Best of
Church-History

1999

Trial and Triumph: Stories from Church History


Richard M. Hannula - 1999
    6:16). Christianity is a faith in love with history. God took on human flesh and dwelt among us. The Spirit carried that divine work over the centuries, providing courage and maturity even amid our imperfections.Christians find their true family line not through tribes and ethnic blood but in the bond of faithfulness and shed blood that has united our family for millennia. We too often view Church history as the story of obscure aliens instead of the lives of brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers.In this collection of forty-six brief biographies for children, Hannula sketches the stirring trials and triumphs of many famous and some lesser known figures in our family of faith—including Augustine, Charlemagne, Luther, Bunyan, and C.S. Lewis. Through them we can begin to enjoy the old paths and find rest for our souls.

The Story of Christianity: The Early Church to the Present Day


Justo L. González - 1999
    This highly acclaimed text provides a vivid introduction to Christian history, from the apostolic church to the present day. Gonzalez skillfully weaves in relevant details from the lives of prominent figures, tracing out core theological developments as reflected in the lives of leading thinkers within various church traditions. Especially careful attention is given to Christian expansion into Central and South America during the early modern period. 880 pages, from Prince Press.

Puritan Evangelism: A Biblical Approach


Joel R. Beeke - 1999
    He describes the preaching of the Puritans (thoroughly biblical, unashamedly doctrinal, experimentally practical, holistically evangelistic, and studiously symmetrical), the primary methods of evangelism (plain preaching and catechetical evangelism), and the inward disposition of the Puritan evangelist (dependent on the Holy Spirit and prayerful). Table of Contents: 1. Introduction: Puritan Evangelism Defined Characteristics of Puritan Preaching 2. Thoroughly Biblical 3. Unashamedly Doctrinal 4. Experimentally Practical 5. Holistically Evangelistic 6. Studiously Symmetrical The Method of Puritan Evangelism 7. Plain Preaching 8. Catechetical Evangelism The Inward Disposition of the Puritan Evangelist 9. Dependency on the Holy Spirit 10. Men of Prayer

2000 Years of Prayer


Michael Counsell - 1999
    Tracing two thousand years of Christian spirituality, it contains prayers from every era, every continent and every tradition. This extraordinary anthology provides a compelling and comprehensive portrait of the ways in which men and women have expressed their longing for God through the centuries. Arranged chronologically, 2000 Years of Prayer covers every significant era of Christian experience: prayers from the early church in East and West, the Coptic Church, Celtic traditions, medieval and monastic spirituality, Italian spiritual writers, Teutonic mysticism, the Protestant Reformation, English Roman Catholics, the Puritans, Pietist, Pentecostal and Charismatic movements, and much more. A brief introduction to each chapter outlines the defining spiritual characteristics of the age and traces the development of our understanding of prayer. Biographies of authors whose prayers are included, as well as an index of authors, themes, and subjects, are included.

Holman Bible Atlas (Broadman & Holman Reference)


Thomas V. Brisco - 1999
    

Walking with Ellen White: The Human Interest Story


George R. Knight - 1999
    

Born from the Gaze of God: The Tibhirine Journal of a Martyr Monk (1993–1996)


Christophe Lebreton - 1999
    He was also the poet of the group. Anyone who was enthralled by the recent film Of Gods and Men should find in Brother Christophes Journal ample and deeply moving material for meditation on both the light and the darkness inherent in the human condition. The Journal begins in 1993, four months before the terrorists first visit to the monastery at Tibhirine, and it ends on 19 March 1996, just seven days before the monks abduction. Entry after entry touches readers both by its vivid sincerity and by the fresh and inventive quality of its poetic expression. Through these pages readers become privy to the daily events in the soul of a generous searcher after God under very trying conditions. His style is highly personal, playful, ardent, full of color and whimsy.

A Fire You Can't Put Out: The Civil Rights Life of Birmingham's Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth


Andrew M. Manis - 1999
    Shuttlesworth took it as a sign that God would protect him on the mission that had made him a target that night. Standing in front of his demolished home, Shuttlesworth vigorously renewed his commitment to integrate Birmingham's buses, lunch counters, police force, and parks. The incident transformed him, in the eyes of Birmingham's blacks, from an up-and-coming young minister to a virtual folk hero and, in the view of white Birmingham, from obscurity to rabble-rouser extraordinaire.From his 1956 founding of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights through the historic demonstrations of 1963, driven by a sense of divine mission, Shuttlesworth pressured Jim Crow restrictions in Birmingham with radically confrontational acts of courage. His intensive campaign pitted him against the staunchly segregationist police commissioner Eugene "Bull" Connor and ultimately brought him to the side of Martin Luther King Jr. and to the inner chambers of the Kennedy White House.First published in 1999, Andrew Manis's award-winning biography of "one of the nation's most courageous freedom fighters" demonstrates compellingly that Shuttleworth's brand of fiery, outspoken confrontation derived from his prophetic understanding of the pastoral role. Civil rights activism was tantamount to salvation in his understanding of the role of Christian minister.

