Showing results by narrator "Matthew Coles" in All Categories

In Aristotle's Rhetoric, the philosopher identifies rhetoric as one of the three key elements of philosophy, along with logic and dialectic. According to Aristotle, logic is concerned with reasoning to reach scientific certainty while dialectic and rhetoric - because they are concerned with probability - are the branches of philosophy best suited to human affairs. Rhetoric is a tool for practical debate, a means for persuading a general audience to resolve practical issues using probable knowledge.

James Denney was a Scottish New Testament scholar, pastor, and theologian (1856 - 1917). The author was convinced that the death of Christ was not given the proper importance in the common Christian mind, measured against its centrality in the New Testament. The purpose of the evangelical and theological work The Death of Christ is thus to explain the place held by the death of Christ in the scriptures, and the interpretation put upon it by the apostolic writers.

A.B. Simpson (1843-1919) was a Canadian preacher and author. He founded the Christian and Missionary Alliance, which promoted global evangelism. This book examines and explains different facets and approaches to the Holy Spirit.

Arthur Walkington Pink (1886-1952) was an English Bible teacher who sparked a renewed interest in the exposition of Reformed theology. In Sovereignty of God (1918) Pink attempts to explain the sovereignty of God versus the responsibility of man. It opens with a chapter that defines God's sovereignty, followed by various a series of chapters identifying the spheres in which it operates (like creation, salvation, reprobation, and more). Chapter seven deals with the sovereignty of God and the human will, while the next explains human responsibility in view of God's sovereignty.

Evangelical A.B. Simpson applies his keen mind to 19th-century society in a way that us still sharp to this day. He draws a clear distinction between the life we imagine for ourselves and the life we should lead. As a society driven by self-indulgence and ego, Simpson teaches us that all the vanity is a mere distraction from the true life with Christ in us. 

Aristotle’s Metaphysics examines what can be asserted about any being insofar as it is and not because of any special qualities that it may possess. Three questions lie at the core of the book: What is existence, and what sorts of things exist in the world? How can things continue to exist, and yet undergo the change we see about us in the natural world? And how can this world be understood? The book also deals with different kinds of causation, form and matter, the existence of mathematical objects, and God as a prime-mover.

The theologian Clarence Larkin (1850-1924) examines each chapter in The Book of Daniel and its meaning. It includes a chapter on the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel’s interpretation of it. Published in 1918, the book prophesied the re-establishment of the State of Israel.

Andrew Murray (1828-1917) was a South African Christian pastor and an internationally known author of numerous Christian books. This enduring classic, published in 1896, was written to assist believers to pray in the right way. The book is based on the way that Christ taught his disciples to pray, and the style is simple and engaging. The chapters are titled, "The Model Prayer", "Pray to Thy Father in Secret", "In Spirit and in Truth or The True Worshippers", and "The Only Teacher".

Themes of abundance, expansion, growth, development, unlimited possibility, and enlargement occur throughout A.B. Simpson’s sermon collection A Larger Christian Life. Viewing Christ as saviour, sanctifier, healer, and coming king, Simpson placed strong emphasis on the subsequent experience of sanctification. The book is divided into sections titled The Possibilities of Faith, The Larger Life, More than Conquerors, Grace Abounding, God’s Measureless Measures, and Enlarged Work.

The New Organon is the second part of Bacon's philosophical work, The Great Instauration on the renewal of the sciences, which was published in 1620. The title refers to Aristotle's work Organon - meaning “trumpeter” - a treatise on logic and syllogism. Bacon’s work offers a new method of investigating nature, named “the Interpretation of Nature”.

In this sermon, the preacher A.B. Simpson warns that mankind has become so much in love with itself that it is in danger of overlooking God. He argues that the devil is trying to get the supernatural out of the Bible, out of the church, and out of individual Christian lives in an attempt to reduce religion to a human science. Against this trend, stands God’s revelation of the supernatural, the author points out.

Clarence Larkin (1850-1924) was a pastor in Pennsylvania before he wrote books like The Spirit World and Dispensational Truth. Larkin explains and interprets every statement in the Book of Revelation with reference to earlier books of the Bible. He often refers to the Book of Daniel for the key to the meaning in Revelation. 

In the 1980s, Neil Hornsby was one of very few National Football League fans in England. Never one to do anything casually, he began keeping hand-written score sheets of every game using his own tracking system. Soon he'd enlisted some fellow British super fans in his mission to take football information an extra layer deeper. This was the beginning of Pro Football Focus, an analytics company that now supplies data to all 32 NFL teams and every major broadcasting corporation. In Football Is a Numbers Game, Matthew Coller chronicles this improbable start-up tale with unprecedented access.

Andrew Murray wrote these meditations, subtitled Thoughts on the Blessed Life of Fellowship with the Son of God, to enrich the Christian life. Using the image of Jesus as the vine and believers as the branches, he explains that many Christians, although they trust the Lord, have not yet experienced the benefits of a day-by-day walk with God, and are, therefore, not experiencing the joy and the power that are gifts of the spirit.

This comprehensive work by E. M. Berens starts with the primordial deities of the Greeks and the myths on the origin of the world, followed by the Olympian, sea, and minor divinities; nymphs; nature spirits; and Roman divinities.

D L Moody (1837-1899) was a prominent 19th century evangelist who founded the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago and Moody Publishers. Moody defines prevailing prayer as a form of prayer that involves the whole of one’s being and affects one’s mind, will and emotions. The author identifies and explains those factors that will increase the likelihood of prayers being answered, and described some of the stumbling blocks to all-consuming prayer.

G. Campbell Morgan was one of Britain's prominent Bible scholars during the early 20th century. Morgan was a prolific writer and teacher, and the pastor of Westminster Chapel in London from 1904 to 1917 and 1933 to 1945. The work examines God’s dealings with man, from Genesis to Revelation.

Aristotle's Poetics is the earliest surviving work of dramatic theory and the first extant philosophical treatise on literary theory. The philosopher presents a treatise on what he defines as poetry, which includes verse drama, the satyr play, lyric poetry, and epic poetry.  

The Table Talk of Doctor Martin Luther is a collection of Luther’s commentaries on Biblical books such as Galatians and Deuteronomy. Much of the collection is based on notes taken during Luther's talks with his students and colleagues. Luther's close associates Antony Lauterbach and John Aurifaber took note of these informal speeches in which he comments on subjects such as baptism, the holy spirit and discipleship. His wide-ranging subjects also include life, the church and Christianity in general, and scientific pursuits such as astronomy in relation to God.

Richard Baxter (1615-1691) was a prominent English churchman and peacemaker who sought unity among Protestants. Baxter became well-known for his prolific writing, with more than 200 works to his name. His autobiography and his pastoral guide, The Reformed Pastor, are still popular today. The Saints' Everlasting Rest (1650) is one of the great classics of Christian devotion.