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.

In this fresh approach to Christian spirituality, John Driver shows that the spirituality of the disciples and the early Christian church included every dimension of life. Grounded in the example of Jesus himself, this holistic approach to spirituality finds expression in the visible witness of the Christian community, and in the daily lives of faithful Christians who seek to embody Christ's presence in the world in service to others. This approach to Christian spirituality was recovered in a remarkable way by the radical reformers of the sixteenth century - the Anabaptists - and it continues to find expression among a wide variety of Christian groups around the world today. Life Together in the Spirit will inspire, challenge, and encourage you to experience the presence of the Spirit in all of its dimensions. This edition, revised and expanded with responses and reflections from church leaders and scholars around the world, is the seventh publication in the "Global Anabaptist-Mennonite Shelf of Literature," an initiative of Mennonite World Conference. Contributors include Mvwala C. Katshinga (Democratic Republic of Congo), Christina Asheervadam (India), Rafael Zaracho (Paraguay), Hermann Woelke (Uruguay), Paulus Pan (Taiwan), Patricia Uruena (Colombia), and Nellie Mlotshwa (Zimbabwe).

It is summer, 1940. As Hitler's armies turn mainland Europe into a mass graveyard, his feared Luftwaffe rain bombs on England. Meanwhile, amid the green hills of the Cotswolds, a nest of "enemy aliens" has been discovered: the Bruderhof, a Christian community made up of German, Dutch, and Swiss refugees, and growing numbers of English pacifists. Having fled Nazi Germany to escape persecution, the Bruderhof had at first been welcomed in England. Now, at the height of the Battle of Britain, it is feared. Curfews and travel restrictions are imposed; nasty newspaper articles appear, and local patriots initiate a boycott. Determined to remain together as a witness for peace in a war-torn world, the little group of 300 - half of them babies and young children - looks for a new home. No country in Europe or North America will take them. And so they set off across the submarine-infested Atlantic for the jungles of Paraguay... In this gripping tale of faith tested by adversity, Emmy Barth lets us hear directly from the mothers, fathers, and children involved through their letters and diaries. Especially eloquent are the voices of the women as they faced both adventure and tragedy.

Evangelical Christianity was a predominant stream of religion during the early history of the United States. Mark Noll describes and interprets American Evangelical Christianity, utilizing research by theologians, sociologists and political scientists, as well as the author's own historical interests, to explain the position Evangelicalism now occupies at the beginning of the new century.Evangelical Christians existed as a large but disintegrating force for the first half of the twentieth century, developing into an increasingly visible presence over recent decades. Noll examines their frequently misunderstood political bearing over the latter half of the last century, arguing that exploitation of the resources of Evangelical theology might improve the quality of Evangelical politics. The central concern of the book is to sell American Evangelical Christianity as a form of 'culturally adaptive biblical experimentalism' and to show why this portrayal makes sense of both Evangelical religion and the place of Evangelicals in American religion.This book is intended to provide insights for Evangelicals, and even more so for those who aren't, into the meaning of Evangelical activities, aspirations and ideologies throughout American history. It provides a fascinating insight into a stream of religion which now exerts a considerable social, political and cultural force.

This is the first major study of the enigmatic religious society. By examining the Jehovah's Witnesses' dramatic recent expansion, Andrew Holden reveals the dependency of their quasi-totalitarian movement on the physical and cultural resources which have brought about the privatisation of religion, the erosion of community and the separation of 'fact' from faith.

This case study examines the history of the Netherlandic Mennonite community living in and around Hamburg after the Thirty Years War. Based on detailed archival research, it expands the scope of Radical Reformation studies to include the confessional age (c. 1550-1750). During this period Mennonites had to conform politically while trying to preserve many of the nonconformist ideals of their forebears, such as the refusal to baptize children, bear arms and swear solemn oaths. The research presented in Obedient Heretics will, therefore, be of interest to scholars of minority communities in addition to those concerned with the Reformation's legacy, confessionalization and confessional identity.

