Best of
Theology

1977

Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale


Frederick Buechner - 1977
    A fresh, creative look at the underlying meaning of the Gospels that stresses the many dimensions of God's relationship to humanity.

Practical Religion


J.C. Ryle - 1977
    Deals with 'the daily duties, dangers, experience and privileges of all who profess and call themselves true Christians'.

With Open Hands


Henri J.M. Nouwen - 1977
    Now updated, 'With Open Hands' offers gentle encouragement to readers seeking God & insight to the components of prayer: silence, acceptance, hope, compassion, & prophetic criticism.

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: 4 Volumes


J.C. Ryle - 1977
    Featuring devotional applications, this title includes the author's expositions on the Gospels which are endowed with his understanding of life and people.

Conscious Union With God


Joel S. Goldsmith - 1977
    Presents key points of the Infinite Way teachings: states and stages of consciousness, meditation, seeking answers within, opening consciousness to Truth, and mysticism -- subjects which lead the reader to the inner experience of God, conscious awareness of spiritual being.

His Life Is Mine


Sophrony Sakharov - 1977
    A discussion of prayer, especially the "Jesus Prayer." Not simply a presentation of techniques, it emphasizes theology as well as practice.

More Than a Carpenter


Josh McDowell - 1977
    Josh McDowell's timeless examination of the true nature of Christ and his impact on our lives is one of the best-selling Christian books ever. Written by a former skeptic of Christianity, it is a hard-hitting book for those who doubt Jesus' deity and his purpose.

Eschatology: Death and Eternal Life


Benedict XVI - 1977
    This highly anticipated second edition includes a new preface by Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI and a supplement to the bibliography by theologian Peter A. Casarella.Eschatology presents a balanced perspective of the doctrine at the center of Christian belief--the Church's faith in eternal life. Recognizing the task of contemporary eschatology as "to marry perspectives, so that person and community, present and future, are seen in their unity," Joseph Ratzinger brings together recent emphasis on the theology of hope for the future with the more traditional elements of the doctrine. His book has proven to be as timeless as it is timely.

The Birth of the Messiah: A Commentary on the Infancy Narratives in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke


Raymond E. Brown - 1977
    "From the Hardcover edition."

In Thy Presence


Lev Gillet - 1977
    Some of them open our minds to the immense energy of Love in the universe. Others reveal the presence of Love in human tribulation and suffering, or illuminate the most commonplace actions of daily life. In all of them, tenderness toward each created being touches the real hunger and hope of our lives for a relationship of loving communion with God, for a journey with a transcendent destination.There are also meditations on the presence of Christ. Also considered one by one are the actions of our daily lives, which so often threaten to become a meaningless routine. Each is brought into the light of a related incident in the life of Christ. Each is considered as if carried out in His immediate presence. What for us has so often become dull or meaningless is shown to be capable of transfiguration, of being potentially the action of an heir of God, of someone who transmits the intention of God to this world.

Daughter Zion: Meditations on the Church's Marian Belief


Benedict XVI - 1977
    Cardinal Ratzinger examines how these beliefs are linked to the Church's faith in Jesus Christ. Far from competing with the truth about Christ, the Church's Marian beliefs uphold and underscore that truth. Mary's role in salvation, according to Cardinal Ratzinger, was anticipated in the Old Testament. She was prefigured in Eve, the Mother of the Living; in the holy women of the Old Testament, such as Sarah, Hannah, Deborah, Esther, and Judith; and in the prophetic image of the daughter Zion. Cardinal Ratzinger also considers Mary's place as the embodiment of created wisdom, who faithfully received the Uncreated Wisdom of the Word of God in the Incarnation. Daughter Zion avoids the extremes of ignoring the biblical foundation for Marian doctrine on the one hand and fundamentalistic proof-texting on the other. Instead, the author beautifully and lucidly develops key biblical themes to help readers understand and appreciate the Mother of God.

