A Woman Rides the Beast


Dave Hunt - 1994
    Many people are amazed to discover in Revelation 17 that there is also another mysterious character at the heart of prophecy—a woman who rides the beast.Who is this woman? Tradition says she is connected with the church of Rome. But isn’t such a view outdated? After all, today’s Vatican is eager to join hands with Protestants worldwide. “The Catholic church has changed” is what we hear.Or has it? In A Woman Rides the Beast, prophecy expert Dave Hunt sifts through biblical truth and global events to present a well-defined portrait of the woman and her powerful place in the Antichrist’s future empire. Eight remarkable clues in Revelation 17 and 18 prove the woman’s identity beyond any reasonable doubt.A provocative account of what the Bible tells us is to come.

A World Full of Gods: The Strange Triumph of Christianity


Keith Hopkins - 1999
    Combining exacting scholarship with dazzling invention, Hopkins challenges our perceptions about religion, the historical Jesus, and the way history is written. He puts us in touch with what he calls "empathetic wonder"-imagining what Romans, pagans, Jews, and Christians thought, felt, experienced, and believed-by employing a series of engaging literary devices. These include a TV drama about the Dead Sea Scrolls; the first-person testimony of a pair of time-travelers to Pompeii; a meditation on Jesus' apocryphal twin brother; and an unusual letter on God, demons, and angels.

The Shape of Catholic Theology: An Introduction to its Sources, Principles, and History


Aidan Nichols - 1991
    Faithful to Catholic teaching yet critical, discerning yet impartial, Nichols offers this introduction to dogmatic theology, with the firm belief that dogmatics are the center of theology, and that any theological discipline which cuts itself off from these heartlands does so at its own peril. For it is in dogmatics that theology is in touch with the heart of revelation, and only by virtue of the quality of its contact with that revelation is thinking Christian at all.Though comprehensive and far-reaching, this work is not beyond the understanding of people just commencing a study of theology. It makes an excellent text for study groups.

Pilgrims in Their Own Land: 500 Years of Religion in America


Martin E. Marty - 1984
    Marty's vivid chronological account of the people and events that carved the spiritual landscape of America. It is in one sense a study of migration, with each wave of immigrants bringing a set of religious beliefs to a new world. The narrative unfolds through sharply detailed biographical vignettes—stories of religious "pathfinders," including William Penn, Mary Baker Eddy, Henry David Thoreau, and many other leaders of movements, both marginal and mainstream. In addition, Marty considers the impact of religion on social issues such as racism, feminism, and utopianism.And engrossing, highly readable, and comprehensive history, Pilgrims in Their Own Land is written with respect, appreciation, and insight into the multitude of religious groups that represent expressions of spirituality in America.

The Religious History of America: The Heart of the American Story from Colonial Times to Today


Edwin S. Gaustad - 1966
    A Dynamic Account of Religion's Central Role in American History

Saint Augustine


Garry Wills - 1999
    It challenges the widely held misconceptions about Augustine’s sexual excesses and shows how, in embracing classical philosophy, Augustine managed to enlist “pagan authors” in the defense of Christianity. The result is a biography that makes a spiritual ancestor feel like our contemporary.

Foxe's Book of Martyrs


John Foxe
    Some were people of rank and influence. Some were ordinary folk. Some were even his friends. Four centuries later, these deeply moving accounts of faith and courage mark a path for modern Christians to measure the depth of their commitment.

Calvin vs. Wesley: Bringing Belief in Line with Practice


Don Thorsen - 2013
    Pastor Mike Slaughter even says that these can stand in the way of the church's mission of social and personal holiness. But most people do not adopt a theology on purpose, mostly they merely breathe in the prevailing cultural air. The theology "de jour" seems to be Calvinist, with its emphasis on "the elect" and "other worldly salvation." In fact, there is so much Calvinism saturating the culture, that some do not even know there is an alternative way of thinking about their faith. They don't know where to go to find a viable option; they don't even know the key words to search Google. So people are left thinking like Calvinists but living with a desire to change the world, offering grace and hope to hurting people in mission and ministry--loving the least, the last, and the lost. In other words, they are living like Wesleyans. This book shows what Calvinist and Wesleyans actually believe about human responsibility, salvation, the universality of God's grace, holy living through service, and the benefits of small group accountability--and how that connects to how people can live. Calvinists and Wesleyans are different, and by knowing the difference, people will not only see the other benefits of Wesleyan theology but will be inspired to learn more. By knowing who they are as faithful people of God, they will be motivated to reach out in mission with renewed vigor. And they won't be obstacles to grace and holiness, but they can be better disciples and advocates for Christ through service in this world.

