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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Christianity > Christian theology
How Do You Read the Bible?
The Bible recounts a single story--one that began at creation,
encompasses our lives today, and will continue till Christ's return
and beyond. In What Is Biblical Theology?, Jim Hamilton introduces
us to this narrative, helping us understand the worldview of the
biblical writers so that we can read the Old and New Testaments as
those authors intended. Tracing the key patterns, symbols, and
themes that bind the Bible together, this book will help you
understand Scripture's unified message and find your place in the
great story of redemption.
The Christian doctrines of original sin and the historical fall of
Adam have been in retreat since the rise of modernity. Here leading
scholars present a theological, biblical, and scientific case for
the necessity of belief in original sin and the historicity of Adam
and Eve in response to contemporary challenges. Representing
various Christian traditions, the contributors shed light on recent
debates as they present the traditional doctrine of original sin as
orthodox, evangelical, and the most theologically mature and cogent
synthesis of the biblical witness. This fresh look at a heated
topic in evangelical circles will appeal to professors, students,
and readers interested in the creation-evolution debate.
As America Has Done to Israel is a comprehensive survey of American
and Israeli history, showing how America's support of Israel has
led to blessings in line with the promise of Genesis 12: 2??????3:
"I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your
name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who
bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the
families of the earth shall be blessed." It shows how America's
disregard for the literal covenant promises of the Old Testament
have brought disasters upon our nation. McTernan warns Christians
to avoid God's wrath by supporting Israel as the end times draw
near, and goes on to carefully analyze the future events that are
predicted by the Bible's apocalyptic passages.
Acts is a book of action. But whose actions does it follow? The most obvious answer is the Apostles’.
The book’s full name is the Acts of the Apostles, for it recounts their efforts to take the gospel to the nations. Yet we can also think of it as the Acts of the Holy Spirit. Poured out like a mighty rushing wind (Acts 2:2), the Spirit empowered the Apostles’ witness and opened hearts to believe. In this volume, Dr. R.C. Sproul offers an in-depth study on the Spirit’s work through these Christians and in the growth and spread of the early church.
Dr. Sproul’s expositional commentaries help you understand key theological themes and apply them to all areas of your life. Drawn from decades of careful study and delivered from a pastor’s heart, these sermons are readable, practical, and thoroughly Bible-centered. Here is your opportunity to learn from a trusted teacher and theologian as he leads you through God’s Word and shares his perspective on living faithfully for God’s glory. This is a series to serve pastors, small groups, and growing Christians who want to know the Bible better.
With notable nonbelievers such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and
Christopher Hitchens featured prominently in the media, it is no
surprise that many Christians wonder how best to answer the growing
number of atheist arguments they encounter every day. 10 Answers
for Atheists is a one-of-a-kind resource from respected Christian
apologist Alex McFarland that looks closely at the philosophical
assumptions at the root of atheism and agnosticism and exposes the
logical, historical, and conceptual fallacies that perpetuate
unbelief. Readers will find easy-to-understand charts and clear
explanations of key beliefs, as well as trustworthy, biblical
answers to the honest questions posed by atheists and agnostics.
Every reader, no matter where he or she falls on the spectrum of
belief, will hear a call to thoughtful engagement with the historic
Christian faith.
A thoughtful and provocative book, in the vein of C. S. Lewis's
classic The Weight of Glory
Counseling for Spiritually Empowered Wholeness is an introduction
to Wholeness Counseling (also called Growth Counseling), a
whole-person approach to pastoral counseling, psychotherapy, and
education as developed by Howard Clinebell. He begins the book by
emphasizing how the role of healthy spirituality and reality-based
hope is crucial to facilitate healing and growth in all dimensions
of life. He encourages readers to apply the principles and methods
in the book to their own growth and to develop their own
growth-centered approaches--approaches that reflect their
particular styles and personalities--to counseling, therapy, and
education. This newly revised edition of Growth Counseling makes
readily available an understanding of the Wholeness Counseling
approach and its methods for both pastoral and secular counselors
and professional and nonprofessional readers. Dr. Clinebell has a
psychological understanding of the universal human need for healthy
spirituality and, as he writes from this perspective, he opens
doors for readers to distinguish healthy from unhealthy religion
and provides them with methods to enhance their own spiritual
health.Readers who desire to explore the Wholeness Counseling
approach will find that Counseling for Spiritually Empowered
Wholeness guides them through: insights and methods they can use to
accelerate their personal and professional growth in each of the
seven dimensions of life the roots in the Hebrew and Christian
scriptures of this approach which helps readers grow and be healed
the importance of playfulness to balance work in a healthy
lifestyle The primary target audience is theological seminary
teachers and students, clergy in all denominations, members of
congregations who work in the healing and helping professions, and
laypersons interested in learning ways to enhance their own
wholeness or being trained to serve on lay pastoral care teams.
