The Rev. John Wesley (1703-1791), the founder of the Methodist Church, was an enthusiastic preacher for the Lord, a prolific writer, and a prestigious Oxford scholar. For over two centuries, his treasured sermons have provided keen insight, deep analysis, and provocative applications of the great truths of the faith for minister and layperson alike. Utilizing both primary and secondary works, John Wesley's 52 Standard Sermons: An Annotated Summary presents a concise yet useful report on ea...

Sacro-Egoism: The Rise of Religious Individualism in the West discusses the relationship between secularization, participation in religious practices and belief, and the emergence of radical individualized expressions of faith in the West. Using McMinnville, Oregon, as a case study, it presents the data collected and analyzed from several churches, denominations, and spiritual settings in that unassuming town, and compares it to the results of Heelas and Woodhead's "Spiritual Revolution" p...

The Book of Genesis is the first book in both the Hebrew and Christian bibles—the first offering in the Pentateuch or the Torah, which is the primary textual and spiritual authority for ancient and modern Jews alike. It presents a narrative of the creation of the world and the nation of Israel. Being a diverse document, it contains a variety of traditions, genres, and potentially comes from multiple sources although it is traditionally credited to Moses. The story of Genesis is set in the ...

On October 30, 1608, Jacobus Arminius presented his Declaration of Sentiments to the Assembly of the States of Holland and West Friesland in the Binnenhof at The Hague. First, Arminius sought to defend himself and his theological views from the spirited attacks of opponents such as Gomarus, Lubbertus, and Plancius. Second, Arminius hoped to bring to light the wrongdoings of the European church and its extremist understanding of certain Christian doctrines. Having trained in Geneva under Je...

Modern Christian apologists and evangelists employ a variety of tools designed to aid communities in their understanding of God and salvation via Christ's atonement. One of the ways that defenders of the faith add to their field is in discerning the real significance of the treasures found in Christ. This work begins by dissecting the true meaning of freedom in Christ from a Judeo-Christian viewpoint. Building on that foundation, it then evaluates the sociological phenomenon of postmoderni...

For every human on earth, the clock is ticking towards their inevitable death. Whether one lives to the oldest of ages (expiring quietly) or death comes suddenly with a slip on the ice (or in any other of the myriad of ways people die), the end of biological life is the outcome for everyone. For the Christian, however, there is the expectation of continuation beyond this fleeting life on earth. Naturalists have no such optimism and can only hope that their time on earth is a pleasant one. ...

Here is a phenomenological inquiry into the fruitful ministry of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa's Sunday Morning Worship Service. The purpose was to uncover and explicate the quintessential elements of worship leading from the life experiences of those worship leaders who shared the platform with Pastor Chuck Smith, known as the father of the Jesus Movement. The book examines Calvary Chapel's inauspicious beginnings in a senior citizen trailer park recreation center as it explores key elements ...

Often, a disconnect exists between the way pastors, children's ministry volunteers, and churches describe the health and impact of children's ministry volunteers (and the overall functioning of an ongoing children's ministry). The volunteer dysfunction that is evident in many churches goes beyond the building scenario or the current strategy that leadership is pursuing. If one asks the pastor of just about any local church how the children's ministry is going, most pastors will respond pos...

The compilation Fortunes Stabilnes, the English poetry Charles d'Orléans wrote in the course of his twenty-five year captivity in England after Agincourt, requires a larger lens than that of Chaucerianism, through which ithas most often been viewed. A fresh view from another perspective, one that attends to form and style, as well as to the poet's French traditions, reveals a more conceptually complex and innovative kind of poetry than we have seenuntil now.The essays colle...

This book details a proposal for a constitutional amendment to create a Third House of Congress comprised of tribunes, appointed by lot. In the last century, the American system of representation was changed. These changes have had consequences. These consequences have created a dangerous imbalance between the common interests and the particular interests within the country. This imbalance is not well understood, even in high precincts, and many of the ideas currently esteemed by the popul...

The Pulpit of the Reformation is a compilation of sermons and theological discourses from prominent figures of the Protestant Reformation, primarily focusing on the works of John Knox, Hugh Latimer, and John Welch. These sermons serve as vital historical documents that reflect the fervent religious debates and the transformative impact of the Reformation on Christian thought and practice in the 16th century.John Knox, a leading figure in the Scottish Reformation, articulates the necessity ...

The Scots Confession is a confession of faith written in 1560 by six Protestant leaders in Scotland.