical theology’s robust role in formative theological study, carrying on a long-standing conversation among scholars that is itself open to new voices and perspectives. Opening the Field of Practical Theology provides an invaluable contribution to a field of study that has opened multiple significant future trajectories. * Theology Today *Particularly noteworthy is the clear treatment given by each contributor to perhaps the most heavily-contested aspect of practical theology: the nature and status of sources of authority. Here the comparisons made possible between Catholic, Protestant, and evangelical positions, as well as the insights from a number of liberationist perspectives, will allow students to come to some necessary clarity about a key methodological question, clarity that is grounded in the voices of respected representatives of particular traditions. * Anglican and Episcopal History *Opening the Field of Practical Theology maps the complex terrain of this field as astutely as anything in print. Its respectful attention to diversity of ethnic and religious contexts and appropriate methods for them is to be applauded. Happily the shared template across the contributions makes it feel like an integrated volume and not simply a collection of essays. Best of all, the authors come across as living theologians whose own stories and contexts matter. This volume not only talks about practical theology, but smartly models it. Bravo! -- Edward Foley, capuchin, Catholic Theological UnionThis outstanding book demonstrates the breadth in the emerging field of Practical Theology in the U.S. Different Christian communities, related to different ethnic groups and different cultural contexts, demand for differentiated elaborations of a Practical Theology that should be both theologically normative and culturally informed. The authors paint a vivid picture of Practical Theology today. -- Wilhelm Gräb, Humboldt-University BerlinWhether you are just starting out in the field of practical theology, or undertaking advanced research, this book has something to offer you. It combines a comprehensive introduction with cutting-edge insights and deserves to be a staple text for many years to come. -- Elaine Graham, University of Chester, United KingdomCahalan and Mikoski have provided a straightforward approach to a complex and seemingly amorphous subject. The common structure of each chapter provides a clear and eminently useful way to engage and understand the nuances within and between various understandings of and approaches to practical theology. Using rubrics that help make explicit what is often only implicit, the authors invite the reader into the dynamic interchange between lived experience and divine activities through a variety of contextual, theoretical, historical and theological lenses. -- Barbara McClure, Brite Divinity SchoolA wonderful bird’s eye view of the scholarly expanse constituting practical theology today. Kudos to the insightful editors who designed a set of common categories and the stellar scholars who amplified them in overview chapters designed to help readers understand disciplinary developments. Readers will gain an invaluable sense of what counts for practical theology across a range of different approaches. -- Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of Religion, Psychology, and Culture, Vanderbilt UniversityThis new textbook offers a welcome and fresh approach to teaching and learning practical theology. Its attentiveness to the varieties of practical theological method and its use of a common template across the chapters will help students read comparatively and, thus, better comprehend the complexity of the field. -- Kathleen Greider, Edna and Lowell Craig Professor of Practical Theology, Spiritual Care, and Counseling, Claremont School of TheologyThis book offers a privileged participation in practical theological conversation at its very best. Each contribution is similarly organized and contains invaluable notes and citations, allowing readers to encounter the practical theological conversation in its depth and diversity. The authors bring a freshness that interprets contemporary practical theology even while advancing it. Ideal for both students and scholars, this book will be a critical building block for the next generation of practical theology and required reading at all levels of study and scholarly work. -- Bryan T. Froehle, St. Thomas UniversityOpening the Field of Practical Theology generously invites its readers to explore and to join in the rich and varied conversations which are shaping contemporary practical theology. Written by experts who know and love their approaches to the subject, ministry students, graduate students, and scholars will be informed by this accessible introduction to a variegated field. -- Jeffery L. Tribble, Columbia Theological SeminaryDancing between common emphases in practical theology and broad diversities, this book opens a rich conversation about practical theological complexities. The extraordinary group of authors introduces a multitude of voices, values, concerns, contexts, histories and methods in practical theology. Even more important, they pose unsettling questions as they uncover the dangers of essentializing and categorizing, the realities of hybridity and plurality, and the practical theology frontiers that have yet to be opened. This book is critical for the future of practical theology. It will open readers and it will open the potential for new work on the frontiers of practical knowing. -- Mary Elizabeth Moore, Boston University, Boston Univeristy School of TheologyTable of Contents1.Introduction 2.African American Practical Theology, Dale P. Andrews 3.Asian American Practical Theology, Courtney T. Goto 4.Contextual Theology as Practical Theology, Stephen Bevans, S.V.D. 5.Empirical Practical Theology, Richard Osmer 6.Evangelical Practical Theology, Andrew Root 7.Feminist and Womanist Practical Theology, Joyce Ann Mercer 8.Hermeneutics in Protestant Practical Theology, Sally A. Brown 9.Hermeneutics in Roman Catholic Practical Theology, Claire E. Wolfteich 10.Liberation Practical Theology, Katherine Turpin 11.Neo-Reformation Practical Theology, Gordon Mikoski 12.Postmodern Practical Theology, Tom Beaudoin 13.Religious Practices in Practical Theology, Don C. Richter 14.Roman Catholic Pastoral Theology, Kathleen A. Cahalan 15.US Latino/a Practical Theology, Hosffman Ospino 16.White Practical Theology, Tom Beaudoin and Katherine Turpin 17.Conclusion
£39.60
York Medieval Press Sin in Medieval and Early Modern Culture: The
Book SynopsisA fresh consideration of the enduring tradition of the Seven Deadly Sins, showing its continuing post-medieval influence. The tradition of the seven deadly sins played a considerable role in western culture, even after the supposed turning-point of the Protestant Reformation, as the essays collected here demonstrate. The first part of the book addresses such topics as the problem of acedia in Carolingian monasticism; the development of medieval thought on arrogance; the blending of tradition and innovation in Aquinas's conceptualization of the sins; the treatment of sin in the pastoral contexts of the early Middle English Vices and Virtues and a fifteenth-century sermon from England; the political uses of the deadly sins in the court sermons of Jean Gerson; and the continuing usefulnessof the tradition in early modern England. In the second part, the role of the tradition in literature and the arts is considered. Essays look at representations of the sins in French music of the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries; in Dante's Purgatorio; in a work by Michel Beheim in pre-Reformation Germany; and in a 1533 play by the German Lutheran writer Hans Sachs. New interpretations are offered of Gower's "Tale of Constance" and Bosch's Tabletop of the Seven Deadly Sins. As a whole, the book significantly enhances our understanding of the multiple uses and meanings of the sins tradition, not only in medieval culture but also in the transition from the medievalto the early modern period. RICHARD G. NEWHAUSER is Professor of English and Medieval Studies, Arizona State University, Tempe; SUSAN J. RIDYARD is Professor of History and Director of the Sewanee Medieval Colloquium,The University of the South, Sewanee. Contributors: Richard G. Newhauser, James B. Williams, Kiril Petkov, Cate Gunn, Eileen C. Sweeney, Holly Johnson, Nancy McLoughlin, Anne Walters Robertson, Peter S. Hawkins, CarolJamison, Henry Luttikhuizen, William C. McDonald, Kathleen Crowther.Trade ReviewProvides many interesting and valuable discussions of specific texts (and occasionally visual and musical sources), and the ways in which these employ the concept of sin and particularly that of the seven capital sins.[It] throws new light on the way people in the medieval and early modern world thought about sins, but also on how sins were good to think with. * HISTORY *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Understanding Sin: Recent Scholarship and the Capital Vices - Richard G. Newhauser Working for Reform: Acedia, Benedict of Aniane and the Transformation of Working Culture in Carolingian Monasticism - James B. Williams The Cultural Career of a 'Minor' Vice: Arrogance in the Medieval Treatise in Sin - Kiril Petkov Vices and Virtues: A Reassessment of Stowe MS 34 - Cate Gunn Aquinas on the Seven Deadly Sins: Tradition and Innovation - Eileen C. Sweeney A Fifteenth-Century Sermon Enacts the Seven Deadly Sins - Holly Johnson The Deadly Sins and Contemplative Politics: Gerson's Ordering of the Personal and Political Realms - Nancy A. McLoughlin 'These Seaven Devils': The Capital Vices on the Way to Modernity - Richard G. Newhauser The Seven Deadly Sins in Medieval Music - Anne Walters Robertson The Religion of the Mountain: Handling Sin in Dante's Purgatorio - Peter S. Hawkins John Gower's Shaping of 'The Tale of Constance' as an Exemplum contra Envy - Carol Jamison Through Boschian Eyes: An Interpretation of the Prado Tabletop of the Seven Deadly Sins - Henry M. Luttikhuizen Singing Sin: Michel Beheim's 'Little Book of the Seven Deadly Sins', a German Pre-Reformation Religious Text for the Laity - William C. McDonald Raising Cain: Vice, Virtue and Social Order in the German Reformation - Kathleen M. Crowther
£85.50
DK Publishing (Dorling Kindersley) A History of Christianity
Book Synopsis
£17.99
Rowman & Littlefield Many Servants: An Introduction to Deacons
Book SynopsisIn this newly updated and revised introduction to the permanent diaconate, Plater includes a history of deacons in the early church, a survey of deacons from the Reformation to the present, stories of modern diaconal ministries, including first-hand accounts, and a discussion of the formation, training, and deployment of deacons. This book is a basic, essential text for discernment committees and commissions on ministry, and a comprehensive look at a vital ministry in the church today.
