Book picks similar to
Assumptions That Affect Our Lives: How Worldviews Determine Values That Influence Behavior and Shape Culture by Christian Overman
worldview
theology
non-fiction
philosophy
How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth
Gordon D. Fee - 1981
The Bible is accessible. It’s meant to be read and comprehended by everyone from armchair readers to seminary students. A few essential insights into the Bible can clear up a lot of misconceptions and help you grasp the meaning of Scripture and its application to your 21st-century life.More than half a million people have turned to How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth to inform their reading of the Bible. This third edition features substantial revisions that keep pace with current scholarship, resources, and culture. Changes include:•Updated language•A new authors’ preface•Several chapters rewritten for better readability•Updated list of recommended commentaries and resourcesCovering everything from translational concerns to different genres of biblical writing, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth is used all around the world. In clear, simple language, it helps you accurately understand the different parts of the Bible—their meaning for ancient audiences and their implications for you today—so you can uncover the inexhaustible worth that is in God’s Word.
God and the Pandemic: A Christian Reflection on the Coronavirus and Its Aftermath
N.T. Wright - 2020
"It's all predicted in the book of Revelation."Others disagree but are equally clear: "This is a call to repent. God is judging the world and through this disease he's telling us to change."Some join in the chorus of blame and condemnation: "It's the fault of the Chinese, the government, the World Health Organization…"N. T. Wright examines these reactions to the virus and finds them wanting. Instead, he shows that a careful reading of the Bible and Christian history offers simple though profound answers to our many questions, including:What should be the Christian response?How should we think about God?How do we live in the present?Why should we lament?What should we learn about ourselves?How do we recover?Written by one of the world's foremost New Testament scholars, God and the Pandemic will serve as your guide to read the events of today through the light of Jesus' death and resurrection.
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.
The Book that Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization
Vishal Mangalwadi - 2011
From politics and science, to academia and technology, the Bible's sacred copy became the key that unlocked the Western mind.Through Mangalwadi's wide-ranging and fascinating investigation, you'll discover:What triggered the West's passion for scientific, medical, and technological advancementHow the biblical notion of human dignity informs the West's social structure and how it intersects with other worldviewsHow the Bible created a fertile ground for women to find social and economic empowermentHow the Bible has uniquely equipped the West to cultivate compassion, human rights, prosperity, and strong familiesThe role of the Bible in the transformation of educationHow the modern literary notion of a hero has been shaped by the Bible's archetypal protagonistJourney with Mangalwadi as he examines the origins of a civilization's greatness and the misguided beliefs that threaten to unravel its progress. Learn how the Bible transformed the social, political, and religious institutions that have sustained Western culture for the past millennium, and discover how secular corruption endangers the stability and longevity of Western civilization.Endorsements:“This is an extremely significant piece of work with huge global implications. Vishal brings a timely message.” (Ravi Zacharias, author, Walking from East to West and Beyond Opinion)“In polite society, the mere mention of the Bible often introduces a certain measure of anxiety. A serious discussion on the Bible can bring outright contempt. Therefore, it is most refreshing to encounter this engaging and informed assessment of the Bible’s profound impact on the modern world. Where Bloom laments the closing of the American mind, Mangalwadi brings a refreshing optimism.” (Stanley Mattson, founder and president, C. S. Lewis Foundation)“Vishal Mangalwadi recounts history in very broad strokes, always using his cross-cultural perspectives for highlighting the many benefits of biblical principles in shaping civilization.” (George Marsden, professor, University of Notre Dame; author, Fundamentalism and American Culture)
ESV Study Bible
Anonymous - 2002
Created by a diverse team of 95 leading Bible scholars and teachers--from 9 countries, nearly 20 denominations, and 50 seminaries, colleges, and universities--the ESV Study Bible features a wide array of study tools, making it a valuable resource for serious readers, students, and teachers of God's Word.Features:Size: 6.5- x 9.25- 9-point Lexicon type (single-column Bible text); 7-point Frutiger type (double-column study notes) 2,752 pages Black letter text Concordance Extensive articles 240 full-color maps and illustrations Smyth-sewn binding Lifetime guarantee Packaging: J-card (HC), clamshell box (TruTone and leather), permanent slipcase (cloth over board)
Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World's Largest Religion
Rebecca McLaughlin - 2019
But even so, the Christian faith includes many controversial beliefs that non-Christians find hard to accept. This book explores 12 issues that might cause someone to dismiss orthodox Christianity--issues such as the existence of suffering, the Bible's teaching on gender and sexuality, the reality of heaven and hell, the authority of the Bible, and more. Showing how the best research from sociology, science, and psychology doesn't disagree with but actually aligns with claims found in the Bible, these chapters help skeptics understand why these issues are signposts, rather than roadblocks, to faith in Christ.
Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning
Douglas Wilson - 1991
Even many within the system admit that it is failing. While many factors contribute, Douglas Wilson lays much blame on the idea that education can take place in a moral vacuum. It is not possible for education to be nonreligious, deliberately excluding the basic questions about life. All education builds on the foundation of someone's worldview. Education deals with fundamental questions that require religious answers. Learning to read and write is simply the process of acquiring the tools to ask and answer such questions.A second reason for the failure of public schools, Wilson feels, is modern teaching methods. He argues for a return to a classical education, firm discipline, and the requirement of hard work.Often educational reforms create new problems that must be solved down the road. This book presents alternatives that have proved workable in experience."Good at diagnosing our educational afflictions, Douglas Wilson is still better at finding remedies. His Logos School provides a model, a practical design, for the restoration in the curriculum of Christian humanism--as contrasted with what Christopher Dawson called secular humanism." --Russell Kirk, D. Litt., editor, The University Bookman
The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation
Rod Dreher - 2017
The light of the Christian faith is flickering out all over the West, and only the willfully blind refuse to see it. From the outside, American churches are beset by challenges to religious liberty in a rapidly secularizing culture. From the inside, they are being hollowed out by the departure of young people and a watered-down pseudo-spirituality. Political solutions have failed, as the triumph of gay marriage and the self-destruction of the Republican Party indicate, and the future of religious freedom has never been in greater doubt. The center is not holding. The West, cut off from its Christian roots, is falling into a new Dark Age. The bad news is that the roots of religious decline run deeper than most Americans realize. The good news is that the blueprint for a time-tested Christian response to this decline is older still. In The Benedict Option, Dreher calls on traditional Christians to learn from the example of St. Benedict of Nursia, a sixth-century monk who turned from the chaos and decadence of the collapsing Roman Empire, and found a new way to live out the faith in community. For five difficult centuries, Benedict's monks kept the faith alive through the Dark Ages, and prepared the way for the rebirth of civilization. What do ordinary 21st century Christians -- Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox -- have to learn from the teaching and example of this great spiritual father? That they must read the signs of the times, abandon hope for a political solution to our civilization's problems, and turn their attention to creating resilient spiritual centers that can survive the coming storm. Whatever their Christian tradition, they must draw on the secrets of Benedictine wisdom to build up the local church, create countercultural schools based on the classical tradition, rebuild family life, thicken communal bonds, and develop survival strategies for doctors, teachers, and others on the front lines of persecution. Now is a time of testing, when believers will learn the difference between shallow optimism and Christian hope. However dark the shadow falling over the West, the light of Christianity need not flicker out. It will not be easy, but Christians who are brave enough to face the religious decline, reject trendy solutions, and return to ancient traditions will find the strength not only to survive, but to thrive joyfully in the post-Christian West. The Benedict Option shows believers how to build the resistance and resilience to face a hostile modern world with the confidence and fervor of the early church. Christians face a time of choosing, with the fate of Christianity in Western civilization hanging in the balance. In this powerful challenge to the complacency of contemporary Christianity, Dreher shows why those in all churches who fail to take the Benedict Option aren't going to make it.
Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation
James K.A. Smith - 2009
Humans–as Augustine noted–are "desiring agents," full of longings and passions; in brief, we are what we love.James K. A. Smith focuses on the themes of liturgy and desire in "Desiring the Kingdom," the first book in what will be a three-volume set on the theology of culture. He redirects our yearnings to focus on the greatest good: God. Ultimately, Smith seeks to re-vision education through the process and practice of worship. Students of philosophy, theology, worldview, and culture will welcome "Desiring the Kingdom," as will those involved in ministry and other interested readers.
Apostate
Kevin Swanson - 2013
This is an indubitable fact. The remaining Christians search for an explanation. They want to know how it happened.This is the story of the decline and fall of Western civilization. It is the story of uncommonly powerful men, unfathomably evil men. . . apostates.Reader beware!This book faces head-on the spiritual forces that leveled a full-out attack on the Christian faith in the Western world. On the one hand, it is a story of demonic possession, insanity, suicide, mass-murder, adultery, homosexuality, cultural and social revolutions, and unbridled, maniacal apostasy. It is the story of apostasy on a massive scale. But it is also a story of hope and victory for the last men standing in the ashes of Western civilization. It will be a testimony to the inevitable triumph of Jesus Christ over the great men of renown who picked the wrong fight in the history of the West.
Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2 Vols
John Calvin
Full description
Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God
John Piper - 2010
Focusing on the life of the mind helps us to know God better, love him more, and care for the world. Along with an emphasis on emotions and the experience of God, we also need to practice careful thinking about God. Piper contends that "thinking is indispensable on the path to passion for God." So how are we to maintain a healthy balance of mind and heart, thinking and feeling?Piper urges us to think for the glory of God. He demonstrates from Scripture that glorifying God with our minds and hearts is not either-or, but both-and. Thinking carefully about God fuels passion and affections for God. Likewise, Christ-exalting emotion leads to disciplined thinking.Readers will be reminded that "the mind serves to know the truth that fuels the fires of the heart."
The Jesus I Never Knew
Philip Yancey - 1995
From the manger in Bethlehem to the cross in Jerusalem, Yancey presents a complex character who generates questions as well as answers; a disturbing and exhilarating Jesus who wants to radically transform your life and stretch your faith.The Jesus I Never Knew uncovers a Jesus who is brilliant, creative, challenging, fearless, compassionate, unpredictable, and ultimately satisfying. ’No one who meets Jesus ever stays the same’, says Yancey. ‘Jesus has rocked my own preconceptions and has made me ask hard questions about why those of us who bear his name don t do a better job of following him.’
Consequences of Ideas
R.C. Sproul - 1988
You need only observe the world around you to discover how substantially the ideas of history's thinkers affect us still. You can hear it in the beliefs of your non-Christian friends. In the media, your music, your children's classrooms. You can see it in our public policies, on every bookstore shelf, in the way we understand our very existence--even in the church. We like to believe that we create our little worlds from scratch and then live in them. But the reality is, we step into an environment that already exists, and we learn to interact with it. The game has been conceived long before us; the rules and boundaries already decided. We may be amused when Rene Descartes labors so long in order to conclude that he exists, or puzzled by Immanuel Kant spending his life analyzing how we know anything. Yet these men were not simply contemplating minutiae. The foundational thinking of philosophy tries to lay bare all of our assumptions, revealing our false and sometimes dangerous beliefs so that we may arrive at a coherent worldview. The greater our familiarity with the ideas that have shaped our culture over the centuries, the greater our ability to understand--and influence--that culture for Christ. From ancient Greek thinkers like Plato and Aristotle to Christian philosophers like Augustine and Aquinas to the molders of modern thought such as Kant and Nietszche, R. C. Sproul traces the contours of Western philosophy throughout history and demonstrates the massive consequences these ideas have had on world events, theology, the arts, and culture--as well as in our everyday lives.
Never Before in History: America's Inspired Birth
Gary Amos - 1998
Supplemental American history textbook showing that although classical philosophers had an important role in shaping American political ideals, Christianity was the central and pervasive force in the