And we cannot move toward being a more just nation without understanding the root causes that have shaped our culture and institutions.In this prophetic blend of history, theology, and cultural commentary, Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah reveal the far-reaching, damaging effects of the "Doctrine of Discovery." In the fifteenth century, official church edicts gave Christian explorers the right to claim territories they "discovered." This was institutionalized as an implicit national framework that justifies American triumphalism, white supremacy, and ongoing injustices. The result is that the dominant culture idealizes a history of discovery, opportunity, expansion, and equality, while minority communities have been traumatized by colonization, slavery, segregation, and dehumanization.Healing begins when deeply entrenched beliefs are unsettled. Charles and Rah aim to recover a common memory and shared understanding of where we have been and where we are going. As other nations have instituted truth and reconciliation commissions, so do the authors call our nation and churches to a truth-telling that will expose past injustices and open the door to conciliation and true community.

    But what if the most recent Biblical scholarship actually affirmed the New Testament? What if Jesus was not a Zealot revolutionary, or a Greek Cynic philosopher, or a proto-feminist Gnostic, but precisely what he claimed to be: the divine Son of Man prophesied in the Book of Daniel who gave his life as a ransom for many? What if everything the Gospels say about Jesus of Nazareth—his words, his deeds, his plans—turned out to be true? Searching for Jesus changes “what if?” to “what is,” debunking the debunkers and showing how the latest scholarship supports orthodox Christian belief.

    She was a woman of courage, humility, spirit, and resolve, and her response to the angel Gabriel shifted the tectonic plates of history.   Join popular Biblical scholar Scot McKnight as he explores the contours of Mary’s life, from the moment she learned of God’s plan for the Messiah, to the culmination of Christ’s ministry on earth. McKnight dismantles the myths and also challenges our prejudices. He introduces us to a woman who is a model for faith, and who points us to her son. "McKnight is absolutely right that the domesticated image of Mary, and the silenced Mary of Protestantism who only shows up quietly at Christmas, need to be dismissed as unhistorical. It is time for a Mary upgrade in the Evangelical world, and Scot McKnight has both the hardware and the software to deliver the goods. Highly recommended!"     -Ben Witherington, Professor of New Testament, Asbury Theological Seminary “In all of the gospels, Mary may be the most overlooked character.  She has become an unwitting dividing line between Catholics and Protestants, while we have missed the remarkable story of her life.  Scot McKnight peels back the layers of controversy to reveal this compelling woman, in whom God found such great favor.”             -Nancy Ortberg, columnist, Today’s Christian Woman “Scot McKnight courageously embarks on the quest for the Historical Mary and succeeds brilliantly. I’ll never be able to look at that powder blue Mary figurine in the Christmas nativity scene the same way again!”             -Joseph B. Modica, University Chaplain, Eastern University "I have often wondered about the real Mary. How did she feel?  What did she know?  Who was she?  Mary emerges from the pages of Scot McKnight's book as a woman with the spiritual depth to believe an angel's bizarre message and the boldness to call for justice in an oppressive, unjust world.  But like us, Mary had to struggle to understand God's way of working out his redemptive plan.  She hadn't expected a Messiah who would die, hadn't anticipated that a sword would pierce her soul.  Like us, she didn't have Jesus all figured out. But she grappled with reality, trusted God, and remained faithful to his call on her life.  That both challenges me and gives me hope."             -Lynne Hybels, Willow Creek Community Church              Author, Nice Girls Don't Change the World Want to learn more about Mary? Join Protestant writer (Born Again and Again) Jon M. Sweeney as he delves into the mystery, history and imagination surrounding the life and legends of the Virgin Mary. Sweeney's new book explores the four gospels, the non-canonical Gnostic gospels, the Qur'an, medieval and Renaissance art, mystical writings of figures such as Beatrice of Nazareth and Anna Catherine Emmerich, the teachings of Bernard of Clairvaux, Martin Luther and various little-known mystics, contemporary novels and art, and throughout twenty centuries of

    Yet current research shows that human experience is far from uniform. In fact, hundreds of millions of people today claim to have experienced miracles. New Testament scholar Craig Keener argues that it is time to rethink Hume's argument in light of the contemporary evidence available to us. This wide-ranging and meticulously researched two-volume study presents the most thorough current defense of the credibility of the miracle reports in the Gospels and Acts. Drawing on claims from a range of global cultures and taking a multidisciplinary approach to the topic, Keener suggests that many miracle accounts throughout history and from contemporary times are best explained as genuine divine acts, lending credence to the biblical miracle reports.