This is the first major study of the enigmatic religious society. By examining the Jehovah's Witnesses' dramatic recent expansion, Andrew Holden reveals the dependency of their quasi-totalitarian movement on the physical and cultural resources which have brought about the privatisation of religion, the erosion of community and the separation of 'fact' from faith.

Published in 1905: This book discusses Evangelism and Christianity.

American Evangelicals Today assesses the contemporary social, religious, and political characteristics of evangelical Protestants today, and it does so in light of (1) whether these characteristics are similar to, or different from, the corresponding characteristics of adherents of other major faith traditions in American religious life, and (2) the extent which these particular characteristics among evangelicals may have changed over the past four decades. In addition, it analyzes the extent which evangelicals are divided today, and it does so within the framework of four potential factors that might shape such divisions -- racial/ethnic differences, generational differences, educational differences, and religious differences. American Evangelicals Today is designed to serve as an accessible, but scholarly, overview of American evangelicals, one that is appealing to all scholars, students, and laity alike. Smidt offers a discussion of the nature of evangelical Protestantism, highlights the particular analytical issues at play when one seeks to determine just who are to be classified as evangelicals, and reveals some of the contradictory findings that can emerge through the use of these different analytical frameworks for defining evangelicals. The volume not only analyzes the current characteristics of evangelicals in light of those exhibited by other religious traditions as well as how evangelicals have changed over time, but it looks toward the future, addressing generational differences and other possible factors for change among evangelical Protestants.

Christian punk is a surprisingly successful musical subculture and a fascinating expression of American evangelicalism. Situating Christian punk within the modern history of Christianity and the rapidly changing culture of spirituality and secularity, this book illustrates how Christian punk continues punk's autonomous and oppositional creative practices, but from within a typically traditional evangelical morality. Analyzing straight edge Christian abstinence and punk-friendly churches, this book also focuses on gender performance within a subculture dominated by young men in a time of contested gender roles and ideologies. Critically-minded and rich in ethnographic data and insider perspectives, Christian Punk will engage scholars of contemporary evangelicalism, religion and popular music, and punk and all its related subcultures.

Philip Jenkins looks at how the image of the cult evolved and why panics about such groups occur at certain times. He examines the deep roots of cult scares in American history, offering the first-ever history and analysis of cults and their critics fromthe 19th century to the present day. Contrary to popular belief, Jenkins shows, cults and anti-cult movements were not an invention of the 1960's, but in fact are traceable to the mid-19th century, when Catholics, Mormons and Freemasons were equally denounced for violence, fraud and licentiousness. He finds that, although there are genuine instances of aberrant behavior, a foundation of truth about fringe religious movements is all but obscured by a vast edifice of myth, distortion and hype.

A sweet and heartwarming Amish romance where no disaster can conquer true love. Dairy farmer Abe Stoltzfus wants to propose to Lavinia Fisher, the beautiful young woman he's been dating, but being a traditional Amish man, he worries about how he can provide for her. Farming can be uncertain enough with weather conditions, crops not doing well, all manner of uncertainties. And after a bad summer storm and a serious injury from a rooftop tumble, Abe wants to wait until both he and his farm are back on their feet. Lavinia is relieved when Abe survives the fall, yet it seems like it's only the start of events that threaten their future together. But Lavinia is not only a talented Amish crafter, she's also the daughter of a farmer. She knows what the life of a farm wife is like and remains optimistic things will turn around. And when Abe continues to drag his feet, Lavinia makes him an interesting proposal. Will Abe be able to resist it-and her?

