THE SHAPING OF AMERICAN CONGREGATIONALISM is a fresh retelling of the denomination's pilgrimage through history. This comprehenisve chronicle is informed by the latest scholarship and bolstered by contemporary insights from a distinguished historian. John von Rohr has captured the spirit and life of a significant and influential American denomination from its beginnings in Great Britain to its participation in forming the United Church of Christ.

In two dozen short biographies of John Calvin's friends including some who turned into enemies Machiel A. van den Berg paints an intimate portrait of the great Reformer's life and circle that most of us have never seen. / In these pages we accompany Calvin from his early boyhood in Noyon to his student days in Paris and Orleans, to his pastorate in and exile from Geneva, all the way to his deathbed. We meet his famous Reformer friends, such as Martin Bucer, William Farel, Heinrich Bullinger, Theodore Beza, and John Knox, but also friends whose names are more obscure: his cousin Pierre Robert Olivtan, the first translator of the Bible into French; Ren de France of French royalty; Laurent de Normandie, the mayor of Noyon who later escaped to Geneva; Pierre Viret, his best friend of all; and Idelette van Buren, his beloved wife during their brief but blissful marriage. / Calvin may be known as a scholar who preferred his study to imperial and ecclesiastical politics, but he was also a rebel of faith against the papacy, which controlled most of Europe and had a price on the heads of all "reform-minded" citizens, especially their leaders. Allegiances to Rome were constantly in flux in the empires of Europe as were the lives and welfare of dissenters and Calvins life was full of perilous risks, political intrigue, much harried travel, and many relocations. / Peppered with quotations from Calvin's voluminous letters, Friends of Calvin abounds with secret court relationships, love affairs, death threats, poisonings, and narrow midnight escapes from the pursuing authorities showing a full-blooded and dangerous side of the bookish Reformer's life. Readers of these colorful narratives will come to see how much Calvins friends influenced his life and thought.

" The Life and Thought of David Craig " tells the story of one Canadian Presbyterian missionary whose life spanned more than six decades and three continents. From humble Ontario origins, David studied and served in several diverse languages and cultures. After a near death experience as a missionary in Nigeria, David became increasingly involved in French evangelism and Reformed theological education. Most significantly, from 1976 until his death in 2001, David served as a pastor in three successive French-speaking congregations in the province of Quebec. David's career evidences not only the emotions and adventure of one man, but the joys and challenges more generally experienced by Christian missionaries in the second half of the 20th century.
JASON ZUIDEMA (Ph.D., McGill) is lecturer in Church History at Farel Reformed Theological Seminary and McGill University. He has written a number of articles and several books including the recently-released "Peter Martyr Vermigli (1499-1562) " and the "Outward Instruments of Divine Grace" (Vandenhoeck & Ruprect). He is an ordained minister in the Eglise reformee du Quebec and resides with his wife and two children in Repentigny, Quebec.

"With our American Philosophy and Religion series, Applewood reissues many primary sources published throughout American history. Through these books, scholars, interpreters, students, and non-academics alike can see the thoughts and beliefs of Americans who came before us."

"Shedd's insights into prevailing trends and their consequences, so eloquently expressed in this book of essays is deserving of repeated close scrutiny. Sufficient for us to say that his material is biblically orthodox, historically defensible, and as important to us today as when it was first penned more than 100 years ago. Truth is timeless, and while the opinions of other writers may be in vogue for a short period, in the final analysis it is the writers who enrich our lives with theological themes that outlast their more popular contemporaries. It is with delight, therefore, that we welcome the reappearance of W.G.T. Shedd's famous essays." - Cyril Barber

There are many biographies of John Calvin, the theologian--some villifying him and others extolling his virtues--but few that reveal John Calvin, the man. Professor and renowned Reformation historian Herman Selderhuis has written this book to bring Calvin near to the reader, showing him as a man who had an impressive impact on the development of the Western world, but who was first of all a believer struggling with God and with the way God governed both the world and his own life. Selderhuis draws on Calvin's own publications and commentary on the biblical figures with whom he strongly identified to describe his theology in the context of his personal development. Throughout we see a person who found himself alone at many of the decisive moments of his life--a fact that echoed through Calvin's subsequent sermons and commentaries. Selderhuis's unique and compelling look at John Calvin, with all of his merits and foibles, ultimately discloses a man who could not find himself at home in the world in which he lived.