From Irenaeus to Grotius


Oliver O'Donovan - 1999
    The editors have collected readings from the works of over sixty-five authors, together with introductory essays that give historical details about each thinker and discuss how each has contributed to the tradition of Christian political thought. Complete with important Greek and Latin texts available here in English for the first time, this volume will be a primary resource for readers from a wide range of interests.

The Oracles of God: The Old Testament Canon


Andrew E. Steinmann - 1999
    Surveys the history of the formation of the Hebrew Bible.

The Serpent And The Cross: Religious Corruption In An Evil Age


Alan Morrison - 1999
    

Bede: The Reckoning of Time


Faith Wallis - 1999
    Bede’s The Reckoning of Time (De temporum ratione) was the first comprehensive treatise on this subject, and the model and reference for all subsequent teaching, discussion and criticism of the Christian calendar. The Reckoning of Time is a systematic exposition of the Julian solar calendar and the Paschal table of Dionysius Exiguus, with their related formulae for calculating dates. But it is more than a technical handbook. Bede sets calendar lore within a broad scientific framework and a coherent Christian concept of time, and incorporates themes as diverse as the theory of tides and the threat of chiliasm. This translation of the full text includes an extensive historical introduction and a chapter-by-chapter commentary. The Reckoning of Time also serves as an accessible introduction to the computus itself.

The Sermon on the Mount: Inspiring the Moral Imagination


Dale C. Allison Jr. - 1999
    Dale Allison insists on the contrary that the full meaning of these chapters in Matthew's Gospel can be seen only in relation to the broader literary context of the Gospel as a whole, with its Jewish Christian orientation. Indeed, the Sermon and the moral imperatives it contains must be understood: 1) in relation to the example provided by Jesus' words and deeds elsewhere in the Gospel; 2) with reference to the community of believers that constitutes the intended audience of Matthew's Gospel; and 3) in terms of what the Gospel says elsewhere about the end of the age. The Sermon does not present a simple set of rules, perhaps only intended for a small and select group within the Christian community, but seeks to instill a moral vision and to inspire the moral imagination of all who would follow Jesus.

Constantine and the Bishops: The Politics of Intolerance


H.A. Drake - 1999
    But in Constantine and the Bishops, historian H. A. Drake offers a fresh and more nuanced understanding of Constantine's rule and, especially, of his relations with Christians.Constantine, Drake suggests, was looking not only for a god in whom to believe but also a policy he could adopt. Uncovering the political motivations behind Constantine's policies, Drake shows how those policies were constructed to ensure the stability of the empire and fulfill Constantine's imperial duty in securing the favor of heaven.Despite the emperor's conversion to Christianity, Drake concludes, Rome remained a world filled with gods and with men seeking to depose rivals from power. A book for students and scholars of ancient history and religion, Constantine and the Bishops shows how Christian belief motivated and gave shape to imperial rule.

Tongues of Angels, Tongues of Men: A Book of Sermons


John F. Thornton - 1999
    Resonant with promise, here are the speeches that have echoed down the centuries. From the Sermon on the Mount to Savonarola's attack on Renaissance Florence's excesses, from the anti-Nazi preaching of Bonhoeffer to Merton's awareness of the everyday in spiritual life, there is no issue or dilemma the pulpit has not addressed.This engaging collection combines a myriad of topics, individuals, eras, and controversies to achieve a balance of the human, the moral, and the theological. Jewish readers will be moved by the Hasidic exhortation to faith and joy, and Christian readers will appreciate the pulpits use as a forum for debate.Edited, annotated, and abridged by two experts, here are nearly one hundred famed sermons from preachers as diverse as Paul, Augustine, Benedict, Curé d'Ars, John Donne, Hildegard of Bingen, Girolamo Savonarola, Martin Luther, Meister Eckhart, John Henry Newman, Cotton Mather, Thomas Crammer, Henry Ward Beecher, Desmond Tutu, Martin Niemöller, John Calvin, Rabbi Akiba, John Wesley, Billy Sunday, Bernard of Clairvaux, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Billy Graham, Martin Luther King, Jr., and many, many more. A full thematic index, an alphabetical list of preachers, and a comprehensive index complete this book filled with timeless riches.

