Book picks similar to
The Belgic Confession: Its History and Sources by Nicolaas H. Gootjes
theology
pastoral-helps
reformed-theology
confessions
A Pius Man
Declan Finn - 2013
The Pope's latest project is to make Pius XII, "Hitler's Pope," a saint. Things haven't gotten better since the Pope employed American mercenary Sean Ryan. Then a body fell onto the Vatican doorstep.Soon, a pattern emerges-- people who go into the Pius XII historical archives are dying. Each time, a priest has been in the background-- a priest close to the Pope. One of the victims was an al-Qaeda operative, drawing Scott "Mossad" Murphy of Israeli intelligence to Rome. Now, Ryan, Murphy and Figlia must join forces to unravel the mystery around the Vatican, as even the man Giovanni is supposed to protect looks like a suspect. To get out of this alive, they must discover if Hitler's Pope was a Nazi collaborator, or a pious man.
Polycarp's Letter to the Philippians & His Martyrdom
Polycarp - 2009
Much can be learned from those who have looked death in the face and yet remained true to the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Polycarp was such a man who learned from the great apostle John. Even under the threat of death, he remained true to his beloved bridegroom, Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, amen! Even today, some 2000 years later, we have his own words and are able to learn from his wisdom. May you be blessed as you read this book. Amen.
Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet
Lyndal Roper - 2016
The ideas contained in these Ninety-five Theses, which boldly challenged the Catholic Church, spread like wildfire. Within two months, they were known all over Germany. So powerful were Martin Luther’s broadsides against papal authority that they polarized a continent and tore apart the very foundation of Western Christendom. Luther’s ideas inspired upheavals whose consequences we live with today.But who was the man behind the Ninety-five Theses? Lyndal Roper’s magisterial new biography goes beyond Luther’s theology to investigate the inner life of the religious reformer who has been called “the last medieval man and the first modern one.” Here is a full-blooded portrait of a revolutionary thinker who was, at his core, deeply flawed and full of contradictions. Luther was a brilliant writer whose biblical translations had a lasting impact on the German language. Yet he was also a strident fundamentalist whose scathing rhetorical attacks threatened to alienate those he might persuade. He had a colorful, even impish personality, and when he left the monastery to get married (“to spite the Devil,” he explained), he wooed and wed an ex-nun. But he had an ugly side too. When German peasants rose up against the nobility, Luther urged the aristocracy to slaughter them. He was a ferocious anti-Semite and a virulent misogynist, even as he argued for liberated human sexuality within marriage.A distinguished historian of early modern Europe, Lyndal Roper looks deep inside the heart of this singularly complex figure. The force of Luther’s personality, she argues, had enormous historical effects—both good and ill. By bringing us closer than ever to the man himself, she opens up a new vision of the Reformation and the world it created and draws a fully three-dimensional portrait of its founder.
The Standard of Truth: 1815–1846
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - 2018
Three years later, an angel guides him to an ancient record buried in a hill near his home. With God’s help, he translates the record and organizes the Savior’s church in the latter days. Soon others join him, accepting the invitation to become Saints through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. But opposition and violence follow those who defy old traditions to embrace restored truths. The women and men who join the church must choose whether or not they will stay true to their covenants, establish Zion, and proclaim the gospel to a troubled world. The Standard of Truth is the first book in Saints, a new, four-volume narrative history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Fast-paced, meticulously researched, Saints recounts true stories of Latter-day Saints across the globe and answers the Lord’s call to write history “for the good of the church, and for the rising generations” (Doctrine and Covenants 69:8).
A Concise History of Christian Thought
Tony Lane - 1984
In addition to surveying over one hundred important Christian thinkers from Justin Martyr to Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI), the book also covers major creeds, councils, and documents. Representative extracts allow the reader to hear from each of the key thinkers in his or her own words. After having sold more than 50,000 copies in its earlier editions, the current edition has been refined and updated throughout and includes new material on key contemporary thinkers. It will appeal to church leaders, interested laity, and students.
Reformed Catholicity: The Promise of Retrieval for Theology and Biblical Interpretation
R. Michael Allen - 2015
Their manifesto for a catholic and Reformed approach to dogmatics seeks theological renewal through retrieval of the rich resources of the historic Christian tradition. The book provides a survey of recent approaches toward theological retrieval and offers a renewed exploration of the doctrine of sola scriptura. It includes a substantive afterword by J. Todd Billings.