Revival Labors In The Frontier Settlements. A Perilous Trip Across The Plains In The Time Of Indian Wars, And Before The Railroads. Three Years In The Mining Camps Of California And Idaho, Twenty-One Years Residence In Southern California, Etc.

John Calvin (1509-1564) was one of the main Protestant Reformers of the sixteenth century. His thought spread worldwide, and today he is still looked to for theological insights and as a guide to Christian faith by millions of people. In this book, one of the world's leading Calvin scholars, Willem van 't Spijker, provides a compact guide to Calvin's life and the main elements of his thought. Van 't Spijker bases this work on the best contemporary scholarship. By tracing Calvin's influence, he shows both the development of Calvin's thought and the ways in which it was important in his time and later. This book will be an excellent introduction to Calvin's life and thought for both beginning students and those already acquainted with Calvin's work.

Korea has had a miraculous history of Christian church growth. But it came at a price of much suffering, death, persecution, and hardship. Korean Church history of modern times has been intertwined with American history, such as involving World War 2, and American church politics, such as the Fundamentalist Debate of early 1900s. In this biography of a key figure in Korean Church history, Rev. Sang-Dong Han (the founder of the Korean Presbyterian Church in Korea, Koshin, denomination), Rev. Koon Sik Shim, a personal friend of Rev. Sang-Dong Han and person who also experienced various stages of Korean history as "a living witness" recounts the life and work of Rev. Sang-Dong Han. This book is a "must have" for all those who are interested in Korean history and learning how it relates to American and world church history. Everyone who has a Korean friend or has visited a Korean church of a friend will benefit from this book and satisfy the intellectual curiosity generated by the ubiquitous growth of Korean churches.

This book is a facsimile reprint and may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages.

This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.

Truth and Love is a tribute to the United Presbyterian Church of North America 150 years after its founding and 50 years after it merged with the Presbyterian Church, and a reference work containing a directory of ministers and congregations.

"Presbyterian Handbook" has informed and amused thousands of Presbyterians and other Christians with a distinctive blend of historical and theological information, fun-filled facts, and practical tips on being a churchgoing follower of Jesus Christ. Now comes "The Presbyterian Handbook for Pastors," which captures all the essential information any pastor needs to serve and lead in any situation in one volume. Complete with illustrations and bits of humor, this handy resource is ideal for Presbyterian pastors, lay pastors, seminary students, candidates for ministry, and all those seeking the perfect gift for their pastors.

"Understandably scholars have tended to view the Reformed theologians like Calvin as being the major influences on the development of the Scottish Church. But in the early days of the Reformation in Scotland, it was Luther and his message that was the prime influence. McGoldrick's fine study sets the record straight. And I am glad to see it back in print." - Dr. Michael A.G. Haykin "I have read McGoldrick's work I started to glance over it and found I couldn't put it down. It is Fantastic He fills in a lot of background to the Scottish Reformation that most works leave out. Usually the Lollard connection is mildly hinted at and the story of Hamilton is told only in so far as to explain why he was burned. McGoldrick gives a tremendous amount of information that very few writers have dealt with and he does it in such a fresh way " - Pastor Robert Elliott

The letters of Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661) have been a source of encouragement and inspiration to Christians for over 350 years; but to the modern reader their language and structure can often hinder the enjoyment of their true value. In 1913, Hamilton Smith (1862-1943) set out to make the heart of the letters (and of Rutherford himself) more accessible to the reader of his day. He organised a selection of extracts under topical headings covering such themes as warning, peace, evil, the Devil, death, comfort, pilgrimage, glory and, above all, Christ. Retaining Rutherford's original text, with occasional explanatory footnotes, he created a volume of devotional readings which have stood the test of time in sharing Rutherford's passion for the love of Christ. The publisher is pleased to make this classic work available once again.

