As a result, many Roman Catholics are quick to allege that the Reformation understanding of the gospel simply did not exist before the 1500s. They assert that key Reformation doctrines, like sola fide, were nonexistent in the first fifteen centuries of church history. Rather, they were invented by Martin Luther, John Calvin, and others.That is a serious charge, and one that evangelicals must be ready to answer. If an evangelical understanding of the gospel is only 500 years old, we are in major trouble. However, if it can be demonstrated that Reformers were not inventing something new, but instead were recovering something old, then key tenets of the Protestant faith are greatly affirmed. Hence, the need for this book.After reading Long Before Luther, readers will:Possess a greater understanding of church history and the role it plays in the church today.Have a deeper appreciation for the hard-won victories of the Reformation.Be equipped to dialogue with Catholic friends about the presence of Reformed doctrines throughout church history.Feel renewed gratefulness for the unearned nature of grace and the power of the gospel.

    In tracing the history of the Church from the time of Christ to the Great Persecution at the beginning of the fourth century, and ending with the conversion of the Emperor Constantine, his aim was to show the purity and continuity of the doctrinal tradition of Christianity and its struggle against persecutors and heretics.

    "The best available treatment by an evangelical Christian. "-- "Christianity Today"

    A. Carson's father was a pioneering church-planter and pastor in Quebec. But still, an ordinary pastor-except that he ministered during the decades that brought French Canada from the brutal challenges of persecution and imprisonment for Baptist ministers to spectacular growth and revival in the 1970s.It is a story, and an era, that few in the English-speaking world know anything about. But through Tom Carson's journals and written prayers, and the narrative and historical background supplied by his son, readers will be given a firsthand account of not only this trying time in North American church history, but of one pastor's life and times, dreams and disappointments. With words that will ring true for every person who has devoted themselves to the Lord's work, this unique book serves to remind readers that though the sacrifices of serving God are great, the sweetness of living a faithful, obedient life is greater still.

    It is a book for teenagers about martyrdom, containing dozens of profiles of figures ranging from Stephen, whose martyrdom is described in the Book of Acts, to "Anila and Perveen," two teenage Pakistani girls and Christian believers. In 1997, Perveen was killed for running away in order to avoid marrying a Muslim man; Anila was imprisoned for helping her friend escape. In an introduction to the book, Michael Tait explains its purpose: "In a world built on free will instead of God's will, we must be the Freaks. While we may not be called to martyr our lives, we must martyr our way of life. We must put our selfish ways to death and march to a different beat. Then the world will see Jesus." The book's design is hip and easy to read, and its summary of Christian persecutions that continue today is useful--and frightening.

    

    “Fascinating, brave & sometimes infuriating” (Time), this dark history is more than a chronicle of religion. It's the central tragedy of Western civilization, its fault lines reaching deep into our culture to create “a deeply felt work” (San Francisco Chronicle) as Carroll wrangles with centuries of strife & tragedy to reach a courageous & affecting reckoning with difficult truths.

    Murray leads the reader back to the most basic question of all, 'What is a Christian?'

    It has fascinated artists, envisioned reformers, strengthened abolitionists, and given beautiful hope to millions.Do you know the story?It shouldn't be possible to talk about the Reformation without talking about the gospel. Luther's discovery changed the world and it continues to do so. Michael Reeves has served the church in this 500th anniversary year by writing an evangelistic resource that tells the story of that discovery, draws out its effectiveness and beauty, and speaks of its consequences for the history of the world.On this 500th anniversary of the Reformation, this resource enables you to use the historical moment effectively to carry on the work of Reformation: to get the story of the gospel to world.