The Consolation of Philosophy


Boethius
    When he became involved in a conspiracy and was imprisoned in Pavia, it was to the Greek philosophers that he turned. THE CONSOLATION was written in the period leading up to his brutal execution. It is a dialogue of alternating prose and verse between the ailing prisoner and his 'nurse' Philosophy. Her instruction on the nature of fortune and happiness, good and evil, fate and free will, restore his health and bring him to enlightenment. THE CONSOLATION was extremely popular throughout medieval Europe and his ideas were influential on the thought of Chaucer and Dante.

Pearl of Great Price


Joseph Smith Jr. - 1974
    The Pearl of great Price chapters include the Book of Moses, the Book of Abraham, Joseph Smith on Matthew and History and the Articles of Faith. This book is a must read for those of the mormon faith, or those studying mormon or religious history.

The Heresy of Orthodoxy: How Contemporary Culture's Fascination with Diversity Has Reshaped Our Understanding of Early Christianity


Andreas J. Köstenberger - 2010
    Spreading from academia into mainstream media, the suggestion that diversity of doctrine in the early church led to many competing orthodoxies is indicative of today's postmodern relativism. Authors K�stenberger and Kruger engage Ehrman and others in this polemic against a dogged adherence to popular ideals of diversity.K�stenberger and Kruger's accessible and careful scholarship not only counters the Bauer Thesis using its own terms, but also engages overlooked evidence from the New Testament. Their conclusions are drawn from analysis of the evidence of unity in the New Testament, the formation and closing of the canon, and the methodology and integrity of the recording and distribution of religious texts within the early church.

The European Reformation


Euan Cameron - 1991
    During this period western Christianity underwent the most dramatic changes in its entire history. From Iceland to Transylvania, from the Baltic to the Pyrenees, the Reformation divided churches and communities into 'Catholic' and 'Protestant', and created varying regional and national traditions. The new Protestant creed rejected traditional measures of piety--vows, penances, pardons, and masses--in favor of sermons and catechisms, and an everyday morality of diligence, neighborly charity, and prayer. In the process, it involved many of Europe's people for the first time in a political movement inspired by an ideology and nourished by mass communication. Using the most recent research, Cameron provides a thematic and narrative synthesis of the events and ideas of the Reformation. He examines its social and religious background, its teachers and their message, and explores its impact on contemporary society.

The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth


Beth Allison Barr - 2021
    From choices about careers to roles in local churches to relationship dynamics, this belief shapes the everyday lives of evangelical women. Yet biblical womanhood isn't biblical, says Baylor University historian Beth Allison Barr. It arose from a series of clearly definable historical moments.This book moves the conversation about biblical womanhood beyond Greek grammar and into the realm of church history--ancient, medieval, and modern--to show that this belief is not divinely ordained but a product of human civilization that continues to creep into the church. Barr's historical insights provide context for contemporary teachings about women's roles in the church and help move the conversation forward.Interweaving her story as a Baptist pastor's wife, Barr sheds light on the #ChurchToo movement and abuse scandals in Southern Baptist circles and the broader evangelical world, helping readers understand why biblical womanhood is more about human power structures than the message of Christ.

Church of Spies: The Pope's Secret War Against Hitler


Mark Riebling - 2015
    But this conventional narrative is not the full story.In Church of Spies, the intelligence expert Mark Riebling draws on a wealth of recently uncovered documents to argue that, far from being Hitler’s lackey, Pius was an active anti-Nazi spymaster. He directed a vast network of Vatican operatives—priests and laypeople alike—who partnered with the German resistance, tipped the Allies off to Hitler’s invasions of France and Russia, and involved themselves in three separate plots to assassinate Hitler.A fast-paced and gripping tale of secrecy, danger, and self-sacrifice, Church of Spies takes readers from hidden crypts beneath the Vatican to Nazi bunkers in Germany to chart the true legacy of Pius’s secret war. Although these revelations do not excuse Pius’s public silence during the war, they provide us with a deeper understanding of the man reviled by so many.

How Should We Then Live? The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture


Francis A. Schaeffer - 1975
    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.