On fire for God-a sweeping history of puritanism in England and America Begun in the mid-sixteenth century by Protestant nonconformists keen to reform England's church and society while saving their own souls, the puritan movement was a major catalyst in the great cultural changes that transformed the early modern world. Providing a uniquely broad transatlantic perspective, this groundbreaking volume traces puritanism's tumultuous history from its initial attempts to reshape the Church of England to its establishment of godly republics in both England and America and its demise at the end of the seventeenth century. Shedding new light on puritans whose impact was far-reaching as well as on those who left only limited traces behind them, Michael Winship delineates puritanism's triumphs and tribulations and shows how the puritan project of creating reformed churches working closely with intolerant godly governments evolved and broke down over time in response to changing geographical, political, and religious exigencies.

An instant New York Times bestseller, from the author of Crusaders, that finally tells the real story of the Knights Templar-"Seldom does one find serious scholarship so easy to read." (The Times, Book of the Year) A faltering war in the middle east. A band of elite warriors determined to fight to the death to protect Christianity's holiest sites. A global financial network unaccountable to any government. A sinister plot founded on a web of lies... In 1119, a small band of knights seeking a purpose in the violent aftermath of the First Crusade set up a new religious order in Jerusalem, which was now in Christian hands. These were the first Knights Templar, elite warriors who swore vows of poverty and chastity and promised to protect Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land. Over the next 200 years, the Templars would become the most powerful network of the medieval world, speerheading the crusades, pionerring new forms of finance and warfare and deciding the fate of kings. Then, on October 13, 1307, hundreds of brothers were arrested, imprisoned and tortured and the order was disbanded among lurid accusations of sexual misconduct and heresy. But were they heretics or victims of a ruthlessly repressive state? Dan Jones goes back to the sources to bring their dramatic tale, so relevant to our own times, to life in a book that is at once authoritative and compulsively readable.

Secular assumptions are being introduced piecemeal into our way of life. From the Millennium Dome (what exactly was it celebrating?) to the restrictions on the wearing of crosses and abolition of nativity plays, Christianity is being marginalised. Christian social initiatives at local levels are now so severely restricted that several Christian bodies issue guidelines on handling local council prejudice. There is a widespread if illdefined sense that a valuable heritage is slipping away.

Yet the Bible and Prayer Book are seminal for our language and literature; Christian social action predated the modern welfare state; our laws are based on Christian ethical systems. Christians should push back, re-engaging with politicians and opinion formers. Christians must be salt and light. Introverted Christianity must give way to engagement with the world, not defensively but with confidence and hope. It is time for a proper debate about the place of faith in modern Britain.

Recent studies on the development of early Christianity emphasize the fragmentation of the late ancient world while paying less attention to a distinctive feature of the Christianity of this time which is its inter-connectivity. Both local and trans-regional networks of interaction contributed to the expansion of Christianity in this age of fragmentation. This volume investigates a specific aspect of this inter-connectivity in the area of the Mediterranean by focusing on the formation and operation of episcopal networks. The rise of the bishop as a major figure of authority resulted in an increase in long-distance communication among church elites coming from different geographical areas and belonging to distinct ecclesiastical and theological traditions. Locally, the bishops in their roles as teachers, defenders of faith, patrons etc. were expected to interact with individuals of diverse social background who formed their congregations and with secular authorities. Consequently, this volume explores the nature and quality of various types of episcopal relationships in Late Antiquity attempting to understand how they were established, cultivated and put to use across cultural, linguistic, social and geographical boundaries.

"Gnosticism" has become a problematic category in the study of early Christianity. It obscures diversity, invites essentialist generalisations, and is a legacy of ancient heresiology. However, simply to conclude with "diversity" is unsatisfying, and new efforts to discern coherence and to synthesise need to be made. The present work seeks to make a fresh start by concentrating on Irenaeus' report on a specific group called the "Gnostics" and on his claim that Valentinus and his followers were inspired by their ideas. Following this lead, an attempt is made to trace the continuity of ideas from this group to Valentinianism. The study concludes that there is more continuity than has previously been recognised. Irenaeus' "Gnostics" emerge as the predecessors not only of Valentinianism, but also of Sethianism. They represent an early, philosophically inspired form of Christ religion that arose independently of the New Testament canon. Christology is essential and provides the basis for the myth of Sophia. The book is relevant for all students of Christian origins and the early history of the Church.

