In A Social-Political History of Monotheism, Cataldo shows how political concerns were fundamental to the development of Judeo-Christian monotheism. Beginning with the disruptive and devastating historical events that shook early Israelite culture and ending with the seemingly victorious emergence of Christianity under the Byzantine Empire, this work highlights critical junctures marking the path from political frustration to imperial ideology. Monotheism, Cataldo argues, was not an enlightened form of religion; rather, it was a cultic response to effluent anxieties pouring out from under the crushing weight of successive empires. This provocative work is a valuable tool for anyone with an interest in the development of early Christianity alongside empires and cultures.

Princes, Pastors and People traces the many changes in religious life that took place in the turbulent years of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The book explains the major historical controversies surrounding the period:
* the English Reformation
* the popularity of the Elizabethan Protestant Church
* the impact of the Laudian innovations of the 1630s
* the Puritan attempt to control popular culture and belief
Princes, Pastors and People also charts the long-term developments across the period in all the key areas including doctrinal and liturgical change, the role of the clergy and the importance of religion in the everyday lives of people.

All too often, pastors or professional counselors try to "rescue" people from a low self-esteem using approaches that either dilute the reality of sin or distort the biblical demand for humility. Where does the balance fall, especially as you consider that God's Word commands us not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought? How do we properly recognize our self-worth without falling into self-worship?

It is in God's Word that we find the true worth of human beings. This book, now updated and in its second edition, develops a genuinely scriptural approach to the question of self-esteem, showing that Christian confidence rests totally upon the work of Christ. A proper understanding of how Christ's death on the cross dealt with sin and enables our salvation gives believers a healthy view of contentment, humility, and affirmation. His redemption allows us to "attach" to God and live out our status as His adopted children--a truth that has implications for the entire body of Christ.

The authors, one a theologian and one a psychologist, speak from their individual disciplines to honestly confront some of the tensions between the Gospel and most secular psychotherapies. But they clearly demonstrate that while modern psychology has some validity, it is the Christian view of human nature that ultimately yields proper perspective on who we are in Christ.

This book offers a systematic, chronological analysis of the role played by the human senses in experiencing pilgrimage and sacred places, past and present. It thus addresses two major gaps in the existing literature, by providing a broad historical narrative against which patterns of continuity and change can be more meaningfully discussed, and focusing on the central, but curiously neglected, area of the core dynamics of pilgrim experience. Bringing together the still-developing fields of Pilgrimage Studies and Sensory Studies in a historically framed conversation, this interdisciplinary study traces the dynamics of pilgrimage and engagement with holy places from the beginnings of the Judaeo-Christian tradition to the resurgence of interest evident in twenty-first century England. Perspectives from a wide range of disciplines, from history to neuroscience, are used to examine themes including sacred sites in the Bible and Early Church; pilgrimage and holy places in early and later medieval England; the impact of the English Reformation; revival of pilgrimage and sacred places during the nineteenth and twentieth Centuries; and the emergence of modern place-centred, popular 'spirituality'. Addressing the resurgence of pilgrimage and its persistent link to the attachment of meaning to place, this book will be a key reference for scholars of Pilgrimage Studies, History of Religion, Religious Studies, Sensory Studies, Medieval Studies, and Early Modern Studies.

Death opens the gates to resurrection. The pathways to faith are diverse, but all carry components of death and renewal. In Avenues of Faith: Conversations with Jonathan Guilbault , Charles Taylor takes readers through a handful of books that played a crucial role in shaping his posture as a believer, a process that involved leaving the old behind and embracing the new. In a dynamic interview-style structure, Taylor answers questions from Jonathan Guilbault about how each book has informed his thought. The five sections of Avenues of Faith briefly introduce authors and their principal works before delving into the associated discussion. Taylor and Guilbault engage Maurice Merleau-Ponty's Phenomenology of Perception , Friedrich HAlderlin's Poems , Charles Baudelaire's The Flowers of Evil , Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov , and Brother Amile's Faithful to the Future: Listening to Yves Congar . By exploring themes such as faith, the church, freedom, language, philosophy, and more, this book engages both literary enthusiasts and spiritual seekers. Scholars of Taylor will recognize the philosopher's continuation of his reflections on modernity as he expresses his faith. Avenues of Faith gives readers unprecedented access to a world-renowned philosopher's reflections on the literary masterpieces that have shaped his life and scholarship and that continue to stand the test of time.

