Nietzsche was famously an atheist, despite coming from a strongly Protestant family. This heritage influenced much of his thought, but was it in fact the very thing that led him to his atheism? This work provides a radical re-assessment of Protestantism by documenting and extrapolating Nietzsche's view that Christianity dies from the head down. That is, through Protestantism's inherent anarchy. In this book, Nietzsche is put into conversation with the initiatives of several powerful thinking writers; Luther, Boehme, Leibniz, and Lessing. Using Nietzsche as a critical guide to the evolution of Protestant thinking, each is shown to violate, warp, or ignore gospel injunctions, and otherwise pose hazards to the primacy of Christian ethics. Demonstrating that a responsible understanding of Protestantism as a historical movement needs to engage with its inherent flaws, this is a text that will engage scholars of philosophy, theology, and religious studies alike.

Sanctification is a central theme in the theology of both John and Charles Wesley. However, while John's theology of sanctification has received much scholarly attention, significantly less has been paid to Charles' views on the subject. This book redresses this imbalance by using Charles' many poetic texts as a window into his rich theological thought on sanctification, particularly uncovering the role of resignation in the development of his views on this key doctrine. In this analysis of Charles' theology of sanctification, the centrality he accorded to resignation is uncovered to show a positive attribute involving acts of intention, desire and offering to God. The book begins by putting Charles' position in the context of contemporary theology, and then shows how he differed in attitude from his brother John. It then discusses in depth how his hymns use the concept of resignation, both in relation to Jesus Christ and the believer. It concludes this analysis by identifying the ways in which Charles understood the relationship between resignation and sanctification; namely, that resignation is a lens through which Charles views holiness. The final chapter considers the implications of these conclusions for a twenty-first century theological and spiritual context, and asks whether resignation is still a concept which can be used today. This book breaks new ground in the understanding of Charles Wesley's personal theology. As such, it will be of significant interest to scholars of Methodism and the Wesleys as well as those working in theology, spirituality, and the history of religion.

As celebrations of the five-hundredth anniversary of Martin Luther's initiation of the most dramatic reform movement in the history of Christianity approach, 47 essays by historians and theologians from 15 countries provide insight into the background and context, the content, and the impact of his way of thought. Nineteenth-century Chinese educational reformers, twentieth-century African and Indian social reformers, German philosophers and Christians of many traditions on every continent have found in Luther's writings stimulation and provocation for addressing modern problems. This volume offers studies of the late medieval intellectual milieus in which his thought was formed, the hermeneutical principles that guided his reading and application of the Bible, the content of his formulations of Christian teaching on specific topics, his social and ethic thought, the ways in which his contemporaries, both supporters and opponents, helped shape his ideas, the role of specific genre in developing his positions on issues of the day, and the influences he has exercised in the past and continues to exercise today in various parts of the world and the Christian church. Authors synthesize the scholarly debates and analysis of Luther's thinking and point to future areas of research and exploration of his thought.

In Preaching a Dual Identity, Nicholas Must examines seventeenth-century Huguenot sermons to study the development of French Reformed confessional identity under the Edict of Nantes. Of key concern is how a Huguenot hybrid identity was formulated by balancing a strong sense of religious particularism with an enthusiastic political loyalism. Must argues that sermons were an integral part of asserting this unique confessional position in both their preached and printed forms. To demonstrate this, Must explores a variety of sermon themes to access the range of images and arguments that preachers employed to articulate a particular vision of their community as a religious minority in France.

The appearance of the Virgin Mary on a hill in Guadalupe, Mexico in 1531 is perhaps the central tradition in Latino Catholicism. The vision, allegedly seen by recent convert Juan Diego, signalled the rise of Catholicism in the New World at a time when Protestantism was spreading throughout the old world. So what could a male, anglo protestant liturgist possibly have to say on the subject? In The Virgin of Guadalupe, Lutheran minister Maxwell Johnson recognizes that this tradition is not only important to Latin American Catholics, but to all Latin American Christians. Acknowledging the significance (if not, necessarily, the historical accuracy) of the appearance of the Virgin is not simply a Roman Catholic need by a necessity for all Christian churches among whom the Hispanic presence is growing. This is shown by the increased commemoration of Juan Diego on December 9, or of the Virgin of Guadalupe herself on December 12, on Protestant calendars. This increased recognition among Protestants coincides with the Pope's canonization of Saint Juan Diego in the summer of 2002. In step with this movement, Johnson considers the Virgin of Guadalupe from a Lutheran perspective and looks at ways in which she might be received into the evangelical or Protestant tradition.

