Pentecostalism is the fastest growing religious movement of our time. The unexpected birth of the modern-day Pentecostal movement at the doorsteps of the twentieth century is as perplexing as its continuing existence and unprecedented expansion worldwide. Once marginalized from public discourse, Pentecostals have entered into mainstream culture, religion, politics, academia, and social action. However, the unprecedented growth of Pentecostalism in all its diversity has led to characterizations ripe with platitudes, stereotypes, and misrepresentations. This Guide for the Perplexed sheds light on the most persistent contrasts characterizing the Pentecostal movement: the tension between local manifestations and global Pentecostalism, the inconsistency between spiritual discernment and charismatic excess, the gap between rampant denominationalism and the pursuit of Christian unity, the disparity between poverty among many Pentecostals and the popularity of the prosperity gospel, the division between Oneness Pentecostals and their trinitarian counterparts, and the worldview of Pentecostals beyond the confines of a religious movement. Those tensions form the essence of global Pentecostalism and represent the emergence of a global Christian world.

This book offers the first cultural history of Universalism and the Universalist idea - the idea that an all-good and all-powerful God saves all souls. Ann Bressler argues that Universalism begins as a radical, eschatological, and communally-oriented faith and only later became a 'comfortably established' progressive and individualistic one. Although Universalists are usually classed with Unitarians as pioneering Protestant liberals, says Bressler, they were in fact quite different from both contemporary and later liberalism in their ideas and goals. Unitarians began by rejecting the Calvinist idea of sin as corporate, universal, and absolute, replacing it with their moral self-cultivation. Universalists, on the other hand, accepted the Calvinist view of absolute corporeal sinfulness but insisted on absolute corporeal salvation. Bressler's surprising claim is that Universalists, in their defiance of individualistic moralism, were for much of the 19th century the only consistent Calvinists in America. Bressler traces the emergence of the Universalists' 'improved' Calvinism and its gradual erosion over the course of the 19th century.

Is the longevity of the Catholic Church what Rome says it is? Were Christ's Apostles the original Catholics? Did Mary the mother of Jesus really help her Son to redeem mankind? Was the Gospel Jesus left to His disciples incomplete and in need of many additions to perfect it? This book, written by a convert from Catholicism to biblical Christianity, puts the chief claims and doctrines of the Catholic religion under the divine light of God's Word; searches for them in the halls of history; combs through the writings of apostolic fathers for evidence of their veracity.

Chapter by chapter, Scripture by Scripture, the facade of holiness and patristic authority is peeled away, and the true apostate nature of Catholicism is exposed. For evangelical Christians, this work is a gold mine of information about Catholic doctrines and how to deal with the deeply embedded beliefs of those who call themselves Roman Catholics. To the devout Catholic, this book will be either a source of enduring anger, or a bright neon arrow pointing to the eternal, soul-saving Word of God.

The Heidelberg Catechism, first approved in 1563, is a confessional document of the Protestant movement considered one of the most ecumenical of the confessions. Published to coincide with the catechism's 450th anniversary, this book explores the Heidelberg Catechism in its historical setting and emphasizes the catechism's integration of Lutheran and Reformed traditions in all of its major doctrines. An appendix contains a translation of the Heidelberg Catechism recently prepared and adopted by three of the Reformed denominations that recognize the catechism as one of their confessions: the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Reformed Church in America, and the Christian Reformed Church in North America.

The Southern Baptist published beliefs from the years 1833 through 2000 and particularly as adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention, 14 June 2000 are reviewed. The questions are asked; "As published do they clearly show the plan of salvation?" and "does the average Southern Baptist know and understand them?" If not, they represent some type of tool for the leadership who in some instances seem to show an almost pathological dedication to them, even overshadowing the Scriptures. (They are "a witness to the world." Baptist Faith and Message 2000, p. 3) The Baptist Faith & Message Statement has always created controversy. The one from the year 2000 created the most, however, not nearly as much as Jesus created. Even Calvin (1509-1564) noted, "Tumult and unrest often accompany the true proclamation of God's word." (Shepherds Notes, Calvins Institutes, Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1998 p.14) These conclusions have come from discussions and written reviews by senior Baptists, some who have, at least psychologically, left the Southern Baptist Convention. I am reminded of the words of Paul, "I am debtor to the barbarians; and both to the wise and unwise." (Romans 1:14) There is no doubt in my mind that if Christ were to return in this century as He did 2000 years ago He would be crucified again; this time probably by Baptists instead of the Jews. Major issues will be discussed. Baptists have always had the right to discuss and compare their beliefs. I can clearly remember my father, who was the best true Christian that I have ever known saying, "Son, I am a Southern Baptist because I believe they are closer to what the Bible teaches than anyone else." This book is really 18 books in one. It reviews many "big" current religious issues including: refuting the concept of the original sin, clarification of predestination, what is truth (The question Pilate asked Jesus and did not wait for an answer), the Philosophy of War (effects of religion, pacifists, the "Just War," Terror-Us (A new word for crime in America.), shame in our churches, our children moving from television to video games and further away from the Bible, the false concept and security of Baptist in the non-biblical widespread belief of a pre-tribulation rapture, the Biblical warnings that must happen before Christ comes again, a description of the End of the World, and America going to hell reading religious novels. I mentioned to a friend the distraction of reading two novels a week instead of reading the Bible. The answer, " I don't care, I'm going to read them." This is a classic example of the addiction of reading novels and their substitution as an idol. No one will be Left Behind. Everyone will either be flown to Heaven or thrown into Hell.

In this study, Irene Backus examines the fate of the Apocalypse at the hands of early Protestants in three centres of the Reformation: Geneva, Zurich, and Wittenberg. To do so, Backus systematically investigates sources and methods on the most important reformed and Lutheran commentaries of the Apocalypse from 1528-1584.

This study describes the diverse experiences and political opinions of the colonial Anglican clergy during the American Revolution. As an intercolonial study, it depicts regional variations, but also the full range of ministerial responses including loyalism, neutrality, and patriotism. Rhoden explores the extraordinary dilemmas which tested these members of the King's church, from the 1760s controversy over a proposed episcopate to the 1780s formation of the Episcopal Church, and thoroughly demonstrates the impact of the Revolution on their lives and their church.