How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind: Rediscovering the African Seedbed of Western Christianity
Thomas C. Oden - 2007
Some of the most decisive intellectual achievements of Christianity were explored and understood in Africa before they were in Europe. If this is so, why is Christianity so often perceived in Africa as a Western colonial import? How can Christians in Northern and sub-Saharan Africa, indeed, how can Christians throughout the world, rediscover and learn from this ancient heritage? Theologian Thomas C. Oden offers a portrait that challenges prevailing notions of the intellectual development of Christianity from its early roots to its modern expressions. The pattern, he suggests, is not from north to south from Europe to Africa, but the other way around. He then makes an impassioned plea to uncover the hard data and study in depth the vital role that early African Christians played in developing the modern university, maturing Christian exegesis of Scripture, shaping early Christian dogma, modeling conciliar patterns of ecumenical decision-making, stimulating early monasticism, developing Neoplatonism, and refining rhetorical and dialectical skills. He calls for a wide-ranging research project to fill out the picture he sketches. It will require, he says, a generation of disciplined investigation, combining intensive language study with a risk-taking commitment to uncover the truth in potentially unreceptive environments. Oden envisions a dedicated consortium of scholars linked by computer technology and a common commitment that will seek to shape not only the scholar's understanding but the ordinary African Christian's self-perception.
By His Own Hand Upon Papyrus: A New Look at the Joseph Smith Papyri
Charles M. Larson - 1992
A survey of the controversy surrounding Mormon founder Joseph Smith's claim that he translated the Book of Abraham from an ancient Egyptian papyrus.
Luther: Man Between God and the Devil
Heiko A. Oberman - 1982
Every person interested in Christianity should put this on his or her reading list.”—Lawrence Cunningham, Commonweal“This is the biography of Luther for our time by the world’s foremost authority.”—Steven Ozment, Harvard University“If the world is to gain from Luther it must turn to the real Luther—furious, violent, foul-mouthed, passionately concerned. Him it will find in Oberman’s book, a labour of love.”—G. R. Elton, Journal of Ecclesiastical History
The Major Works
Anselm of Canterbury
He considered the doctrines of faith an invitation to question, to think, and to learn; and he devoted his life to confronting and understanding the most elusive aspects of Christianity. His writings on matters such as free will, the nature of truth, and the existence of God make Anselm one of the greatest theologians and philosophers in history, and this translation provides readers with their first opportunity to read his most important works within a single volume.
The Christian Lover
Michael A.G. Haykin - 2009
Even within the church, homosexuality, divorce, and shallow, sentimental views of love are subverting God’s design for husbands and wives. To help Christian couples counter these trends and recover marriage as God intended it, Dr. Michael A.G. Haykin has compiled a rich anthology of love letters from saints of the past. Each letter gives us a glimpse of what marriage should be: joyful companionship, deep passion, and unfailing commitment through the ups and downs of life. At its best, Christian marriage is a foretaste of eternal bliss—and it’s far more satisfying than any of the substitutes this world has to offer.
The Lord's Supper as a Means of Grace: More Than a Memory
Richard C. Barcellos - 2013
The study is divided under four headings - 1. The terminology connected to the Lord's Supper in the New Testament. 2. The Biblical data that supports the Lord's Supper as a means of grace. 3. The confessional formulation of the Lord's Supper as a means of grace in the reformed tradition and 4. Final Thoughts.
The Church in History
Barend Klaas Kuiper - 1951
K. Kuiper has long been the textbook of choice for many secondary schools and Bible institutes, having sold well over 150,000 copies since first published more than a half century ago. Detailed and fact-filled yet balanced and readable, this volume offers a panoramic view of the church's growth worldwide throughout the past 2,000 years, including a comprehensive section on the church in the United States and Canada. With close to 300 photographs, maps, and timelines throughout and thought-provoking study questions at the end of each chapter, The Church in History is an excellent introductory resource for students or for anyone wanting to better understand the history of the church.
Are Mormons Christians?
Stephen E. Robinson - 2010
Unless we understand the basis for the charge, we are not prepared to deal with it. This book explains each of the arguments used against Latter-day Saints, and demonstrates beyond dispute-using non-LDS authorities-that these arguments are based on false premises. The definitive work on the subject, this book is a must for every LDS home.
What Does God Want?
Michael S. Heiser - 2018
For starters, you have to know who’s asking the question. People will ask it for a lot of different reasons. It’s pretty obvious that the question is a religious one. Questions about God naturally get filed in that folder. If you’ve spent a lot of your life in church, you might think you already know the answer. You might know parts of it, but I can guarantee you’ll see a lot that’s new here. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill “Christianity 101” book. Unfortunately, the thing that most often gets in the way of the wonder of the story is religion, and that isn’t what this book offers. And if you’ve never been in a church or heard much about the Bible, don’t worry. You’ve got nothing to unlearn or re-learn. It’s all fresh. That makes you an ideal reader. So what does God want? Best-selling author, Dr. Michael S. Heiser, shows readers that the answer is pretty simple. God wants YOU. That might surprise you. You may doubt it. That’s okay. But it’s the right answer. But it isn’t enough of an answer. You can’t get a sense of how amazing and profound the answer is by just that one sentence. There’s actually a long, remarkable story behind the answer—one that isn’t well known by most people interested in the question.