£12.59
Inter-Varsity Press Christianity: The Biography: Two Thousand Years
Book SynopsisIan Shaw charts the story of Christianity from its birth and infancy among a handful of followers of Jesus Christ, through its years of development into a global religious movement, spanning continents and cultures and transcending educational and social backgrounds.Trade ReviewWhat an original idea. Ian Shaw has presented the current scholarship in church history in a very engaging way. I hope this book is widely read... An absolutely outstanding volume! * Ian Randall, Senior Research Fellow, Spurgeon’s College *‘Christians today have largely lost their historical memory, and it is no surprise that as a result many are struggling to agree on the right way ahead for the church. Ian Shaw’s remarkable book, encompassing in one volume the entire chronological and geographical range of Christian history, will prove invaluable in helping Christians to recover their historical memory and hence to find wisdom for the future.’ * Brian Stanley, Professor of World Christianity, University of Edinburgh. *‘Believers need to know the story of their own faith, and Christianity: the Biography is a great place to start. It covers fascinating figures, movements, and trends across two millennia without ever getting bogged down or side-tracked. It is not only clear and accessible, but also inspiring and wise.’ * Timothy Larsen, McManis Professor of Christian Thought, Wheaton College *This is . . . an immense achievement of breadth of scope, clarity of focus, and fair-mindedness. It should have a starred place on every ordination-training reading list. * Church Times *
£12.59
Yale University Press Hot Protestants
Book SynopsisOn fire for God—a sweeping history of puritanism in England and AmericaTrade Review“Hot Protestants is a fine work of scholarship, written in a gracefully understated style, and is among the fairest and most readable accounts of the glorious failure that was trans-Atlantic Puritanism.”—Barton Swaim, Wall Street Journal“Exhilarating popular history...convincingly captures in one bold retelling decades of scholarship on Puritanism’s origins, developments and characteristics”—Johanna Harris, Times Literary Supplement“The rise and fall of transatlantic puritanism is told through political, theological, and personal conflict in this exceptional history. . . . With a clear narrative tied together with helpful clarifications, Winship’s cogent work nicely lays out the history of how puritans emerged from Protestantism.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review“Hold on to your hats. Michael Winship has written one of the finest and most challenging studies of early modern Puritanism—and this in a field replete with gifted scholars.”—Jonathan Wright, Catholic Herald“Michael P. Winship tells an ocean-spanning story with a light touch and an ear for compelling vignettes.”—Alec Ryrie, BBC History Magazine“Puritanism was inescapable: it led to vicious conflict, rebellion, and civil war on both sides of the Atlantic from the 1540s onwards. Michael P. Winship has written an admirable and fascinating survey of this movement, learned and full of insight”—Jonathan Clark, Church Times“The scope and comprehension of all aspects of Puritanism in Hot Protestants is remarkable."—Glenn A. Moots, Journal of Religious History “An immensely enjoyable and informative read.”—Pierre Lurbe, Cercles “A sweeping and cogently argued survey of Puritan political ambitions in the Atlantic world…Winship is right that Puritanism changed due to fragmentation and the loss of power in Old and New England, and most modern Protestants baulk at their rigid views on matters of church, state and the habits of godliness.”—Matthew Rowley, Bunyan Studies Listed on Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles List for 2019 “A fresh retelling of the ups and downs of the Puritan movement in England and New England, a story conveyed through vignettes that capture its dynamics in unusually insightful ways.”—David D. Hall, author of A Reforming People“An important work by one of our leading scholars of puritanism, placing the movement in its proper Atlantic context and offering valuable insights in a way accessible to all readers.”—Francis J. Bremer, author of First Founders"A compelling read. This is the only genuinely trans-Atlantic history of puritanism, taking in the full sweep of the story from the 1540s to the 1690s. Throughout, Winship displays an unmatched command of the field, astute judgment, and independence of mind. Hot Protestants is a tremendous achievement."—John Coffey, author of Exodus and Liberation“A long needed study of the transatlantic Puritan movement, knitting together its disparate elements into a coherent whole. Winship's mastery of the subject on both sides of the Atlantic is unparalleled, and his forceful account, told in vigorous and lucid prose, will remind readers why Puritanism had a powerful influence in shaping the modern world.”—Mark A. Peterson, author of The Price of Redemption
£13.29
InterVarsity Press Steward Leadership in the Nonprofit Organization
Book Synopsis
£19.66
InterVarsity Press ShortTerm Missions Workbook
Book Synopsis
£12.99
Atico de Los Libros Templarios, Los
Book Synopsis
£21.72
Plough Publishing House The Anabaptist Writings of David Joris
Book SynopsisThe authoritative English-language resource for primary sources of the Radical Reformation. Targets a growing interest in Anabaptism among younger Christians. Features new foreword by a leading expert in the field. Valuable reference tool for pastors, professors, and other thought leaders.
