The Democratization of American Christianity


Nathan O. Hatch - 1991
    Hatch offers a provocative reassessment of religion and culture in the early days of the American republic, arguing that during this period American Christianity was democratized and common people became powerful actors on the religious scene. Hatch examines five distinct traditions or mass movements that emerged early in the nineteenth century—the Christian movement, Methodism, the Baptist movement, the black churches, and the Mormons—showing how all offered compelling visions of individual potential and collective aspiration to the unschooled and unsophisticated. "Rarely do works of scholarship deserve as much attention as this one. The so-called Second Great Awakening was the shaping epoch of American Protestantism, and this book is the most important study of it ever published."—James Turner, Journal of Interdisciplinary History "The most powerful, informed, and complex suggestion yet made about the religious, political, and psychic 'opening' of American life from Jefferson to Jackson. . . . Hatch's reconstruction of his five religious mass movements will add popular religious culture to denominationalism, church and state, and theology as primary dimensions of American religious history."—Robert M. Calhoon, William and Mary Quarterly "Hatch's revisionist work asks us to put the religion of the early republic in a radically new perspective. . . . He has written one of the finest books on American religious history to appear in many years."—James H. Moorhead, Theology Today The manuscript version of this book was awarded the 1988 Albert C. Outler Prize in Ecumenical Church History from the American Society of Church History Awarded the 1989 book prize of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic for the best book in the history of the early republic (1789-1850) Co-winner of the 1990 John Hope Franklin Publication Prize given by the American Studies Association for the best book in American Studies Nathan O. Hatch is professor of history and vice president for Graduate Studies and Research at the University of Notre Dame.

To the Golden Shore: The Life of Adoniram Judson


Courtney Anderson - 1956
    This compelling story of unwavering faith traces the conflicts of Judson's early life to the hardships he endured in Burma.

The Christian Tradition 1: The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition 100-600


Jaroslav Pelikan - 1973
    Beginning with the "Christian declaration of independence from Judaism," the years 100 to 600 were a period of Greg ferment and vitality when the fundamental affirmations of Christian dogma emerged from a welter of beliefs and teachings.The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition is the history of this critical, troubled time. Pelikan focuses upon what the faithful believed, what teachers—both orthodox and heretical—taught, and what the church confessed as dogma during its first six centuries of growth. In constructing his work, Pelikan has made use of exegetical and liturgical sources in addition to the usual polemical, apologetic, and systematic or speculative materials.

Saint Francis of Assisi


G.K. Chesterton - 1923
    By universal acclaim, this biography by G. K. Chesterton is considered the best appreciation of Francis's life--the one that gets to the heart of the matter.For Chesterton, Francis is a great paradoxical figure, a man who loved women but vowed himself to chastity; an artist who loved the pleasures of the natural world as few have loved them, but vowed himself to the most austere poverty, stripping himself naked in the public square so all could see that he had renounced his worldly goods; a clown who stood on his head in order to see the world aright. Chesterton gives us Francis in his world-the riotously colorful world of the High Middle Ages, a world with more pageantry and romance than we have seen before or since. Here is the Francis who tried to end the Crusades by talking to the Saracens, and who interceded with the emperor on behalf of the birds. Here is the Francis who inspired a revolution in art that began with Giotto and a revolution in poetry that began with Dante. Here is the Francis who prayed and danced with pagan abandon, who talked to animals, who invented the creche.

Church History: A Crash Course for the Curious


Christopher Catherwood - 1998
    Church History is the perfect place to start for anyone who wants to know where to begin this quest for knowledge.Enjoy discovering more about the lives of men and women from various times and places, not only to better understand the church, but also to know how to live wisely in this age. These are some of the many reasons why history is so important.From those who desire to learn more about their fellow followers of Jesus Christ throughout history to those who want to learn more about church for themselves, this book will test you to dig deeper in your faith.

Practical Religion


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

Spurgeon's Sorrows: Realistic Hope for those who Suffer from Depression


Zack Eswine - 2014
    Depression is not new though, indeed the "Prince of Preachers" C.H. Spurgeon struggled with depression and talked openly about it. Here Zack Eswine draws from Spurgeon's experiences to encourage us. What Spurgeon found in his darkness can serve as a light in our own darkness. This is not a self-help guide, but rather "a handwritten note of one who wishes you well."

