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Will Willimon’s Lectionary Sermon Resource, Year C Part 1
By William H. Willimon. 2018
Will Willimon is widely acclaimed as one of the top ten preachers in the world. For each Sunday of the…
Christian year, Will provides just what you need to begin the journey toward a sermon. This guide will stoke, fund, and fuel your imagination while leaving plenty of room to insert your own illustrations, make connections within your congregational context, and speak the Word in your distinctive voice. Guidance from Will Willimon is like sitting down with a trusted clergy friend and asking, “What will you preach next Sunday?” Year C Part 1 is part of a six-volume set that includes years A, B, and C (2 volumes per year) in the Revised Common Lectionary. Each week of sermon resources includes: 1. Readings 2. Theme title 3. Introduction to the Readings 4. Encountering the Text 5. Proclaiming the Text 6. Relating the TextReligion and Rational Theology
By Immanuel Kant, Allen W. Wood, George Di Giovanni. 1996
This volume collects for the first time in a single volume all of Kant's writings on religion and rational theology.…
These works were written during a period of conflict between Kant and the Prussian authorities over his religious teachings. His final statement of religion was made after the death of King Frederick William II in 1797. The historical context and progression of this conflict are charted in the general introduction to the volume and in the translators' introductions to particular texts. All the translations are new with the exception of The Conflict of the Faculties, where the translation has been revised and re-edited to conform to the guidelines of the Cambridge Edition. As is standard with all the volumes in this edition, there are copious linguistic and explanatory notes, and a glossary of key terms.Islam and Christianity on the Edge: Talking Points in Christian-Muslim Relations into the 21st Century
By John Marks, Caroline Cox, John Azumah, Bernie Power, Michael Nazir-Ali, Peter Cotterell, Derek Tidball, Peter Riddell, Tony Lane, Gordon Nickel, Anthony O’mahony, Sean Oliver-Dee, Gerry Redman, Keith Small, Charlotte Thorneycroft. 2013
The relationship between Christianity and Islam is complex This collection of essays by scholars and human rights activists engages…
with some of the most pressing issues in Christian-Muslim relations addressing matters of theology the encounter between civilisations and inter-religious affairs Some of the most controversial and sensitive questions are considered ranging from sacred text to the politics of multiculturalism These are key questions for the 21st century a period when Christianity and Islam are destined to interact more closely than ever before in human historyDoubt, Atheism, and the Nineteenth-Century Russian Intelligentsia
By Victoria Frede. 2011
The autocratic rule of both tsar and church in imperial Russia gave rise not only to a revolutionary movement in…
the nineteenth century but also to a crisis of meaning among members of the intelligentsia. Personal faith became the subject of intense scrutiny as individuals debated the existence of God and the immortality of the soul, debates reflected in the best-known novels of the day. Friendships were formed and broken in exchanges over the status of the eternal. The salvation of the entire country, not just of each individual, seemed to depend on the answers to questions about belief. Victoria Frede looks at how and why atheism took on such importance among several generations of Russian intellectuals from the 1820s to the 1860s, drawing on meticulous and extensive research of both published and archival documents, including letters, poetry, philosophical tracts, police files, fiction, and literary criticism. She argues that young Russians were less concerned about theology and the Bible than they were about the moral, political, and social status of the individual person. They sought to maintain their integrity against the pressures exerted by an autocratic state and rigidly hierarchical society. As individuals sought to shape their own destinies and searched for truths that would give meaning to their lives, they came to question the legitimacy both of the tsar and of Russia's highest authority, God.Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews: A Jewish Life and the Emergence of Christianity
By Paula Fredriksen. 1999
Paula Fredriksen, renowned historian and author of From Christ to Jesus, begins this inquiry into the historic Jesus with a…
fact that may be the only undisputed thing we know about him: his crucifixion.Rome reserved this means of execution particularly for political insurrectionists; and the Roman charge posted at the head of the cross indicted Jesus for claiming to be King of the Jews. To reconstruct the Jesus who provoked this punishment, Fredriksen takes us into the religious worlds, Jewish and pagan, of Mediterranean antiquity, through the labyrinth of Galilean and Judean politics, and on into the ancient narratives of Paul's letters, the gospels, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Josephus' histories. The result is a profound contribution both to our understanding of the social and religious contexts within which Jesus of Nazareth moved, and to our appreciation of the mission and message that ended in the proclamation of Jesus as Messiah.Jesus and the Forgiveness of Sins
By Tobias Hägerland. 2011
The Gospels record that Jesus purported to forgive sins. What significance would such a claim have had for his contemporaries…