This stimulating volume explores how the memory of the Reformation has been remembered, forgotten, contested, and reinvented between the sixteenth and twenty-first centuries. Remembering the Reformation traces how a complex, protracted, and unpredictable process came to be perceived, recorded, and commemorated as a transformative event. Exploring both local and global patterns of memory, the contributors examine the ways in which the Reformation embedded itself in the historical imagination and analyse the enduring, unstable, and divided legacies that it engendered. The book also underlines how modern scholarship is indebted to processes of memory-making initiated in the early modern period and challenges the conventional models of periodisation that the Reformation itself helped to create. This collection of essays offers an expansive examination and theoretically engaged discussion of concepts and practices of memory and Reformation. This volume is ideal for upper level undergraduates and postgraduates studying the Reformation, Early Modern Religious History, Early Modern European History, and Early Modern Literature.

In this book, Lewis Sperry Chafer instructs the aspiring preacher on the authentic principles of evangelism: that salvation, and proper communication of Christ's message, are of utmost importance. Chafer begins by noting the emergence of preachers who behave and speak contrary to the wishes of Jesus Christ. It is these 'False Forces' that moved the author to spell out precisely what is and is not true evangelic preaching. The identification of falsehoods in the messages delivered, and improper emphases which distract from the ever-present, ever-beneficent God, led Lewis Sperry Chafer to pen this book. Lewis Sperry Chafer spent a lifetime in evangelical preaching and writing in service of the Lord. Although remembered mainly for his scholarly work upon Biblical theology, he was also praised for his easygoing and relaxed demeanor. His leadership at the Dallas Theological Seminary was characterized by this competent, just and thoroughly Christian personality.

This study is the first detailed analysis of Billy Graham's social thought during one of the most volatile periods of American history'the Martin Luther King, Jr. years (1955-1968). Using previously unpublished documents, this book argues that although the popular evangelist occasionally supported King's mission to save America, he largely opposed King's vision of 'the beloved community' and his tactics of civil disobedience. The book also offers the controversial claim that because Graham allowed his political allegiances to trump his biblical Christianity, he never dreamed of nor worked for a world marked by lasting racial reconciliation, economic justice, and peace.

In recent years, there has been an upsurge of interest in religion and religious issues. Some have linked this to a neo-liberal form of individualism, while others noted that secularism has left people bereft of a humanly necessary link with the transcendent. The importance of identity issues has also been remarked upon. This book examines how liberal forms of religion are allowing people to engage with religion on their own terms, while also feeling part of something more universal. Looking at liberal approaches to the Abrahamic faiths - Judaism, Protestant and Roman Catholic Christianity and Islam - this book teases out how postmodern culture has shaped the way in which people engage with these religions. It also compares and contrasts how liberal thinking and theology have been expressed in each of the faiths examined, as well as the reactionary responses to its emergence. By considering how liberalism has influenced the narrative around the Abrahamic faiths, this book demonstrates how malleable faith and spirituality can be. As such, it will be of interest to scholars working in Religious Studies, Theology, Sociology and Cultural Anthropology.

In 1521, the Catholic Church declared war on Martin Luther. The German monk had already been excommunicated the year before, after nailing his Ninety-Five Theses,which accused the Church of rampant corruption,to the door of a Saxon church. Now, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V called for Luther to be apprehended and punished as a notorious heretic." The edict was akin to a death sentence: If Luther was caught, he would almost inevitably be burned at the stake, his fragile movement crushed, and the nascent Protestant Reformation strangled in its cradle.In Luther's Fortress , acclaimed historian James Reston, Jr. describes this crucial but little-known episode in Luther's life and reveals its pivotal role in Christian history. Realizing the danger to their leader, Luther's followers spirited him away to Wartburg Castle, deep in central Germany. There he hid for the next ten months, as his fate,and that of the Reformation,hung in the balance. Yet instead of cowering in fear, Luther spent his time at Wartburg strengthening his movement and refining his theology in ways that would guarantee the survival of Protestantism. He devoted himself to biblical study and spiritual contemplation he fought both his papist critics and his own inner demons (and, legend has it, the devil himself) and he held together his fractious and increasingly radicalized reform movement from afar. During this time Luther also crystallized some of his most significant ideas about Christianity and translated the New Testament into German,an accomplishment that, perhaps more than any other, solidified his legacy and spread his bold new religious philosophy across Europe.Drawing on Luther's correspondence, notes, and other writings, Luther's Fortress presents an earthy, gripping portrait of the Reformation's architect at this transformational moment, revealing him at his most productive, courageous, and profound.