These addresses are taken from the messages delivered at The Philadelphia Conference of Reformed Theology in 1974-1976, and contain the following: PART ONE: The Sovereign God--An Introduction; THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD THE SON by John Stott; THE "FIVE POINTS" AND GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY by Roger Nicole; THE DOCTRINES OF GRACE IN JESUS' TEACHING by Roger Nicole; GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY AND OLD TESTAMENT NAMES OF GOD by Stuart Sacks; PART TWO: Knowing the Sovereign God; ON KNOWING GOD by James I. Packer; WHY WE DO NOT KNOW GOD by R.C. Sproul; WHY WE MUST KNOW GOD by R.C. Sproul; THE KEY TO KNOWING GOD by Ralph Keiper

Based on the correspondence of missionaries in the field, this book offers valuable insight unto understanding Protestant attitudes toward the American Indians in the nineteenth century. By focusing upon the work of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S., the book portrays a major Protestant denomination's evangelical program to take the Indian from heathenism to gospel light. From its founding in 1837 the board sent over 450 missionaries to at least nineteen diverse and widely separated Indian tribes, with a goal of uplifting them into the Protestant tradition of Christian civilization. These zealous men and women sent back thousands of detailed and often highly personal letters from the Indian field, and this book is based primarily upon that store of correspondence. Seeking to fill the need for critical case studies of individual missionary organizations, this book depicts the missionaries as cultural revolutionaries in the deepest human sense. Moved by a nearly absolute ethnocentrism, they denounced almost every aspect of tribal culture. Among the Indians they found virtually nothing worth incorporating into the codes of Christian civilization. Yet these missionaries resisted racial explanations for what they saw as Indian failings and retained a conviction that individual tribal members were both eligible for eternal salvation and capable of attaining citizenship in the United States. In this book the author places the work of the Board of Foreign Missions in a historical context and presents the goals, methods, backgrounds and motivations of the missionaries. He also examines the cluster of ideas which constituted the Presbyterian definition for Christian civilization.

This is the first book by a Malawian woman theologian. First released in 1997 it won an honorable mention in the Noma Award for Publishing in Africa in 1998 and is now updated here with a new introduction by the author. The study traces the struggles and contribution of Chewa women to the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian. Amongst the topics are female mediumships in traditional religion, post-missionary developments in Chigwirizano, womens attempts to achieve some public manifestation of their personal relatioship to God in open ministry, and the current women's organisation in Nkhoma Synod. Dr. Isabel Apawo Phiri is in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Malawi.

This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.

Twenty-two more complete sermons from Joseph Addison Alexander (1809-1860), the brilliant and godly giant from Old Princeton, are here published for the first time in more than a century. Charles Hodge said of his colleague, "In the death of Joseph Addison Alexander we have lost our great glory and defense. Permit me to express my own individual convictions. I regard Dr. Joseph Addison Alexander as incomparably the greatest man I ever knew--as incomparably the greatest man our church has ever produced. His thorough orthodoxy, his fervent piety, humility, faithfulness in the discharge of his duties, and reverence for the Word of God, consecrated all his other gifts. He glorified the Word of God in the sight of his pupils beyond what any man I ever saw had the power of doing."

John Murray said of him, "Dr. Vos is, in my judgment, the most penetrating exegete it has been my privilege to know, and I believe, the most incisive exegete that has appeared in the English-speaking world in this century." The uniqueness of Vos's emphasis on the centrality of the covenantal work of Jesus Christ in history and our possession of that work through His mediation draws us back time and again to his powerful and passionate sermons. Translated to the realm of glory itself through the proclamation of the accomplished work of our covenant Lord, and by the gift of His Spirit, we partake of unparalleled communion with God and possess Him as our highest treasure presently in Christ as our covenant God. Short of the consummation we have made His glory and joy in His people our chief end in this pilgrim life.