Presbyterian Outlook

Author : Candida Moss
Publisher : Harper Collins
Page : 247 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 2013-03-05
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780062104540

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The Myth of Persecution by Candida Moss Pdf

In The Myth of Persecution, Candida Moss, a leading expert on early Christianity, reveals how the early church exaggerated, invented, and forged stories of Christian martyrs and how the dangerous legacy of a martyrdom complex is employed today to silence dissent and galvanize a new generation of culture warriors. According to cherished church tradition and popular belief, before the Emperor Constantine made Christianity legal in the fourth century, early Christians were systematically persecuted by a brutal Roman Empire intent on their destruction. As the story goes, vast numbers of believers were thrown to the lions, tortured, or burned alive because they refused to renounce Christ. These saints, Christianity's inspirational heroes, are still venerated today. Moss, however, exposes that the "Age of Martyrs" is a fiction—there was no sustained 300-year-long effort by the Romans to persecute Christians. Instead, these stories were pious exaggerations; highly stylized rewritings of Jewish, Greek, and Roman noble death traditions; and even forgeries designed to marginalize heretics, inspire the faithful, and fund churches. The traditional story of persecution is still taught in Sunday school classes, celebrated in sermons, and employed by church leaders, politicians, and media pundits who insist that Christians were—and always will be—persecuted by a hostile, secular world. While violence against Christians does occur in select parts of the world today, the rhetoric of persecution is both misleading and rooted in an inaccurate history of the early church. Moss urges modern Christians to abandon the conspiratorial assumption that the world is out to get Christians and, rather, embrace the consolation, moral instruction, and spiritual guidance that these martyrdom stories provide.

Author : Richard R. Osmer,Katherine M. Douglass
Publisher : Eerdmans
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 2018
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0802876609

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Cultivating Teen Faith by Richard R. Osmer,Katherine M. Douglass Pdf

What are churches doing to form the faith of their young people? Many church denominations that practice infant baptism offer confirmation or an equivalent ministry when children reach adolescence and enter a new phase of spiritual growth -- but all churches, regardless of tradition, wrestle with how to get young adults to join the church. What really works? In this book twelve authors draw on a three-year study of more than 3,000 US congregations across five denominations to answer this pressing question. They tell stories of excellent and innovative confirmation programs that work and that show, above all, what good discipleship with young people looks like. Youth pastors, church leaders, and parents alike will benefit from the practices and new ways of teaching presented here that have proven helpful in forming and enhancing the faith of youth.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 16 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 1963
Category : Presbyterianism
ISBN : UVA:X030513153

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Presbyterian Outlook by Anonim Pdf

Author : Amy Frykholm
Publisher : Augsburg Fortress Publishers
Page : 230 pages
File Size : 54,8 Mb
Release : 2021-08-03
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781506471853

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Wild Woman by Amy Frykholm Pdf

In the dusty corner of a library, journalist Amy Frykholm discovers a footnote that leads her on a decades-long search for Mary of Egypt--runaway, prostitute, holy desert dweller, saint, and archetypal wild woman. As their storylines crisscross maps and centuries, both become more fully revealed--in the embrace of the sacred.

Author : Mona Siddiqui
Publisher : Yale University Press
Page : 271 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 2013-04-15
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780300189261

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Christians, Muslims and Jesus by Mona Siddiqui Pdf

Prophet or messiah, the figure of Jesus serves as both the bridge and the barrier between Christianity and Islam. In this accessible and revelatory book, Muslim scholar and popular commentator Mona Siddiqui explores the theological links between the two religions, showing how Islamic thought has approached and responded to Jesus and Christological themes from its earliest days to modern times. The author finds that the philosophical overlap between the two religions is greater than previously imagined, and this being so, her book brings with it the hope of improving interfaith communication and understanding./divDIV DIVThrough a careful analysis of selected works by major Christian and Muslim theologians during the formative, medieval, and modern periods of both religions, Siddiqui focuses on themes including revelation, prophesy, salvation, redemption, grace, sin, eschatology, law, and love. How did some become the defining characteristics of one faith and not the other? Which—and why—do some translate between the two religions? With a nuanced and carefully considered analysis of critical doctrines of Christianity and Islam, the author provides a refreshing counterpoint to contemporary polemical arguments and makes an important contribution to reasoned interfaith conversation./div

Author : Bill Tammeus
Publisher : Turner Publishing Company
Page : 188 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2016-09-20
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781683366652

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The Value of Doubt by Bill Tammeus Pdf

An invitation not to a faith certain of everything but, rather, to a faith that welcomes the discomforting questions. Religious zealotry plagues the world. It drives susceptible people to believe they have all the truth, all the wisdom, all the divine favor. And in some cases it even moves them to murder people who, they have concluded, are enemies of God. In The Value of Doubt, veteran journalist Bill Tammeus draws deeply on his own Protestant experience of doubt and faith and, in a series of reflections, contends that the road to a rich, dynamic, healthy faith inevitably must run through the valley of the shadow of doubt. The opposite of faith, he says, is not doubt; rather, the opposite of faith is false certitude. Tammeus argues in favor of recognizing our mortality, of adopting the Benedictine virtue of humility and of realizing that we live by metaphor, by allegory, by myth. It's the willingness to question, to reconsider, to be comfortable with ambiguity and paradox that will save faith from the hands of those who seem to know all the answers before they ever hear the questions. This lively and challenging look at the religious life is for anyone seeking to build and enrich an authentic faith and courageous enough to see doubt as an essential part of it.