Expanding Scriptures: Lost and Found is the second book in the Wisdom Series. Don MacGregor considers what could be added to the Bible from rediscoveries of recent years, supports a new role for Mary Magdalene and looks at how it can all be reframed within the Perennial Wisdom teachings.

Martin Luther considered the reading of God's word to be his primary task as a theologian, a pastor, and a Christian. Though he is often portrayed as reading the Bible with a bare approach of sola Scriptura-without any concern for previous generations' interpretation-the truth is more complicated. In this New Explorations in Theology (NET) volume, Reformation scholar Todd R. Hains shows that Luther read the Bible according to the rule of faith, which is contained in the church's ancient catechism of the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, and the Apostles' Creed. Hains carefully examines Luther's sermons to show how Luther taught the rule of faith as the guard and guide of Bible reading. This study will helpfully complicate your view of Luther and bring clarity to your own reading of God's Word. Featuring new monographs with cutting-edge research, New Explorations in Theology provides a platform for constructive, creative work in the areas of systematic, historical, philosophical, biblical, and practical theology.

This book analyzes two large surveys of clergy and lay people in the Church of England taken in 2001 and 2013. The period between the two surveys was one of turbulence and change, and the surveys offer a unique insight into how such change affected grassroots opinion on topics such as marriage, women's ordination, sexual orientation, and the leadership of the Church. Andrew Village analyzes each topic to show how opinion varied by sex, age, education, location, ordination, and church tradition. Shifts that occurred in the period between the two surveys are then examined, and the results paint a detailed picture of how beliefs and attitudes vary across the Church and have evolved over time. This work uncovers some unforeseen but important trends that will shape the trajectory of the Church in the years ahead.

The book examines deep shifts in the religious life of Russia and the post-Soviet world as a whole. The author uses combined methods of history, sociology and anthropology to grasp transformations in various aspects of the religious field, such as changes in ritual practices, the emergence of a hierarchical pluralism of religions, and a new prominence of religion in national identity discourse. He deals with the Russian Church's new internal diversity in reinventing its ancient tradition and Eastern Orthodoxy's dense and tense negotiation with the State, secular society and Western liberal globalism. The volume contains academic papers, some of them co-authored with other scholars, published by the author elsewhere within the last fifteen years.

Christian Tourist Attractions, Mythmaking, and Identity Formation examines a sampling of contemporary Christian tourist attractions that position visitors as the inheritors of ancient, sacred traditions and make claims about the truth of the historical narratives that they promote. Rather than approaching these attractions as sacred expressions of religious experience or as uncontested accounts of history, the book applies recent work on mythmaking and identity formation to argue that these presentations of the past function as strategic discourses that serve material concerns in the present. From an approach informed by social and materialist theories of religion, the volume draws upon a variety of methodological approaches that enable readers to understand the often-bewildering array of objects, claims, demands, and activities (not to mention the seemingly endless array of gifts and personal items available for purchase) that appear at attractions including Ark Encounter, the Creation Museum, the Holy Land Experience, Bible Walk Museum, Christian Zionist tours of Israel, and the recently opened Museum of the Bible. Discourse analysis, practice theory, rhetorical criticism, and embodied theories of cognition help make sense not only of the Christian tourist attractions under examination but also of the ways that "religion" is entangled with contemporary social, political, and economic interests more broadly.

