LIVRE ILLUSTRE: Ce livre contenant les recits bibliques sur le ministere de Jesus est specialement concu pour les enfants. Il est illustre . Les illustrations, meme pour les adultes, laissent une image permanente dans les pensees des lecteurs ainsi bien dans celles des ecouteurs. Il y a de celles qui sont en couleurs et d'autres naturelles. J'ai voulu produire un instrument educationnel pour que ceux qui vont lire ce livre puissent assimiler ces recits tant par les textes que par les images. Les messages ainsi inculques pourraient marquer leur vie a jamais. La lecture de bons livres, surtout dans notre societe actuelle a la tendance de remplir le vide laisse par l'absence des parents dans la formation tant intellectuelle que civique, culturelle, morale et religieuse des enfants a nos jours. Les salons sociaux abba comme on les avait connus dans la societe Bantu ont disparu depuis l'incertion des ecoles. Les tables a manger, les maisons-cuisines africaines avec des places assises et les lits, les grandes cours des villages ou les enfants passaient le temps sous le clair de lune pour dancer ou entendre les recits racontes et entonnes des chants par la grand-mere, etaient des instruments de transmission de valeurs culturelles de la societe. Mais aujourd'hui, tout cela a disparu. Nos enfants et grands enfants grandissent sous le guide de la television, des medias, et des influences etrangeres qui denaturent totalement notre societe africaine. Comme il est impossible de faire un retour aux anciens instruments de transmission de valeurs, utilisons les moyens modernes pour faire une difference positive dans la vie de ceux qui formrnt notre futur tant social que religieux. C'est donc dans ce contexte que j'ai ecrit ce livre qui couvre la vie de Jesus et son ministere allant des propheties de sa venue a la solide implantation de son Eglise sur terre. La Bible est la base de tout que j'ai ecrit, mais le plus souvent en mes propres termes afin de faciliter la comprehension. Il y a 29 chapitres illustres et chacun contient au moins 7 recits. Tous les recits ne sont pas illustres. Mais j'ai voulu inclure au moins trois a quatre photos dans chaque chapitre. Un autre merite de ce livre est qu'il est simple au point de donner un sens profond des conceptes fondamentaux de la foi chretienne sans pour autant utiliser les lourds termes. Un enfant qui a assimile les connaissances de ce livre aura une bonne comprehension de ce qu'est notre foi en Jesus Christ. Que ce livre soit le bienvenu parmi ceux qui prendront notre releve dans cette societe et surtout, ceux qui sont l'Eglise chretienne de demain en Afrique et dans le monde. Le 23 Mai 2014

Student-friendly intro to one of America's most fascinating theological minds. Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) has long been recognized as one of the preeminent thinkers in the early Enlightenment and a major figure in the history of American Christianity. In this accessible one-volume text, leading Edwards experts Oliver Crisp and Kyle Strobel introduce readers to the formi-dable mind of Jonathan Edwards as they survey key theological and philosophical themes in his thought, including his doctrine of the Trinity, his philosophical theology of God and creation, and his understanding of the atonement and salvation. More than two centuries after his death, theologians and historians alike are finding the larger-than-life Edwards more interesting than ever. Crisp and Strobel's concise yet comprehensive guide will help new students of this influential eighteenth-century revivalist preacher begin to understand why.

Gift and Promise shows that the theology of the Augsburg Confession is as much a gift to the world today as it Was when first presented in 1530. Building on a book started by Ed Schroeder (three chapters are presented in the first part), nine of his students present the theology of the Augsburg Confession in language that makes it accessible to those without a scholarly background, including pastors, students, and lay people interested in Lutheran history and theology. Gift and Promise establishes the theological "hub" of the Augsburg Confession- what the Confession itself calls the "central teaching of the Christian faith" -in the doctrine of justification by faith alone. That hub is traced to its source in Luther's theology of the cross. Each chapter presents how that central hub is articulated in the articles of faith that comprise the Ausgburg Confession. Lucid, powerful, and insightful, the expositions in this volume are written by expert theologians, historians, and scholars who aim to present the crucial and practical message of the Christian life in the Augsburg Confession for all.

