St. Thomas Aquinas has much to teach us--most especially how to confront the classic questions that are still with us after centuries of thought.

    We stamp God on our money, our bumper stickers, and our bodies. With a church on nearly every street, it's hard to deny our country's deep connection with the divine. Yet culture critic Matthew Paul Turner says that God didn't just change America-America changed God. As a result, do we even recognize the "real" God? Whip-smart and provocative, Turner explores the United States' vast influence on God, told through an amazing true history of faith, politics, and evangelical pyrotechnics. From Puritans to Pentecostals, from progressives to mega-pastors, Turner examines how American history and ideals transformed our perception of God. Fearless and funny, this is the definitive guide to the American experience of the Almighty-a story so bizarre, incredible, and entertaining that it could only be made in the U.S.A. No matter what your political or religious affiliation, this book will challenge and delight with its razor sharp wit, social commentary, and savvy historical insight. It will make you reconsider the way you think about America as a "Christian nation," and help you re-imagine a better future for God and country. Ultimately, Turner dares to ask: Does God control the future of America-or is it the other way around?

    Title: The First Apology of Justin Martyr, Addressed to the Emperor Antoninus Pius: Prefaced by Some Account of the Writings and Opinions of Justin Martyr Publisher: London: Griffith, Farran, Okeden

    What she discovered changed her—and it will change you too.Drawing on the best in recent scholarship and using her well-honed literary expertise, Evans examines some of our favorite Bible stories and possible interpretations, retelling them through memoir, original poetry, short stories, soliloquies, and even a short screenplay. Undaunted by the Bible’s most difficult passages, Evans wrestles through the process of doubting, imagining, and debating Scripture’s mysteries. The Bible, she discovers, is not a static work but is a living, breathing, captivating, and confounding book that is able to equip us to join God’s loving and redemptive work in the world.

    Pastors are often pulled in multiple directions and must "become all things to all people" (1 Cor. 9:22). What does the New Testament say (or not say) about the pastoral calling? And what can we learn about it from the apostle Paul?According to popular New Testament scholar Scot McKnight, pastoring must begin first and foremost with spiritual formation, which plays a vital role in the life and ministry of the pastor. As leaders, pastors both create and nurture culture in a church. The biblical vision for that culture is Christoformity, or Christlikeness. Grounding pastoral ministry in the pastoral praxis of the apostle Paul, McKnight shows that nurturing Christoformity was at the heart of the Pauline mission. The pastor's central calling, then, is to mediate Christ in everything. McKnight explores seven dimensions that illustrate this concept--friendship, siblings, generosity, storytelling, witness, subverting the world, and wisdom--as he calls pastors to be conformed to Christ and to nurture a culture of Christoformity in their churches.

    Thoughtful and inspiring, it offers a rare vision of hope that will redefine what we think about our neighbors, our future, and ourselves.In this timely, provocative, and uplifting journey, the bestselling author of Walking the Bible searches for the man at the heart of the world's three monotheistic religions -- and today's deadliest conflicts.At a moment when the world is asking, "Can the religions get along?" one figure stands out as the shared ancestor of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. One man holds the key to our deepest fears -- and our possible reconciliation. Abraham.Bruce Feiler set out on a personal quest to better understand our common patriarch. Traveling in war zones, climbing through caves and ancient shrines, and sitting down with the world's leading religious minds, Feiler uncovers fascinating, little-known details of the man who defines faith for half the world.Both immediate and timeless, Abraham is a powerful, universal story, the first-ever interfaith portrait of the man God chose to be his partner. Thoughtful and inspiring, it offers a rare vision of hope that will redefine what we think about our neighbors, our future, and ourselves.

    Here he traces the broad sweep from Exodus to Kings to Jeremiah to Jesus. He highlights that the prophetic vision and not only embraces the pain of the people but creates an energy and amazement based on the new thing that God is doing.