Too often people's understanding of and engagement with 'church' is reduced to corporate worship, when it is so much more. George Lings identifies seven characteristic elements in Christian communities through the ages, which when held in balance enable a richer expression of discipleship, mission and community. In the monastic tradition these elements have distinctive locations: cell (being alone with God), chapel (corporate public worship), chapter (making decisions), cloister (planned and surprising meetings), garden (the place of work), refectory (food and hospitality) and scriptorium (study and passing on knowledge). Through this lens George Lings explores how these seven elements relate to our individual and communal walk with God, hold good for church and family life, and appear in wider society.

The Healer's Tree is a book of 28 short readings and reflections in response to the call back to the garden, back to full relationship with God and all creation. It reflects on the struggle to make sense of living as mortals who are drawn by spiritual aspirations and a desire for God but are also bound to the earth and one another with a need to find real faith-based responses to the ecological and humanitarian dilemmas facing the world. Hearing the call and responding, we see life differently. 'Self ' loses its power, the illusion of isolation ends, for all creation is interconnected. It is not just we who are renewed; all creation depends on our return for its renewal. Suitable for group or individual use, each reflection includes a biblical quotation, a passage of prose, a prayer, questions for reflection, often relating to further biblical passages, and a closing thought. Some reflections are suitable for use as visualisations - an exercise where one person reads while others imagine the scene described in a state of relaxation, or where a person alone imagines the scene after reading it several times. However, the reflections are not written with the expectation that everybody will wish to use them in this way. A selection of the readings can be made around particular themes to form a series for Lent, Advent, Creation Season and other times, or for a retreat on a specific subject.

After the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859, theologians were faced with the dilemma of God creating through evolution. Suddenly, pain, suffering, untimely death and extinction appeared to be the very tools of creation, and not a result of the sin of humanity. Despite this paradigm shift, the question of non-human suffering has been largely overlooked within theodicy debates, overwhelmed by the extreme human suffering of the twentieth century. This book redresses this imbalance by offering a rigorous academic treatment of the questions surrounding God and the suffering of non-human animals. Combining theological, philosophical, and biblical perspectives, this book explores the relationship between God and Creation within Christian theology. First it dismantles the popular theological view that roots violence and suffering in the animal kingdom in the fall of humanity. Then, through an exploration of the nature of love, it affirms that there are multiple reasons to suggest that God and creation can both be "good", even with the presence of violence and suffering. This is an innovative exploration of an under-examined subject that encompasses issues of theology, science, morality and human-animal interactions. As such, it will be of keen interest to scholars and academics of religion and science, the philosophy of religion, theodicy, and biblical studies.

Biblical Foundations Book Awards Runner Up and Finalist In the biblical canon, two books lack any explicit reference to the name of God: Song of Songs and Esther. God's peculiar absence in these texts is unsettling, both for theological discourse and for believers considering implications for their own lived experience. Chloe T. Sun takes on the challenges of God's absence by exploring the often overlooked theological connections between these two Old Testament books. In Conspicuous in His Absence, Sun examines and reflects on the Song of Songs and Esther using theological interpretation. She addresses three main questions: What is the nature of God as revealed in texts that don't use his name? How do we think of God when he is perceived to be absent? What should we do when God is silent or hidden? The experience of God's absence or silence is an important part of the human condition. By exploring the distinct themes and perspectives of Song of Songs and Esther, as well as how they've been received in Jewish and Christian history, Sun demonstrates how both books serve as counter texts to the depiction of God and his work in the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures. Thus both contribute to a fuller picture of who God is and what it means to know him.

This book isn't just about discovering our spiritual gifts, or even receiving them-it's about releasing them! God wants you to experience the great wonder of moving in and through His graceAnd#8212;on a daily basis.As you read, you'll first gain an overview of spiritual gifts and be introduced to the way the Holy Spirit moves and operates within them. Then you'll explore the nine most widely recognized spiritual gifts. These are not the only gifts God gives His children, but they are vital to understand and then activate according to His leading.Releasing Spiritual Gifts Today is filled with many examples of how the gifts have been used in action, both within the pages of the Bible and in the present day. God desires to pour out His gifts on His people with even greater degrees of impact and authority. This is your opportunity to find out what the Lord can do for you and through you as you release His spiritual gifts today in an outpouring of His love, grace, and power.