£21.24
Saint Benedict Press Celebrating a Holy Catholic Easter: A Guide to
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£23.76
University of Notre Dame Press Sounding the Word of God
Book SynopsisTrade Review“Susan Rankin has for decades reflected on the relations between the visible signs on the page and musical sound. This book boldly steps in a new direction in several fields of study: palaeography, history of the book, history of liturgy, music history, art history, and the broad history of the eighth and ninth centuries.” —Calvin M. Bower, translator of Fundamentals of MusicTable of ContentsList of Illustrations List of Music Examples List of Tables Note on Musical Examples Note on Manuscript Citations Preface Abbreviations Introduction Making Chant Books Part I. Reforming and Regulating 1. Musical Persuasion 2. Musical Eloquence 3. The Provision and Ownership of Chant Books Part II. Displaying Pronuntiatio 4. Making Instructions Visible 5. The Delivery of Festal Readings and Prayers 6. Singing the Psalms Part III. Making Chant Books 7. Books for Priests and Books for Singers 8. Purple, Gold, Silver and Ivory 9. New Directions 10. Fulfillment and Transformation Appendix. Feasts with chants included in the second sacramentary in Paris BnF lat. 9430 and Tours 184 Bibliography Index of Manuscripts General Index
£59.25
Salem Books Fight the Good Fight: How an Alliance of Faith
Book Synopsis
£21.59
Rowman & Littlefield God's Diplomats: Pope Francis, Vatican Diplomacy,
Book SynopsisTrade Review[God’s Diplomats is] a mix of impartial description and informed opinion. Not everyone will agree with how different issues are framed, or how different figures are portrayed. But what certainly cannot be argued with is the fact that Gaetan has given a gift not only to foreign policy practitioners, but also to American Catholics. You will not find a book on Church diplomacy as accessible, comprehensive, and faithful, as God’s Diplomats. It is a must read for anyone interested in understanding the Vatican’s diplomatic priorities better — and especially why they don’t always align with America’s. * National Catholic Register *Gaetan’s book tells the story that Pope Francis and Holy See diplomats themselves do not in a combination of accessible, novel-like prose and meticulous research (including 117 pages of endnotes). The award-winning journalist has reported on Vatican diplomacy for over 20 years, and in God’s Diplomats he tells all. * Los Angeles Review of Books *Victor Gaetan expertly introduces readers to the history of this approach, and to how Pope Francis has employed it, in his book God’s Diplomats. An experienced international correspondent, Gaetan bases his book on extensive interviews and research, including documents from the Vatican archives and from WikiLeaks. * America Magazine *Informative, insightful and entertaining, he has produced a page-turner that will shed much light and offer fresh perspective on parts of Pope Francis' ministry that have received too little attention. . . .If you read one book on Pope Francis and the Vatican this year, read this one! -- Robert C. Mickens, Editor in Chief, La Croix InternationalGod’s Diplomats: Pope Francis, Vatican Diplomacy, and America’s Armageddon is a welcome addition to the literature on the Holy See and it should not be missed, not only by scholars and a more general audience interested in the Holy See, but also by anyone interested in diplomacy and diplomatic negotiation in contemporary international relations. * Where Peter Is *In God's Diplomats, the chapters on the history of Vatican diplomacy in individual countries are a must-read for anyone trying to understand why the Vatican works the way it does. -- Barb Fraze, International Editor, Catholic News ServiceGaetan's book fills a space never covered: by John Allen [renowned American Vaticanista], former Ambassadors, or Italian authors on the Holy See and diplomacy. Gaetan explains how and why the Vatican diplomatic corps works well and should be a model to US diplomacy. -- James F. Creagan, US Ambassador/Professor of International Diplomacy, St. Mary UniversityThis book is a must read for anyone wanting to understand the influence the papacy wields on global politics in the 21st century. -- Christopher Lamb, Rome Correspondent, The TabletI expect God’s Diplomats will become a standard reference for scholars of the role of religion in international affairs, and benefit anyone who wishes to understand the impact of Vatican diplomacy, and its surprising ability to alter the views of world leaders as diverse as Vladimir Putin, George W. Bush, and Bashar al-Assad. -- Nicolai N. Petro, Professor of Political Science, University of Rhode IslandIlluminating, entertaining, and inspiring, God’s Diplomats is a major contribution to contemporary literature on Catholicism, international relations and the Francis pontificate. -- Austen Ivereigh, author of The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical PopeGod’s Diplomats will appeal to many audiences. It is a must read for secular diplomats and Church leaders at every level engaged with the Church’s diplomatic efforts. It should also be required reading for trained diplomats. In-the-pew Catholics and other people of goodwill will find it affirming of the positive role that religion can play in the public square. -- Stephen M. Colecchi, Former Director of the Office of International Justice and Peace of the United States Conference of Catholic BishopI'm so impressed by the meticulousness of the research, the breathtaking pace at which Victor Gaetan guides the reader in God's Diplomats through one of the most complex labyrinths on earth (which constantly made me feel I was reading a great spy novel), and the deep faith reflected in his careful historical analysis. -- Carlos Eire, author of Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy and winner of the 2003 National Book AwardVictor Gaetan's God's Diplomats will make a valuable contribution to writings about Holy See diplomacy. -- Ambassador Francis Rooney, Former US Ambassador to the Holy See (2005-08) and former Congressman from Florida (2017-2021); Author of Global Diplomat: An Inside Look at the Catholic Church, World Politics, and the Extraordinary Relationship between the United States and the Holy SeeHistory proved the Vatican to be correct when it warned the United States that going to war against Iraq would unleash mayhem. But how could the Church predict such an outcome? In this tour de force work of history, Victor Gaetan demonstrates how invaluable is the Vatican's worldwide diplomatic network, a veritable intelligence gathering machine. Iraq is just one example in Gaetan's book, in which he shows how the Church's well-established diplomacy infrastructure can serve as a force for world peace. -- John Burger, News Editor, AleteiaIt's a fascinating read, well written, widely sourced, with over a hundred pages of endnotes. It is also a sympathetic view of the Church's involvement in world diplomacy, with particular emphasis on recent hotspots. I recommend it most highly. -- Dwight G. Duncan, Professor at UMass School of Law DartmouthTable of ContentsPart OneIntroduction: What Does Washington Fear About Pope Francis and Vatican Diplomacy?Chapter 1: An Adaptable Network, Willing to Bleed Chapter 2:Mission Beyond Religion Chapter 3:Education of a Diplomat Chapter 4: Sovereignty is the Ticket to the International SystemChapter 5:Diplomatic Classics, Rules of Thumb, and Modus Operandi Part TwoIntroduction: The Mustard Seed: Jorge Bergoglio as Manager, Missionary, and Mystic Chapter 6: Stifling War in Ukraine; Prioritizing Peace with Russia2013 protests in Ukraine lead to a war that threatens over two decades of relationship building between Rome and Moscow Chapter 7:Mediating Cold War Quarrels: Cuba 2014 marks normalization of relations between the US and Cuba, a landmark agreement brokered by Rome Chapter 8:Diminishing Division: Kenya2015 finds Pope Francis in Kenya where he shares a simple gestureChapter 9:Letting War’s Victims Lead: Colombia2016 clinches a peace deal signed by government and guerillas after over 50 years of fighting; the Catholic Church helps define the agreement’s core concern Chapter 10: Piecing Together the Middle East: Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia2017 brings political crisis in Lebanon that cardinal-patriarch works to untie Chapter 11:Unifying the Religion of the Lord of Heaven: China2018 achieves agreement between Vatican and Beijing on bishop selection Chapter 12: Piercing Hearts: South Sudan 2019 witnesses a pope on his knees kissing the feet of warlords
£18.99
Oxford University Press Inc The Annotated Book of Mormon
Book SynopsisThis is the first fully annotated, academic edition of the Book of Mormon in its 200-year history. Modelled after the Oxford line of annotated Bibles, it provides readers with the information they need to understand this classic text of American religious history. This edition reformats the complete scriptural text in the manner of modern Bible translations with paragraphs, quotation marks, poetic stanzas, and section headings, all of which clarify the book''s complicated narrative structure. As a result, readers experience a more accessible and readable presentation than the standard version. Annotations explain the meaning and context of specific passages, delineate extended arguments, identify rhetorical patterns, explore theological implications, highlight ancient and modern parallels, and point out intertextual connections, particularly with the Bible.The Book of Mormon is subdivided into internal books; in this edition, each book is preceded by an introduction that discusses its Trade ReviewThe Annotated Book of Mormon opens up rich nuances of the texts and the impact of their reception as spirituality and literature. A significant contribution to understanding that reveals the contribution of the Book of Mormon to theology and religion. * Andrew Teal, Faculty of Theology and Religion, Oxford University *The Annotated Book of Mormon encourages serious study of a central text in American religious, literary, and cultural history. An essential guide for all readers. * Matthew Bowman, Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies, Claremont Graduate University *The Annotated Book of Mormon is a rich study resource that I hope will help transform the way we engage with the Book of Mormon as a people. * Conor Hilton, Twenty-First Century Mormon Literature *Table of ContentsEditor's Preface Abbreviations Title Page Introduction to the Small Plates 1 Nephi 2 Nephi Jacob Enos Jarom Omni Words of Mormon Introduction to Mormon's Abridgment of the Large Plates Mosiah Alma Helaman 3 Nephi 4 Nephi Mormon Introduction to Moroni's Additions Ether Moroni Testimonies Three Witnesses Eight Witnesses Emma Smith Joseph Smith General Essays The Origins of the Text The Transmission and Language of the Text The Book of Mormon and the Bible Book of Mormon Theology Lived Religion in the Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon and the Latter-day Saints The Book of Mormon in American History The Book of Mormon as Literature Reading the Book of Mormon as Ancient History Reading the Book of Mormon as Fiction Reading the Book of Mormon as Revealed Scripture Reading the Book of Mormon as World Scripture Further Reading Maps and Charts Possible Routes of Lehi's Journey Mormon's Map Book of Mormon Plates and Records Record Keepers in the Book of Mormon Key Families in the Book of Mormon Jaredite Kings Time Line of Nephite History Chronology of the Translation Glossary Biblical Quotations, Allusions, and Verbal Parallels Index of Names
