According to the media, the church is rapidly shrinking, both in numbers and in effectiveness. But the good news is, much of the bad news is wrong.... Sociologist Bradley R. E. Wright uncovers what's really happening in the church: evangelicals are more respected by secular culture now than they were ten years ago; divorce rates of Christians are lower than those who aren't affiliated with a religion; young evangelicals are active in the faith. Wright reveals to readers why and how statistics are distorted, and shows that God is still effectively working through his people today.

Immigration is one of the most pressing issues on the national agenda. This accessible book provides biblical and ethical guidance for readers who are... looking for a Christian perspective on the immigration issue. As both a Guatemalan and an American, the author has immersed himself in this issue and is uniquely qualified to write about it. Drawing on key biblical ideas, he speaks to both the immigrant culture and the host culture, arguing that both sides have much to learn about the debate. This timely, clear, and compassionate resource will benefit all Christians who are thinking through the immigration issue.

The decline of the native population following the Spanish conquest of New Spain in 1521, among other factors, led to an increased demand for African... slaves to add to the labor force and bolster the colonial economy. Approximately two hundred thousand Africans were imported into Mexico from Spain and from West and West Central Africa during the course of the slave trade.These "Afro-Mexicans" encompassed a great variety of individuals and experiences whose ritual lives differed as much as their backgrounds. Some were Christians who took communion, confessed, and celebrated Mass. Some were blasphemers who were denounced to the Inquisition. Still others were practitioners of mystical rites meant to cure illness, attract lovers, or control owners.Focusing on the time period from the intensification of slave importation in 1580 to approximately 1700, Joan Bristol presents information from Mexican Inquisition documents. Christians, Blasphemers, and Witches explores how Afro-Mexicans worked within the limitations imposed on them by the Church and the Spanish Crown in order to develop relationships with peers and superiors, defend themselves against unjust treatment, make money, and gain prestige on the local level.

Christianity first came to China by way of the Silk Road in the seventh century, and ever since this great and enduring civilization in the heart of... Asia has been home to brothers and sisters of Christ. Christians in China, A.D. 600 - 2000 chronicles the lives of the Chinese faithful who through the centuries have been both accepted and rejected by their own countrymen. It explores the unique religious and political situations in which Chinese Christians, Catholic and Protestant, have struggled to live their faith and give witness to Christ. This major work covers each of the historic periods in China with a focus on the development of Christianity and its cultural interaction in each period. It shows the evolution of Christianity as it occurred within the People's Republic of China. While telling the stories of various Christians throughout Chinese history, the author tries to answer a few key questions. They are: How the did the Church develop over many centuries in a culture so different from ours? How do Christians in China give witness to their faith? How do they contribute to the life of the universal Church?

Christians in the Twenty-First Century presents a new approach to understanding the Christian faith. While many introductions seek to encompass... Christianity's history and theology, this new book treats Christianity as it is understood and practised by its present-day followers. The book explores what it means to be a practising Christian in a variety of traditions and countries, as well as the way it is expressed in cultural and commercial Christianity. After addressing traditional issues: the Jesus debate and Paul's impact on Christianity, the authors explore a number of key Christian concepts: the Bible, the Creeds, the Church and the sacraments. After outlining the major traditions--Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism--a number of recent movements and issues are examined: the effects of the European Enlightenment and the rise of science, new approaches to biblical scholarship, and the fundamentalist movement. Present-day issues include the ecumenical movement; the ordination of women, secularisation, the inter-faith movement, and the impact of the electronics revolution. Although aimed initially at students, Christians in the Twenty-First Century is of interest to any layperson who seeks to understand the Christian faith. It presupposes no prior knowledge of Christianity, but nevertheless presents the complexity of the world's largest faith.

This is a study that digs deeply into this "other" slavery, the bondage of Europeans by north-African Muslims that flourished during the same centuries... as the heyday of the trans-Atlantic trade from sub-Saharan Africa to the Americas. Here are explored--perhaps for the first time--the actual extent of Barbary Coast slavery, the dynamic relationship between master and slave, and the effects of this slaving on Italy, one of the slave takers' primary targets and victims.

This highly readable introduction to Christian social ministry is filled with illustrations and stories which breathe life into its analysis of this... aspect of the church's ministry. It reviews social ministry in terms of history, theology, philosophy, and methodology. Each chapter outlines its goals for learning and provides exercises to help the reader achieve those goals and objectives.

During the thirteenth century, the widespread conviction that the Christian lands in Syria and Palestine were of utmost importance to Christendom, and... that their loss was a sure sign of God's displeasure with Christian society, pervaded nearly all levels of thought. Yet this same society faced other crises: religious dissent and unorthodox beliefs were proliferating in western Europe, and the powers exercised, or claimed, by the kings of Europe were growing rapidly.The sources presented here illustrate the rising criticism of the changing Crusade idea. They reflect a sharpened awareness among Europeans of themselves as a community of Christians and the slow beginnings of the secular culture and political organization of Europe.

In this thought-provoking new volume, Susanne Johnson counters what she sees as "wrong-thinking" in much contemporary Christian education by offering... forceful ideas about spiritual formation and faith development. First, she shows the "flabbiness" of much recent talk of spiritual formation in the church.  She demonstrates the importance of learning about and achieving Christian formation instead.  Second, she shows how the present theories of stages in faith development must be replaced by a perceptive understanding of the way persons actually learn and believe.  Third, she replaces the popular focus on individual psychology with one that emphasizes the corporate nature of the church and the grace of God. This volume brings innovative ideas into the practical arena, where they can be applied by Christian educators in local churches.  Christian Spiritual Formation in the Church and Classroom challenges the way the entire discipline is currently approached.

How can we grow closer to God? Is there a secret to spriritual life? Do we need a second blessing? Is sanctification God's work or ours? Is it... instantaneous or is it a process? The nature of Christian spirituality has been widely debated throughout the history of the church. The doctrine of sanctification was one of the main fissures separating Luther from the Catholic Church. Even today different groups of Protestants disagree on how we draw closer to God. What distinguishes the different poisitions and what exactly is at stake in these recurring debates? To answer these questions Donald L. Alexander, professor of biblical theology at Bethel College, has brought together five scholars that represent each of the main historical Protestant traditions: Gerhard O. Forde on the Lutheran vew Sinclair B. Ferguson on the Reformed view Laurence W. Wood on the Wesleyan view Russell P. Spittler on the Pentecostal view E. Glenn Hinson on the Contemplative view With an introduction by Alexander and responses to each of the main essays by the other contributors, this book provides a helpful and stimulating introduction to an important doctrine of the church.

"This volume is highly recommended not just for expects but for all interested in the history of Christian spirituality--teachers and students at all... levels, writers preachers, as well as" average".reader".....Michael Downey, Spirituality Today.

Christian Spirituality: The Classics is a unique and comprehensive guide to thirty key Christian spirituality texts. Ranging from Origen and Augustine... to Jonathan Edwards, Thérèse of Lisieux and Thomas Merton, it offers a view of the texts which is founded in scholarship, but which also presents them as living documents that invite- even compel -contemplative reflection and existential response. Each chapter briefly describes the classic text’s author and audience, gives a synopsis of its contents, suggests some of its influence in history, and then explores aspects of the text’s meaning for readers today. Key themes include: What is the meaning of life? How can human beings find truth? How can they discover who they really are? How can they live together in peace? How can they live more fully in God’s presence in this world and be united with God in the world to come? The scholars who have written these chapters are all experts on their respective topics, but they wear their learning lightly. Anyone wishing to discover the riches of Christian spirituality will find this the ideal introduction and should be able to progress to a deeper understanding of the texts themselves.