In the last twenty years, Orthodox Catholics have come to expect their art to be necessarily about beauty. They expect it always and everywhere to lift one up, to be tinged with, to linger in the dimly-lit rooms of old-moneyed Europe, to be passed around among the best families, among like-minded gnostics, generous Jansenists. But these expectations have nothing to do with reality. In fact, most of the real contributions during the postmodern pe ...
Americans are using more medical services every year, but as many as half of those services do nothing to improve their health. For many, the alarming rise in health care costs is stretching family budgets to the breaking point. This book challenges the notion that more medical care is always better. A clearer understanding of the health benefits–and the risks–of the most widely prescribed drugs and the most commonly performed procedures ...
What is the most famous and influential sentence of all time? Was it spoken or written in Mandarin or German or English–or Greek? And who spoke or recorded this sentence? A case could be made that twenty-five words found in the third chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Bible are history's most celebrated and powerful sentence. Writing for laypersons and specialists alike, in this little book Murray J. Harris, a special ...
When you are young, how do you reconcile so many contradictions in your surroundings? How do you explain being Christian in the face of racial segregation in the church? What do you do with an inquisitive mind in a culture that discourages questioning? These questions clashed for Mitchell Carnell in an unexpected experience in St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Episodes in his life that had remained separate suddenly came together. Everything ...
Throughout the history of the church, many excellent books have been written addressing the theological significance of Christian identity. Such works have delineated important doctrines such as adoption, justification, and sanctification. While these studies of being «in Christ» have been fruitful, and numerous, they have often neglected one of the most useful tools in understanding Christian identity, namely, the use of metaphor. A search of S ...
Most Americans know the story of Pocahontas, but not the fact that she was a Christian, and the reasons for her dramatic conversion. Pocahontas had a history-altering encounter with Jesus Christ. A key figure was Alexander Whitaker, pioneer Anglican missionary in Virginia, who taught Pocahontas the Christian faith–but is almost totally unknown today. This story of Pocahontas has never fully been told. Or it has been ridiculed. Yet it is true, a ...
Church leaders and those who endeavor to plant new churches in Europe today face tremendous challenges, not least because the church itself is considered by many to be outdated, irrelevant, or even an abusive sect. Drawing on a wealth of experience, Church Planting in Europe helps to answer the question of how churches can become more relevant to the societies in which they exist. From biblical and missiological reflections to case studies and ...
Is there an answer for suffering? Sometimes suffering is explicable, sometimes inscrutable, but even when there are no answers, there are responses. The Odyssey outlines one family's journey when their five-year-old daughter suffered a severe brain injury from viral encephalitis. Along the way, The Odyssey explores biblical responses to suffering, including laments, Job's suffering, faith healing, the devil, natural evil, discipleship, ...
Do bullies have free rein in our churches? Who are the bullies? What is scapegoating? Is it possible to practice the mercy and forgiveness demanded by Gospel ethics while also protecting people from emotional and professional damage? These are some of the questions that Stephen Finlan seeks to answer, looking for an ethic of behavior that is both spiritually valid and psychologically wise. He seeks responses to bullying that are both «wise» and ...