£30.99
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Heretic
Book SynopsisWhether searching for community in the face of millennial loneliness or wanting to reclaim a secular form of fellowship in everyday life, Kadlec envisions the brilliant possibilities that come with not only daring to want a different way but actually striking out and claiming it for ourselves.Trade ReviewNamed A Most Anticipated Book of 2022 by: Buzzfeed * Lit Hub * Autostraddle * Electric Lit * Bay Area Reporter — "Bless this brave, thoughtful, funny, aggravating, nearly triggering book. It made me wish I still believed in the God I knew in my youth so that I could pick a fight with Him. Kadlec provides an astute picture of what it feels like to be born into the maze of a rigid faith and the twists and turns it takes to find yourself. I wish I had this book when I was a teenager. . . . This will hit very close to home for a lot of people." — Lucy Dacus "A gripping study of religious trauma--and healing" — People "The Best New Books" "Heretic is full of intellect and ferocious emotion with language so taut that every thread of her narrative—an evangelical upbringing, religious trauma, violence, and queer love—forms a shimmering braid. Kadlec's analysis of fundamentalist belief, placed right up against tales of cartoons, Dungeons & Dragons, and the art of tarot, moved me to tears with its vibrant celebration of hard-won joy." — Esmé Weijun Wang, author of The Collected Schizophrenias "Both memoir and thesis, this book highlights a cultural, social, and spiritual journey that will resonate with many." — Kirkus Reviews “Heretic is an intelligent and highly entertaining memoir. Part cultural history, part personal history, Jeanna Kadlec writes with perspective and poignancy. Her writing excavates the ideal of a good Christian woman and reveals it for all it ever truly was, a myth. Kadlec is a captivating storyteller and cultural historian. Heretic is both an insight into America's regressive politics and a memoir of astonishing honesty and beautiful complexity. From her life as a good Christian girl to her emergence as a queer woman, Kadlec writes with voice and conviction. Heretic is a memoir that employs a coming of sexuality and a coming of womanhood with a prose that is empowering and beautiful." — Lyz Lenz, author of Godland and Belabored "A woman reckons with the religious trauma of her upbringing and embarks on a process of self-discovery in this searing debut. . . . As she recounts her disentanglement from religion, Kadlec weaves a deeply personal narrative with excoriating criticism to unpack the ways in which religious belief is sewn into the fabric of American society. The result provides a poignant story of being born again in a secular world." — Publishers Weekly "An anthropological exploration of power, self-discovery, and the communities we both desire and dismantle; Kadlec…graciously offers a new way forward, a hand to hold, an unforgettable and edifying reading experience you won’t want to miss." — T Kira Madden, author of Long Live The Tribe of Fatherless Girls "What Kadlec suggests is something more exciting — not a revision but a restoration of the Christian faith. Is Kadlec a heretic? Or is she the true believer?" — Los Angeles Times "Kadlec is inviting us to re-examine our own lives and reject anything that would restrict us from living as our full selves in favor of a joyful, open, freer path. I’ve loved Kadlec’s work for a long time—she writes with the bold, clear voice of someone who has been there and back, and has now settled in to tell you the real deal." — Literary Hub "I can't tell you how happy I am that Kadlec's work exists in the world. Heretic is the guidebook I needed for my life. Learning how to overcome harmful systems and find joy and community on our own terms is essential for queer survival, and Kadlec has provided an elegant and astute account." — Garrard Conley, author of Boy Erased “Brilliant and well-read, Kadlec braved the emotional tides of religious trauma, divorce, and coming out as queer all before her thirtieth birthday. … Giving a voice to past and present evangelicals Kadlec invites readers to hold a mirror to the evangelical-political hydra that threatens to overthrow true American freedom.” — Booklist (starred review) "In this outstanding debut, clear, elegant, and precise as etched glass, Jeanna Kadlec recounts a detachment from her own heart and desires so profound and carefully inculcated that desire for anyone other than God felt like transgression. Her prose is wise and erudite, undergirded by plain speech and an open heart. Heretic is a light unto the path of every former evangelical who longs for communion beyond the condemnation and spiritual abuse of the church, and a crucial window for outsiders into what it's like to grow up handed a birthright of original sin." — Maud Newton, author of Ancestor Trouble "(Kadlec) is gifting us her debut memoir, an achingly rendered story of leaving the Evangelical church and an oppressive marriage, a story of losing faith and finding oneself. Within these pages, Kadlec combines revelatory personal narratives with assiduous cultural criticism, Midwestern wonder with intellectual vigor, to explore how some of the social and spiritual functions of religion can be both abhorrent and illuminative of a new path forward." — Electric Literature “This resonant memoir by a former evangelical Christian is searing and beautiful from cover to cover. … Kadlec's interpretation is particularly refreshing and vividly intensive and will resonate most with readers searching for new beginnings.” — Bay Area Reporter "(Kadlec) uniquely blends together her story of religion and queerness in her inventive memoir." — Shondaland "Kadlec takes readers through her quest for freedom, from a disillusioning stint in academia to the homes she ultimately finds in queer communities and the occult." — Poets & Writers "A Memoir for the Witches Who Grew From Good Christian Women" — Autostraddle "You don’t have to have been brought up in an evangelical Christian church or discover you’d been living a lie about your identity for decades to find in Jeanna’s journey something resonant, vulnerable, and inspiring." — Divorcist.com "Honest and empowering, Heretic feels particularly timely when it explores bodily autonomy and patriarchal heteronormativity." — Chicago Review of Books “Jeanna Kadlec’s Heretic: A Memoir, out this fall, stands out, not because she went on to found an LGBTQ2S+-inclusive lingerie boutique or distributes a newsletter about “Astrology for Writers,” or even because indie musician Lucy Dacus blurbed her book. It’s because Kadlec sees the danger of evangelical Christianity clearly, as only someone who has been deep inside of it can." — Xtra
£19.00
Thomas Nelson Publishers The Power of Place
Book SynopsisAcclaimed teaching pastor Daniel Grothe speaks to the sense of loneliness that many feel in today''s age of hypermobility and noncommittal wandering, reminding us of the ancient vow of stability and teaching us how we can lead a richer life of friendship, community, and purpose.Unlike previous generations that had to stay put, many people today have unprecedented access to a lifestyle of mobility. We can explore and bounce from place to place, never settling down or making anywhere home. And while it feels freeing to be able to try something new whenever we want--whether it''s a new job, a new city, a new group of friends, or even a new church--somewhere along the way, we discover we''re missing something. We may be paying our bills and have a roof over our heads, but we''re lonely and unfulfilled, disconnected and unsatisfied. What''s that all about? What is the missing piece?In The Power of Place, pastor Daniel Grothe speaks to the human ach
£17.09
University of California Press The History of the Church
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Students of ancient Christianity and general readers will find here a lucid translation and a helpful guide to the study of an important source for early Christian history." * Church History and Religious Culture *"This outstanding version will soon become standard in courses, for it is in every way superior to its competition." * Review of Biblical Literature *"Schott's translation was a bold undertaking; it has generated a monumental achievement. It certainly deserves to become the next generation's standard English version of Eusebius' History." * Studies in Late Antiquity *"A singular achievement in Eusebian studies. . . . This volume will become the standard translation." * Journal of Classics Teaching *"This new translation offers contemporary readers an accessible text with insights into the cultural and social influences that shaped Eusebius’ story of Christianity." * Reading Religion *"A remarkable work of scholarship. . . . Schott’s translation has certainly become the first I turn to." * Ancient Jew Review *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Abbreviations General Introduction the ecclesiastical history Book 1 Book 2 Book 3 Book 4 Book 5 Book 6 Book 7 Book 8 Book 9 Book 10Appendix A. Maps Appendix B. Eusebius’s Bishop Lists and Chronology Glossary Selected Bibliography Index Nominum (Index of Names) Index Locorum (Eusebius’s Sources)
£13.49
JCB Mohr (Paul Siebeck) The Arch-Heretic Marcion
Book SynopsisMarcion is unanimously acknowledged to be one of the most important and most intriguing figures of the Early Church. In spite of this importance, there is no comprehensive up-to-date study on his life and thought. Thus, the desire to fill this gap within the academic world - which is inconvenient for both students and professors alike - has been the inspiration for writing this thesis. However, this work does not only aim at providing a complete study on Marcion for the twenty-first century, but also at ridding scholarship from several severe misconceptions regarding the arch-heretic. The main argument of Sebastian Moll's study is that previous scholarship has turned Marcion's exegesis of Scripture upside down. He did not find the inspiration for his doctrine in the teachings of the Apostle Paul, it is the Old Testament and its portrait of an inconsistent, vengeful and cruel God which forms the centre of his doctrine. Marcion does not understand the Old Testament in the light of the New, he interprets the New Testament in the light of the Old. This insight casts a new light on Marcion's place within the history of the Church, as the initiator of a fundamental crisis of the Old Testament in the second century. But not only did he have an enormous influence on Christian exegesis, he also stands at the beginning of the epochal fight between orthodoxy and heresy. As the first man to ever officially break with the Church for doctrinal reasons, and whose biography would become a stereotype for future heresiologists, Marcion can rightfully claim the title of 'arch-heretic'.