    It provides a clear and comprehensive introduction to the New Testament. In a straightforward and understandable style--without distortion or oversimplification--Prof. Metzger closely examines the historical background and content of the New Testament and details the role of scribes and translators in handing the Scriptures down through the centuries. Utilizing the finest modern scholarship, Dr. Metzger looks at the people, societies, and events that produced the New Testament. Palestinian Judaism, Greco-Roman paganism, sources of our knowledge of Jesus Christ, essential aspects of Christ's teaching, sources and chronology of the apostolic age, the work of Paul, the general letters, and the Book of Revelation are all clearly illuminated. The Second edition of this book added an appendix on the formation of the canon of the New Testament and the work of scribes. The third edition will represent a substantial update of the 1965 text based on the New Revised Standard Version. In addition to stylistic changes, the author updates the text regarding research on the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hammadi tractates. This edition adds a glossary, 30 graphics and photos, and is resized to a larger 6x9 page.

    This exceptional work, by one of the world's leading Biblical scholars, provides a full account of how the different parts of the Bible came to be written; how some writings which were regarded as holy became canonical and were included in the Bible, and others were not; what the relationship is of the different parts of the Bible to each other; and how, once it became a stable text, the Bible has been disseminated and interpreted around the world. It gives full weight to discussion of the importance of the Tanakh (Old Testament) in Judaism as in Christianity. It also demonstrates the degree to which, contrary to widespread belief, both Judaism and Christianity are not faiths drawn from the Bible texts but from other sources and traditions. It shows that if we are to regard the Bible as 'authoritative' it cannot be as believers have so often done in the past.

    Like John Bunyan in Bedford gaol, Samuel Rutherford did his best work while suffering imprisonment for the gospel. His opponents had meant to silence him but instead they perpetuated his ministry through the centuries for it was out of this period that most of his famous Letters came. Addressed to high and low they were so prized by the recipients that the first collection by Robert McWard appeared in 1664 just three years after Rutherford's death. the successive editions contained more letters until they grew to the 365 in Andrew Bonar's classic edition. From this, 'the most remarkable series of devotional letters that the literature of the Reformed churches can show', the great leaders in the Church as well as the humblest Christians have drawn strength. It is said of Robert Murray M'Cheyne that 'the Letters of Samuel Rutherford were often in his hand.' This abridged edition contains sixty-nine of these letters.This abridged edition contains 69 of the letters. The complete, unabridged edition is Letters of Samuel Rutherford (with biographical introduction by Andrew Bonar) also published by The Banner of Truth.

    Johnson takes off in the year AD 49 with his namesake the apostle Paul. Thus beginning an ambitious quest to paint the centuries since the founding of a little-known ‘Jesus Sect’, A History of Christianity explores to a great degree the evolution of the Western world. With an unbiased and overall optimistic tone, Johnson traces the fantastic scope of the consequent sects of Christianity and the people who followed them. Information drawn from extensive and varied sources from around the world makes this history as credible as it is reliable. Invaluable understanding of the framework of modern Christianity—and its trials and tribulations throughout history—has never before been contained in such a captivating work.

    It begins with Julius Caesar's invasion in the first century BC and goes on to tell of the kings and bishops, monks and nuns who helped to develop government and convert the people to Christianity during these crucial formative years. Relating the deeds of great men and women but also describing landscape, customs and ordinary lives, this is a rich, vivid portrait of an emerging church and nation by the 'Father of English History'.Leo Sherley-Price's translation from the Latin brings us an accurate and readable version of Bede's History. This edition includes Bede's Letter to Egbert, denouncing false monasteries; and The Death of Bede, an admirable eye-witness account by Cuthbert, monk and later Abbot of Jarrow, both translated by D. H. Farmer.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

    This book provides a definitive view of these revivals, now known as the First Great Awakening, and their dramatic effects on American culture. Historian Thomas S. Kidd tells the absorbing story of early American evangelical Christianity through the lives of seminal figures like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield as well as many previously unknown preachers, prophets, and penitents. The Great Awakening helped create the evangelical movement, which heavily emphasized the individual’s experience of salvation and the Holy Spirit’s work in revivals. By giving many evangelicals radical notions of the spiritual equality of all people, the revivals helped breed the democratic style that would come to characterize the American republic. Kidd carefully separates the positions of moderate supporters of the revivals from those of radical supporters, and he delineates the objections of those who completely deplored the revivals and their wildly egalitarian consequences. The battles among these three camps, the author shows, transformed colonial America and ultimately defined the nature of the evangelical movement.