The Living Reminder: Service and Prayer in Memory of Jesus Christ


Henri J.M. Nouwen - 1977
    The surprise for me was how much I needed to hear him say familiar things.”—National Catholic ReporterThe Living Reminder is a gift from Henry J.M. Nouwen—along with C.S. Lewis and Thomas Merton, one of the 20th century’s most beloved and important spiritual writers. Subtitled “Service and Prayer in the Memory of Jesus Christ,” Nouwen’s book presents  simple yet powerfully profound expressions of the joys of religious service, prompting the publication New Review of Books and Religion to note that we read Nouwen “to discover new possibilities in our own faith.”

The Risk of Education: Discovering Our Ultimate Destiny


Luigi Giussani - 1977
    Based in Milan, Italy, Giussani heads the Communion and Liberation movement and is a council for the Congregation for the Clergy and the Pontifical Council for the Laity. He discusses education in terms of fundamental truths, in particular, the element of faith. It presents the argument that without the fundamental factors of tradition, the young person is merely a fragile leaf separated from its branch.

Concept of Sin


Josef Pieper - 1977
    As Thomas Mann once said, "sin" is nowadays "an amusing word used only when one is trying to get a laugh".But this small work will interpret sin in its true -- that is, serious -- meaning. What will emerge from its analysis is the discovery that the concept of sin can still serve to unlock the mystery of existence, at least for a thinking that wants to press down to the very foundations.Needless to say, such an effort will require a kind of "mining energy" of an archeologist of ideas who knows how to recover what was once known (or at least suspected) from time immemorial but has now been forgotten. But Josef Pieper does more than bring to bear on this issue his famous powers of excavation; he also makes meaningful the concept of sin to the ways of thinking and speaking of our time.Readers of his work already know Pieper as an extraordinarily fitting master in this art of making "the wisdom of the ages" a living reality today. And in this work he brings Plato, Augustine, and Thomas Aquinas into a living dialogue with T. S. Eliot, Andre Gide, even with Jean-Paul Sartre. As he shows in this powerful work, none of these writers leaves any doubt that the fact of sin is central: It is the willful denial of one's own life-ground, a denial that alone rightly bears the name of "sin". Paradoxically, this reality is both willed and yet also pre-given, that is, both adventitious and yet somehow innate to our existence -- a paradox which, next to the mystery of existence itself, is the most impenetrable mystery of all.

Dogma and Preaching


Benedict XVI - 1977
    The new book contains twice as much material as first English edition.Dogma, for many people, is a bad word. For the well-informed believer, it shouldn't be. Dogmas are truths revealed by God, which should enlighten the minds, guide the choices, and gladden the hearts of Jesus' disciples, including pastors, deacons, and lay teachers. But, as Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), notes in the foreword to this book, The path from dogma to proclamation or preaching has become very troublesome. Finding ways to relate the content of the Church's dogmas to everyday life can be challenging for today's preachers and teachers. Some people find the task so daunting that they leave dogma out. As a result, they wind up presenting something other than the Church's faith and speak in their own name, offering perhaps unwittingly merely their own, subjective ideas, rather than the Word of God. In Dogma and Preaching, the theologian and priest Joseph Ratzinger provides (1) a theory of preaching for today; (2) application of this theory to some themes for preaching drawn from the Church's dogmas; (3) meditations and sermons based on the liturgical year and the communion of saints; and (4) some thoughts regarding the decade after the Second Vatican and Christianity's seeming irrelevance. Ratzinger insists that sound preaching should rest on three pillars--Dogma, Scripture, and the Church Today, the contemporary situation in which the Church finds herself. He shows that the proper understanding of the Church, her dogmas, the nature of faith, and the contemporary world allow the proclaimer-believer to remain faithful to the Church's mission and life-changing message.

Creeds of Christendom, 3 Vols


Philip Schaff - 1977
    There is nothing in print as complete as Creeds Of Christendom.

Getting Into the Theology of Concord: A Study of the Book of Concord


Robert D. Preus - 1977
    Read the doctrinal themes of the Book of Concord, and explore the integrity of the Lutheran Confessional writings.