Others who will benefit from Counseling for Spiritually Empowered
Wholeness include those in the counseling, healing, and teaching
professions who wish to know more about a growth-oriented approach
which includes a robust emphasis on the role of healthy
spirituality for total well being.
Counseling for Spiritually Empowered Wholeness is an introduction
to Wholeness Counseling (also called Growth Counseling), a
whole-person approach to pastoral counseling, psychotherapy, and
education as developed by Howard Clinebell. He begins the book by
emphasizing how the role of healthy spirituality and reality-based
hope is crucial to facilitate healing and growth in all dimensions
of life. He encourages readers to apply the principles and methods
in the book to their own growth and to develop their own
growth-centered approaches--approaches that reflect their
particular styles and personalities--to counseling, therapy, and
education. This newly revised edition of Growth Counseling makes
readily available an understanding of the Wholeness Counseling
approach and its methods for both pastoral and secular counselors
and professional and nonprofessional readers. Dr. Clinebell has a
psychological understanding of the universal human need for healthy
spirituality and, as he writes from this perspective, he opens
doors for readers to distinguish healthy from unhealthy religion
and provides them with methods to enhance their own spiritual
health.Readers who desire to explore the Wholeness Counseling
approach will find that Counseling for Spiritually Empowered
Wholeness guides them through: insights and methods they can use to
accelerate their personal and professional growth in each of the
seven dimensions of life the roots in the Hebrew and Christian
scriptures of this approach which helps readers grow and be healed
the importance of playfulness to balance work in a healthy
lifestyle The primary target audience is theological seminary
teachers and students, clergy in all denominations, members of
congregations who work in the healing and helping professions, and
laypersons interested in learning ways to enhance their own
wholeness or being trained to serve on lay pastoral care teams.
Others who will benefit from Counseling for Spiritually Empowered
Wholeness include those in the counseling, healing, and teaching
professions who wish to know more about a growth-oriented approach
which includes a robust emphasis on the role of healthy
spirituality for total well being.
In 10 Answers for Skeptics, McFarland identifies the ten most
common types of skepticism that plague doubters' minds and offers
believers proven strategies for connecting intellectually and
spiritually with those who are skeptical about the claims of
Christianity. Today's skeptics are looking for authenticity,
integrity, and straightforward truth. Readers will learn how to
answer intimidating questions, identify the root issue behind those
questions, and dismantle the "spiritual bombshells" dropped by
atheists. Plus, they'll find encouragement to face hostility by
persevering in love--the ultimate apologetic Christians can offer
as witness to our loving God.
Our world is hungry for salvation, but we don't always know how to
talk about it. Christians agree that God cares about people's lives
both in this world and into eternity. But the ways we describe
salvation often separate the spiritual from the material. Many
groups emphasize one at the expense of the other, limiting the
picture of what God has to offer. Mark Teasdale works to bridge the
gaps by taking up Jesus' language of abundant life. This life is
something Jesus invites us to participate in-to seek both for
ourselves and for others. It's rich and multidimensional, not
splitting spirits and minds from bodies and material needs. By
connecting biblical perspectives of holistic salvation to
contemporary concepts of well-being, Teasdale also shows how
Christians can both better communicate in secular settings as well
as partner with all people regardless of their faith to seek the
common good. Incorporating concepts of material standard of living
and subjective quality of life, Teasdale argues, gives Christians
common language to share the promise of abundant life with those
who hold to secular commitments. Yet we must also boldly present
Jesus' invitation to eternal life and discipleship. For churches,
ministry leaders, and laypeople Teasdale offers ideas to improve
and measure methods of promoting all dimensions of salvation for
the good of others.
The author provides evidence that Paul was not, as Christians
claim, the founder of a new religion, but a Jewish mystic who
believed in the coming of the Messiah, whom he saw in Jesus.
Do miracles still happen today? This book demonstrates that
miraculous works of God, which have been part of the experience of
the church around the world since Christianity began, continue into
the present. Leading New Testament scholar Craig Keener addresses
common questions about miracles and provides compelling reasons to
believe in them today, including many accounts that offer evidence
of verifiable miracles. This book gives an accessible and concise
overview of one of Keener's most significant research topics. His
earlier two-volume work on miracles stands as the definitive word
on the topic, but its size and scope are daunting to many readers.
This new book summarizes Keener's basic argument but contains
substantial new material, including new accounts of the miraculous.