Founded in 1816, the American Bible Society (ABS) exists to disseminate free copies of the Bible in local languages throughout the world, based on the belief that healthy republics require a moral citizenry and that the best way of promoting virtue throughout the nations is through the publication and dissemination of the Bible. Today, the ABS is a Christian ministry based in Philadelphia with a $300 million endowment and a mission to engage 100 million Americans with the Bible by 2025. Released just in time for the ABS's Bicentennial year, this book will demonstrate how the ABS's primary mission-to place the Bible in the hands of as many people as possible-has led the history of the ABS to intersect at nearly every point with the history of the United States. However and wherever the United States developed, the ABS was there, fusing American imperialism with the biblical mandate to preach the gospel throughout the entire world. Over the years ABS Bibles could be found in hotel rooms, bookstores, and airports, on steam boats, college and university campuses, and the Internet, and even behind the Iron Curtain. Its agents, Bibles in hand, could be found on the front lines of every American military conflict from the Mexican-American War to the Iraq War. Over the last two hundred years, the ABS has steadily increased its influence both at home and abroad, working with all Christian denominations in the US and internationally, aligning itself whenever possible with the gatekeepers of American religious culture, and has been on the cutting edge of technological innovation. However, despite the changes that the organization has undergone, The Bible Cause demonstrates that the ABS's primary mission and its commitment to positioning itself as the guardian of a Christian civilization have remained constant throughout the last two centuries.

A classic revisited--revised and expanded. For over twenty-five years, Howard Snyder's Community of the King has set the standard for a penetrating look at the relationship between the kingdom of God and the earthly church. Biblically and practically Snyder helps us think through such crucial questions as What is the kingdom of God? What role does it play in history? What does it mean for the church to be an agent of the kingdom? Once we grasp the nature of the kingdom, Snyder helps us explore its implications for the church as we experience it in daily life. The church, he argues, is part of God's dramatic plan to reconcile all things to himself. The church that is true to its calling will emphasize the God-given gifts of all its members and develop structures and strategies that reflect God's reign in the world. In addition to a completely new chapter on developments in Christian thinking on the church since its first publication, this new edition of Community of the King contains a fully updated bibliography and is revised throughout. Here is a classic book for all concerned with church life and growth.

The biography of one of the leaders of the Evangelical Movement at the beginning of the nineteenth century. As the son of Henry Venn of Huddersfield and friend of Charles Simeon, William Wilberforce, Henry Thornton, and Hannah More, John Venn tends only to be remembered because of his relationship to them, but his avoidance of the limelight should not lead to an underestimation of his influence. As Rector of Clapham, Venn was the prototypically effective nineteenth-century town parson, but through his role as first Chairman of the Church Missionary Society and as Chaplain to the Clapham Sect his influence was felt on the wider Church. Full use has been made of the Venn Family Papers and other original sources, including letters and diaries.

In Azusa Street Mission and Revival, Cecil M. Robeck, Jr. brings to bear expertise from decades of focused study in church history to reveal the captivating story of the Apostolic Faith Mission in Los Angeles, which became known as the Azusa Street Mission. From humble beginnings with few resources, this small uniquely diverse and inclusive congregation led by William J. Seymour ignited a fire that quickly grew into a blaze and spread across the world giving rise to the global Pentecostal movement. Sifting through newspaper reports and other written accounts of the time as well as the mission's own publications, and through personal interaction with some of those blessed to stand very near to the fire that began at the mission, Cecil M. Robeck, Jr. relates not only the historical significance of the revival but also captures the movement of the Holy Spirit that changed the face of modern Christianity.

Field education is an opportunity for students to develop ministry skills, practice ministerial reflection, discern their call, experience professional collegiality, and undergo personal transformation. Field education offers them a place to practice ministry and a space to reflect on it, to integrate theory and practice, and grow towards competency. In Welcome to Theological Field Education eleven directors of field education in seminaries and divinity schools across North America pass on their wisdom to both students and their supervisors. Edited by Matthew Floding, director of field education at Western Seminary in Holland, Michigan, this volume covers critical topics such as the art of supervision and formation, the use of case studies and peer reflection groups, self-care and ministerial ethics, and assessment. Formation for ministry is especially challenging at this time in the church's life. First, the explosion of knowledge, pluralism, and consumerism and a host of other complicating factors make huge demands on what a minister must know to be effective in ministry. Second, with the erosion of thick religious subcultures, the novice minister has fewer sources of practical wisdom to draw upon. The next generation of ministers, if they are to be more fully formed for ministry, depends on skilled mentoring alongside wise supervisors. This book is the tool to help them make the most of their field education experience.

