Outline : Is the world better off without Christianity? Is religion a pernicious force in the world? Many believe so. Having spent the last decade reflecting on this question, historian John Dickson concludes: the skeptics, are right. Christian history reveals many dark things - violence, bigotry, greed, child abuse, and more. Christian have been bullies. But the critics are only partly right:…
Outline : Know the Theologians introduces the most important thinkers throughout church history and demonstrates their ongoing relevance for believers today. Professors Jennifer Powell McNutt and David W. McNutt survey more than a dozen theologians, including key Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant figures, who represent the breadth and depth of the church's theology. Each chapter …
Outline : The global mental health crisis is growing faster than our existing mental health care system can address. To meet the scope of human need, we need new models of care. The good news is that there is an institution uniquely positioned with the resources and the heart to help: the church. Psychologists James Sells and Amy Trout and journalist Heather Sells know firsthand the urgency of …
Outline : Most people believe that hell is the final state of the condemned following the final judgment. At the same time, many people cannot comprehend why God created hell for the unsaved. Respected church fathers held a variety of views dating back to the early centuries of the church. This book explains views on why hell exists: unending suffering, the annihilation of the unrepentant, and …
Outline : Why do we have bodies? When it comes to thinking about our bodies, confusion reigns. In our secular age, there has been a loss of the body's goodness, purpose, and end. Many people, driven by shame and idolatry, abuse their body through self-harm or self-improvement. How can we renew our understanding and see our bodies the way God does? In Wonderfully Made, John Kleinig forms a prop…
Outline : World religions are not merely abstract sets of doctrinal beliefs. They are embodied worldviews and practices lived out by people around us. Encounters with these neighboring faiths often challenge our own beliefs and traditions, making us think more deeply about our faith commitments. For all who want to understand the beliefs of their neighbors, Winfried Corduan offers an introducti…
Outline : Explores the interconnection between body, mind, soul, and culture. While our current culture often places a divide between religion and medicine, in some cultures, the healer and the religious leader have been the same. The phrase "physician of souls" is a connective term that links those who primarily tend the physical bodies of the suffering to those who primarily tend the emotions…
Outline : Modern theology claimed it ignited a renaissance in Trinitarian Theology. Really, it has been a renaissance in social trinitarianism. Classical commitments such as divine simplicity have been jettisoned, the three persons have been redefined as three centers of consciousness and will, and modern agendas in politics, gender, and ecclesiology determine the terms of the discussion. Conte…
Outline : Too often scholars impose on the past modern terms and theories. This is particularly evident concerning discussions of divine sovereignty and human responsibility, where libertarian and compatibilist notions of freedom obscure older understandings of concurrence. Providence, Freedom, and the Will is one historian’s attempt to help us interpret early modern documents in context with…
Outline : Carl Trueman analyses the theology of the great Puritan theologian, John Owen, paying particular attention to his vigorous trinitarianism. To understand Owen, we need to see him as a seventeenth-century representative of the Western trinitarian and anti-Pelagian tradition. Trueman demonstrates how Owen used the theological insights of patristic, medieval, and Reformation theologians t…
Outline: An Urgent Call for Christians everywhere to explore the nature of Kingdom amid the political upheaval of our day. Should Christians be politically withdrawn, avoiding participation in politics to maintain their prophetic voice and to keep from being used as political pawns? Or should Christians be actively involved, seeking to control and utilize political systems to control the levers…
Outline : Some scholars argue that Jacob Arminius was a Reformed theologian and held to the basic tenets of Reformed soteriology. But is this the best way to understand Arminius? In this perceptive set of essays, J. V. Fesko reassesses the context and meaning of Arminius’s writings on topics such as predestination, effectual calling, union with Christ, justification, and perseverance. Grantin…
Outline : Hebrew for the Rest of Us, Second Edition by Lee M. Fields is a guide for English-only readers to understand the highlights taught in three or four semesters of Hebrew language study to deepen their approach and understanding of Scripture. Fields highlights essential Hebrew grammar by drawing on parallels to English grammar and then moves the reader toward developing necessary skills …
Outline : The Culmination of James D. G. Dunn's Three - Volume Magnum Opus on the development of early Christianity.
