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.

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.

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.

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.

The French Hospital for poor French Protestants and their descendants residing in Great Britain was incorporated in 1718. Affectionately known as La Providence, it was one of the earliest foundations to cater for London's needy immigrants, and one of the first in Britain to provide sympathetic care for the mentally ill. This book charts the hospital's history from its early days in Finsbury to its present location in the cathedral city of Rochester, Kent, where it provides sheltered housing for elderly people of Huguenot descent. Over the years many distinguished Huguenot settlers or their descendants have been associated with the hospital, among them the soldiers Henri, Earl of Galway, and John, Earl Ligonier, the lawyer Sir Samuel Romilly and the archaeologist Sir Austen Henry Layard. The ivory carver David Le Marchand died there in 1726. The architect Robert Lewis Roumieu designed the spectacular new building in Victoria Park, Hackney, which was the French Hospital's home from the late 1860s to the early 1940s. More than a hundred new photographs of the hospital's collections of paintings, engravings, silver, furniture and memorabilia provide a unique visual record. Portraits featured include the eighteenth-century Huguenot merchants Jean-Henri Guinand and Pierre Ogier. The early hospital records held at the Huguenot Library include tradesmen's bills, portraits of inmates and hospital staff. An eighteenth-century steward's diary records that one inmate hid over half a hundredweight of the hospital's coal supply under her bed. Heraldic shields and book-plates record some of the principal Huguenot families who have served as directors, and a transcription of the 1742 inventory compiled in French lends historical colour. This richly illustrated account will appeal to a wide audience including social and art historians and all who are interested in Huguenot heritage.

"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

Throughout 2005 and 2006, various events were held to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the ordination of women in the Presbyterian Church as ministers of the Word and Sacrament, as well as seventy-five years of their ordination as elders and one hundred years as deacons. In this collection of insightful essays, well-known women from across the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) reflect on their personal journeys of ordination as church leaders. This historically significant book is ideal for clergy, educators, and church leaders and is the perfect resource for church libraries.

Contributors include Joanna M. Adams; Susan R. Andrews; Deborah A. Block; Cynthia M. Campbell; Marj Carpenter; Choi, Moon Young; Melva Wilson Costen; Roberta Hestenes; Jane Parker Huber; Marian McClure; Ofelia Miriam Ortega; Jean Marie Peacock; Barbara A. Roche; and Letty M. Russell.

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.

"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

John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion is a defining book of the Reformation and a pillar of Protestant theology. First published in Latin in 1536 and in Calvin's native French in 1541, the Institutes argues for the majesty of God and for justification by faith alone. The book decisively shaped Calvinism as a major religious and intellectual force in Europe and throughout the world. Here, Bruce Gordon provides an essential biography of Calvin's influential and enduring theological masterpiece, tracing the diverse ways it has been read and interpreted from Calvin's time to today. Gordon explores the origins and character of the Institutes, looking closely at its theological and historical roots, and explaining how it evolved through numerous editions to become a complete summary of Reformation doctrine. He shows how the development of the book reflected the evolving thought of Calvin, who instilled in the work a restlessness that reflected his understanding of the Christian life as a journey to God. Following Calvin's death in 1564, the Institutes continued to be reprinted, reedited, and reworked through the centuries. Gordon describes how it has been used in radically different ways, such as in South Africa, where it was invoked both to defend and attack the horror of apartheid. He examines its vexed relationship with the historical Calvin--a figure both revered and despised--and charts its robust and contentious reception history, taking readers from the Puritans and Voltaire to YouTube, the novels of Marilynne Robinson, and to China and Africa, where the Institutes continues to find new audiences today.

"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.

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.

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

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.

Jesus Christ is King of God's Church. However who governs the Church under him? How is the Church to be ruled? How do these questions relate to the Word of God? This book, written by a Lecturer at Zomba Theological College and a Minister in the Presbyterian Church of Central Africa, investigates the origins and characteristics of Presbyterian church-rule after service in both The Netherlands and Malawi.

"The best teacher of theology in the United States, if not the world. " - A.A. Hodge, "Dabney was a towering figure in the 19th century American theological world. His exposition of the five points of Calvinism will enrich the reader's appreciation for the doctrines of grace, the glory of the Gospel, the accomplishment of the work of Christ and the security of the believer." - Ligon Duncan.

Conflict is often painful -- but it can also stimulate growth in ways that might never have occurred without it. A Color-Blind Church tells the gripping story of two churches in the little village of Liberty Hill, South Carolina -- one black, one white, both Presbyterian -- and the struggle generated by an attempt to bring them into closer fellowship. From his firsthand perspective, Leininger examines numerous contentious issues this unique opportunity raised, reflects on what he might have done differently and the lessons he learned, and offers specific advice on how to successfully build bridges when bringing together disparate faith communities. "In this refreshingly honest and authentic analysis, David Leininger offers his take on why 11: 00 on Sunday morning is still the most segregated hour in America. Although attitudes have changed in recent decades, Leininger shows us how much they have stayed the same with a startlingly contemporary story." -- William J. Carl III

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.

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.