and what would the implications have been for his identity as a first-century popular prophet? Tobias Hägerland answers these questions and more as he investigates the forgiveness of sins in the mission of the historical Jesus. The Gospels are interpreted within the context of first-century Judaism as part of a broader reconstruction of Jesus' career as a healer and prophet, and rhetorical criticism is introduced as a tool for explaining how the gospel tradition about Jesus and forgiveness developed. Hägerland combines detailed exegesis and rigorous methodology with a holistic view of the historical Jesus, evaluating recent scholarship about first-century Jewish prophets and utilizing previously neglected textual evidence to present a thorough investigation of the theology of forgiveness in early Judaism and primitive Christianity.Too Scared to Cry: A True Short Story
By Maggie Hartley. 2016
A digital short story from author and foster carer Maggie Hartley. Also contains a sneak peek chapter from Maggie's highly…
anticipated debut memoir, TINY PRISONERS.Brothers Ben and Damien are shockingly quiet when they arrive on Maggie's doorstep. They don't shout or play like normal three and four year olds. They hardly dare make a sound, so much have they been conditioned to be 'seen and not heard' by their mother and controlling stepfather.More disturbingly, their little baby half-brother Noah is completely unresponsive. He doesn't play, he doesn't smile, he doesn't crawl - he doesn't even cry. In a state of blankness brought about by emotional neglect, poor baby Noah is disconnected from the world. Maggie has never seen such a young life so affected before. Yet with time, love and care, Maggie gradually unpicks what has caused this terrible void. She teaches the children to play and laugh and to not be afraid to make noise. We see Ben, Damien and Noah take steps towards a positive future and their journey reaches a happy conclusion when they are adopted by a loving family. With love and affection, they are no longer scared to be themselves. They are free to make their voices heard.Ask It
By Andy Stanley. 2014
You'll Never Make a Decision the Same Way Again Should I take this job? Buy this house? Marry this person?…
We ask questions every day about the choices we face. But are we asking the most important question of all? In Ask It, Andy Stanley identifies the one question that makes it easy to determine the answer to all other questions. You'll learn how to make decisions with confidence simply by applying the question that brings clarity to life's most challenging decisions.PROOF: Finding Freedom through the Intoxicating Joy of Irresistible Grace
By Timothy Paul Jones, Daniel Montgomery. 2014
It’s time to open your eyes to the freeing power of authentic grace—grace that releases us from trying to earn…
God's favor, grace that enables us to rest in the finished work of Christ, grace that liberates from the tyranny of trying to please others. That's what the theology of Martin Luther and John Calvin did in their own day for the people around them. Time magazine recently dubbed Calvinism as one of the top ten ideas changing the world right now. And yet most of these discussions center on the issue of predestination or on whether particular people agree with the five points of Calvinism. Daniel Montgomery and Timothy Paul Jones think it's time to rescue the theology of the Reformers from such stale scholasticizing and to declare anew the dangerous and intoxicating joy of the gospel that they proclaimed. PROOF stands for planned grace, resurrecting grace, outrageous grace, overcoming grace, and forever grace. The authors offer proof of God’s grace upon which people can stand against the attacks of legalism that have led many of God's people to lose sight of the freedom and joy of the gospel. And this proof is intoxicating—it’s like a 200-proof drink that will leave you spiritually staggering at its effect on your life. God’s grace not only declares us “not guilty!” in his presence, it changes our relationship with God—forever.?Killing History
By Robert M. Price. 2014
Killing Jesus, the bestselling blockbuster by Bill O'Reilly, claims to be a purely historical account of the events in the…
life of Jesus leading up to his crucifixion. New Testament scholar Robert M. Price (a member of the Jesus Seminar) shows how unfounded this claim is in this critical review of O'Reilly's work. In fact, he judges the book to be the number one source of misinformation on Jesus today. Ignoring over one hundred years of New Testament scholarship, O'Reilly and his coauthor, Martin Dugard, have produced what Price describes as a Christian historical thriller that plays fast and loose with the facts. Price goes through the key events of Jesus' later life as described in the gospels and retold in Killing Jesus, painstakingly showing in each case what scholars know and don't know. Using humor, down-to-earth analogies, and witty sarcasm--not unlike O'Reilly's own interview style--Price makes it clear that O'Reilly's book is more historical novel than a work of serious history. By cobbling together the four gospel stories, ignoring the contradictions, and adding plenty of quasi-historical background embellishments, O'Reilly and Dugard have created a good narrative that resonates with a lot of Christians. Entertaining reading this may be, but history it is not.Killing History provides lay readers with an accessible introduction to New Testament scholarship while showing the many problems in O'Reilly's book.I Wonder: Engaging a Child's Curiosity about the Bible
By Elizabeth Caldwell. 2016
Help the Bible become your child's life-long companion for faith and spiritual growth. How can anyone completely answer the difficult…
