This book investigates the relationship between nineteenth-century German theological Wissenschaft and the emergence of confessional Lutheranism. It argues that the first generation of confessional Lutherans contributed to the discourse over the nature of theological Wissenschaft. Part I examines the intellectual context of nineteenth-century theological Wissenschaft. Chapter 2 presents Kant's and Schelling's conceptions of Wissenschaft in relationship to theology. Chapter 3 analyzes Schleiermacher's contribution to the debate about the integrity of theology as a Wissenschaft, and concludes by considering the developments represented by F.C. Baur and Albrecht Ritschl. Part II investigates the different Lutheran approaches to theological Wissenschaft represented by Adolf Harless, August Vilmar, and Johannes von Hofmann. Chapter 4 examines Harless's Theologische Encyklopadie as the first expression towards a confessional Lutheran Wissenschaft. Chapter 5 highlights Vilmar's antagonistic posture towards modern German theology, while attending to his construction of an alternative approach to modern theology. Chapters 6 and 7 contextualize Hofmann against the landscape of German theology, while situating his theological Wissenschaft within his contentious work Der Schriftbeweis. Chapter 8 reflects upon these efforts at establishing a theological Wissenschaft in service to the church and the university.

Exploration, trade and conquest expanded and upset traditional worldviews of early modern Europeans. Christians saw themselves confronted with a largely heathen world. In the wake of Iberian colonization, Jesuits successfully christianized heathen populations overseas. In his De conversione Indorum et gentilium, Johannes Hoornbeeck presents a systematic overview of every aspect of the missionary imperative from a Reformed Protestant perspective. The most attractive part of his book may be the global survey it offers of the various types of heathens, an early example of comparative religion. Of equal interest, however, is his critical approach to mission. Hoornbeeck rejects ecclesiastical hierarchy and top-down imposition of Christianity. In this he is perfectly orthodox, and at the same time startlingly original and a harbinger of modern missions. His practical recommendations offer a flexible framework for missionaries, to fit a wide variety of circumstances.

La necesidad de ligar y conciliar el mundo espiritual con el universo donde habita la armon a de Dios como piedra angular de la belleza, lleva al poeta a establecer "su mundo" desde donde inicia la construcci n de su propio edificio para abrir la ventana de las oscuridades a la luz, y la elevaci n de lo cotidiano a las comarcas de la belleza celestial; as en el principio era el Verbo, de qu le sirve ganar al hombre hasta el mundo entero, la fe confirma la ley, si hablase todas las lenguas, qu cosa ser el amor, c mo lo puedo entender, si a Dios quisieras pintar, tanto amor jam s he visto, adoro a un Dios que no veo, la salvaci n es un hecho, el amor, el odio, la muerte, todas las peque as y grandes cosas que hacen de cada hombre y de cada mujer, en las manos de Dios, seres irrepetibles. El aporte que Joel Suarez ha hecho para la difusi n y conocimiento de nuestra doctrina luterana, quiz s ha pasado desapercibido en gran medida; su car cter humilde y altruista as lo ha querido. Los poemas que se presentan en este libro, adem s de reflejar el alma de un poeta, tienen una amplia base doctrinal centrada en la Palabra. Joel conoce las circunstancias hist ricas que se daban hace quinientos a os, cuando Mart n Lutero emergi como un gigante para preservar la verdadera doctrina de Cristo y librarla de las garras que la hab an deformado y de qu manera. Ahora estampa a nivel de d cimas la esencia del cristianismo. Su lectura, entonces, a trav s de la diversidad de voces y tonalidades, puede deparar inesperadas sorpresas al recuperar o reencontrar esos parajes del esp ritu que alguna vez perdimos. Es muy grato redescubrir a trav s de este libro la sensibilidad espiritual de un hombre especial; una sensibilidad que merec a ser presentada de la forma apropiada, para compartirla con muchos creyentes m s.

Our world is awash in sex. We are bombarded with it everywhere we turn--TV, newspapers and magazines, music, movies and the Internet. When this ever-present temptation mixes with human weaknesses and unmet needs, many get pulled into addiction to sexually sinful behavior. They may detest their own habits, but they can't seem to break free. Is there any hope? Russell Willingham speaks from his own experience and that of the many he has counseled. His answer? "Yes There is hope. Jesus offers forgiveness and healing." True stories show how the principles in this book can be put into action. The essentials are spelled out in practical steps that can help people begin to break free. Willingham deals with such issues as what all addicts have in common the hunt of the malnourished heart where to find the courage to face the dark side wrestling with shame and grace the healing effect of radical honesty This realistic yet hopeful book offers a new way to see the world for every person who wants to understand and break free from sexual addiction.

Virulent anti-Catholicism was a hallmark of New England society from the first Puritan settlements to the eve of the American Revolution and beyond. Thus America's tactical decision during the Revolution to form alliances with Catholics in Canada and France ignited an awkward debate. The paradox arising out of this partnership has been left virtually unexamined by previous historians of the Revolution.

In Necessary Virtue Charles P. Hanson explores the disruptive effects of the American Revolution on the religious culture of New England Protestantism. He examines the efforts of New Englanders to make sense of their own shifting ideas of Catholicism and anti-Catholicism and traces the "necessary virtue" of religious toleration to its origins in pragmatic cultural politics. To some patriots, abandoning traditional anti-Catholicism meant shedding an obsolete relic of the intolerant colonial past; others saw it as a temporary concession to be reversed as soon as possible. Their Tory opponents meanwhile assailed them all as hypocrites for making common cause with the "papists" they had so recently despised. What began as a Protestant crusade succeeded only with Catholic help and later culminated in the First Amendment's formal separation of church and state. The Catholic contribution to American independence was thus controversial from the start.

In this felicitously written and informative book, Hanson raises questions about difference, tolerance, and the role of religious belief in politics and government that help us see the American Revolution in a new light. Necessary Virtue is timely in pointing to the historical contingency and, perhaps, the fragility of the church-state separation that is very much a poltical and legal issue today.

In 1786, the Reverend James MacGregor (1759-1830) was dispatched across the North Atlantic to establish a dissenting Presbyterian church in Pictou, Nova Scotia. The decision dismayed MacGregor, who had hoped for a post in the Scottish Highlands. Yet it led to a remarkable career in what was still the backwoods of colonial North America. Industrious and erudite, MacGregor established the progressive Pictou Academy, opposed slavery, and promoted scientific education, agriculture, and industry. Poet and translator, fluent in nine languages, he encouraged the preservation of the Gaelic language and promoted Scottish culture in Nova Scotia. Highland Shepherd finally bestows on MacGregor the recognition that he so richly deserves. Alan Wilson brings MacGregor and his surroundings to life, detailing his numerous achievements and establishing his importance to the social, religious, and intellectual history of the Maritimes.

This is the first interpretation of the reaction of the Southern Churches to the Civil War and Reconstruction. During the Civil War and afterwards, Southern evangelicals remained convinced that their cause was both Christian and just. This position became more entrenched as northern evangelicals entered the South after the war, aiming to save freedmen. Stowell shows the religious reconstruction that followed deeply effected the logic of the Lost Cause and the subsequent history of Reconstruction.

This book provides a critical analysis of a revival often overshadowed by earlier "great awakenings". The Revival of 1857-58 was a widespread religious awakening most famous for urban prayer meetings in major metropolitan centres across the United States. The author places this revival within the context of Protestant revival traditions and suggests that it may have been the closest thing to a truly national awakening in American history.