£83.28
Headline Publishing Group Steeple Chasing
Book SynopsisThe Sunday Times paperback bestseller and Waterstones Non-Fiction Book of the Month*Featuring a brand new chapter!*''Never have the joys of exploring the churches and cathedrals of this country been so vividly conveyed as they are in this engaging and elegiac book.'' - New Statesman **BOOK OF THE YEAR pick 2023**''A delicious treat'' - Financial Times **TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR pick 2023**''A charming odyssey'' - The Times''A wonderful book; thoughtful and challenging'' - Daily Telegraph *****''A beautiful book'' - Gabriel Byrne ''Beautiful and brilliant. I loved it'' - Fergus Butler-Gallie From the author of A Tomb With a View - Scottish Non-Fiction book of the Year Churches are all around us. Their steeples remain landmarks in our towns, villages and cities, even as their influeTrade ReviewWhat makes Steeple Chasing so compelling - and it is a wonderful book; thoughtful and challenging - ... is Ross's essential kindness, his unfailing empathy with the people he meets on his pilgrimage. * Daily Telegraph *A charming odyssey . . . in this lyrical love letter to churches Ross reminds us there is something worth saving and people who will make the effort. * The Times *His book is a delicious treat, and one that both believers and sceptics will enjoy. * Financial Times *Reading a book is another reciprocal act: if it's good, it stays with you. Ross's readers will have his words humming through them for a long time. * Spectator *Lovely, lyrical, whimsical, elegiac ... Ross has a gift for making you feel you're there with him, just as awed as he is. * Times Literary Supplement *Ross has always had a quiet charm, and it is perhaps displayed best in this book. . . it is properly interested in humanity, especially in its complexity. * The Scotsman *Steeple Chasing is, as you might expect from Ross, itself a beautiful object, full of delicacy and deliberation in the writing. . .a fascinating, beautifully written book full of both the strange and the terrible, but also full of grace and love. * The Herald *Beautifully observed and evocatively written. * Country Life *Never less than fascinating. * Books From Scotland *
£10.44
InterVarsity Press The Path of Christianity
Book Synopsis
£50.39
Faithlife Corporation Pastoral Leadership
Book Synopsis
£13.49
Rutgers University Press Imagining Persecution: Why American Christians
Book SynopsisMany American Christians have come to understand their relationship to other Christian denominations and traditions through the lens of religious persecution. This book provides a historical account of these developments, showing the global, theological, and political changes that made it possible for contemporary Christians to claim that there is a global war on Christians. This book, however, does not advocate on behalf of particular repressed Christian communities, nor does it argue for the genuineness (or lack thereof) of certain Christians’ claims of persecution. Instead, this book is the first to examine the idea that there is a “global war on Christians” and its analytical implications. It does so by giving a concise history of the categories (like “martyrs”), evidence (statistics and metrics), and theologies that have come together to produce a global Christian imagination premised upon the notion of shared suffering for one’s faith. The purpose in doing so is not to deny certain instances of suffering or death; rather, it is to reflect upon the consequences for thinking about religious violence and Christianity worldwide using terms such as a “global war on Christians.”Trade Review"Jason Bruner's Imagining Persecution offers a polite, probing, and ultimately devastating deconstruction of the common American Christian belief that there is at this time a global war of persecution against Christians. This is an extraordinarily important book. In its own understated way, it raises this fundamental question—why exactly is it so important for conservative American Christians to believe they are part of a globally persecuted community?"— David P. Gushee, author of Still Christian: Following Jesus Out of American Evangelism. "A significant contribution."— David Smith, author of Religious Persecution and Political Order in the United States "Persecution, Martyrdom, and Christian Identity: 7 Questions with Jason Bruner"— Sacred Matters "New Books Network - New Nooks in Christian Studies" interview with Jason Bruner— New Books Network - New Nooks in Christian StudiesTable of ContentsContents Preface 1. Coming to Terms: Christians, Martyrs, and Persecution 2. Christians, Martyrdom, and Persecution from the New Testament to the Reformation 3. Religious Persecution and American Christianity 4. A Global War on Christians? 5. The Global Politics of the Suffering Body of Christ Notes Bibliography Acknowledgments Index
£20.69
New Century Edition The Shorter Works of 1763
Book Synopsis
£36.00
Rowman & Littlefield Preaching in the Purple Zone: Ministry in the
Book SynopsisPreaching in the Purple Zone is a resource for helping the church understand the challenges facing parish pastors, while encouraging and equipping preachers to address the vital justice issues of our time.This book provides practical instruction for navigating the hazards of prophetic preaching with tested strategies and prudent tactics grounded in biblical and theological foundations. Key to this endeavor is using a method of civil discourse called “deliberative dialogue” for finding common values among politically diverse parishioners. Unique to this book is instruction on using the sermon-dialogue-sermon process developed by the author that expands the pastor’s level of engagement on justice issues with parishioners beyond the single sermon. Preaching in the Purple Zone equips clergy to help their congregations respectfully engage in deliberation about “hot topics,” find the values that bind them together, and respond faithfully to God’s Word.Trade ReviewThis book is one of the most helpful resources to teach and learn how preachers give prophetic voices to controversial justice issues in the midst of socially and politically divided times. Based on her rich experience of preaching ministry, rigorous scholarly and scientific research, and pastoral sensibility, Dr. Schade provides the reader with practical wisdom for prophetic preaching. -- Eunjoo Kim, Iliff School of TheologyIn these turbulent political times, Dr. Leah Schade offers a hopeful and realistic roadmap for preaching to listeners with diverse opinions. Concrete examples for a process beyond the Sunday sermon provide opportunities for growth and healing. This is a much-needed book at a critical juncture in the Church—not just for leaders but for the laity as well. -- Rev. Angela Zimmann, vice president of institutional advancement and adjunct professor of homiletics, United Lutheran SeminaryThe past generation of scholarship in homiletics has been leading to Preaching in the Purple Zone. Field tested and theologically grounded, Schade provides a truly conversational blueprint for preachers who want to preach about difficult social justice issues with their congregations rather than simply to their congregations. In our contentious cultural moment, this book is a gift to preachers, congregations, and the world. -- Richard Voelz, assistant professor of preaching and worship, Union Presbyterian SeminaryHow can preachers engage diverse congregations in difficult moral conversations that often have political implications? And how can preachers preach sermons that capture the complexities of those conversations while nudging participants forward toward new and better moral understandings and social commitments? These are the core questions answered in this well-researched, clearly written, and wise book. Strongly recommended. -- John S. McClure, Charles G. Finney Professor of Preaching and Worship, Vanderbilt Divinity SchoolThere’s nothing sophomoric about Leah Schade’s sophomore contribution in homiletics. Drawing its wisdom from her preaching, classroom, and community activism expertise, Preaching in the Purple Zone refreshingly offers controversy-averse pastors a quantitatively researched, timely guide for decentering the progressive versus conservative (idolatry of perspective) battle in theologically constructive ways. Schade’s skill building ‘five paths’ preaching methodology invites preachers into prophetically conscious sermon preparation and urges them to reconceive preaching as a biblical, theological, co-creative task—one that shifts preaching’s objective from, as she rightly puts it, ‘simply opening minds and hearts, to moving hands and feet in tangible ways.’ -- Kenyatta R. Gilbert, professor of homiletics, Howard University School of DivinityLeah D. Schade has dedicated herself as a pastor and theologian to bringing the social gospel of Christianity into congregational dialogue, and she is realistic about doing so in our polarizing and messy culture. With her commanding knowledge of homiletic literature and years of experience as a Lutheran pastor, and having surveyed over twelve hundred preachers and done training with the National Issues Forum, Schade presents a comprehensive sermon-dialogue-sermon process that can bring a congregation into respectful learning and a more consequential practice of relevant discipleship. I plan to use this book as a peer-learning resource for Roman Catholic preachers who value Catholic social teaching but seriously wonder how to preach on potentially threatening issues such as racism or health care at the end of life. -- Gregory Heille, professor of preaching and evangelization, Aquinas Institute of Theology, St. LouisLeah Shade’s Preaching in the Purple Zone should be required reading for pastors who preach to congregations that include both conservative and liberal listeners, seeking a way to address difficult, controversial issues. This book is a clear, profound, and practical homiletical resource for our current culture of animosity and incivility. Shade identifies fears that ‘muzzle’ prophetic preaching, chief among them the objection that our preaching is ‘too political.’ She offers a biblical, theological, homiletical rationale for prophetic preaching that shifts the focus from the lone voice of the preacher to a shared conversation in the congregation. She outlines a process of deliberative dialogue by which both preacher and congregation can grow together in engaging tough topics. The book includes sample sermons and detailed guidelines for addressing current issues. My advice: buy, read, and use this book! -- Alyce McKenzie, director of the Center for Preaching Excellence, Perkins School of TheologyHere are three reasons why preachers need to read Dr. Leah Schade’s Preaching in the Purple Zone: (1) Know you’re not alone. Based on her extensive surveys and interviews, Dr. Schade proves you’re not alone in your concerns about prophetic preaching or weathering their potential consequences. (2) Craft prophetic sermons wisely and pastorally. Apply these sage, practical suggestions and real-life examples to develop your purple-zone sermons in concert with those who will hear them. (3) Know what to do afterward. After the sermon you’ll have the steps you need to continue to develop relationships with your listeners—whether they agree with the sermon or not—to proclaim the Gospel together. Thanks to this book you'll be able to preach your purple zone sermons with deeper theological and biblical craftsmanship, purpose, and care. -- Lisa Cressman, author of Backstory Preaching: Integrating Life, Spirituality and CraftIf you are looking for a recitation of preaching techniques, this is not the book! If you crave insight and guidance for leading a faith community in this fractured and fractious time, you’ll find it in these pages. Leah Schade offers guidance that will lead you deep into the issues that divide our civic and faith communities to discover common values, commitments, and shared work centered in Christ crucified and risen for the life of the world. By weaving preaching carefully into the fabric of the community’s life together, Leah provides theologically rooted, eminently practical, and effective guidance that brings together prophetic and pastoral roles into one public ministry. Those who follow her guidance will find both roles deepened in their own ministries and will see their faith community knit together in new and life-giving ways that empower preacher and community together to share the new, abundant, and lasting life of Christ with the world with vigor and grace. -- Bishop William O. Gafkjen, Indiana-Kentucky Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in AmericaWhat an invaluable and timely book! Preaching in the Purple Zone addresses head-on the many significant divides we face in church and world, and posits a way forward for preaching that is marked by genuine dialog, deep engagement with the scriptures and one another, and a pastoral commitment to tackling divisive issues with openness and humility. Leah Schade helpfully models what she proposes by her ongoing use of actual sermons and conversations around controversial issues she and her students have engaged. Ultimately this book is about more than preaching; it is about how the church can prophetically model an alternative way to live together in the midst of a seriously polarized nation and world. -- Leonora Tubbs Tisdale, Clement Muehl professor of homiletics emerita, Yale Divinity SchoolPreaching in the Purple Zone is the preaching book for the times in which we live. Almost every preacher has red and blue voters in their pews—sometimes on the same row. Learning ways to preach in these conflicting times is a skill richly needed, and Leah Schade has the lessons for us in this exciting and intriguing book. It's going to be on my preaching resource shelf from now on. -- Karyn L. Wiseman, United Lutheran SeminaryIn this season of our life as a church and a nation, the capacity to reach a broad spectrum of political and theological views is being put to the test. In Preaching in the Purple Zone, Dr. Schade helps us address the emergent, often ‘messy,’ matters and wide-ranging opinions within our faith communities with grace and integrity. Preaching in the Purple Zone is an excellent guide that helps clergy courageously and respectfully engage with their congregations to discover and sometimes create an intersection of common values while faithfully preaching the gospel. -- Cynthia Fierro Harvey, Bishop, Louisiana Conference of The United Methodist ChurchFeel called to preach on justice themes related to current issues, but worry about backlash from a divided congregation in a divided culture? Schade comes to the rescue. Her sermon/dialogue/sermon approach is a practical, pastoral way to get the prophetic conversation rolling. A must read! -- O. Wesley Allen, Jr., Lois Craddock Perkins professor of homiletics, Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist UniversityRooted in Jesus’ ability to stimulate dialogue, Schade’s book provides preachers with a scholarly approach to prophetic proclamation and practical direction to engage worshippers in faithfully deliberating the issues of the day. Preaching in the Purple Zone echoes de Tocqueville’s respect for the role of religion in civic life. -- Gregg Kauffman, ELCA pastor, Kettering Foundation Research AssociateWhen ‘red’ and ‘blue’ convictions meet, is an outcome other than purplish bruises all around even possible? ‘Yes!’ says Leah Schade. The purple zone, where blue meets red in deliberative dialogue, is a place for royal celebrations of life-changing truth proclaimed with never-ending love. Preachers and parishioners alike will find here a marvelous roadmap for honest interaction that produces light and hope for the journey ahead. -- Brad A. Binau, Trinity Lutheran Seminary at Capital UniversityTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1 Preaching about Controversial Justice Issues: Tracing the Contours of the Purple Zone 2 Beyond “Political”: Reframing Our Understanding of Politics and Preaching 3 Homiletical Foundations for Purple Zone Preaching 4 Five Paths of Prophetic Preaching in the Purple Zone 5 Preparing for the Sermon-Dialogue-Sermon Process 6 Preaching Sermon 1: Prophetic Invitation to Dialogue 7 Deliberative Dialogue in the Purple Zone 8 Preaching Sermon 2: Communal Prophetic Proclamation 9 Case Studies from the Purple Zone, Part 1: Immigration 10 Case Studies, Part 2: Four Journeys into the Purple Zone 11 Building Bridges in the Purple Zone: Where Do We Go from Here? Appendix A: Sample Newsletter Article Announcing Deliberative Dialogue Appendix B: Options for Planning One, Two, or Three Sessions for the Deliberative Dialogue Appendix C: “Cheat Sheet” Questions to Encourage Deliberation Notes Selected Bibliography Scripture Index Index
£23.75
Crossway Books One Assembly
Book SynopsisThis book considers a series of biblical and pastoral arguments against both the multisite and multiservice church model, making the claim that maintaining a single assembly best embodies the unity the church possesses in Jesus Christ.