Author : Christian M. M. Brady
Publisher : Westminster John Knox Press
Page : 198 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2020-09-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781611649987

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Beautiful and Terrible Things by Christian M. M. Brady Pdf

Bible scholar Christian Brady, an expert on Old Testament lament, was as prepared as a person could be for the death of a child—which is to say, not nearly well enough. When his eight-year-old son died suddenly from a fast-moving blood infection, Brady heard the typical platitudes about accepting God's will and knew that quiet acceptance was not the only godly way to grieve. With deep faith, knowledge of Scripture, and the wisdom that comes only from experience, Brady guides readers grieving losses and setbacks of all kinds in voicing their lament to God, reflecting on the nature of human existence, and persevering in hope. Brady finds that rather than an image of God managing every event and action in our lives, the biblical account describes the very real world in which we all live, a world full of hardship and calamity that often comes unbidden and unmerited. Yet, it also is a world into which God lovingly intrudes to bring comfort, peace, and grace.

Author : Tim Conder,Daniel Rhodes
Publisher : Chalice Press
Page : 141 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2017-03-21
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780827227644

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Organizing Church by Tim Conder,Daniel Rhodes Pdf

The 21st century is the age of community organizing, from rallies in the streets to online movements for change. What if congregations embraced community organizing? Organizing Church offers a unique perspective that blends proven principles of community organizing and research on socially active congregations into a formula that will revitalize and empower churches as change-agents. Seasoned pastors and community activists Tim Conder and Dan Rhodes will help pastors and other church leaders build healthier congregations, create a deep culture of discipleship in their community, and respond to the challenges presented by the global culture of the 21st century. Organizing Church is the essential field guide for joining the social justice movement today.

Author : Kat Armas
Publisher : Brazos Press
Page : 224 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 2021-08-10
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781493431113

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Abuelita Faith by Kat Armas Pdf

Christianity Today 2022 Book Award Finalist (Christian Living & Discipleship) "[A] powerful debut. . . . This persuasive testament will appeal to Christians interested in the lesser-known women of the Bible."--Publishers Weekly "Armas expertly weaves her own abuelita's history of personal faith and resistance into each chapter and intersects it with biblical text, creating an approachable work."--Library Journal What if some of our greatest theologians wouldn't be considered theologians at all? Kat Armas, a second-generation Cuban American, grew up on the outskirts of Miami's famed Little Havana neighborhood. Her earliest theological formation came from her grandmother, her abuelita, who fled Cuba during the height of political unrest and raised three children alone after her husband passed away. Combining personal storytelling with biblical reflection, Armas shows us how voices on the margins--those often dismissed, isolated, and oppressed because of their gender, socioeconomic status, or lack of education--have more to teach us about following God than we realize. Abuelita Faith tells the story of unnamed and overlooked theologians in society and in the Bible--mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and daughters--whose survival, strength, resistance, and persistence teach us the true power of faith and love. The author's exploration of abuelita theology will help people of all cultural and ethnic backgrounds reflect on the abuelitas in their lives and ministries and on ways they can live out abuelita faith every day.

Author : Elizabeth F. Caldwell,Carol A Wehrheim
Publisher : Westminster John Knox Press
Page : 360 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2018-01-05
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN : 9781611648294

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Growing in God's Love by Elizabeth F. Caldwell,Carol A Wehrheim Pdf

Help nurture the faith of the children in your life with Growing in Gods Love: A Story Bible. This engaging resource features 150 popular Bible stories that are organized by 13 themes, including Strong Women and Men; Listening for God; Parables; Healings and Miracles; and more. Each story is built on the latest in biblical scholarship and learning theory and helps children begin to understand the Bible and apply its teachings to the world around them. Growing in Gods Love features diverse artwork from more than twenty artists to appeal to a variety of ages and learning styles. Three reflection questionsHear, See, Actare included at the end of each story to help children further ponder the message of the story. Growing in Gods Love: A Story Bible is ideal for children ages 4-8, and it is perfect for Sunday school classrooms, childrens sermons, vacation Bible school, and gift-giving at baptism or other milestones.