'The limits of radicalism are those which end not in chaos but in the breaking of fresh ground.' Howard E. Root Previously unpublished--and only recently rediscovered by Dr Christopher R. Brewer in an uncatalogued box in the archives of Lambeth Palace Library--Canon Howard E. Root's 1972 Bampton Lectures, 'The Limits of Radicalism', have to do with nothing less than 'what theology is', a topic no less relevant today than it was in 1972. Against the radical reductionism of his time, Root defended the integrity of theology and 'theological truth'. Advocating a 'backward-looking' radicalism, he thought that tradition should display 'recognisable continuity', and yet at the same time--against reductionistic tendencies--that it might be enriched and enlarged via a wide variety of 'additive imagery' including, though not limited to, poetry and pop art, music and even television. We must 'begin where we are', said Root, for we cannot, in the manner of Leonard Hodgson, 'think ourselves into the minds and feelings of men 2000 years ago.' In this volume, which begins with a substantial, mostly biographical introduction, Dr Brewer argues that Root--a backward-looking radical who defended metaphysics and natural theology, and insisted that theologians look to the arts as theological resources--anticipates the work of David Brown and others concerned with tradition and imagination, relevance and truth. A fascinating glimpse into the recent history of British Christianity, Root's lectures, as well as the related appendices, are essential reading for theologians interested in the dynamics of a developing tradition and the theme of openness, as well as those with a particular interest in 1960s Cambridge radicalism and the British reception of the Second Vatican Council.

In this new edition of "The Amish and the State" Donald Kraybill brings together legal scholars and social scientists to explore the unique series of conflicts between a traditional religious minority and the modern state. In the process, the authors trace the preservation--and the erosion--of religious liberty in American life. Kraybill begins with an overview of the Amish in North America and describes the "negotiation model" used throughout the book to interpret a variety of legal conflicts. Subsequent chapters deal with specific aspects of religious freedom over which the Amish and the state have clashed. Focusing on the period from 1925 to 2001 in the United States, the authors examine conflicts over military service and conscription, Social Security and taxes, education, health care, land use and zoning, regulation of slow-moving vehicles, and other first amendment issues. New concluding chapters, by constitutional expert William Ball, who defended the Amish before the Supreme Court in 1972 in the landmark "Wisconsin v. Yoder" case, and law professor Garret Epps, assess the Amish contribution to preserving religious liberty in the United States.

An important contribution to the understanding of twentieth-century Anglicanism and evangelicalism This volume makes a considerable contribution to the understanding of twentieth-century Anglicanism and evangelicalism. It includes an expansive introduction which both engages with recent scholarship and challenges existing narratives. The book locates the diverse Anglican evangelical movement in the broader fields of the history of English Christianity and evangelical globalisation. Contributors argue that evangelicals often engaged constructively with the wider Church of England, long before the 1967 Keele Congress, and displayed a greater internal party unity than has previously been supposed. Other significant themes include the rise of various 'neo-evangelicalisms', charismaticism, lay leadership, changing conceptions of national identity, and the importance of generational shifts. The volume also provides an analysis of major organisations, conferences and networks, including the Keswick Convention, Islington Conference and Nationwide Festival of Light. ANDREW ATHERSTONE is tutor in history and doctrine, and Latimer research fellow at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. JOHN MAIDEN is lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at the Open University. He is author of National Religion and the Prayer Book Controversy, 1927-1928 (The Boydell Press, 2009).

In the closing decades of the nineteenth century, college-age Latter-daySaints began undertaking a remarkable intellectual pilgrimage to the nation'selite universities, including Harvard, Columbia, Michigan, Chicago, andStanford. Thomas W. Simpson chronicles the academic migration of hundredsof LDS students from the 1860s through the late 1930s, when churchauthority J. Reuben Clark Jr., himself a product of the Columbia UniversityLaw School, gave a reactionary speech about young Mormons' search forintellectual cultivation. Clark's leadership helped to set conservative parametersthat in large part came to characterize Mormon intellectual life.At the outset, Mormon women and men were purposefully dispatched tosuch universities to "gather the world's knowledge to Zion." Simpson, drawingon unpublished diaries, among other materials, shows how LDS studentscommonly described American universities as egalitarian spaces that fostereda personally transformative sense of freedom to explore provisionalreconciliations of Mormon and American identities and religious and scientificperspectives. On campus, Simpson argues, Mormon separatism diedand a new, modern Mormonism was born: a Mormonism at home in theUnited States but at odds with itself. Fierce battles among Mormon scholarsand church leaders ensued over scientific thought, progressivism, and thehistoricity of Mormonism's sacred past. The scars and controversy, Simpsonconcludes, linger.