    Remember the fad a few years ago when people wore bracelets reminding them, “What Would Jesus Do?” Christians state that Jesus is the example of how to live, yet this has been limited in many cases to how we view our moral character. When Christians tell me that they want to live like Jesus, I like to ask if they have multiplied food, healed the sick, walked on water, raised the dead, paid their taxes with fish money, calmed storms, and so forth. I typically receive bewildered looks, but that’s what it is like to live like Jesus!Perhaps we are ignoring a large portion of what living like Jesus really includes. While I agree that we are to live like Jesus, “Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did” (1 John 2:6 NLT). I am also aware that the application of Jesus’ model has been minimized to something that can be accomplished by living a moral life. Many Christians believe that they can live like Jesus without ever operating in the supernatural. After reading in the Bible about all of the miracles He performed, does that sound right to you? (Excerpt from book)

    The Life You Save May Be Your Own is their story - a vivid and enthralling account of great writers and their power over us.Thomas Merton was a Trappist monk in Kentucky; Dorothy Day the founder of the Catholic Worker in New York; Flannery O'Connor a "Christ-haunted" literary prodigy in Georgia; Walker Percy a doctor in New Orleans who quit medicine to write fiction and philosophy. A friend came up with a name for them - the School of the Holy Ghost - and for three decades they exchanged letters, ardently read one another's books, and grappled with what one of them called a "predicament shared in common."A pilgrimage is a journey taken in light of a story; and in The Life You Save May Be Your Own Paul Elie tells these writers' story as a pilgrimage from the God-obsessed literary past of Dante and Dostoevsky out into the thrilling chaos of postwar American life. It is a story of how the Catholic faith, in their vision of things, took on forms the faithful could not have anticipated. And it is a story about the ways we look to great books and writers to help us make sense of our experience, about the power of literature to change - to save - our lives.

    He carefully opens the literature of the books, sketching a narrative filled with historical realism but also bursting with an awareness that more than human action is being presented.

    

    A true catechism from which, throughout the history of the church, other catechisms have drawn and learned including the recent Catechism of the Catholic Church which quotes Augustine extensively. Within the context of the three theological virtues, faith, hope and love, Augustine masterfully covers the faith. He first works his way through the creed and then the Lords prayer as recorded by Matthew, ending with the sacraments. This is a colossal work in one small volume. Augustines Enchiridion On Faith, Hope and Charity, here called The Augustine Catechism, expresses his mature thinking and is an ideal introduction to studying his theologyhis teaching on the Trinity, the Church and the Sacraments, his doctrine of Original Sin and of redemption through Christ. It provides an admirable orientation to understanding his thought. Gerald Bonner Professor Emeritus Durham University Profound and complex in his theological vision, Augustine of Hippo could nonetheless synthesize and simplify when occasion needed. This fresh translation of his handbook of the Catholic faith. along with helpful introduction and commentary, makes accessible to the contemporary reader both the profundity and simplicity of the thought of Augustine of Hippo, revealing once again why he remains a Christian teacher and spiritual guide for all ages. Thomas F. Martin, O.S.A. Villanova University

    It includes Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth I, St. Thomas More, Cranmer, Calvin, Mary Tudor ("Bloody Mary"), Mary Stuart ("Queen of Scots"), Cardinal Richelieu and many others--23 in all--analyzing their strengths, weaknesses, motives and mistakes and showing how this or that seemingly insignificant factor actually changed the course of history. An amazing book!

    As long-held beliefs on love, faith, and God are challenged by the aggregate of changes that have overhauled our world, many of us are left feeling confused and uncertain while old norms are challenged and redefined at breakneck speed.In Wrestling with God, Ronald Rolheiser offers a steady and inspiring voice to help us avow and understand our faith in a world where nothing seems solid or permanent. Drawing from his own life experience, as well as a storehouse of literary, psychological, and theological insights, the beloved author of Sacred Fire examines the fears and doubts that challenge us. It is in these struggles to find meaning, that Rolheiser lays out a path for faith in a world struggling to find faith, but perhaps more important, he helps us find our own rhythm within which to walk that path.

    In his personal, intimate, engaging, humorous style, Altrogge takes us on a journey through God's word, bringing us into close contact with the God of sharp edges and brilliant light. Altrogge introduces afresh to the untamable God of the Bible.

    On the other side of the spectrum, trained biblical scholars study the Bible using a variety of modern historical and literary approaches. But there is a wide gap be-tween these two groups of readers, a gap that brings negative consequences for both. Without an awareness of historical context, ordinary readers easily slip into a literal interpretation, while scholars sometimes overlook the deeply personal significance the Bible has for people in churches, synagogues, and Bible study groups.In How to Read the Bible, renowned Harvard Divinity School professor Harvey Cox shows how these different ways of approaching the Bible can be reconciled to the enrichment of all. By discussing a range of biblical books from Genesis to Revelation, he demonstrates how the historical analysis of the Bible, rather than undercutting its spiritual significance, can enhance and deepen it. Drawing on some of the commonly used modes of biblical scholarship, such as archaeology, cultural studies, and literary criticism, Cox opens up a rich, diverse, and contemporary version of scripture, one that wrestles with issues of feminism, war, homosexuality, and race. The result is a Bible that is a timeless but contemporary resource for all.

    Only a few followed him to Calvary. What will you do? No Greater Love is a biblical pilgrimage that reveals Christ’s amazing love for us. Best-selling author Edward Sri guides you through the last hours of Christ's life. You will walk step-by-step with Jesus from the Garden of Gethsemane to the Mount of Calvary. Every step of the way, Old Testament prophecies, messianic expectations, biblical symbolism, and historical context shed light on the mystery of Christ's suffering and death. Experience a deeper understanding and appreciation of God’s immeasurable and unconditional love as you draw closer to Jesus than you ever have before.

    For almost fifty years, through her tireless service to the poor and her courageous witness for peace, she offered an extraordinary example of the gospel in action. Now the publication of her diaries, previously sealed for twenty-five years after her death, offers a uniquely intimate portrait of her daily struggles and concerns.