First full-length account of St Stephen's Chapel, bringing out its full importance and influence throughout the Middle Ages. In St Stephen's College, the royally-favoured religious institution at the heart of the busy administrative world of the Palace of Westminster, church and state met and collaborated for two centuries, from its foundation to pray for the royal dead by Edward III in 1348, until it was swept away by the second wave of the Reformation in 1548. Monarchs and visitors worshipped in the distinctive chapel on the Thames riverfront. Even when the king and his household were absent, the college's architecture, liturgy and musical strength proclaimed royal piety and royal support for the Church to all who passed by. This monograph recreates a lost institution, whose spectacular cloister still survives deep within the modern Houses of Parliament. It examines its relationship with every English king from Edward III to Edward VI, how it defined itself as the "king's chief chapel" through turbulent dynastic politics,and its contributions to the early years of the English Reformation. It offers a new perspective on the workings of political, administrative and court life in medieval and early modern Westminster.

Planning can be challenging in the contemporary congregation, where people share a common faith and values but may have very different preferences and needs. Much of the literature on congregational planning presents it as a technical process: the leader serves as the chief problem solver, and the goal is finding the solution to the problem. Popular Alban consultants and authors Gil Rendle and Alice Mann cast planning as a holy conversation, a congregational discernment process about three critical questions: .Who are we? .What has God called us to do or be? .Who is our neighbor? Rendle and Mann equip congregational leaders with a broad and creative range of ideas, pathways, processes, and tools for planning. By choosing the resources that best suit their needs and context, congregations will shape their own strengthening, transforming, holy conversation. They will find a path that is faithful to their identity and their relationship with God."

Fundraising can be one of the most stressful parts of ministry. Budget needs are daunting, prospects seem limited, and the cycle is unending. How do we get off of the treadmill of crisis-driven fundraising to more sustainable ministry funding? Professional fundraiser Brad Layland revolutionizes fundraising and transforms it into a relational process where donors truly become partners in ministry. With decades of expertise in leading multimillion-dollar capital campaigns and working with major donors, he offers a more strategic and personalized yet less labor-intensive approach. Practical insights include ten essential elements of a case and four key steps that lead up to making an ask. Ultimately, fundraising is best done in community, and this book will help you develop a community of people who enjoy giving and want your organization to succeed. Fundraising can become a life-giving, energizing experience of developing partners who fuel your ministry's vision. Discover how you can become fully funded and accomplish the work that God has given you to do.

The first account of the dissolution of the monasteries for fifty years-exploring its profound impact on the people of Tudor England "This is a book about people, though, not ideas, and as a detailed account of an extraordinary human drama with a cast of thousands, it is an exceptional piece of historical writing."-Lucy Wooding, Times Literary Supplement Shortly before Easter, 1540 saw the end of almost a millennium of monastic life in England. Until then religious houses had acted as a focus for education, literary, and artistic expression and even the creation of regional and national identity. Their closure, carried out in just four years between 1536 and 1540, caused a dislocation of people and a disruption of life not seen in England since the Norman Conquest. Drawing on the records of national and regional archives as well as archaeological remains, James Clark explores the little-known lives of the last men and women who lived in England's monasteries before the Reformation. Clark challenges received wisdom, showing that buildings were not immediately demolished and Henry VIII's subjects were so attached to the religious houses that they kept fixtures and fittings as souvenirs. This rich, vivid history brings back into focus the prominent place of abbeys, priories, and friaries in the lives of the English people.