When the church began, an amazing diversity of people from different geographic, cultural and linguistic backgrounds gathered together to confess a common faith in Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul cast a vision of one body where Jew and Gentile would worship together in unity. The Revelation to John likewise foreshadows an eternal future where all nations will join together at the throne of the Lamb. Sadly, Christianity has not often lived up to this ideal. The history of the church has been marked by continued segregation, ethnic strife and racial division. But at the dawn of a new millennium, hopeful signs of change are emerging. As society diversifies, local churches find themselves interacting with people from every tribe and tongue. But not every church is equipped to handle the realities of ethnic and racial diversity in their congregational life. Sociologist George Yancey's groundbreaking research on multiracial churches offers key principles for church leaders who want to minister to people from a variety of racial and cultural backgrounds. Insights from real-life congregations provide concrete examples of how churches can welcome those who have been marginalized, giving people of all heritages a sense of ownership and partnership in the life of the church. Based on data from a landmark Lilly Endowment study of multiracial churches across America, this volume offers insights and implications for church leadership, worship styles, conflict resolution and much more. Here is an essential resource for pastors and church leaders committed to cultural, ethnic and racial reconciliation in their congregations.

Possidius, the bishop of Calama, was a life-long friend of St. Augustine's and best known for writing a biography of the bishop of Hippo, the Vita Augustini. Hermanowicz analyzes both the biography and the legally-oriented career of Possidius to illustrate how active Augustine's colleagues were in soliciting imperial support against their religious competitors and to show just how often Augustine's close friends disagreed with him on important matters of law, coercion and diplomacy. It is still widely asserted by scholars that St. Augustine dominated the theological landscape of North Africa, but this engaging study demonstrates how often he was, in fact, singular and isolated in his beliefs.

While concentrated on the famous Passio Perpetuae et Felicitatis, this book focuses on an area that has so far been somewhat marginalized or even overlooked by modern interpreters: the recontextualizing of the Passio Perpetuae in the subsequent reception of this text in the literature of the early Church. Since its composition in the early decades of the 3rd century, the Passio Perpetuae was enjoying an extraordinary authority and popularity. However, it contained a number of revolutionary and innovative features that were in conflict with existing social and theological conventions. This book analyses all relevant texts from the 3rd to 5th centuries in which Perpetua and her comrades are mentioned, and demonstrates the ways in which these texts strive to normalize the innovative aspects of the Passio Perpetuae. These efforts, visible as they are already on careful examination of the passages of the editor of the passio, continue from Tertullian to Augustine and his followers. The normalization of the narrative reaches its peak in the so-called Acta Perpetuae which represent a radical rewriting of the original and an attempt to replace it by a purified text, more compliant with the changed socio-theological hierarchies.

Life in this world is challenging. Brokenness and sin surround us. Controversies and confusion about complicated issues seem endless. It’s easy for Christians to be overwhelmed as they struggle to remain faithful to God’s teaching in a rapidly changing world. Along with the changes have come great problems and difficult questions.

What kind of future does Africa have? What, if anything, can the children of God do for their native lands and peoples?

Problems are not solved until we acknowledge them and face them openly, honestly, and courageously. In Biblical Christianity in Modern Africa, Wilbur O’Donovan addresses the problems facing the church in Africa from a biblical perspective. He wisely and boldly confronts issues that challenge the church in Africa, such as: Urbanization, Pornography, Poverty, False teaching, Broken marriages.

Denominationalism Although modern Africa’s problems are great, they are not intimidating to God. God does not change, and remembering what God did for his people in the past will help us know what he can do today. Biblical Christianity in Modern Africa reminds us that the wisdom of God is the answer to the problems of Africa today, just as they were to the people who lived thousands of years ago.

Religious Minorities and Cultural Diversity in the Dutch Republic explores various aspects of the religious and cultural diversity of the early Dutch Republic and analyses how the different confessional groups established their own identity and how their members interacted with one another in a highly hybrid culture. This volume is to honour Dr. Piet Visser on the occasion of his 65th birthday. Piet Visser has become a leading scholar in the field of the Anabaptist and Mennonite History. Since January 1, 2002, he served as the chair of Anabaptist/Mennonite History and Kindred Spirits at the Doopsgezind Seminarium, VU-University, Amsterdam.