Outline : What is so great about the Lord’s Day? In this book, children will hear the story of what happens on any given Sunday and why. From resting from our usual jobs to gathering as a church to worship, the Lord’s Day is a special day for honoring the Lord – it’s all in the name! Children will see how this day, by the Spirit's grace, also helps hem to trust in Jesus and get ready to…
Outline: Judges - Longing for a Leader: Faltering in Faithfulness. The refrain, "in those days there was no king in Israel, each person was doing what was right in their own eyes," unites the two themes in Judges, kingship, with all its promise and peril, and syncretism, the protection from which as the king's primary responsibility. Drawing on Hebrew narrative discourse, Boda and Conway highli…
Outline: Daniel is a book of exile and expectation. In a foreign land, God's people face confusion, uncertainty, and even death. Where is God? What is his plan? What is the future of us? The book's familiar stories and unsettling visions answer these questions with a simple but stunning truth: the God of Israel is sovereign king of a world-encompassing eternal kingdom. He is king of all kings, …
Outline : Learning how to live in today's new social and cultural environment will require examination, trial and error, and adaptation over time. But there are ways to live with integrity and follow Christ today, even in a negative world. Since a peak in church attendance in the mid-20th century, Christianity has been on a trajectory of decline in the United States. Once positive toward Christ…
Outline : The story of Joseph is prominent in the book of Genesis and yet is rarely mentioned in the rest of Scripture. How then do we understand Joseph's significance in redemptive history? When Christians have addressed this question, the conversation invariably turns toward typology : is Joseph a type of the Messiah? Messianic interpretations of the Joseph narrative have often lacked method…
Outline : How did the apostles understand the Old Testament? Although relatively few in number, the New Testament's explicit summaries of the Old Testament story of Israel give readers direct access into the way the earliest Christians told this story―that is to say, into the way they did biblical theology. This stimulating New Studies in Biblical Theology volume examines the passages in the…
Outline : The authors of the New Testament regularly quote and allude to Old Testament passages that point to the presence, person, and work of Jesus. Jesus himself claimed that Moses wrote about him (John 5:46). And on the road to Emmaus, Jesus instructed the disciples from "Moses and all the prophets" regarding himself (Luke 24:27). Though Christians affirm that the Old Testament bears witnes…
Outline : William McEwen is one of the forgotten writers of the Scottish church of the eighteenth century and one of the great popular exponents for a sound biblical typology. In this book, McEwen investigates numerous people, places, and things in the Old Testament and shows how they prefigure the Lord Jesus Christ. Each chapter exhibits a lively meditation, providing concise, conversational, …
Outline: The book of Habakkuk is most known for its theological value as a prooftext for Paul's gospel - "the just shall live by faith" - and its devotional value of hope, trust, and triumph in its closing verses. Indeed, theology and devotion come together as we engage with the prophet's personal faith journey. In the historical context of the looming Babylonian exile, Habakkuk struggles, as A…
Outline : The fourth edition of this classic text brings with it a renewed focus on purpose, theology, and message of the Old Testament in a more succinct and more inviting size for students. It provides,
Outline: In Philippians, Paul addresses his dear friends in the church at Philippi in hopes of healing a people plagued by a lack of unity. Celebrating their partnership in his mission, the apostle points the Philippians to their heavenly citizenship, their need for self-sacrifical love toward one another, and their need for self-sacrificial love toward one another, and their need to stand toge…
Outline: Scripture reveals the nature of human violence in all its types, including interpersonal, structural, sexual, and political violence. To explore what the Bible says about human violence, Old Testament scholar Helen Paynter dives deeply into even the most problematic biblical narratives. Strating with the creation narratives in Genesis and moving to the conquest of Canaan, she investiga…
Outline : How might premodern exegesis of Genesis inform Christian debates about creation today? Imagine a table with three people in dialogue: a young-earth creationist, an old-earth creationist, and an evolutionary creationist. Into the room walks Augustine of Hippo, one of the most significant theologians in the history of the church. In what ways will his reading of Scripture and his doctri…
Outline : An Exploration of the Relevance of Religious Experience. Harold Netland offers an introduction to the complex topic of religious experience and its viability as support for Christian belief.
Outline : Living amid a modern-day crisis of authority, Christians need to be able to point to God's revelation in the natural world even as they defend God's unique revelation in the Bible and in the person of Jesus Christ. In The Knowledge of God in the World and the Word Workbook, authors Douglas Groothuis and Andrew I. Shepardson provide questions in various formats - multiple choice, essa…
Outline: A Concise history of the Bible : its creation, use, and interpretation.