Harlot, pious martyr, marriage breaker, obedient sister, prophetess, literate woman, agent of the devil, hypocrite. These are some qualifications of the image of Anabaptist/Mennonite women, from a wide array of perspectives. Over the ages they became both negative and positive stereotypes, created by either opponents or sympathizers, as a means of demonizing or promoting the dissident, radical free church movement. This volume explores the characteristics, backgrounds and effects of the collective perceptions of Anabaptist/Mennonite women, as well as their self-understanding, from the sixteenth into the nineteenth centuries, in a variety of case studies. This is not a gender study in the traditional sense. The theory of imagology sets the stage for the interpretation of the image of the European Mennonite sisters, acting within their religious, moral, cultural and social landscapes of Austria, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, and the Ukraine (tsarist Russia).

This book describes the history in late 19th-century Russia and immigration to Canada of an ethnic and religious group known as Doukhobors, or Spirit Wrestlers. The book is a translation into English of the Russian original authored by Grigorii Verigin, published in 1935. The book's narrative starts with the consolidation of Doukhobor beliefs inspired by the most famous Doukhobor leader, Petr Verigin. It describes the arrival of Doukhobors in Canada, their agricultural and industrial accomplishments in Saskatchewan and British Columbia, and the clashes and misunderstandings between Doukhobors and the Canadian government. The narrative closes in 1924, with the scenes of Petr Verigin's death in a yet unresolved railway car bombing, and of his funeral. The author emphasizes the most crucial component of Doukhobor beliefs: their pacifism and unequivocal rejection of wars and military conflicts. The book highlights other aspects of Doukhobor beliefs as well, including global community, brotherhood and equality of all the people on earth, kind treatment of animals, vegetarianism, as well as abstinence from alcohol and tobacco. It also calls for social justice, tolerance, and diversity.

In Like Leaven in the Dough: Protestant Social Thought in Latin America, 1920-1950, Carlos Mondragon offers an introduction to the ideas of notable Protestant writers in Latin America during the first half of the twentieth century. Despite their national and denominational differences, Mondragon argues that Protestant intellectuals developed a coherent set of ideas about freedom of religion and thought, economic justice, militarism, and national identity. This was a period when Protestants comprised a very small proportion of Latin America's total population; their very marginality compelled them to think creatively about their identity and place in Latin American society. Accused of embracing a foreign faith, these Protestants struggled to define national identities that had room for religious diversity and liberty of conscience. Marginalized and persecuted themselves, Latin America's Protestants articulated a liberating message decades before the appearance of Catholic Liberation Theology.

In his introductory essay to this selection from the writing and preaching of C.H. Spurgeon, Helmut Thielicke - himself among the best preachers of the twentieth century - expresses his surprise and delight at his discovery of the great Victorian preacher. He draws out those qualities which made Spurgeon one of the most influential ministers of his day, and explains what it was that attracted him to the self-educated Baptist preacher. They share a recognition of the urgency of their message: 'We stand in need of the simple way in which Spurgeon dares to say that what really and ultimately counts is to save sinners.' Warmth, immediacy and directness are Spurgeon's hallmarks; qualities which Thielicke's own remarkable sermons share but which he felt much preaching of his day lacked. It is still a convincing testament to Spurgeon's continuing vitality and relevance that Thielicke, one of the greatest modern preachers, should say, 'Sell all that you have ...and buy Spurgeon.'

The nineteenth-century Mormon prophet Joseph Smith published a new scripture dominated by the figure of Jesus Christ, dictated revelations presented as the words of the Christian savior, spoke of encountering Jesus in visions, and told his followers that their messiah and king would soon return to the earth. From the author of the definitive life of Brigham Young comes a biography of the Mormon Jesus that revises and enriches our understanding of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Over the past two hundred years, Jesus has connected the Latter-day Saints to broader currents of Christianity, even while particular Mormon beliefs and practices have been points of differentiation and conflict. The Latter-day Saints came to understand Jesus Christ as the literal son of his father, the exalted brother of God's other spirit children, who should aspire to become like him. They gave new meaning to many titles for Jesus Christ: Father, Son of God, Lord, Savior, Firstborn, Elder Brother, Bridegroom, and Jehovah. While some early beliefs became canonized and others were discarded, Jesus Christ remains central to Latter-day Saint scripture, doctrine, and religious experience. Contemporary Mormon leaders miss no opportunity to proclaim their church's devotion to the Christian savior, in part because evangelical Protestants denounce Mormonism as a non-Christian cult. This tension between Mormonism's distinctive claims and the church's desire to be accepted as Christian, John G. Turner argues, continues to shape Mormon identity and attract new members to the church.