It is suitable as a textbook but also accessible to church leaders
and laypeople.
Theology through mythology J. R. R. Tolkien was many things:
English Catholic, father and husband, survivor of two world wars,
Oxford professor, and author. But he was also a theologian.
Tolkien's writings exhibit a coherent theology of God and his
works, but Tolkien did not present his views with systematic
arguments. Rather, he expressed theology through story. In Tolkien
Dogmatics, Austin M. Freeman inspects Tolkien's entire corpus--The
Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and beyond--as a window into his
theology. In his stories, lectures, and letters, Tolkien creatively
and carefully engaged with his Christian faith. Tolkien Dogmatics
is a comprehensive manual of Tolkien's theological thought arranged
in traditional systematic theology categories, with sections on
God, revelation, creation, evil, Christ and salvation, the church,
and last things. Through Tolkien's imagination, we reencounter our
faith.
This accessible yet comprehensive primer helps readers understand
the breadth of viewpoints on major issues in evangelical theology,
with chapters using the popular multiple-views format. This third
edition of a well-received textbook (over 60,000 copies sold) has
been updated and revised throughout. It examines positions taken by
evangelical scholars on seventeen seminal issues. In addition, it
offers end-of-chapter "For Further Reading" sections, an extensive
glossary, and an appendix that addresses contrasting views on
fifteen additional issues in contemporary evangelicalism.
Is it wrong to doubt? Many Christians assume that doubt is faith's
opposite and that wandering among the hard questions of faith will
lead us further and further away from God. True believers, the
assumption goes, never waver in their confidence in the fundamental
truths of the Christian faith. Professor and philosopher Travis
Dickinson disagrees. Instead, he says, our doubts and hard
questions about the faith are actually an important way we can
express our commitment and love to God. Doubt isn't our destination
but it's an important step on the way. It's possible to wander
toward God as we ask our questions honestly, in faith and trust. As
we do, we'll discover the truth, goodness, and beauty of God
waiting for us.
"I wish I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist had been
available when I was an atheist-it would have saved a lot of time
in my spiritual journey toward God." Lee Strobel, author, The Case
for Christ, The Case for Faith, and The Case for a Creator "This
extremely readable book brilliantly builds the case for
Christianity from the question of truth all the way to the
inspiration of the Bible. And the verdict is in: Christians stand
on mounds of solid evidence while skeptics cling to nothing but
their blind, dogmatic faith. If you're still a skeptic after
reading I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, then I suspect
you're living in denial." Josh McDowell, speaker and author of
Evidence That Demands a Verdict This study guide is the ultimate
resource to use side-by-side with I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be
an Atheist and help the reader draw out the evidence for
Christianity as well as provide practical insights on how to engage
skeptics with the truth addressed in the book. The study guide is
divided up into three parts that emboldens the reader to get
motivated, equips the reader to be trained, and engages the reader
so that they are prepared to readily respond to the objections
asserted by skeptics and atheist. Dr. Norman L. Geisler has taught
at the university and graduate levels for more than 50 years and
has spoken and debated all over the world. He holds an MA from
Wheaton College and a PhD in philosophy from Loyola University, and
is presently Provost and Distinguished Professor of Apologetics at
Veritas Evangelical Seminary in Murrieta, California. He is the
author and coauthor of more than 70 books. For more information,
check out Dr. Geisler's website www.normgeisler.com. Jason Jimenez
has pastored families for 15 years and is founder and president of
reshift ministries, Inc. He is the author of The Raging War of
Ideas: How to Take Back Our Faith, Family, and Country and The
Raging War of Ideas study guide for small groups. For more
information, check out www.reshiftministries.org.
Named One of Fifteen Important Theology Books of 2022, Englewood
Review of Books Congregations often seek to combat the crisis of
decline by using innovation to produce new resources. But leading
practical theologian Andrew Root shows that the church's crisis is
not in the loss of resources; it's in the loss of life--and that
life can only return when we remain open to God's encountering
presence. This book addresses the practical form the church must
take in a secular age. Root uses two stories to frame the book: one
about a church whose building becomes a pub and the other about
Karl Barth. Root argues that Barth should be understood as a pastor
with a deep practical theology that can help church leaders today.
Churches and the Crisis of Decline pushes the church to be a
waiting community that recognizes that the only way for it to find
life is to stop seeing the church as the star of its own story.
Instead of resisting decline, congregations must remain open to
divine action. Root offers a rich vision for the church's future
that moves away from an obsession with relevance and resources and
toward the living God. This is the fourth book in Root's Ministry
in a Secular Age series.
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