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Books > Christianity > Christian institutions & organizations > General
A cultural history of how Christianity was born from its martyrs.
Though it promises eternal life, Christianity was forged in death.
Christianity is built upon the legacies of the apostles and martyrs
who chose to die rather than renounce the name of their lord. In
this innovative cultural history, Kyle Smith shows how a devotion
to death has shaped Christianity for two thousand years. For
centuries, Christians have cared for their saints, curating their
deaths as examples of holiness. Martyrs' stories, lurid legends of
torture, have been told and retold, translated and rewritten.
Martyrs' bones are alive in the world, relics pulsing with wonder.
Martyrs' shrines are still visited by pilgrims, many in search of a
miracle. Martyrs have even shaped the Christian conception of time,
with each day of the year celebrating the death of a saint. From
Roman antiquity to the present, by way of medieval England and the
Protestant Reformation, Cult of the Dead tells the fascinating
story of how the world's most widespread religion is steeped in the
memory of its martyrs.
First published in 1973, this work demonstrates how the English
churchmen of the nineteenth century moved from a firmly entrenched
position in the old social hierarchy to a less definable and
insecure position under the rule of the collectivist State run by a
professional workforce. Dr Kitson Clark explores the many questions
po
Many elders are tired of tedious, aimless, unproductive meetings.
This guide is written to first, explain the great importance of the
meeting of the leadership to prayerfully address the needs of the
fellowship. Secondly, there is valuable suggestions to help elders,
deacons or others in committees to achieve effective, quality
meetings.
In this comprehensive overview of the Anglican Church, theologian
J. I. Packer showcases the hallmarks of "authentic Anglicanism" and
its rich history while casting a vision for the future.
America is in the throes of a cultural war-one that threatens us
from within and without. So-called "progressive" individuals and
organizations are falsely using the words of our founding fathers
to achieve the antithesis of their design for our nation. The first
Americans sought freedom of religion; today we face freedom from
religion. The framers of the constitution sought liberty; modern
interpretations promote licentiousness. The early settlers believed
in absolute morality; today's liberals advocate relative morality.
What If America Were a Christian Nation Again? offers
encouragement about God's providential hand on our nation-and hope
that it's not too late to save. The authors provide a specific
blueprint to preserve and restore our country to its original
intent. In three sections (Where We Came From, Where We Are, Where
We Are Going), they offer concrete examples from history, in-depth
analysis of current conditions, and strategies for developing "a
new birth of freedom."
A Festschrift in honour of Don Carson's 70th birthday. One of Don's
greatest gifts has been his focus on mission. This collection
edited by Richard Cunningham features some of the top theologians
writing at their best about mission and the challenges facing the
church.
Faith-based organizations are sometimes known for what we're
against--and all too often that includes being against each other.
But amid growing distrust of religious institutions,
Christ-centered nonprofits have a unique opportunity to link arms
and collectively pursue a calling higher than any one
organization's agenda. Rooting for Rivals reveals how your ministry
can multiply its impact by cooperating, rather than competing.
Peter Greer and Chris Horst explore case studies illustrating the
power of collaborative ministry. They also vulnerably share their
own failures and successes in pursuing a kingdom mind-set. Discover
the power of openhanded leadership to make a greater impact on the
world. "I love the African quote, 'If you want to go fast, go
alone. If you want to go far, go together.' I'm grateful to Peter
Greer and Chris Horst for celebrating Christ-centered teamwork and
collaboration in Rooting for Rivals."--RICHARD STEARNS, president
of World Vision U.S. and author of The Hole in Our Gospel
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.
What does it cost to follow Jesus? For these men and women, the
answer was clear. They were ready to give witness to Christ in the
face of intense persecution, even if it cost them their lives. From
the stoning of Stephen to Nigerian Christians persecuted by Boko
Haram today, these stories from around the world and through the
ages will inspire greater faithfulness to the way of Jesus,
reminding us what costly discipleship looks like in any age. Since
the birth of Christianity, the church has commemorated those who
suffered for their faith in Christ. In the Anabaptist tradition
especially, stories of the boldness and steadfastness of early
Christian and Reformation-era martyrs have been handed down from
one generation to the next through books such as Thieleman van
Braght's Martyrs Mirror (1660). Yet the stories of more recent
Christian witnesses are often unknown. Bearing Witness tells the
stories of early Christian martyrs Stephen, Polycarp, Justin,
Agathonica, Papylus, Carpus, Perpetua, Tharacus, Probus,
Andronicus, and Marcellus, followed by radical reformers Jan Hus,
Michael and Margaretha Sattler, Weynken Claes, William Tyndale,
Jakob and Katharina Hutter, Anna Janz, Dirk Willems. But the bulk
of the book focuses on little-known modern witness including
Veronika Loehans, Jacob Hochstetler, Gnadenhutten, Joseph and
Michael Hofer, Emanuel Swartzendruber, Regina Rosenberg, Eberhard
and Emmy Arnold, Johann Kornelius Martens, Ahn Ei Sook, Jakob
Rempel, Clarence Jordan, Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, Tulio
Pedraza, Stanimir Katanic, Samuel Kakesa, Kasai Kapata, Meserete
Kristos Church, Sarah Corson, Alexander Men, Jose Chuquin, Norman
Tattersall, Katherine Wu, and Ekklesiyar Yan'uwa a Nigeria. This
book is part of the Bearing Witness Stories Project, a
collaborative story-gathering project involving Anabaptist
believers from many different traditions.