When the book of Acts is mentioned, a cluster of issues spring to mind, including speaking in tongues and baptism with the Holy Spirit, church government and practice, and missionary methods and strategies. At the popular level, Acts is more often mined for answers to contemporary debates than heard for its natural inflections. Instead of using Acts as a prooftext, this New Studies in Biblical Theology volume brings a biblical-theological framework to the account to expose Luke's major themes as they relate to the book as a whole. With this framework in place, Alan Thompson argues that Acts is an account of the 'continuing story' of God's saving purposes. Consequently we find that Luke wants to be read in light of the Old Testament promises and the continuing reign of Christ in the inaugurated kingdom. Read in this way as a snapshot of God's dynamic, unfolding kingdom, the book of Acts begins to regain the deep relevance it had in the first century. Addressing key issues in biblical theology, the works comprising New Studies in Biblical Theology are creative attempts to help Christians better understand their Bibles. The NSBT series is edited by D. A. Carson, aiming to simultaneously instruct and to edify, to interact with current scholarship and to point the way ahead.

What if the Trinity we've been taught is not the Trinity of the Bible? In this groundbreaking book, Matthew Barrett reveals a shocking discovery: we have manipulated the Trinity, recreating the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in our own image. With clarity and creativity, Barrett mines the Scriptures as well as the creeds and confessions of the faith to help you rediscover the beauty, simplicity, and majesty of our Triune God. You will be surprised to learn that what you believe about the Trinity has untold consequences for salvation and the Christian life. To truly know God, you must meet the One who is simply Trinity.

Written by one of the world's greatest Evangelical theologians

Nearly two decades ago Hank Hanegraaff's award-winning "Christianity in Crisis" alerted the world to the dangers of a cultic movement within Christianity that threatened to undermine the very foundation of biblical faith. But in the 21st century, there are new dangers-new teachers who threaten to do more damage than the last.

These are not obscure teachers that Hanegraaff unmasks. We know their names. We have seen their faces, sat in their churches, and heard them shamelessly preach and promote the false pretexts of a give-to-get gospel. They are virtual rock stars who command the attention of presidential candidates and media moguls. Through make-believe miracles, urban legends, counterfeit Christs, and twisted theological reasoning, they peddle an occult brand of metaphysics that continues to shipwreck the faith of millions around the globe:

"God cannot do anything in this earthly realm unless we give Him permission."

"Keep saying it-'I have equality with God'-talk yourself into it."

"Being poor is a sin."

"The Jews were not rejecting Jesus as Messiah; it was Jesus who was refusing to be the Messiah to the Jews "

"You create your own world the same way God creates His. He speaks, and things happen; you speak, and they happen."

"Christianity in Crisis: 21st Century" exposes darkness to light, pointing us back to a Christianity centered in Christ.

""From the Preface: ""

"Having lost the ability to think biblically, postmodern Christians are being transformed from cultural change agents and initiators into cultural conformists and imitators. Pop culture beckons, and postmodern Christians have taken the bait. As a result, the biblical model of faith has given way to an increasingly bizarre array of fads and formulas."

In the struggle of ideas, the most fundamental and far-reaching is that of the nature of mankind. What are we? Why are we not at peace with ourselves or our neighbours? How does our understanding of our nature lead to personal and social well-being? We have followed the false leads of Darwin, Nietzsche, Marx, and Freud in trying to understand ourselves. Despite other differences, they all interpret man in relation to nature, rejecting transcendent, metaphysical or religious understanding of the human condition. They do not solve the contradiction between what we are and what we ought to be. Brunner sees the human contradiction as comprehensible only in terms of a God to whose word we must respond. This is not communication by language; it refers to the fundamental character of personal relations. People are persons in so far as they can freely say to each other what they think and feel. This communication is possible in so far as we recognise that God speaks to us and respond to Him. Brunner sees responsibility as the key to personality. The Biblical doctrine of man, created in the image of God and capable of responding to God's Word, is the key to recovering an effective sense of responsibility. With profound penetration and power, Brunner applies his thesis to such vexed questions as individuality and community, character, relations between man and woman, relations between soul and body. Man in Revolt explains our frustration and confusion about ourselves, and why the Christian view of man, of his place in nature and history, is the truth which man both needs and seeks in the search for himself.

Widely popularized images of unobtainable and damaging feminine ideals can be a cause of profound disjunction between women and their bodies. A consequence of this dissonance is an embodied performance of these ideals with the potential development of disordered eating practices, such as anorexia nervosa. This book develops a spirituality of anorexia by suggesting that these eating disorders are physical symptoms of the general repression of feminine nature in our culture. Furthermore, it puts forward Goddess feminism as a framework for a healing therapeutic model to address anorexia and more broadly, the "slender ideal" touted by society. The book focuses on the female body in contemporary society, specifically the development of anorexia nervosa, and what this expression communicates about female embodiment. Drawing upon the work of a variety of theorists, social commentators, liberation theologians and thealogians, it discusses the benefits of adopting female-focused myths, symbols and rituals, drawing upon the work of Marion Woodman and Naomi Goldenberg. Ultimately, it theorises a thealogical approach to anorexia aimed at displacing the damaging discourses that undermine women in the twenty-first century. Offering an alternative model of spirituality and embodiment for contemporary women, this book will be of keen interest to scholars of theology, religious studies, gender studies and psychology.