Authenticity: A Biblical Theology of Discernment


Thomas Dubay - 1977
    To a point this may help, but sad experience makes clear that these approaches alone never heal the polarization problems which plague our civil and ecclesial life.The Biblical therapy is radically different - and it achieves results. This book explores the divine strategy in detail. Research discovers in Scripture 40 or 50 themes that bear on discovering truth and recognizing that it has been solidly found. We learn how we discern whether we are being led by the Holy Spirit or by our own unredeemed inclinations and desires, whether it is the spirit of God or the prince of darkness that is operating in our disagreements and programs. We find in these themes clear responses to key questions:• Why are there divisions and factions in the Church?• How are these polarizations to be healed?• What are the sure signs that some people have truth, while others are in error?• What are the conditions for finding and maintaining a shared vision in marriage,parishes, dioceses, religious orders, the universal Church?

Puritan Treasury of Quotations


I.D.E. Thomas - 1977
    Aptly chosen quotations from the works of many of the great preachers and writers of the Puritan period.

The Best of Charles Spurgeon


Charles Haddon Spurgeon - 1977
    Moody- The series features classic writings from the best Christian thinkers and presents their material in an accessible, approachable, and appetizing manner. We've taken the "fear factor" out of classical writings- All the language is "gently modernized" for today's reader- Each daily reading contains a key Scripture verse and reflection questions- Each book in the series contains 120 readings--enough substance to satisfy without intimidating readers with a thick tome

Revolt Against Maturity


Rousas John Rushdoony - 1977
    Biblical psychology contrasts sharply with a science of the mind based on the religious presuppositions of humanism, which regards man as having no constant nature. A science of the mind based on humanism views the mind as a clean slate, and man's nature as plastic to be molded by men and institutions in the image of man for the new order he will establish. The Biblical view sees Psychology as a branch of theology; theology is a study of all that the Scriptures declare about God. Theology is essential not only to the study of psychology, but to ethics, anthropology, soteriology, eschatology, etc. Biblical Psychology assumes that man is created in the image of God directly, and not indirectly through theistic— or any other kind of evolution. Being created directly by God, man is not in the process of defining or determining his ontological qualities. Man has already been determined and defined by God. Thus it is God who has established the limits and nature of the mind.The mind of regenerate man experiences radically different motives and presuppositions from those of unregenerate man. The author sees the central task of Christian Psychology as that of discerning the mind and soul differences that exist between the regenerate and unregenerate. Pastoral counseling should first seek to establish whether or not a person is truly regenerate, and then aid the regenerate to further growth in sanctification.Work was to have provided the joy of fulfillment in God's goal of maturity for man, but because of the curse man is often subject to the frustration of meaningless and degrading work. True work is the exercise of dominion over the creation under God. When man's work is separated from dominion of the created world, he is often subject to moral and religious paralysis and becomes a sick soul.Man suffers similarly when he abstracts God from reality. Since God created everything, nothing can be interpreted apart from God. When man attempts this impossibility, he suffers psychologically. True knowledge of anything is revelational of God. Thus, an aspect of man's revolt against maturity and against life is his revolt against knowledge. Psychological damaging is inevitable for those in revolt against the maturity which the God of all life and all knowledge has purposed for man.The certain and true guilt which the human personality suffers because of sin can be alleviated only when God effects regeneration through the atoning blood of Christ. Thus having laid aside the old self with its evil practices, the new self is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him in righteousness and holiness of the truth. (Col. 3:10; Eph. 4:24) In the general or wider sense, the image of God in man means that man like God is a personality. The author notes that "in the redeemed man, this means that man becomes progressively more and more a person, selfconscious in his growth and character (as opposed to being unconscious of his nature), and steadily manifesting more and more the image of God in knowledge, righteousness, holiness, and dominion." Sanctification is unto holiness by which man realizes his chief end: to glorify God and enjoy Him forever: But because of his revolt against maturity man continues to suffer psychological damage both personally and collectively through the chaotic condition of his mind and his culture.