So you have a problem with evangelical Christians? Which ones? These are the provocative questions Tom Krattenmaker poses to his fellow progressives in The Evangelicals You Don't Know. He challenges stereotypes about evangelical Christians and introduces readers to a movement of "new evangelicals" who are bringing forth a non-partisan expression of evangelicalism and creating opportunities for alliances and partnerships to advance the common good. Krattenmaker argues that cultural fault lines no longer divide the religious from the secular, or the evangelicals from "everyone else." Rather, the lines that matter now run between the fundamentalist culture warriors of both the left and right on one side, and, on the other, the good-doers of any faith, or none, who want to work together to solve our society's problems and introduce a new civility and decency to our shared national life. Krattenmaker is one of the best-informed non-evangelicals writing about evangelicalism in American public life. He offers interesting stories, intriguing character sketches, and incisive writing in his readable and engaging book. Recounting the findings and insights gleaned from his many years of engagement with evangelical America, he draws conclusions sure to surprise, challenge, and even inspire non-evangelicals who had written off this controversial and influential faith movement. The Evangelicals You Don't Know offers a refreshing alternative to narratives that pay attention only to aspects of evangelicalism that are most distasteful and threatening to secular-progressives and liberal religionists - providing instead a hopeful introduction to promising new currents rising among theologically conservative Christians.

The main concern of this study, first published in 1990, is the part played by Protestantism in the complex of social processes of 'secularization'. The book deals with the way in which Protestant schism and dissent paved the way for the rise of religious pluralism and toleration; and it also looks at the fragility of the two major responses to religious pluralism - the accommodation of liberal Protestantism and the sectarian rejection of the conservative alternative. It examines the part played by social, economic and political changes in undermining the plausibility of religion in western Europe, and puts forward the argument that core Reformation ideas must not be overlooked, particularly the repercussions of different beliefs about authority in competing Christian traditions.

According to Scripture, the Word of God is "living and active" (Heb 4:12). That affirmation was embraced by the Protestant Reformers, whose understanding of the Christian faith and the church was transformed by their encounter with Scripture. It is also true of the essays found in this volume, which brings together the reflections of church historians and theologians originally delivered at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. As they consider historical, hermeneutical, theological, and practical issues regarding the Bible, these essays reveal that the irrepressible Word of God continues to transform hearts and minds.

Before Taize, there was Grandchamp. The lesser-known Protestant women's community,initiated in 1936, grew out of generations of women's groups in French-speaking Switzerland. It was heavily influenced by Wilfred Monod, the Student Christian Movement, Swiss Reformed efforts at liturgical renewal, and Bonhoeffer's Life Together. It was so deeply affected by the angst generated by World War II and the search by European Christians for new ways to be Christian. The Fruits of Grace, authored by the third prioress of the Community of Grandchamp in Switzerland, reflects on the origins of the community, the sources and development of its spirituality, and on its ministries. Foci include the involvement of the community in the ecumenical movement and in mission around the world. There is also important new information about its interaction with Taize, Roman Catholic religious communities, and the women themselves, as individuals and as a community. Sister Minke de Vries provides an intimate view into the inner workings of a women's community and the structures of the spiritual practices of the Community of Grandchamp. It is a powerful analysis of a European Protestant women's monastic community.

Demonstrates the vital role Sunday schools played in forming and sustaining faith before, during, and after the First World War for British populations both at home and abroad. Sunday schools were an important part of the religious landscape of twentieth-century Britain and they were widely attended by much of the British population. The Sunday School Movement in Britain argues that the schools played a vital role in forming and sustaining the faith of those who lived and served during the First World War. Moreover, the volume contends that the conflict did not cause the schools to decline and proposes that decline instead set in much earlier in the twentieth century. The book also questions the perception that the schools were ineffective tools of religious socialisation and examines the continued attempts of the Sunday school movement to professionalise and improve their efforts. Thus, the involvement of the movement with the World's Sunday School Association is revealed to be part of the wider developing international ecumenical community during the twentieth century. Drawing together under-utilised material from archives and newspapers in national and local collections, The Sunday School Movement in Britain presents a history of the schools demonstrating their lasting significance in the religious life of the nation and, by extension, the enduring importance of Christianity in Britain during the first half of the twentieth century.

Nietzsche was famously an atheist, despite coming from a strongly Protestant family. This heritage influenced much of his thought, but was it in fact the very thing that led him to his atheism? This work provides a radical re-assessment of Protestantism by documenting and extrapolating Nietzsche's view that Christianity dies from the head down. That is, through Protestantism's inherent anarchy. In this book, Nietzsche is put into conversation with the initiatives of several powerful thinking writers; Luther, Boehme, Leibniz, and Lessing. Using Nietzsche as a critical guide to the evolution of Protestant thinking, each is shown to violate, warp, or ignore gospel injunctions, and otherwise pose hazards to the primacy of Christian ethics. Demonstrating that a responsible understanding of Protestantism as a historical movement needs to engage with its inherent flaws, this is a text that will engage scholars of philosophy, theology, and religious studies alike.