    Wesley's story is our story. It defines our faith and it challenges us to rediscover our spiritual passion. This is a gracious gift that we will benefit from reading. The commentary is written by a superb preacher who has a pastor's heart and knows how to make the past come alive to strengthen our own experience. Prepare to be transformed. Richard P. Heitzenrater, William Kellon Quick Professor Emeritus of Church History and Wesley Studies at Duke Divinity School Adam Hamilton connects John Wesley's contribution in 18th-century England with his legacy for 21st-century America, bringing lessons from Wesley's life and ministry to bear on discipleship today. This is an excellent resource for personal and denominational revival. Scott Jones, Resident Bishop of the Great Plains area of The United Methodist Church and author of The Wesleyan Way

    Much of the world met Bishop Curry when he delivered his sermon on the redemptive power of love at the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at Windsor Castle. Here, he expands on his message of hope in an inspirational road map for living the way of love, illuminated with moving lessons from his own life. Through the prism of his faith, ancestry, and personal journey, Love Is the Way shows us how America came this far and, more important, how to go a whole lot further.The way of love is essential for addressing the seemingly insurmountable challenges facing the world today: poverty, racism, selfishness, deep ideological divisions, competing claims to speak for God. This book will lead readers to discover the gifts they need in order to live the way of love: deep reservoirs of hope and resilience, simple wisdom, the discipline of nonviolence, and unshakable regard for human dignity.

    Forthright and realistic, it discusses the inevitability of social conflict, the brutal behavior of human collectives of every sort, the inability of rationalists and social scientists to even imagine the realities of collective power, and, ultimately, how individual morality can overcome social immorality.The Library of Theological Ethics series focuses on what it means to think theologically and ethically. It presents a selection of important and otherwise unavailable texts in easily accessible form. Volumes in this series will enable sustained dialogue with predecessors though reflection on classic works in the field.

    Though originally published nearly seventy years ago, the book maintains its relevance today.

    Origen (c. 185-254) was born in Alexandria and lived through the turbulent years during the collapse of the Roman Empire.  Origen - An Exhortation to Martyrdom, Prayer, First Principles: Book IV, Prologue to the Commentary on the Song of Songs, Homily XXVII on Numbers - translation and introduction by Rowan A. Greer - preface by Hans Urs von Balthasar "Indeed, the soul is led by a heavenly love and desire when once the beauty and glory of the Word of God has been perceived; he falls in love with His splendor and by this receives from Him some dart and wound of love."Origen (c.—---254) Origen was born in Alexandria close to the end of the second century. His life spanned the turbulent years during the collapse of the Roman Empire. He sought to rescue and transform what was best of the Roman world and to translate the Christian spiritual quest into a language intelligible to the thoughtful and educated nonbeliever of his day. Origen is one of the first and most important of the Christian mystics, and many of the great themes of spiritual literature can be traced back to him. Von Balthasar, the eminent Swiss theologian, in his preface says of him, "As towering a figure as Augustine and Aquinas...his work is aglow with the fire of a Christian creativity which even in the greatest of his successors burned merely with a borrowed flame."The collected works in this volume represent the heart of Origen's spiritual vision. The translation and introduction is by Rowan A. Greer of the Yale Divinity School.

    Drawing from firsthand accounts of Joseph himself and the scribes who served with him, From Darkness unto Light explores the difficulties encountered in bringing forth this book of inspired scripture. Recent insights and discoveries from the Joseph Smith Papers project have provided a fuller, richer understanding of the translation and publication of the Book of Mormon. This book helps readers understand that the coming forth of the Book of Mormon was a miracle. Faith and belief are necessary ingredients for one to come to know that Joseph Smith performed the work of a seer in bringing the sacred words of the Book of Mormon from darkness unto light.

    Schaeffer contemplates the reasons for modern society's sorry state of affairs and argues for total affirmation of the Bible's morals, values, and meaning.

    In a brief exchange, Jack politely declined the request, explaining that he could not design cakes for same-sex weddings but offered to design cakes for other occasions and to sell them anything else in his shop.  Little did Jack know that his quiet stand for his Christian convictions about marriage would become a battle for the right of all Americans to live out their faith. Now, Jack Phillips shares his harrowing experience for the first time in this powerful new memoir. The Cost of My Faith is Jack’s firsthand account from the frontlines of the battle with a culture that is making every effort to remove God from the public square and a government denying Bible-believing Christians the right to freely exercise their religious beliefs. Despite a Supreme Court victory in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, the fight to protect the right of Americans to freely exercise their beliefs is more critical than ever. The Cost of My Faith provides new insight into the case that shook the country and offers readers courage and inspiration to stand and live out their faith when facing their own battles.