£11.39
HarperCollins Publishers The Puzzle of Christianity
Book SynopsisAn excellent overview of Christianity, suitable for students (and teachers!) embarking on the new GCSE and A'-Level Religious Studies specifications.Written in the same clear and engaging style as the bestselling Puzzle of Ethics and Puzzle of God, this book covers key content common to all the new specifications including: Jesus: His incarnation, life, ethical teaching, crucifixion and resurrection, saving importance for Christians and relationship with God; The development of Christianity through from the Early Church to contemporary Global Christianity; The similarities and differences between different types of Christianity in terms of beliefs, teachings and practices; The use and authority of the Bible and other sources of authority within the Churches as well as how the Bible shapes Christian Ethics; Christian responses to science, feminism, secularism, philosophy and the new atheism as well as crises in social justice.Most importantly, Vardy places these themes in context and hTrade Review‘This book is a “must read” for all students of Religious Studies. If we are honest, in a postmodern world, most teachers have only a shallow understanding of Christianity. Fortunately, Peter Vardy comes to the rescue with this masterpiece. It is clear and absorbing.’- Peter Mothersole, Head of R.E., Truro High School for Girls ‘An essential requirement for all those engaged with the new GCSE and A-Level Religious Studies. I defy any student or teacher not to be gripped by this book!’- Jacinta Bowe, Head of R.E., St Mary’s Shaftesbury ‘A clear, intelligent, accessible, informed and balanced account of the puzzle of Christianity.’- Fr Frank Brennan SJ, Professor of Law, ACU ‘A mini-encyclopedia of the Christian faith, which will be of enormous help not only to those studying in schools, but also to adult readers.’- Archbishop Peter Carnley, former Anglican Primate of Australia
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers Inc If the Church Were Christian
Book SynopsisThe largest group in American religious life may be the disillusioned—people who have been involved in the church, respect Jesus, but question what Christianity has become. In If the Church Were Christian Philip Gulley provides a profound picture of what the church could look like if it refocused on the priorities of Jesus.
£15.29
HarperCollins Publishers Inc The Tweetable Pope
Book SynopsisBoston Globe journalist and Catholic commentator Michael O’Loughlin opens a wonderful window into the heart and revolutionary mission of Pope Francis by examining his extensive and revelatory use of social media—published to coincide with the pontiff’s visit to the United States in September 2015.Michael O’Loughlin uses Pope Francis’s almost daily “tweets” to his 21 million followers to explain why this pope has captured the world’s imagination and to explore his strategy and vision for the Catholic Church. Grouped by the Pope’s most pressing concerns—forgiveness, mercy, injustice, poverty, war, joy, the environment, and more—The Tweetable Pope uses Francis’ pithy 140-character (or fewer) missives as a prism to view the biographical, historical, and spiritual context of his messages and how each is part of a larger vision.O’Loughlin contends that these seemingly simple commu
£15.99
Penguin Putnam Inc The Templars
Book Synopsis
£16.00
Oxford University Press Inc Joseph Smiths Translation
Book SynopsisMormonism''s founder, Joseph Smith, claimed to have translated ancient scriptures. He dictated an American Bible from metal plates reportedly buried by ancient Jews in a nearby hill, and produced an Egyptian Book of Abraham derived from funerary papyri he extracted from a collection of mummies he bought from a traveling showman. In addition, he rewrote sections of the King James Version as a New Translation of the Bible. Smith and his followers used the term translation to describe the genesis of these English scriptures, which remain canonical for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Whether one believes him or not, the discussion has focused on whether Smith''s English texts represent literal translations of extant source documents. On closer inspection, though, Smith''s translations are far more metaphysical than linguistic. In Joseph Smith''s Translation, Samuel Morris Brown argues that these translations express the mystical power of language and scripture to interconnect people across barriers of space and time, especially in the developing Mormon temple liturgy. He shows that Smith was devoted to an ancient metaphysics--especially the principle of correspondence, the concept of as above, so below--that provided an infrastructure for bridging the human and the divine as well as for his textual interpretive projects. Joseph Smith''s projects of metaphysical translation place Mormonism at the productive edge of the transitions associated with shifts toward secular modernity. This transition into modern worldviews intensified, complexly, in nineteenth-century America. The evolving legacies of Reformation and Enlightenment were the sea in which early Mormons swam, says Brown. Smith''s translations and the theology that supported them illuminate the power and vulnerability of the Mormon critique of American culture in transition. This complex critique continues to resonate and illuminate to the present day.Trade ReviewBrown's goal lies in finding just the right concept combination to bring today's reader into some sort of understanding of Smith's situation, and he does with "primordial" elements, a notion centripetally attracting such themes as sacred-secrecy, wisdom traditions, priesthoods, and most especially family bonding. Brown's affinity with primordial dynamics generates this book's extended account of how he sees them developing within Josephâs personal spirituality and community leadership all, again, framed by Smith family ties, evolving capacities for death conquest, religious protest, and ever ongoing cosmic possibilities. * Douglas J. Davies, Mormon Studies Review *...its approach is thought-provoking and creative, and parts of it can break new ground in understanding the work of Joseph Smith. * Kent P. Jackson, Birmingham Young University, BYU Studies Quarterly *I found Joseph Smith's Translation stimulating. Brown weaves his way through the wide variety of the texts Smith produced to identify common threads of metaphysical transformation and communal ascent. For those with an esoteric bent, he provides satisfying ways of understanding Joseph Smith's scriptural contributions. Samuel Morris Brown has "translated" Joseph Smith for the reader in a way we have not seen before. * Cheryl Bruno, Association for Mormon Letters *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: Language, Time, and the Human Cosmos Nineteenth-Century Contexts Smith's Goals and Aspirations Smith's Approach Implications SECTION ONE INTRODUCTION: CONTEXTS Chapter 1. The Quest for Pure Language Chapter 2: The Nature of Time Chapter 3: Human and Divine Selves SECTION TWO INTRODUCTION: TEXTS Chapter 4: The Task of the Book of Mormon: To Save the Bible, First You Must Kill It Chapter 5: Rereading the Bible: Joseph Smith's New Translation Chapter 6: The Egyptian Bible and the Cosmic Order Chapter 7: The Transcendent Immanent Temple Epilogue BIBLIOGRAPHY
£41.93
Oxford University Press Inc Saving the Protestant Ethic
Book SynopsisProtestant orientations to work and economics have shaped wider American culture for several centuries. But not all strands of American Protestantism have elevated secular work to the highest echelons of spiritual significance. This book surveys the efforts of a religious movement within white Protestant fundamentalism and its neo-evangelical successors to make work matter to God.Today, bearing the name the faith and work movement, this effort puts on display the creative capacities of religious and lay leaders to adapt a faith system to the changing social-economic conditions of advanced capitalism. Building from the insights and theory of Max Weber, Andrew Lynn draws on archival research and interviews with movement leaders to survey and assess the surging number of new organizations, books, conferences, worship songs, seminary classes, vocational programming, and study groups promoting classically Protestant and Calvinist ideas of work and vocation. He traces these efforts back to eTrade ReviewIn these days when almost everything about American evangelicalism is controversial, this well-researched, fair-minded book about the evangelical 'faith and work' movement is a welcome contribution. Andrew Lynn has provided a great deal for supporters of the movement, its critics, and all who worry