Moral Re-Armament's followers hailed it as the most important spiritual movement of the twentieth century. It claimed supporters from Mohandas Gandhi to Mae West, who praised its contributions to global understanding and personal happiness. Critics saw MRA as naive and possibly dangerous, cozy with fascism or a front for corporate power. Fundamentalists called it a cult. With its mixture of American evangelicalism, popular psychology, and show business, it attracted men and women on six continents. This book traces Moral Re-Armament's reinventions over fifty years, from its Ivy League beginnings to its spiritual heirs, Up With People and Alcoholics Anonymous.

In this new book on the rise of commercial black 'mega churches, ' Mary Hinton examines the rich legacy of the historic black church from the dual perspectives of theology and religious education. She explores the new religious models emerging from the tradition of the historic black church and questions whether they are continuing to operate and practice according to the wisdom of this unique form of American religion. Two mega church ministries, those of T. D. Jakes and Creflo Dollar, are examined in detail with regards to how they align with black church religious history. Hinton concludes by proposing that the fastest growing religious phenomenon within and outside of the black community in the United States-the mega church-should no longer be analyzed based on size alone. Instead, Hinton urges readers to consider the ecclesiastical structures of churches in making appropriate assessments in determining should and should not be classified as a commercial church

Sociologist Jeffrey Guhin spent a year and a half embedded in four high schools in the New York City area - two of them Sunni Muslim and two Evangelical Christian. At first pass, these communities do not seem to have much in common. But under closer inspection Guhin finds several common threads: each school community holds to a conservative approach to gender and sexuality, a hostility towards the theory of evolution, and a deep suspicion of secularism. All possess a double-sided image of America, on the one hand as a place where their children can excel and prosper, and on the other hand as a land of temptations that could lead their children astray. He shows how these school communities use boundaries of politics, gender, and sexuality to distinguish themselves from the secular world, both in school and online. Guhin develops his study of boundaries in the book's first half to show how the school communities teach their children who they are not; the book's second half shows how the communities use "external authorities" to teach their children who they are. These "external authorities" - such as Science, Scripture, and Prayer - are experienced by community members as real powers with the ability to issue commands and coerce action. By offloading agency to these external authorities, leaders in these schools are able to maintain a commitment to religious freedom while simultaneously reproducing their moral commitments in their students. Drawing on extensive classroom observation, community participation, and 143 formal interviews with students, teachers, and staff, this book makes an original contribution to sociology, religious studies, and education.

WARNING: Peter warned that multitudes could be lead to their own destruction by misinterpreting some of Paul's letters. Speaking of Paul... "his letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort (untrained in the knowledge of the Torah) as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless... those who do not walk in the way of the Torah-Law]" (2 Peter 3:16, 17; commentary added). Why is Peter warning us of Paul's letters? Peter understood Paul's style of teaching, which was from an intellectual and philosophical Greek mindset. Peter knew that unschooled people and those unlearned in the ways of Torah would misunderstand them and would be misled by teachers who manipulate the letters to elevate and profit from them, ultimately leading many to their own destruction. ITZHAK BEN AARON LEVY was born and raised in Israel and comes to us from the priestly tribe of Levy. Rabbi Levy uses history and the Bible in the making of this book; his teachings fall in the middle between Judaism and Christianity, bridging the divide. Levy has chosen Paul's letters since they have been a pivotal point of controversy when compared to the other writers of the New Testament. Knowing that Paul was schooled in the Hebrew language, Levy has used Paul's translated letters from Greek to Hebrew in order to help the reader better understand Paul's Hebrew thinking. By doing this, Levy delivers the true intent of Paul's letters while removing the controversial shadow that was cast on Paul for 2,000 years, allowing the real Paul to come forth. "Thought provoking... enlightening... once I started reading, I couldn't put it down." -MSK "This book sheds much clarity on Paul the person." - B. Jensen "A truly enlightened deliverance of Paul." R. Welsh

How can we develop and embody an ecclesiology, in contexts of urban marginality, that is radically receptive to the gifts and challenges of the agency of our non-Christian neighbours? Drawing on resources from political theologies, and in particular conversation with Graham Ward and Romand Coles, this book challenges our lazy understanding of receptivity, digging deep to uncover a rich theological seam which has the potential to radically alter how theologians think about what we draw from urban places. It offers a game changing liberative theology rooted not in the global south but from a position of self-critical privilege.