questions that children ask: Who created God? Will there be another flood? Is the Bible true? But then, we adults have questions too: With so many options and Bible translations, where can I go for help? What is the best Bible for my child? How do we talk about miracle stories, healing stories, and the creation stories? What about violence? What's my role in helping children learn about the Bible and feel comfortable asking questions about what they read? When kids ask about the relevancy of the Bible for today, what do we say? How we read and interpret the Bible with children may mean the difference between whether or not it will continue to be an important source for their faith development as they become young adults. We want to teach them in ways that they don't have to unlearn later. Written by an expert in children's ministry, this book will be a resource for adults who want to explore ways to help children read, engage, wrestle, and grow into deeper understanding of the Bible. It is for those who come to the Bible with souls open to be fed and who want their children to seek faith and wisdom. This book will also readers help address timeless questions and issues including: recent biblical scholarship, literary analysis, reading the Bible from their social location, and reading the Bible in a multi-faith world.When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God
By T. M. Luhrmann. 2012
How does God become and remain real for modern evangelicals? How are rational, sensible people of faith able to experience…
the presence of a powerful yet invisible being and sustain that belief in an environment of overwhelming skepticism? T. M. Luhrmann, an anthropologist trained in psychology and the acclaimed author of Of Two Minds, explores the extraordinary process that leads some believers to a place where God is profoundly real and his voice can be heard amid the clutter of everyday thoughts. While attending services and various small group meetings at her local branch of the Vineyard, an evangelical church with hundreds of congregations across the country, Luhrmann sought to understand how some members were able to communicate with God, not just through one-sided prayers but with discernable feedback. Some saw visions, while others claimed to hear the voice of God himself. For these congregants and many other Christians, God was intensely alive. After holding a series of honest, personal interviews with Vineyard members who claimed to have had isolated or ongoing supernatural experiences with God, Luhrmann hypothesized that the practice of prayer could train a person to hear God's voice--to use one's mind differently and focus on God's voice until it became clear. A subsequent experiment conducted between people who were and weren't practiced in prayer further illuminated her conclusion. For those who have trained themselves to concentrate on their inner experiences, God is experienced in the brain as an actual social relationship: his voice was identified, and that identification was trusted and regarded as real and interactive. Astute, deeply intelligent, and sensitive, When God Talks Back is a remarkable approach to the intersection of religion, psychology, and science, and the effect it has on the daily practices of the faithful.From the Hardcover edition.Discovering Your Spiritual Gifts: A Personal Inventory Method
By Kenneth C Kinghorn. 1981
Discovering Your Spiritual Gifts: A Personal Inventory Method is designed to help Christians identify the specific gifts God has given…
them. While no Christian possesses every gift of the Spirit, every Christian does have some of God’s wonderful gifts. And to be effective in ministry, Christians must find and use these gifts. This volume features an "inventory" of spiritual gifts designed to be taken either in a group or privately. This book will help clear up certain misconceptions about spiritual gifts and assist Christians in discovering the gifts God has within them.Science and the Trinity: The Christian Encounter with Reality
By John C. Polkinghorne. 2004
Most often, the dialogue between religion and science is initiated by the discoveries of modern science--big bang cosmology, evolution, or…
quantum theory, for example. In this book, scientist-theologian John Polkinghorne changes the discussion. He approaches the dialogue from a little-explored perspective in which theology shapes the argument and sets the agenda of questions to be considered. The author begins with a review of approaches to science and religion in which the classification focuses on theological content rather than on methodological technique. He then proceeds with chapters discussing the role of Scripture, a theology of nature, the doctrine of God, sacramental theology, and eschatology. Throughout, Polkinghorne takes the perspective of Trinitarian thinking while arguing in a style that reflects the influence of his career as a theoretical physicist. In the final chapter, the author defends the appropriateness of addressing issues of science and religion from the specific standpoint of his Christian belief. His book provides an important model for theologians and scientists alike, showing how their two fields can inform one another in significant ways.Dangerous Ground: My Friendship with a Serial Killer
By M. William Phelps. 2011
It was a bold, life-changing decision when award-winning investigative journalist M. William Phelps asked one of America’s most disturbing convicted…