about the moral malaise present in the marketplace to ponder. * Robert Wuthnow, author of Why Religion Is Good for American Democracy *The faith at work movement is an ongoing and evolving social movement, not a flash in the pan or a passing fad. Andrew Lynn brings us a strong contribution to the growing number of scholarly studies of the surprisingly diverse nature of the faith at work movement. Lynn's provocatively titled Saving the Protestant Ethic focuses on and brings us fresh insights into the conservative evangelical Protestant wing of the movement, whose search for meaning and purpose drives their economic activity. * David W. Miller, Princeton University Faith & Work Initiative *This brief summary surely fails to capture the depth and breadth of Lynn's extraordinary descriptive project. He does a masterful job of separating the different theological threads that are woven together by the faith and work movement and contextualizing them in socioeconomic terms. Adherents of re-integrating theology will find the portrait of themselves and their views recognizable...What Lynn's book demonstrates above all is that the faith and work movement has not fallen far from the creative class tree...No one wants to go back to the fundamentalist work ethic. Everyone wants their Monday to matter to God. * Charlie Clark, FareForward *This book represents an impressive achievement, drawing on a multidisciplinary array of deft ethnographic interviews, attentive participant observations, profound understanding of emic group discourse, impressive historical primary sources, nimbly enhanced and refined sociological theory, and quantitative analysis. * Religious Studies Review *Saving the Protestant Ethic explores the faith and work movement within contemporary American Evangelicalism...Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. * Choice *Table of ContentsIntroduction Part One: The Rise of the Evangelical Faith and Work Movement Chapter One: More Than Toil Chapter Two: The Fundamentalist Work Ethic Chapter Three: The Making of a Movement Chapter Four: The Four Evangelical Theologies of Work Part Two: Contours, Contingencies, and Contending Interests Chapter Five: Whose Work Matters to God? Chapter Six: From the Christian Right to the Corporate Right Chapter Seven: From Culture Wars to Cultural Stewardship Chapter Eight: On Roads Not (Yet) Taken Acknowledgements Appendix A: Research Methods
£22.99
Oxford University Press Inc Evangelicalism A Very Short Introduction
Book SynopsisEvangelicalism has rapidly become one of the most significant religious movements in the modern world. An umbrella term that encompasses many Protestant denominations that share core tenets of Christianity, evangelicalism is foremost defined by its disciples'' consideration of the Bible as the ultimate moral and historical authority, the desire to evangelize or spread the faith, and the value of religious conversion known as being born again.As the Evangelical movement has grown rapidly, so has its influence on the political stage. Evangelicals affect elections up and down the Americas and across Africa, provoke governments throughout Asia, fill up some of the largest church buildings, and possess the largest congregations of any religion in the world. Yet evangelicals are wildly diverse- from Canadian Baptists to Nigerian Anglicans, from South Sea Methodists to Korean Presbyterians, and from house churches in Beijing to megachurches in Saõ Paulo.This Very Short Introduction tells the evangelical story from the preacher-led revivals of the eighteenth century, through the frontier camp meetings of the nineteenth, to the mass urban rallies of the twentieth, and the global megachurches of the twenty-first. More than just a sketch of where evangelicals have come from, this volume aims to clearly examine the heart of evangelical phenomenon. Is there such a (single) thing as evangelicalism? What is its basic character? Where are the evangelicals going? And what in the world do they want?Trade Review"...an insightful primer for journalists, scholars, politicians and curious curious observers into one of the most vibrant, if often caricatured, social movements in the world today." * René Breuel, Times Literary Supplement *The media . . . continue to view evangelicalism through the distorting lens of current American politics and religion. John Stackhouse's brilliant introduction to the topic will help the general reader to correct the distortion and grasp the multiple yet still distinctive ways in which evangelicals both think about their faith, and negotiate the social and political challenges of the modern world. * Brian Stanley, Professor of World Christianity, University of Edinburgh *We now have an answer to 'Who is an evangelical?'John Stackhouse gives us the best summary of our history I've read: compelling, interesting, and critically helpful. In too many places recently, the label "evangelical" has been hijacked and abused. This book helps us rise above those skirmishes as Stackhouse knits together various strains, groups, movements, and moments in an ever-enlarging pattern, giving coherence and insight into this global Christian community. Evangelicals themselves should read this book, but everyone else who cares about understanding evangelicals will find it enormously helpful also. * Brian Stiller, World Evangelical Alliance *This lucid and snappy introduction to evangelicalism guides us from deep and tangled historical roots through the contradictions and complexity of the modern global faith. Stackhouse captures the diversity of evangelicalism without losing the 500-year plotline--an amazing feat. * Molly Worthen, Associate Professor of History, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill *As a Canadian not caught up in the United States' religious-political partisanship and as an expert historian-theologian, John Stackhouse is perfectly situated to explain the history, development, and contemporary relevance of "evangelical Christianity." This excellent introduction is especially strong in its careful definition of terms and in its treatment of evangelicals around the world. * Mark Noll, author of America's Book: The Rise and Decline of a Bible Civilization, 1794-1911 *This opening salvo sets the tone for the discussion of evangelicalism that follows, a discussion that provides much-needed historical depth and global breadth for frequently myopic North Americans. * Robert J. Dean, Providence Theological Seminary *Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Original evangelicalism Chapter 2: Evangelicalism defined Chapter 3: Evangelicalism expands Chapter 4: The challenges of modernity Conclusion References Further Reading
£9.49
Oxford University Press Inc The Oxford Handbook of Latinx Christianities in
Book SynopsisThe Oxford Handbook of Latinx Christianities in the United States provides an introduction to U.S. Latinx Christianities, helping readers better understand the largest minority group in the United States. The chapters are written by specialists in U.S. Latinx Christianities from fields such as history, theology, anthropology, and sociology and organized by theme. This volume is a go-to source for anyone interested in the role that religion, specificallyChristianity, plays in the lives of U.S. Latinxs.Table of ContentsI. Introduction A People's History of Perseverance and Resilience Una Historia de perseverancia y resiliencia de un pueblo: Kristy Nabhan-Warren II. Denominational, Ethno-Religious Historias Catholicisms 1. Mexican-descent Catholics: Timothy Matovina 2. Cuban-descent Catholics: Michelle A. Gonzales Maldonado 3. Puerto Rican Christianities in the United States: Alberto Ortíz Díaz 4. Afro-Cuban Catholicisms: Elizabeth Pérez 5. The Catholic Church and Central American Immigrants in the United States: Cecilia Menjívar Non-Catholic Christianities 6. Latino/a Protestantisms: Historical and Sociological Overviews: Gerardo Martí, Mark Mulder, and Aida Ramos 7. Latina/o Pentecostalism: Lloyd Barba 8. Latina/o/x Mormons: Sujey Vega III. Témas/Themes 9. Latinx Conversions to Islam: Harold Morales 10. Popular Religion Among Latinos/as: Place based expressions for understanding Latina/o Popular Catholicism Alberto Pulido 11. Ethics, Theology and Mestizaje: Néstor Medina 12. Latinos/as, Healing and Christianity: Brett Hendrickson 13. Latina/o/x Pilgrimage and Embodiment: Daisy Vargas 14. Occupying the Church: The Making of Latina/o Religious Politics: Felipe Hinojosa 15. Latino Men, Machismo, and Christianity: Luís Léon 16. Latinx Indigeneities and Christianity: Natalie Avalos 17. Prosperity Gospel and Latinos/as: Tony Tian-Ren Lin 18. Christianities and the Legitimacy of Latinx Ethnoracial Identities: Jonathan Calvillo
£172.76