Narrates the story of the Christian tradition and its global
heritage over two millennia
The Christian Community is a unique church organisation in the
modern world. It values the rhythm and ritual of the sacraments
(such as baptism and holy communion), and has re-established them
in a form which tries to meet the deepest needs of searching souls.
At the same time, it proclaims the right of individuals to form
their own beliefs, rather than what the church tells them. It
therefore offers something quite particular and vital for the
future of Christianity. This book looks back to the founding of The
Christian Community in 1922, following inspiration from Rudolf
Steiner, and especially its beginnings in English-speaking
countries. It includes accounts of the key personalities who
brought the organisation into existence, such as Friedrich
Rittelmeyer and Emil Bock, as well as the priests and leaders who
pioneered it in Britain, North America, South Africa, Australia and
New Zealand, including Alfred Heidenreich, Oliver Matthews, Verner
Hegg, Heinz Maurer, Julian Sleigh, Eileen Hersey, Michael Tapp and
many more.
We learn who we are as we walk together in the way of Jesus. So I
want to invite you on a pilgrimage. Rwanda is often held up as a
model of evangelization in Africa. Yet in 1994, beginning on the
Thursday of Easter week, Christians killed other Christians, often
in the same churches where they had worshiped together. The most
Christianized country in Africa became the site of its worst
genocide. With a mother who was a Hutu and a father who was a
Tutsi, author Emmanuel Katongole is uniquely qualified to point out
that the tragedy in Rwanda is also a mirror reflecting the deep
brokenness of the church in the West. Rwanda brings us to a cry of
lament on our knees where together we learn that we must interrupt
these patterns of brokenness But Rwanda also brings us to a place
of hope. Indeed, the only hope for our world after Rwanda s
genocide is a new kind of Christian identity for the global body of
Christ---a people on pilgrimage together, a mixed group, bearing
witness to a new identity made possible by the Gospel."
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.
Alexander III's 1179 Lateran Council, was, for medieval
contemporaries, the first of the great papal councils of the
central Middle Ages. Gathered to demonstrate the renewed unity of
the Latin Church, it brought together hundreds of bishops and other
ecclesiastical dignitaries to discuss and debate the laws and
problems that faced that church. In this evaluation of the 1179
conciliar decrees, Danica Summerlin demonstrates how these decrees,
often characterised as widespread and effective ecclesiastical
legislation, emerged from local disputes which were then subjected
to a period of sifting and gradual integration into the local and
scholarly consciousness, in exactly the same way as other
contemporary legal texts. Rather than papal mandates that were
automatically observed as a result of their inherent papal
authority, therefore, Summerlin reveals how conciliar decrees
should be viewed as representative of contemporary discussions
between the papacy, their representatives and local bishops,
clerics, and scholars.
How Christian people have framed the meaning of violence within
their faith tradition has been a complex process subject to all
manner of historical, cultural, political, ethnic and theological
contingencies. As a tradition encompassing widely divergent beliefs
and perspectives, Christianity has, over two millennia, adapted to
changing cultural and historical circumstances. To grasp the
complexity of this tradition and its involvement with violence
requires attention to specific elements explored in this Element:
the scriptural and institutional sources for violence; the faith
commitments and practices that join communities and sanction both
resistance to and authorization for violence; and select historical
developments that altered the power wielded by Christianity in
society, culture and politics. Relevant issues in social psychology
and the moral action guides addressing violence affirmed in
Christian communities provide a deeper explanation for the
motivations that have led to the diverse interpretations of
violence avowed in the Christian tradition.
This deeply contextual biography centers on the tensions generated
by the pope's attempt to turn the Church away from power and
tradition and outwards to engage humanity with God's mercy. Through
battles with corrupt bankers and worldly cardinals, in turbulent
meetings and on global trips, history's first Latin-American pope
has attempted to reshape the Church to evangelise the contemporary
age. At the same time, he has stirred other leaders' deep-seated
fear that the Church is capitulating to modernity - leaders who
have challenged his bid to create a more welcoming, attentive
institution. Facing rebellions over his allowing sacraments for the
divorced and his attempt to create a more 'ecological' Catholicism,
as well as a firestorm of criticism for the Church's record on
sexual abuse, Francis emerges as a leader of remarkable vision and
skill with a relentless spiritual focus - a leader who is at peace
in the turmoil surrounding him. With entertaining anecdotes,
insider accounts, and expert analysis, Ivereigh's journey through
the key episodes of Francis's reform in Rome and the wider Church
brings into sharp focus the frustrations and fury, as well as the
joys and successes, of one of the most remarkable pontificates of
the contemporary age.
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