Church History
Showing 13–24 of 55 results
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Fount Of Heaven
$24.99Add to cartYou are the fountain of life, light, and all grace and truth
The hearts of the first Christians beat with praise for Christ. The strength of their devotion is remarkable, considering the times of uncertainty and persecution in which they lived. Despite all of this, the early church flourished, sustained by the God to whom they prayed.
Christians today have a lot to learn from the devotional life of the early church. In Fount of Heaven, a collection of carefully selected prayers from the first six centuries of the church, we can pray with our spiritual forefathers. Prayers from luminaries such as Clement of Rome, Irenaeus, and Augustine are arranged by theme to reveal the right prayer for the moment. The prayers have been slightly updated to read more easily, but they retain their joy and mystery. As we turn to the prayers of the first Christians, we can return to the foundations of our own faith.
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Reorganized Religion : The Reshaping Of The American Church And Why It Matt
$27.00Add to cartUncover the ways the Christian church has changed in recent years–from the decline of the mainline denominations to the mega-churchification of American culture to the rise of the Nones and Exvaneglicals–and a hopeful reimagining of what the church might look like going forward.
The United States is in the middle of an unprecedented spiritual, technological, demographic, political and social transformation– moving from an older, mostly white, mostly Protestant, religion-friendly society to a younger diverse, multiethnic, pluralistic culture, where no one faith group will have the advantage. At the same time, millions of Americans are abandoning organized religion altogether in favor of disorganized disbelief.
Reorganized Religion is an in-depth and critical look at why people are leaving American churches and what we lose as a society as it continues. But it also accepts the dismantling of what has come before and try to help readers reinvent the path forward. This book looks at the future of organized religion in America and outline the options facing churches and other faith groups. Will they retreat? Will they become irrelevant? Or will they find a new path forward?
Written by veteran religion reporter Bob Smietana, Reorganized Religion is a journalistic look at the state of the American church and its future. It draws on polling data, interviews with experts, and reporting on how faith communities old and new are coping with the changing religious landscape, along with personal stories about how faith is lived in everyday life. It also profiles faith communities and leaders who are finding interesting ways to reimagine what church might look like in the future and discuss various ways we can reinvent this organization so it survives and thrives. The book also reflects the hope that perhaps people of faith can learn to become, if not friends with the larger culture, then at least better neighbors.
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Suffering Not Power
$26.99Add to cartOverturning a popular view of the atonement
Was Christ’s death a victory over death or a substitution for sin? Many today follow Gustav Aulen’s Christus Victor view, which portrays Christ’s death as primarily a ransom paid to the powers of evil and which, according to Aulen, reflected the beliefs of the early church. Aulen held that this ransom theory view dominated until Anselm reframed atonement as satisfaction and the Reformers reframed it as penal substitution.
In Suffering, Not Power, Benjamin Wheaton challenges this common narrative that Christ’s work of atonement was reframed by Anselm, showing that sacrificial and substitutionary language was common well before Anselm’s Cur Deus Homo. Wheaton displays this through a careful analysis of three medieval theologians whose writings on the atonement are commonly overlooked: Caesarius of Arles, Haimo of Auxerre, and Dante Alighieri. These figures come from different times and contexts and wrote in different genres, but each spoke of Christ’s death as a sacrifice of expiation and propitiation made by God to God.
Let history speak for itself, read the evidence, and reconsider the church’s belief in Christ’s substitutionary death for sinners.
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Klaas Schilder Reader
$49.99Add to cartRecovering a forgotten theologian.
Klaas Schilder (1890-1952) was a prominent Dutch Reformed theologian in the early twentieth century, first as a pastor and then as a professor. While his fame spread to North America in the 1940s, he is mostly forgotten today. In Schilder Reader: The Essential Theological Writings, readers will rediscover this important Dutch theologian.
Working in the tradition of Abraham Kuyper and Herman Bavinck, Schilder applies Dutch Neo–Calvinism to the twentieth century. This includes secularism, the rise and influence of Karl Barth, opposition to Nazism, and the relation between the church and society. Schilder Reader contextualizes his work and furthers the neo–Calvinist tradition.
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How The Church Fathers Read The Bible
$24.99Add to cartRead the Scriptures with the insight of our forebears
Christians live in the house built by the church fathers. The fathers’ reading of the Scriptures shaped key doctrines that are essential to Christianity. But appreciating how the fathers read the Bible is not just for the historically curious, as if it were only a matter of literary archaeology. Nor should it be intimidating. Rather, the fathers gleaned insights from Scripture that continue to be relevant to all Christians.
How the Church Fathers Read the Bible is an accessible introduction to help you read Scripture with the early church. With a clear and simple style, Gerald Bray explains the distinctives of early Christian interpretation and shows how the fathers interpreted key Bible passages from Genesis to Revelation. Their unique perspective is summed up in seven principles that can inspire our Bible reading today. With Bray as your guide, you can reclaim the rich insights of the fathers with reverence and discernment.
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Charles Fox Parham
$16.99Add to cartCharles Fox Parham is an absorbing and perhaps controversial biography of the founder of modern Pentecostalism. Parham was a deeply flawed individual who nevertheless was used by God to initiate and establish one of the greatest spiritual movements of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, helping to restore the power of Pentecost to the church and being a catalyst for numerous healings and conversions. Author Dr. Larry Martin is a lifelong Pentecostal with decades of ministry as a pastor, educator, and evangelist. He researched the life of this complicated and contradictory figure for over twenty-five years before writing this book-with a certain degree of hesitancy. By disclosing the whole truth about Parham’s life-which has never fully been done before-would it give excessive ammunition to the critics of the Pentecostal and charismatic movements? Martin uncompromisingly exposes Parham’s weaknesses, faulty thinking, and transgressions while disassociating his behavior from the movement as a whole, writing with an inside understanding of Pentecostalism and a thoughtful analysis of Parham’s life that goes beyond the acknowledgment of human frailty to reveal the work of a sovereign God. If we don’t confront the faults of our spiritual fathers, Martin says, we will fail to address the truth in the way the Bible lays bare the faults of some of our greatest biblical heroes of the faith. We must recognize and learn from the weaknesses of others, as well as their achievements. The author of several books on the Asuza Street Revival, the history of early Pentecostals, and the Pentecostal Church of God, Martin presents a much-needed exploration of the life of one of the most influential religious figures of the twentieth century, whose impact is still widely felt today. Includes photos of Parham’s life and ministry.