Woman Be Free!


Patricia Gundry - 1977
    Book by Gundry, Patricia

Ultimate Questions: An Anthology of Modern Russian Religious Thought


Alexander Schmemann - 1977
    Other contributors include Rozanov, Fyodorov, and Bulgakov.

The Idol and Distance: Five Studies


Jean-Luc Marion - 1977
    And while Marion will want to insist on a clear distinction between the theological and phenomenological projects, to read each in light of the other can prove illuminating for both the theological and the philosophical reader - and perhaps above all for the reader who wants to read in both directions at once, the reader concerned with those points of interplay and undecidability where theology and philosophy inform, provoke, and challenge one another in endlessly complex ways. In both his theological and his phenomenological projects Marion's central effort to free the absolute or unconditional (be it theology's God or phenomenology's phenomenon) from the various limits and preconditions of human thought and language will imply a thoroughgoing critique of all metaphysics, and above all of the modern metaphysics centered on the active, spontaneous subject who occupies modern philosophy from Descartes through Hegel and Nietzsche.

Christ and the Powers


Hendrikus Berkhof - 1977
    John Howard Yoder brought it to an English-speaking audience for the first time in this translation, and drew from it in his own famous work, The Politics of Jesus.

The Color of the Night


Gerhard E. Frost - 1977
    Frost's classic The Color of the Night includes eighty-six short reflections inspired by the biblical Job.Each reflection begins with a quotation from Job and wrestles with the difficult issues that we face during times of crisis, such as trust in God, the meaning of life, and unfairness in the world.With newly added questions for study and discussion, this thoughtful book is ideal for personal devotion and group study, especially during Lent.

Love's Endeavour, Love's Expense: The Response of Being to the Love of God


W.H. Vanstone - 1977
    

Final Testimonies


Karl Barth - 1977
    The final selection is a fragment left unfinished the night he died. The last word that I have to say as a theologian or politician is not a concept like grace but a name: Jesus Christ. He is grace and he is the ultimate one beyond world and church and even theology. We cannot lay hold of him. But we have to do with him.... There is no salvation but in this name. In him is grace. Karl Barth, 'Final Testimonies'

The Passion For Life: A Messianic Lifestyle


Jürgen Moltmann - 1977
    

From Sabbath To Sunday: A Historical Investigation Of The Rise Of Sunday Observance In Early Christianity


Samuele Bacchiocchi - 1977
    The investigation establishes that the change from Saturday to Sunday began approximately one century after the death of Christ, as a result of an interplay of political, social, pagan and Christian factors. The change in the day of rest and worship was not merely a change of names or of numbers, but rather a change of meaning, authority and experience. Essentially it was a change from a Holy Day into a holiday. From Sabbath to Sunday has the distinction of being the first book written by a non-Catholic ever to be published by a Pontifical press with the Catholic imprimatur (approval). The book has already been reprinted fourteen times in English and has been translated in several other languages. Hundreds of scholars of different persuasions have praised this book as a definitive treatment of the early history of the Lords Day. I received a gold medal from Pope Paul VI for earning the academic distinction of summa cum laude in my research and school work at the Pontifical Gregorian University, in Rome, Italy.

An Exposition on the Shorter Catechism: What Is the Chief End of Man?


Alexander Whyte - 1977
    A leading Scottish Churchman of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries it is only to be expected that he turned his mind to the Shorter Catechism - that summary of Christian doctrine that was taught in schools and homes across Scotland and throughout the world. In a question and answer format the Shorter Catechism was written with uneducated layman in mind. Simple, direct and brief it was memorised by millions of people from all backgrounds. Its spiritual value has been proved again and again as it provides a base of solid Christian teaching that has stood the test of time.This exposition is a treasure, as it adds some background and some explanation to the brevity that is obviously necessary in a catechism. Quoting from a wide range of Reformed and Puritan authors, Whyte provides useful application and illustrations that help illuminate the answers and will help us apply them to our lives.