Outline: Covenant theology is the study of God's eternal, unchanging purpose to bring a people to Himself through covenantal relationship. That redeeming purpose unfolds through-out divine revelation and redemptive history - from the eternal, intra-Trinitarian counsel of the Godhead to the consummation of history in the new heavens and the new earth. In God to Us, Stephen G. Myers explains this…
Outline: RZIM's goal is to reach and challenge those who shape the ideas of a culture with the credibility of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In keeping with this goal, the purpose of his line of booklets is to give a succinct, popular-level response to frequently-asked questions about the Christian faith. In Ravi Zacharias' works, "What I believe in my heart must make sense in my mind,"
Outline: A Definitive Masterwork from the world's leading Christian Apologist. Throughout his career, Ravi Zacharias has faced some of the most difficult questions ever asked about the Christian faith. The most troublesome question of all, however, came from a Hindu friend. "If this conversion is truly supernatural," he asked, "why is it not more evident in the lives of so many Christians that …
Outline: The differences and discrepancies in the Gospels constitute one of the foremost objections to their reliability and the credibility of their message. Some have tried to resolve Gospels contradictions with strained harmonization efforts. Others conclude that the Gospels are hopelessly contradictory and, therefore, historically unreliable accounts of Jesus. In Jesus, Contradicted, New Te…
The modern chasm between "secular" work and "sacred" worship has had a devastating impact on Western Christianity. Drawing on years of research, ministry, and leadership experience, Kaemingk and Willson explain why Sunday morning worship and Monday morning work desperately need to inform and impact one another. Together they engage in a rich biblical, theological, and historical exploration of …
Outline: In recent decades, powerful telescopes have enabled astrophysicists to uncover startling new worlds and solar systems. An epochal moment took place in 1995, when an exoplanet - 51 Pegasi b - was located orbiting another star like our sun. This discovery profoundly changed perceptions of the universe. Since then, thousands of planets have followed. These astounding findings have transfo…
Overview: In a crystal clear discussion of science and religion and their logical friendship in the search for truth and understanding, Polkinghorne draws on discoveries made in atomic physics to make credible the claims of Christianity, and helps refine Christian perceptions through the knowledge that the new science brings. He discusses belief in God, chaos, evolution, miracles, and prayer, a…
Outline: Demons, witches, and ghosts: drugs, divination, and the occult; shamans, priests, and prophets ... All these await you in Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion - an anthropological study of religious beliefs and practices both strange and familiar. This fascinating anthology of readings, now in its second edition, contains 16 new articles and provides a rich blend of modern and traditional t…
Outline: This anthology invites Christians to find resources for faithful, creative thinking in the riches of the church's theological heritage and its worship traditions. Contributors include Robert Barron, Timothy George, Stanley Hauerwas, Alasdair MacIntyre, Mark Noll, and N.T. Wright, among others.
Outline: Kenneth Cragg describes his authoritative book The Event of the Qur'an as "an exercise in religious enquiry and in trans-religious openness of the heart ..." in the common context of our single humanity and our separate histories." The question "what happens in the Qur'an?" holds profound historical fascination as well as being a matter of great religious sensivity to all readers, rega…
Outline: In the series of essays collected in this book, Eleonore Stump offers reflections that illustrate the nature and importance of learning from the Christian heritage in its development over the ages of the Christian tradition and its continued development over the ages of the Christian tradition and its continued development in interaction with contemporary philosophy, theology, and scie…
Outline: A new commentary for today's world. The Story of God Bible Commentary explains and illuminates each passage of Scripture in light of the Bible's grand story. The first commentary series to do so, SGBC offers a clear and compelling exposition of biblical texts, guiding everyday readers in how to creatively and faithfully live out the Bible in their own contexts. Its story-centric approa…
Outline: Science, technology and economic growth motivate our society. Each is carried on with little regard for Christian concerns. Brian Walsh and Richard Middleton yearn for change. They long to see Christianity penetrate the structures of society, reforming and remolding our culture. From scholarship in the universities to politics, business and family life, the Christian vision can transfo…
Outline: American Society, with its growing polarizations, is experiencing a profound crisis of trust, from government to mass media to educational and religious institutions. And - whether we realize it or not - this crisis affects us all. In Building Cultures of Trust eminent scholar Martin Marty proposes ways of improving the conditions for trust at what might be called the "grassroots" leve…
Outline: This accessible text by James P. Ware provides both a concise guide to Paul's theology and a general introduction to the key issues and debates in the contemporary study of Paul. Examining Paul's message in the context of the ancient world, Ware identifies what would have struck Paul's original audience as startling or unique. By comparing Paul's teaching to the other religions and phi…
Outline : Recent years have seen renewed interest in divine action, but much of the literature tends to focus on the science-theology discussion. Resulting from the multiyear work of the Scripture and Doctrine Seminar, part of the Kirby Laing Centre's Scripture Collective, this book explores the many different ways in which divine action is foregrounded and portrayed in one major biblical text,…
Outline : THE STORY OF ISRAEL IN THE FIVE CENTURIES LEADING UP TO THE BIRTH OF JESUS Bridging the Testaments surveys the history and theological developments of four significant eras in Israel's postexilic history: the Persian Era (539-331 BC), the Hellenistic Era (331-167 BC), the Hasmonean Era (167-63 BC), and the Roman Era (63-4 BC). In doing so, it does away with the notion that there were…
Outline: As Christians, we should neither blindly accept nor entirely dismiss psychiatric labels, diagnoses, and medicines that are prescribed to help those who are suffering. Descriptions and Prescriptions provides a balanced, biblically (and scientifically) informed approach that will help us understand and minister to those struggling with mental health issues.