World Theology

To discover the presence of God throughout the cosmos and in our everyday lives, Daniel C. Matt draws on both science and theology, both fact and belief, and both cosmology and Jewish mysticism, taking us on a deeply personal, thoughtful, and inspiring journey. This update of the award-winning first edition gives us a fresh look at the growing topic of science and spirituality, helps us find our place in the universe, and reveals to us how the universe is reflected in our very being.

Why You Think the Way You Do traces the development of the worldviews that underpin the Western world. Professor and historian Glenn S. Sunshine demonstrates the decisive impact that the growth of Christianity had in transforming the outlook of pagan Roman culture into one that—based on biblical concepts of humanity and its relationship with God—established virtually all the positive aspects of Western civilization.

You’ve heard the Bible story of Moses and Pharaoh, the Ten Plagues, the Exodus, the parting of the Red Sea and the Ten Commandments. Now explore the spiritual world behind the story. It’s even more supernatural than you first thought. Written by respected Christian writer Brian Godawa, author of When Giants Were Upon the Earth, about supernatural strange things in the Bible and the unseen realm.

Jonathan Edwards dissertation concerning the ultimate reason that God made the world. One of several pieces written by the brilliant theologian so that a large number readers might understand complicated theological issues. Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) is a towering figure in American history. A controversial theologian and the author of the famous sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, he ignited the momentous Great Awakening of the eighteenth century.

The Devil, Satan, Lucifer, Mephistopheles - throughout history the Prince of Darkness, the Western world's most powerful symbol of evil, has taken many names and shapes. Jeffrey Burton Russell here chronicles the remarkable story of the Devil from antiquity to the present. While recounting how past generations have personified evil, he deepens our understanding of the ways in which people have dealt with the enduring problem of radical evil. Russell uncovers the origins of the concept of the Devil in various early cultures and then traces its evolution in Western thought from the time of the ancient Hebrews through the first centuries of the Christian era. Next he turns to the medieval view of the Devil, focusing on images found in folklore, scholastic thought, art, literature, mysticism, and witchcraft.

Postcolonial Politics and Theology seeks to reform and reimagine the field of political theology—uprooting it from the colonial soil—using the comparative lenses of postcolonial politics and theology to bring attention to the realities of the Global South. Kwok Pui-lan traces the history of the political impacts of Western theological development, and the need to shift these interlocking fields toward non-Western traditions in theory and practice.

The story of the Jews is high drama with a divine component, but much of the plot has been veiled. In retrospect, one can see their powerful influence throughout eastern and western history, swaying world events, building up and bringing down kingdoms and dominions. Fortunately, Jewish historians have preserved a vast literature on their people's tumultuous history, and the bitter details are indispensable if we are to rightly understand the explosive tensions in the Middle East today.

For many Christians, our understanding of the history of the church universal jumps straight from what we read in the New Testament to a basic understanding of the Reformation. We're missing more than a millennium! And it was a busy, fascinating, tumultuous thousand-or-so years during which Christianity spread across three continents. In places as distant and different from each other as China, Sudan, and Britain, the gospel was spreading, the church was growing, and believers were expressing their faith in myriad ways.

The gloves come off in this electric exchange, originally hosted by Christianity Today, as leading atheist Christopher Hitchens (author of God Is Not Great) and Christian apologist Douglas Wilson (author of Letter from a Christian Citizen) go head-to-head on this divisive question. The result is entertaining and provocative—a glimpse into the ongoing debate.

Malls, stadiums, and universities are actually liturgical structures that influence and shape our thoughts and affections. Humans - as Augustine noted - are "desiring agents", full of longings and passions; in brief, we are what we love. James K. A. Smith focuses on the themes of liturgy and desire in Desiring the Kingdom, the first book in a three-volume set on the theology of culture. He redirects our yearnings to focus on the greatest good: God.

Since ancient times, accounts of supernatural activity have mystified us. Ghost stories as we know them did not develop until the late 19th century, but the restless dead haunted the premodern imagination in many forms, as recorded in historical narratives, theological texts, and personal letters. The Penguin Book of the Undead teems with roving hordes of dead warriors, corpses trailed by packs of barking dogs, moaning phantoms haunting deserted ruins, evil spirits emerging from burning carcasses in the form of crows, and zombies with pestilential breath.

This audiobook contrasts this false religion with the true Christian faith. It is an attempt to flesh out some of the message found in the film By What Standard.

We live in a time when believing in anything or nothing is considered equally "truthful." Many people don't identify with a specific religion, preferring to think of themselves as "spiritual" to avoid seeming intolerant of other beliefs. This has led to some squishy ideas about right and wrong, as well as false teachings infiltrating our churches.

In Creation, Power and Truth, N. T. Wright invites readers to consider the crucial ways in which the Christian gospel challenges and subverts the intellectual, moral, and political values that pervade contemporary culture. In doing so, he asks searching questions about three defining...

The call to make the world a better place is inherent in the Christian belief and practice. But why have efforts to change the world by Christians so often failed or gone tragically awry? And how might Christians in the twenty-first century live in ways that have integrity with their traditions and are more truly transformative? In To Change the World, James Davison Hunter offers persuasive answers to these questions.

Find comfort when your life feels chaotic and uncertain. Life on earth isn't easy. How do we reach for hope in the midst of a world that can be so discouraging? Encouraging Words for a Discouraging World, from beloved Bible teacher and author Dr. David Jeremiah, reveals the hope, purpose, and...

Join a veteran author, pastor, and Christian leader as he captures the 10 astonishing, compassionate, life-giving, joy-awakening, hope-sustaining truths that have held everything together for him.

Written by a preeminent religious historian, this book provides an introduction to early Christian thought. Focusing on major figures such as St. Augustine and Gregory of Nyssa, as well as s host of less well known thinkers, Robert Wilken chronicles the emergence of a specifically Christian intellectual tradition.

We have somehow internalized the unbiblical idea that the immaterial aspect of our being (our soul or spirit) is inherently good while the material aspect (our body) is at worst inherently evil and at best neutral - just a vehicle for our souls to get around. So we end up neglecting or disparaging our bodies. But we don't have bodies; we are our bodies. And God created us that way for a reason. Theologian Gregg Allison presents a holistic theology of the human body from conception through eternity to equip us to address pressing contemporary issues related to our bodies.

Learning how to live in today's new social and cultural environment will require examination, trial and error, and adaptation over time. But there are ways to live with integrity and follow Christ today, even in a negative world. From a peak in church attendance in the mid-20th century...