Author : John Cleghorn
Publisher : Fortress Press
Page : 211 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 2021-03-02
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781506464855

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Resurrecting Church by John Cleghorn Pdf

Resurrecting Church interweaves three strands. First, it is the remarkable turnaround story of Caldwell Presbyterian Church, which was on the edge of extinction when author John Cleghorn filled the role of pastor. Second, Cleghorn tells the story of his own growth and liberation from the myopia of privilege. Cleghorn traded his position as senior vice president of the nation's largest bank for ministry and the dusty and dated church office at Caldwell Presbyterian. The third strand includes the stories of several diverse congregations researched by the author. These congregations are examples of faith communities that have taken risks, deepening empathy and seeking justice. Through these stories, the book updates the "same old" conversation about church vitality in timely and surprising ways. Cleghorn raises these important questions: Can churches survive, even be resurrected, at the intersections of race, sexuality, class, and faith background? Can congregations be liberated by rebuilding around those on the margins who have been wounded by church? As more US cities become majority-minority, the "mainline" church remains stubbornly white and homogeneous. Church leaders and thinkers are seeking ways to build more racial diversity and radical welcome. This book provides hope and practical examples of how this can happen. Cleghorn declares, "God is doing what Isaiah calls 'a new thing'" in congregations where multiple types of diversity intersect, erecting spiritual hospitals for the wounded and marginalized. For the church, these intersections provide both a current lens of self-examination and avenues to growth in faith. With stories, people profiles, and insights from their leaders and members, this book breaks new ground with practical learning and lessons drawn from original research and the lived experience of intersectional churches across the US.

Author : Stephen A. Jurovics
Publisher : Church Publishing, Inc.
Page : 176 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 2016-03-01
Category : Nature
ISBN : 9780819232540

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Hospitable Planet by Stephen A. Jurovics Pdf

United Methodist Women’s Reading Group Selection “What can I do about the environment? What has God said about the environment?” Most books about climate change only address one of these questions. Those from a religious perspective do not address what individuals can do to help society transition from fossil fuels, other than changing personal behavior. Readers know instinctively that will not suffice, and so are left feeling the situation is hopeless. In contrast, books that primarily address environmental issues fail to reach people motivated more by faith than science, leaving out many who could constitute the tipping point for full American engagement on the issue. Borrowing an approach from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s leadership, which brought together both secular and religious arguments for ending segregation, this book addresses physical evidence of climate change while demonstrating through biblical teachings the religious imperative for preserving our inherited world. The compelling biblical case for creation care is grounded in environmental teachings Jesus knew, primarily in the Hebrew Scriptures. Topics addressed include air pollution, treatment of the land, preserving biological diversity, and treatment of animals, and each is connected to contemporary issues such as greenhouse gas emissions, care of the needy, the extinction of species, and factory farming.

Author : Becca Stevens
Publisher : Harper Horizon
Page : 221 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2021-09-14
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780785241751

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Practically Divine by Becca Stevens Pdf

When we allow ourselves to embrace both ordinary and extraordinary experiences, we can feel the divine anywhere. No matter where we are—on a walk in the woods, in a sacred building, or in a dusty refugee camp—signs of love abound. There is no secret formula to experiencing the sacred in our lives, it just takes practice and practicality. You’re invited to search this path with entrepreneur Becca Stevens as she explores what it means to be practically divine. Woven throughout the narrative are poetry and rants, as well as ruminations on her mother’s wit, wisdom, and passion. In Practically Divine, Becca shares how to live a life that’s practically divine by: Redefining old lies and stories, to learn from the past Appreciating the gifts that come from imperfections or trauma Using creativity to spark new revolutions Accepting the chaos of the unknown before us with courage Sharing in a feast of love, knowing there’s enough mercy and forgiveness Embracing the practically divine compels us to do something, anything, to share in the feast of love together. When we start from wherever we are, we can recognize the potential for humor, wonder, and freedom. Practically Divine teaches you to use your senses to transform information into holy compassion. When we open our hearts to it, we can experience the divine anywhere - like sacred breadcrumbs marking our path.

Author : Mark Yaconelli
Publisher : Augsburg Fortress Publishers
Page : 207 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 2022-08-09
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9781506481470

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Between the Listening and the Telling by Mark Yaconelli Pdf

"In Between the Listening and the Telling, Mark Yaconelli leads readers into an enchanting meditation on the power of storytelling. From personal meaning-making to school shootings, climate change, and immigration justice, stories help us connect to out human longings and deep scurrents of hope."--Provided by publisher.

Author : James Calvin Davis
Publisher : Westminster John Knox Press
Page : 240 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2010-09-21
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781611640755

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In Defense of Civility by James Calvin Davis Pdf

From "the big four" (abortion, homosexuality, euthanasia, and stem-cell research) to war, poverty, and the environment, this timely book considers religion's impact on moral debates in America's past and present. James Calvin Davis argues for religion's potential to enrich both the content and the civility of public conversation. This book will interest all concerned citizens yearning for more careful thinking about the role of religion in public debate.