Showing titles in History

In times of questioning and despair, people often quote the Bible to provide answers. Surprisingly, though, the Bible does not have one answer but many ""answers"" that often contradict one another. Consider these competing explanations for suffering put forth by various biblical writers: The...

Is Christianity obsolete? Can an intelligent, educated person really believe the Bible? Or do the atheists have it right? In his new book, best-selling author Dinesh D'Souza ( What's So Great about America) investigates both Christianity and atheism and their influences on culture to show why there is, indeed, something great about Christianity.

Who was Jesus of Nazareth? Many admire his spiritual teachings; some go further and claim him as the messiah, while a few deny he ever existed at all. But everyone has an opinion about this obscure preacher who lived his brief life in one of the less significant regions of the Roman Empire; and who, in being crucified, died the traditional death for criminals and trouble-makers. Jesus lived in turbulent times. Under Roman rule, Judea was a hotbed of nationalist, political and religious interests, all vying for power.

The cross and the lynching tree are the two most emotionally charged symbols in the history of the African American community. In this powerful work, theologian James H. Cone explores these symbols and their interconnection in the history and souls of black folk. 

In 1683, an Ottoman army that stretched from horizon to horizon set out to seize the "Golden Apple," as Turks referred to Vienna. The ensuing siege pitted battle-hardened Janissaries wielding seventeenth-century grenades against Habsburg armies, widely feared for their savagery. The walls of...

From "the world's greatest tour guide," a deeply-researched, captivating journey through the rich history of Christianity and the winding paths of the French and Italian countryside that will feed mind, body, and soul (New York Times). "What a wondrous work! This beautifully written and totally...

Pagans explores the rise of Christianity from a surprising and unique viewpoint: that of the people who witnessed their ways of life destroyed by what seemed then a powerful religious cult. These "pagans" were actually pious Greeks, Romans, Syrians, and Gauls, who observed the traditions of their ancestors. To these devout polytheists, Christians who worshiped only one deity were immoral atheists who believed that a splash of water on the deathbed could erase a lifetime of sin.

In this collection of essays skeptical scholar Joseph McCabe examines three contentious issues related to the assertions of the apostle: The historicity of the Resurrection; The historicity of Jesus; The rapid spread of Christianity. Using the tools of historical analysis, McCabe concludes that the claims about both the identity and resurrection of Jesus rest on shaky ground, and that myths about dying and rising gods occur frequently in pre-Christian history.

The Apostolic Fathers is an important collection of writings revered by early Christians but not included in the final canon of the New Testament. Here a leading expert on these texts offers an authoritative contemporary translation, in the tradition of the magisterial Lightfoot version but thoroughly up-to-date.

One of this century's most eminent theologians addresses the eternal questions of the relationship of good and evil, linking the story of Job to the lives of the poor and oppressed of the world. This audiobook is expertly read by Joe Scalora, with audio engineering by Allie McSwain. It was...

Diarmaid MacCulloch, one of the foremost scholars of the English Reformation, traces Thomas Cranmer from his east-Midland roots through his twenty-year career as a conventionally conservative Cambridge don. He shows how Cranmer was recruited to the coterie around Henry VIII that was trying to...

The sacred chest said to have been built by the Israelites to house the stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written, the Ark of the Covenant has long captured the popular imagination. According to the Bible, the Israelites carried it with them as they wandered in the wilderness and...

Read by the authors. Does gaining power, possessions, and popularity lead to happiness and fulfillment? Or does inner transformation and self-sacrificial love bring the most joy and satisfaction? New York Times bestselling author Kathie Lee Gifford and scholar Bryan Litfin dive into these...

In twelve short chapters, Cynthia Scott highlights key moments in U.S. history–the Pilgrims and Puritans, the Great Awakenings, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Emancipation Proclamation, and more–revealing God’s providence in founding and shaping our nation. Each chapter concludes with a Scripture-based prayer, making history both personal and practical for listeners of every generation.

The Gospel of Thomas is a lost and rediscovered voice from the earliest days of Christianity—a collection of secret sayings attributed to Jesus that point not to external authority, but to inner revelation. Long excluded from the biblical canon, this text invites the listener into a world where enlightenment comes through self-knowledge and awakening to the divine already within.

For all that bewilders and bedevils us, the desert mothers and fathers can help us. In The Way of the Desert Elders, Lisa Colón DeLay asks: What if desert elders from more than a millennium ago could walk beside us and nourish our spirits? Starting in the fourth century, half a million Christians fled the villages and cities of the Roman Empire. Leaving behind comforts, they battled what Evagrius called "afflicting thoughts," which still unsettle us today. 

A sweeping history of Christianity in America, from the arrival of the first Europeans to the political triumphs of evangelicalism, showing the powerful, singular role the faith has always played in American public life. In the United States today, there is no faith more dominant than...

“Jenkins is one of America’s top religious scholars.” —Forbes magazine The Lost History of Christianity by Philip Jenkins offers a revolutionary view of the history of the Christian church. Subtitled “The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia—and...

“A spiritual defense of the proposition that faith and reason are not contradictory.” —Peter L. Berger, Director, Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs, Boston University Addressing the central question facing the church today—Is the Gospel true?— Dallas Willard offers an...

Молот ведьм — печально известное «руководство для охотников на ведьм», написанное монахом Генрихом Крамером и деканом Кельнского университета Якобом Шпренгером. Книга вышла в 1487 году и выдержала 29 переизданий, получив одинаковую популярность по всей разодранной религиозным расколом Европе. Большинство исследователей склоняются к версии, что при помощи этой книги Генрих Крамер пытался оправдать свою собственную инквизиторскую деятельность, приведшую к сожжению двухсот женщин и позорному изгнанию Крамера с инквизиторской службы за фанатизм и жестокость.