serial killers to co-star with him on TV’s Dark Minds. Now Phelps reveals the identity of the man code-named “Raven”—and tells the story of their intriguing bond. For as Raven shared his insights into the minds and crimes of other killers, making the series an international sensation, he also became Phelps’s unlikely confidante, ally—and friend . . . Here is an unforgettable journey into the heart of a psychopath few would dare to know—and the determined journalist who did just that.A Global Introduction to Baptist Churches
By Robert E. Johnson. 2010
Coinciding with the four-hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Baptist movement, this book explores and assesses the cultural sources…
of Baptist beliefs and practices. Although the movement has been embraced, enriched, and revised by numerous cultural heritages, the Baptist movement has focused on a small group of Anglo exiles in Amersterdam in constructing its history and identity. Robert E. Johnson seeks to recapture the varied cultural and theological sources of Baptist tradition and to give voice to the diverse global elements of the movement that have previously been excluded or marginalized. With an international communion of over 110 million persons in more than 225,000 congregations, Baptists constitute the world's largest aggregate of evangelical Protestants. This work offers insight into the diversity, breadth, and complexity of the cultural influences that continue to shape Baptist identity today.The Cambridge Companion to Christian Philosophical Theology
By Charles Taliaferro, Chad Meister. 2010
This Companion offers an up-to-date overview of the beliefs, doctrines, and practices of the key philosophical concepts at the heart…
of Christian theology. The sixteen chapters, commissioned specially for this volume, are written by an internationally recognized team of scholars and examine topics such as the Trinity, God's necessary existence, simplicity, omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, goodness, eternity and providence, the incarnation, resurrection, atonement, sin and salvation, the problem of evil, church rites, revelation and miracles, prayer, and the afterlife. Written in non-technical, accessible language, they not only offer a synthesis of scholarship on these topics but also suggest questions and topics for further investigation.James Jesse Strang
By Don Faber. 2016
Few lives experience a meteoric rise and fall like that of James Jesse Strang's. An unsuccessful lawyer from upstate New…
York, he converted to Mormonism in 1844 and quickly entered the inner circle of the controversial new faiths founder, Joseph Smith Jr. Upon Smith's assassination, Strang sought to be named his successor as leader of the Mormons, Instead, he was excommunicated in 1850, though not before gathering a group of followers, who settled with him on remote Beaver Island in northern Lake Michigan and ordained Strang king of the small enclave. King Strang elicited both ire and stubborn admiration from an ever-growing list of opponents, his actions closely monitored by President Millard Fillmore himself. In 1866, Strang was assassinated, seemingly with the assistance of federal authorities. This captivating new biography by Don Faber recounts the fascinating story of Strang's path from impoverished New York farm boy to one of the most colorful and contentious personalities in Michigan history. Avoiding the nonsense, misinformation, and twisted facts so prevalent about the man, readers meet the historical Strang stripped of myth, demonization, and popular fancy-a true celebrity of the mid-nineteenth century who both shaped and was shaped by the colorful times in which he lived. This book will appeal to readers interested in the history of Michigan, the nineteenth century, and the Second Great Awakening. Book jacket.The Cambridge Companion to Puritanism
By John Coffey, Paul C. H. Lim. 2008
'Puritan' was originally a term of contempt, and 'Puritanism' has often been stereotyped by critics and admirers alike. As a…
distinctive and particularly intense variety of early modern Reformed Protestantism, it was a product of acute tensions within the post-Reformation Church of England. But it was never monolithic or purely oppositional, and its impact reverberated far beyond seventeenth-century England and New England. This Companion broadens our understanding of Puritanism, showing how students and scholars might engage with it from new angles and uncover the surprising diversity that fermented beneath its surface. The book explores issues of gender, literature, politics and popular culture in addition to addressing the Puritans' core concerns such as theology and devotional praxis, and coverage extends to Irish, Welsh, Scottish and European versions of Puritanism as well as to English and American practice. It challenges readers to re-evaluate this crucial tradition within its wider social, cultural, political and religious contexts.Angels All Around Us
By Anthony Destefano. 2011
In Angels All Around Us, the international bestselling author of A Travel Guide to Heaven and Ten Prayers God Always…
Says Yes To explains the awesome and mysterious reality of the spiritual dimension that surrounds and permeates our very existence. All aspects of the spiritual realm are discussed, including the existence of angels and demons, the whereabouts of loved ones who have passed, the gift of grace, heaven, hell, and even the presence and activity of God in our lives. Completely consistent with traditional Christian teaching, Angels All Around Us will help readers embrace a certitude that makes it easier to act according to their moral beliefs, give them a greater sense of the richness of life, and show them that no amount of suffering--physical, mental, or emotional--will ever be able to destroy the profound sense of inner peace that they can experience on a daily basis.