HONOURING THE DECLARATION provides academic resources to help The United Church of Canada and other Canadian denominations enact their commitment to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and offers a framework for reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada. Featuring essays from scholars working from a range of disciplines, including religious studies, Indigenous legal studies, Christian theology and ethics, Biblical studies, Indigenous educational leadership within the United Church, and social activism, the collection includes both Indigenous and non-Indigenous voices, all of whom respond meaningfully to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action. The texts explore some of the challenges that accepting the UN Declaration as a framework poses to the United Church and other Canadian denominations, and provides academic reflection on how these challenges can be met. These reflections include concrete proposals for steps that Canadian denominations and their seminaries need to take in light of their commitment to the Declaration, a study of a past attempt of the United Church to be in solidarity with Indigenous peoples, and discussions of ethical concepts and theological doctrines that can empower and guide the church in living out this commitment.

'Secularization' has been hotly debated since it was first subjected to critical attention in the mid-sixties by David Martin, before he sketched a 'General Theory' in 1969. 'On Secularization' presents David Martin's reassessment of the key issues: with particular regard to the special situation of religion in Western Europe, and questions in the global context including Pentecostalism in Latin America and Africa. Concluding with examinations of Pluralism, Christian Language, and Christianity and Politics, this book offers students and other readers of social theory and sociology of religion an invaluable reappraisal of Christianity and Secularization. It represents the most comprehensive sociology of contemporary Christianity, set in historical depth.

At the core of African American religion's response to social inequalities has been a symbiotic relationship between socio-political activism and spiritual restoration. Drawing on archival material and ethnographic fieldwork with African American Spiritual Churches in the USA, this book examines how their spiritual and social work can shed light on the interplay between corporate activism and individual spirituality. This book traces the development of this "politico-spiritual" approach to injustice from the beginning of the twentieth century through the opening decade of the twenty-first century, using the work of African American Spiritual Churches as a lens through which to observe its progression. Addressing subjects such as spiritual healing, support of the homeless, gender equality and the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, it demonstrates that these communities are clearly motivated by the dual concerns of the soul and the community. This study diversifies our understanding of the African American religious landscape, highlighting an approach to social injustice that conjoins both political and spiritual transformations. As such, it will be of significant interest to scholars of religious studies, African American studies and politics.

Few believers experience God's altar--a place of pure and wholehearted relationship and worship where our holy God can meet with us and the fire of his presence can fall. But such an altar is necessary in our personal lives, our marriages, our churches, and our nations so that we are strengthened, empowered, and equipped for every good work. In this influential, modern-day call back to the altar, Chuck D. Pierce and Alemu Beeftu invite readers to find their way to rebuild the place of God's presence to allow the fire of God--his presence and power--to fall. When we rekindle the altar fire, our lives, prayer, and worship are transformed. The time to rebuild altars for fresh fire is now!

Popular Evangelicalism in American Culture explores the controversies, complexities, and historical development of the evangelical movement in America and its impact on American culture. Evangelicalism is one of the most dynamic and growing religious movements in America and has been both a major force in shaping American society and likewise a group which has resisted aspects of the modern world. Organised thematically this book demonstrates the impact of American culture on popular evangelicalism by exploring the following topics: politics; economics; salvation; millennialism; the megachurch and electronic churches; and popular culture. This accessible and thought-provoking volume will interest anyone concerned with the modern-day success of the Evangelical movement in America.