Jesus Among Other Gods: The Absolute Claims of the Christian Message


Ravi Zacharias - 2000
    With a simple yet penetrating style, Zacharias uses rich illustrations to celebrate the power of Jesus Christ to transform lives. Jesus Among Other Gods contrasts the truth of Jesus with founders of Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, strengthening believers and compelling them to share their faith with our post-modern world.

Rescuing the Gospel: The Story and Significance of the Reformation


Erwin W. Lutzer - 2016
    The story begins with the Catholic Church and its desperate need for reform. The dramatic events that followed are traced from John Wycliffe in England, to the burning of John Hus at the stake in Prague, to the rampant sale of indulgences in the cities and towns of Germany, to Martin Luther nailing the Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Castle Church in 1517, to John Calvin's reform of Geneva. Erwin Lutzer captures the people, places, and big ideas that fueled the Reformation and explains its lasting influence on the church and Western Civilization.

Through Gates of Splendor


Elisabeth Elliot - 1957
    The men's mission combined modern technology with innate ingenuity, sparked by a passionate determination to get the gospel to those without Christ. In a nearby village, their wives waited to hear from them. The news they received - all five missionaries had been murdered - changed lives around the world forever. Written while she was still a missionary in South America and at the request of the men's families, Through Gates of Splendor was Elisabeth Elliot's personal account of the final mission of these five courageous men. Filled with quotations from letters, material from personal journals, a wealth of photographs, and an epilogue update, this reprint of the original hardcover edition tells a lasting story of God's grace, unconditional love, and great courage. This story inspired the 2006 box office hit End of the Spear and is sure to inspire the next generation of servant believers.

The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible


Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield - 1948
    Modern biblical scholars showed that textual and linguistic analysis proved the human authorship of the Bible, and from there proceeded to strip miracles of their power, texts of their authenticity, and God of his historical intervention in the lives of individuals. Warfield responded to modernist and higher biblical critics by showing that intellect of the biblical authors not only remained fully operational and engaged, but that God also worked through human words and texts to convey divine revelation.B. B. Warfield’s volume on divine revelation and biblical inspiration defined the parameters of the twentieth century understanding of biblical infallibility, inerrancy, and the trustworthiness and authority of Scripture. He pioneered a view of biblical inspiration and authority which remains widely held today by many Reformed and evangelical Christians. Revelation and Inspiration contains ten of Warfield’s most influential articles on the subject, as well as two appendices—one on the divine origin of the Bible and the other on the canonicity of the New TestamentTable of ContentsI. The Biblical Idea of RevelationII. The Church Doctrine of InspirationIII. The Biblical Idea of InspirationIV. The Real Problem of InspirationV. The Terms "Scripture" and "The Scriptures," As Employed in The New TestamentVI. "God-Inspired Scripture"VII. "It Says:" "Scripture Says:" "God Says"VIII. "The Oracles of God"Appendix I. The Formation of the Canon of the New TestamentAppendix II. Inspiration and Criticism

George Müller: Delighted in God


Roger Steer - 1975
    His name has become a by-word for faith throughout the world. In the early 1830s he embarked upon an extraordinary adventure. Disturbed by the faithlessness of the Church in general, he longed to have something to point to as 'visible proof that our God and Father is the same faithful creator as he ever was'. He was more successful than anyone could have believed possible and is as much an example to our generation, as he was to his.

Canon Revisited: Establishing the Origins and Authority of the New Testament Books


Michael J. Kruger - 2012
    Canon Revisited distinguishes itself by placing a substantial focus on the theology of canon as the context within which the historical evidence is evaluated and assessed. In effect, this work successfully unites both the theology and the historical development of the canon, ultimately serving as a practical defense for the authority of the New Testament books.

The History of the Church: From Christ to Constantine


Eusebius
    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 Christian Ministry


Charles Bridges - 1981
    One of the best and most comprehensive books ever written on the work of the ministry.