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Books > Christianity > Protestantism & Protestant Churches
This book puts John Chrysostom in conversation with deliverance
ministries and the prosperity gospel in modern African charismatic
Christianity. Chrysostom had a cosmology not unlike that present in
the charismatic Christianity of the global south, where the world
is populated by spirits able to affect the material world.
Additionally, Chrysostom had plenty to say about suffering, demons,
and prosperity. Through this conversation, issues of personal moral
responsibility and salvation rise to the surface, and it is through
these issues that modern Western and African Christians can perhaps
have a conversation that gets past the "weirdness" of a
spirit-inhabited world and talk together about the saving work of
Christ for the benefit of all the Church.
This title presents distinguished scholars on Calvin and his
surprising up to date relevance addressing three central current
issues: faith - ecumenism - public responsibility. This inspiring
collection of essays spells out the relevance of John Calvin's
theology for today in three areas: Faith? Calvin's theology asks
how God deals with the persistent presence of human sin. For
Calvin, the chief end of life is to know God and devote our life to
his glory. The still topical point is that we are freed from our
fixation with ourselves, thereby recognising and living out our
true reality in relation to God. Ecumenism? The unity of the Church
in Christ is of central importance to Calvin. We must do our utmost
to make it visible. In Calvin's view, if there is agreement in the
understanding of God and grace, all other differences have no
divisive importance. This still characterises Reformed
understanding today. Public responsibility? Calvin posed the
question about the church's public responsibility as no other
Reformer did. Part 3 reveals the sources of the worldwide impact of
Calvin's and Reformed theology on politics, the law, scholarship
and the organising of life in society, including civil society.
The so-called extra Calvinisticum-the doctrine that the incarnate
Son of God continued to exist beyond the flesh-was not invented by
John Calvin or Reformed theologians. If this is true, as is almost
universally acknowledged today, then why do scholars continue to
fixate almost exclusively on Calvin when they discuss this
doctrine? The answer to the "why" of this scholarly trend, however,
is not as important as correcting the trend. This volume expands
our vision of the historical functions and christological
significance of this doctrine by expounding its uses in Cyril of
Alexandria, Thomas Aquinas, Zacharias Ursinus, and in theologians
from the Reformation to the present. Despite its relative
obscurity, the doctrine that came to be known as the "Calvinist
extra" is a possession of the church catholic and a feature of
Christology that ought to be carefully appropriated in contemporary
reflection on the Incarnation.
Freedom of religious belief is guaranteed under the constitution of
the People's Republic of China, but the degree to which this
freedom is able to be exercised remains a highly controversial
issue. Much scholarly attention has been given to persecuted
underground groups such as Falungong, but one area that remains
largely unexplored is the relationship between officially
registered churches and the communist government. This study
investigates the history of one such official church, Moore
Memorial Church in Shanghai. This church was founded by American
Methodist missionaries. By the time of the 1949 revolution, it was
the largest Protestant church in East Asia, running seven day a
week programs. As a case study of one individual church, operating
from an historical (rather than theological) perspective, this
study examines the experience of people at this church against the
backdrop of the turbulent politics of the Mao and Deng eras. It
asks and seeks to answer questions such as: were the people at the
church pleased to see the foreign missionaries leave? Were people
forced to sign the so-called Christian manifesto?Once the church
doors were closed in 1966, did worshippers go underground? Why was
this particular church especially chosen to be the first re-opened
in Shanghai in 1979? What explanations are there for its phenomenal
growth since then? A considerable proportion of the data for this
study is drawn from Chinese language sources, including interviews,
personal correspondence, statistics, internal church documents and
archives, many of which have never previously been published or
accessed by foreign researchers. The main focus of this study is on
the period from 1949 to 1989, a period in which the church
experienced many ups and downs, restrictions and limitations. The
Mao era, in particular, remains one of the least understood and
seldom written about periods in the history of Christianity in
China. This study therefore makes a significant contribution to our
evolving understanding of the delicate balancing act between
compromise, co-operation and compliance that categorises
church-state relations in modern China.
This first volume of a series on the Scottish church dealing
largely with the church's relationship with the secular community
and with the nature of Scottish nationhood after the country had
been deprived of its parliament in 1707. The book makes out a case
for those much abused but tolenrant men, the Moderates, who turned
their backs on disputes, and tried to commend the Christian faih in
the period of the Enlightenment.
This book reveals whether there is a temple in heaven and what its
purpose is. Christ is revealed as our High Priest who intercedes
for us. This is the heart of the Seventh-day Adventist message.
Issues addressed include: Can we be sure there is a real temple in
heaven? What is the purpose of this temple? When does the judgement
start? Do we need to keep the Ten Commandments? Should we observe a
literal Sabbath? And much more. The heavenly sanctuary reveals
Jesus who ever intercedes for us (Hebrews 7:25). ""An extremely
thorough, engaging presentation of the framework of Seventh-day
Adventist beliefs."" - Kirkus Review
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