Bringing together a rich range of primary sources - images, liturgies, sermons, letters, eyewitness accounts, and Genevan consistory records - this book examines worship as it was taught and practiced in John Calvin's Geneva. Several of these primary sources are translated into English for the first time, offering new resources for studying Calvin and his context. Karin Maag uses Geneva as a case study for investigating the theology and practice of worship in the Reformation era. Covering the period from 1541 to 1564, the year of Calvin's death, Lifting Hearts to the Lord captures both Calvin's signal contribution to Reformation worship and the voices of ordinary Genevans as they navigated - and debated, even fought about - the changes in worship resulting from the Reformation.

Long overshadowed by Luther and Calvin, Philipp Melanchthon (1497-1560) is one of the most important figures in the Protestant Reformation and had profound effect on Western church history. This book gives the most detailed English-language biographical treatment of Melanchthon to date, moving from his historical context and personal origins, through his childhood, education, and early career at Wittenberg during the dramatic events at the dawn of the Reformation (1497-1524). Establishing the deep geopolitical and religious context of Melanchthon's early life, the volume then follows Melanchthon to the great halls of humanist learning at Heidelberg and Tubingen, where his studies and teaching career began and his'faith was richly fostered. The pivotal moment comes in his appointment to the chair of Greek in Wittenberg where Melanchthon became a great ally and supporter of Martin Luther. Melanchthon's role as key player in the advocacy for reform expanded through his involvement in the Leipzig Disputation, his visible representation of the evangelical cause in Wittenberg during Luther's absence at Worms and the Wartburg, and his struggle with the radical wing. The volume closes by looking ahead to Melanchthon's contribution to the Augsburg Confession of 1530.

Most biographers of Luther are faced with a choice-focus on Luther's life or focus on his thought. The choice, though real, is false. Luther's thought was inextricably bound up with his life. In this short, engaging volume, Hans Schwarz succeeds in blending the two-creating a volume that introduces Luther's thought in the context of his life story. The book meets the need for a clear and concise introduction to the life and teachings of the great church reformer, Martin Luther. After a brief overview of his life, the book devotes chapters to Luther's thoughts on key areas of the Christian faith and life, including the knowledge of God, church and sacraments, the Scriptures, marriage and parenthood, and vocation. The author incorporates quotations from Luther's own writings to show how Luther's insights have relevance for all Christians today. With questions for reflection and discussion, the book can be used as a study resource for individuals, church groups, or college and seminary classes. For this revised edition, Schwarz has thoroughly reviewed the text and added important new sections on Luther and music, Luther and the economy, Luther and the Jews, and more.

Cotton Mather (1663-1728) was America's most famous pastor and scholar at the beginning of the eighteenth century. People today generally associate him with the infamous Salem witch trials, but that picture has mostly come down to us from one unreliable, antagonistic source. This biography by Rick Kennedy, based largely on new research by an international team of scholars, corrects misconceptions of Cotton Mather and focuses on the way he tried to promote, socially and intellectually, a biblical lifestyle. As older Puritan hopes in New England were giving way to a broader and shallower Protestantism, Mather led a populist, Bible-oriented movement that embraced the new century -- the beginning of a dynamic evangelical tradition that eventually became a major force in American culture.

In this revelatory account of the people who founded the New England colonies, historian David D. Hall compares the reforms they enacted with those attempted in England during the period of the English Revolution. Bringing with them a deep fear of arbitrary, unlimited authority, these settlers based their churches on the participation of laypeople and insisted on "consent" as a premise of all civil governance. Puritans also transformed civil and criminal law and the workings of courts with the intention of establishing equity. In this political and social history of the five New England colonies, Hall provides a masterful re-evaluation of the earliest moments of New England's history, revealing the colonists to be the most effective and daring reformers of their day.