From the visual and textual art of Anglo-Saxon England onwards, images held a surprising power in the Western Christian tradition. Not only did these artistic representations provide images through which to find God, they also held mystical potential, and likewise mystical writing, from the early medieval period onwards, is also filled with images of God that likewise refracts and reflects His glory. This collection of essays introduces the currents of thought and practice that underpin this artistic engagement with Western Christian mysticism, and explores the continued link between art and theology. The book features contributions from an international panel of leading academics, and is divided into four sections. The first section offers theoretical and philosophical considerations of mystical aesthetics and the interplay between mysticism and art. The final three sections investigate this interplay between the arts and mysticism from three key vantage points. The purpose of the volume is to explore this rarely considered yet crucial interface between art and mysticism. It is therefore an important and illuminating collection of scholarship that will appeal to scholars of theology and Christian mysticism as much as those who study literature, the arts and art history.

Beginning with an account of how Christian theology is called upon to read the signs of the time, "Cities of God" traces the shift in urban culture in North America and Western Europe that took place in the 1970s. The modern sites of eternal aspiration and hope became the post modern cities of eternal desires. The old, modern theological responses to the city become unbelievable and inadequate, necessitating a new theological approach to urban living. Such an approach would have to engage with and respond to the insurgent social atomism and the celebration of virtual realities evident in the late capitalist, post modern civic living. The book seeks to develop that approach, emphasizing the analogical relations which exist between physical, ecclesial, sacramental, social and political bodies. It argues for a profound participation of all these bodies in the Body of Christ. Working through analyses of contemporary film, architecture and literature, and drawing upon traditional theological resources in Augustine and Gregory of Nyssa, the book lays out a systematic theology which has the preparation and building of cities of God as its focus.

Share Your Faith Effectively in a Cynical and Skeptical Age
Talking about faith with friends and family members can be a daunting prospect. What do you say if they have questions you can't answer or if they're outright hostile toward God?
Actually, you don't have to have all the right answers, just the right questions--and a willingness to listen. As trust and understanding grow, the door to fruitful dialogue will open.
"
How to Talk to a Skeptic" shows you how to:
- Ask probing questions and avoid being on the defensive in spiritual conversations.
- Tell God's story of the world in a winsome and easily understood way.
- Gently respond to the most common misunderstandings skeptics have about God.
Here's a natural, relational approach to evangelism and a proven way to reach out to an unbelieving world.

This book offers a fresh and up-to-date introduction to modern Christian theology. The 'long nineteenth century' saw enormous transformations of theology, and of thought about religion, that shaped the way both Christianity and 'religion' are understood today. Muers and Higton provide a lucid guide to the development of theology since 1789, giving students a critical understanding of their own 'modern' assumptions, of the origins of the debates and the fields of study in which they are involved, and of major modern thinkers. Modern Theology: introduces the context and work of a selection of major nineteenth-century thinkers who decisively affected the shape of modern theology presents key debates and issues that have their roots in the nineteenth century but are also central to the study of twentieth- and twenty-first-century theology includes exercises and study materials that explicitly focus on the development of core academic skills. This valuable resource also contains a glossary, timeline, annotated bibliographies and illustrations.

This book provides a framework by which a global audience might think theologically about contemporary films produced in mainland China by Chinese directors. Up to this point the academic discipline of Christian theology and film has focussed predominantly on Western cinema, and as a result, has missed out the potential insights offered by Chinese spirituality on film. Mainland Chinese films, produced within the nation's social structure, offer an excellent lingua franca of China. Illuminating the spiritual imagination of Chinese filmmakers and their yearning for transcendence, the book uses Richard A. Blake's concept of afterimage to analyse the potential theological implications of their films. It then brings Jurgen Moltmann's "immanent-transcendence" and Robert K. Johnston's "God's wider Presence" into conversation with Confucianist and Daoist ideas of there being, spirituality-speaking, "More in Life than Meets the Eye" than simply material existence. This all combines to move beyond film and allow for a Western audience to gain a new perspective on Chinese culture and traditions. One that uses familiar Western terms, while avoiding the imposition of a Western mindset. This is a new perspective on cinema, religion and Chinese culture that will be of keen interest to scholars of Religion and Film, Religious Studies, Theology, Sociology of Religion and Chinese Studies.