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Happy Hunters : The Miraculous Life And Healing Ministry Of Charles And Fra
$16.99Add to cartKnown as the “Happy Hunters,” Charles and Frances Hunter were nationally recognized both for their powerful healing ministry and for their unbridled, contagious joy. What few people know, however, is that Frances spent years as a “wild sinner,” and Charles was a “dried-up spiritual prune” for most of his early life.
God miraculously used these two unlikely candidates to birth one of the most powerful healing ministries the world has ever known. Their story is one of triumph, power, and divine intervention.
As you read this book, you will…
*Witness thousands healed of “incurable” diseases
*Explore the purpose and use of spiritual gifts
*Learn a powerful method of evangelism
*Discover how to build your faith
*Find out how to heal the sickAs you follow the Hunters’ incredible journeys, you will learn from their experiences and benefit from the spiritual wisdom gained from decades of ministry. See how many ordinary people are impacting the world as a direct result of yielding to God, and learn how you can impact your world, too!
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Worlds Greatest Sermons And Preachers
$16.99Add to cartRay Comfort and Kirk Cameron have compiled some of the signature sermons of the greatest Christian preachers in history. Join these “fathers of the faith” as they discuss a wide range of subjects, including the key to evangelism and how to reach souls.
Thanks to this treasured collection of classic Christian wisdom, you can experience…
*The eloquence of Charles Spurgeon
*The zeal of John Wesley
*The effectiveness of Jonathan Edwards
*The passion of Martin Luther
*The power of George Whitfield
*The brilliance of R. A. Torrey
*The influence of Gawin KirkhamThese men laid the foundation of evangelical Christianity that we carry on today. Discover the secret of their success and the truth that you, too, can win the lost!
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How Christianity Transformed The World
$12.99Add to cartMany people today would say that Christianity has done more harm than good to our world. Sharon James argues, however, in seeking to love their neighbour and reflect God’s moral character the followers of Jesus have had a largely positive impact on our society. James takes a number of areas – education, healthcare, justice, human dignity – and traces the ways in which these benefits have spread with the gospel.
hapter Headings:
1. Freedom
2. Religious Liberty
3. Justice
4. Protecting Life
5. The Dignity of Women
6. Philanthropy
7. Healthcare
8. Education for All
9. The Creation Mandate and the Value of Work
History: The Triumph of Christ -
16th Century Mission
$29.99Add to cartDid the Reformers lack a vision for missions?
In Sixteenth-Century Mission, a diverse cast of contributors explores the wide-reaching practice and theology of mission during this era. Rather than a century bereft of cross-cultural outreach, we find both Reformers and Roman Catholics preaching the gospel and establishing the church in all the world. This overlooked yet rich history reveals themes and insights relevant to the practice of mission today.
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Understanding The Jewish Roots Of Christianity
$29.99Add to cartHow Jewish is Christianity?
The question of how Jesus’ followers relate to Judaism has been a matter of debate since Jesus first sparred with the Pharisees. The controversy has not abated, taking many forms over the centuries. In the decades following the Holocaust, scholars and theologians reconsidered the Jewish origins and character of Christianity, finding points of continuity.
Understanding the Jewish Roots of Christianity advances this discussion by freshly reassessing the issues. Did Jesus intend to form a new religion? Did Paul abrogate the Jewish law? Does the New Testament condemn Judaism? How and when did Christianity split from Judaism? How should Jewish believers in Jesus relate to a largely gentile church? What meaning do the Jewish origins of Christianity have for theology and practice today?
In this volume, a variety of leading scholars and theologians explore the relationship of Judaism and Christianity through biblical, historical, theological, and ecclesiological angles. This cutting-edge scholarship will enrich readers’ understanding of this centuries-old debate.
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Introduction To Ecclesiology (Revised)
$35.00Add to cartWhat is the church? Why are there so many different expressions of church throughout time and space, and what ties them all together?
Ecclesiology–the doctrine of the church–has risen to the center of theological interest in recent decades. In this text, theologian Veli-Matti Karkkainen provides a wide-ranging survey of the rich field of ecclesiology in the midst of rapid developments and new horizons. Drawing on Karkkainen’s international experience and comprehensive research on the church, this revised and expanded edition is thoroughly updated to incorporate recent literature and trends. This unique primer not only orients readers to biblical, historical, and contemporary ecclesiologies but also highlights contextual and global perspectives and includes an entirely new section on interfaith comparative theology. An Introduction to Ecclesiology surveys.
*major theological traditions, including Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Reformed, and Pentecostal
*ecclesiological insights from Latin American, Africa, and Asia
*distinct perspectives from women, African Americans, and recent trends in the United States
*key elements of the church such as mission, governance, worship, and sacraments
*interreligious comparison with Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, and Buddhist communities
As the church today encounters challenges and opportunities related to rapid growth in the Majority World, new congregational forms, ecumenical movements, interfaith relations, and more, Christians need a robust ecclesiology that makes room for both unity and diversity. In An Introduction to Ecclesiology students, pastors, and laypeople will find an essential resource for understanding how the church can live out its calling as Christ’s community on earth.