Golden Apples in Silver Bowls: The Rediscovery of Redeeming Love


Leonard Gross - 1999
    

A Dictionary of Early Christian Biography


William C. Piercy - 1999
    in this unique, concise volume. It includes descriptions of the principal sects and heresies that challenged orthodox Christianity on several fronts during the early years. A remarkably comprehensive work, this volume evolved from the distinguished four-volume "Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature." For anyone serious about the early church and the people who made indelible marks in its story, this is a fundamental resource.- Features reliable sketches of major Christian personalities of the first six centuries.- Analyzes the documents, creeds, and literature of the early church and its opponents.- Describes the principal sects and heretics of early Christianity, including discussions of the theological tendencies of these opponents.- Covers more than 600 years of church history in one convenient volume.

Spes Scotorum, Hope of Scots: Saint Columba, Iona and Scotland


Dauvit Broun - 1999
    Columba - and the legacy of the man and his monasteries in Scotland and throughout the world. There is a great deal of new research, in chapters for example on the cult of saints in Scotland, the origins of Scottish identity, Columba's biographer Adomnan, and Columba on Iona. Scholarly but highly readable, this book is accessible to anyone interested in Columba, Celtic Christianity and Scottish history in general.

Augustine and his Critics


Robert Dodaro - 1999
    His positions on philosophical and theological concerns have been the subjects of intense scrutiny and criticism from his lifetime to the present.Augustine and his Critics gathers twelve specialists' responses to modern criticisms of his thought, covering: personal and religious freedom; the self and God; sexuality, gender and the body; spirituality; asceticism; cultural studies; and politics.Stimulating and insightful, the collection offers forceful arguments for neglected historical, philosophical and theological perspectives which are behind some of Augustine's most unpopular convictions.

The Making of a Christian Empire: From the Archaic Age to the Arab Conquests


Elizabeth Depalma Digeser - 1999
    Elizabeth DePalma Digeser shows how Lactantius' Divine Institutes--seditious in its time--responded to the emperor Diocletian's persecution and then became an important influence on Constantine the Great, Rome's first Christian emperor.The Making of a Christian Empire is the first full-length book to interpret the Divine Institutes as a historical source. Exploring Lactantius' use of theology, philosophy, and rhetorical techniques, Digeser perceives the Divine Institutes as a sophisticated proposal for a monotheistic state that intimately connected the religious policies of Diocletian and Constantine, both of whom used religion to fortify and unite the Roman Empire. For Digeser, Lactantius' writings justify Constantine's own attitude of tolerance toward pagans and casts light upon other puzzling features of Constantine's religious policy. Her book contributes importantly to an understanding of the political and religious tensions of the early fourth century.

Light and Heat: The Puritan View of the Pulpit/The Focus of the Gospel in Puritan Preaching


R. Bruce Bickel - 1999
    Bickel's master's thesis and doctoral dissertation on "The Puritan View of the Pulpit" and "The Focus of the Gospel in Puritan Preaching." The Puritans were indeed physicians of the soul, and the entire scope of their ministry was an outgrowth of how they saw themselves as preachers of the Word. The second part of this book is a careful examination of the gospel the Puritans preached--a God-centered message as opposed to today's popular man-centered message.

Timeline Charts of the Western Church


Susan Lynn Peterson - 1999
    In three sections, it supplies both summarized and detailed information that students, professors, professionals, and lay persons alike will find valuable and accessible. The main part of the book, modeled after Bernard Grun's Timetables of History, organizes in-depth information into four categories: - A. Theological questions/Issues - B. People/Events - C. Wider Culture - D. Texts -- A detailed index supplies enough information to provide a stand-alone resource. Three appendices offer brief overviews that allow the reader to quickly grasp the essentials of different eras in Western Church history.

Founding Vocation and Future Vision: The Self-Understanding of the Disciples of Christ and the Churches of Christ


Anthony L. Dunnavant - 1999
    Scholars from all three parts of the Campbell-Stone movement come together to explore how they inherit, interpret, and relate to their historical traditions.

Archbishop Lefebvre And The Vatican


Marcel Lefebvre - 1999
    Includes: Protocol of Accord, Ecclesia Dei, Consecration Sermon of Archbishop Lefebvre, Declaration of Bishop de Castro Mayer, Media Reports, Canon Law, creation of the Fraternity of Saint Peter. Explanation by Fr. Francois Laisney, Society of Saint Pius X.

The Church Mission Society And World Christianity, 1799 1999


Kevin Ward - 1999
    Written by a team of contributors from five continents, these essays throw light on the practice of cross-cultural mission in our contemporary world, making this book of value to anyone who is concerned with mission strategies today.

Puritans And Prigs


Marilynne Robinson - 1999
    Marilynne Robinson's essay "Puritans and Prigs" was first published in Salmagundi 101/102 (1994) and has been edited and reprinted in several collections, including The New Salmagundi Reader and The Death of Adam.