The Defense of the Gospel in the New Testament


F.F. Bruce - 1977
    

The Threefold Secret of the Holy Spirit


James H. McConkey - 1977
    

How Shall I Go to God?


Horatius Bonar - 1977
    

Dogmatic Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, Vatican Council I, Plus the Decree on the Immaculate Conception and the Syllabus of Errors


The Catholic Church - 1977
    

The New International Dictionary Of New Testament Theology: Vol. 2


Colin Brown - 1977
    Excellent for students, pastors, and any serious Bible reader. Contains a complete Scripture index and an index to selected extrabiblical literature.

The Returns of Love


Alex Davidson - 1977
    

Apocalypse: The Book of Revelation


Jacques Ellul - 1977
    Translation of L'Apocalypse, architecture en mouvement.

Ransom & Reunion Through the Sanctuary


Willmonte Doniphan Frazee - 1977
    

First Peter: A Translation and Devotional Commentary


E.M. Blaiklock - 1977
    But in the 21st century, there are new dangers-new teachers who threaten to do more damage than the last.pThese are not obscure teachers that Hanegraaff unmasks. We know their names. We have seen their faces, sat in their churches, and heard them shamelessly preach and promote the false pretexts of a give-to-get gospel. They are virtual rock stars who command the attention of presidential candidates and media moguls. Through make-believe miracles, urban legends, counterfeit Christs, and twisted theological reasoning, they peddle an occult brand of metaphysics that continues to shipwreck the faith of millions around the globe#58;p"God cannot do anything in this earthly realm unless we give Him permission."p"Keep saying it-'I have equality with God'-talk yourself into it."p"Being poor is a sin."p"The Jews were not rejecting Jesus as Messiah; it was Jesus who was refusing to be the Messiah to the Jews!"p"You create your own world the same way God creates His. He speaks, and things happen; you speak, and they happen."pIChristianity in Crisis#58; 21st Century/I exposes darkness to light, pointing us back to a Christianity centered in Christ.pIIFrom the Preface#58;/I/Ip"Having lost the ability to think biblically, postmodern Christians are being transformed from cultural change agents and initiators into cultural conformists and imitators. Pop culture beckons, and postmodern Christians have taken the bait. As a result, the biblical model of faith has given way to an increasingly bizarre array of fads and formulas."p

Resurrection of the Dead


Karl Barth - 1977
    

Genesis One and the Origin of the Earth


Robert C. Newman - 1977
    

The Faith That Does Justice: Examining the Christian Sources for Social Change


John C. Haughey - 1977
    

The Hour Of The Unexpected


John Shea - 1977
    They record shattering revelations, uncontrolled hopes, fierce desperations [sic], moments of dance and tears. In all this they resonate with the crazy farmers, persistent widows, cheating accountants, wily servants, forgiving fathers, and uninvited guests of Jesus' parables."From the Introduction by author, p 10Illustrations (many) and cover design by Mark McMahonLC #: 77-73648

You & Your Thoughts: The Power of Right Thinking


Earl D. Radmacher - 1977
    Using insight gained from many years of Bible research, seminary teaching, and practical ministry, Dr. Earl Radmacher shows readers the truth of Proverbs 23:7: “As a man thinketh in his heart; so is he.” Changing our behavior begins with changing our thoughts, and changing our thoughts requires the renewal of our minds, and making every thought captive to Christ. In You & Your Thoughts Dr. Radmacher shows us how. If you want to change your thoughts, read this book today.

The Message Of Jonah: A Theological Commentary


Terence E. Fretheim - 1977
    Fretheim carefully expresses Jonah's powerful message, bringing a fresh perspective of God's mercy and forgiveness and its application in today's world.

The Best of D.L. Moody


Dwight L. Moody - 1977
    More than 100 daily devotions are highlighted in this volume, a part of the Best of...Devotional Series which features classic writings from well-known Christian thinkers.