Church History
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2000 Years Of Christs Power Volume 5
$29.99Add to cartIn many ways, I confess I do not feel especially at home in the Age of Reason. My personal roots are far more among those of the Early Church. Still, I gladly admit I cannot help feeling my heart kindled as I read about the mighty deeds wrought in and through the Evangelical preachers of that age.
Thoroughly researched with beautifully linked arguments, biographies, context and discussions, Needham provides a riveting text: balancing fact and understanding in the wisdom of experience. The book offers a wealth of knowledge for pastors, missionaries, students and professors as they pursue their own education into the response of Christians during the 18th century towards these shifts in the tides of the affairs of men.
Covering the period bracketing the Enlightenment Nick Needham’s new volume in the 2000 Years of Christ’s Power series, covers the social, economic, political and evangelical changes across two continents.
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Pentecost : A Day Of Power For All People
$20.00Add to cart“The power of Pentecost is inseparable from the good news of the Christ who is proclaimed in the Gospels, in accordance with the Scriptures.”
Pentecost may well be the most misconstrued day on the church calendar. A long legacy of cessationism has drained Pentecost of much of its significance, and it’s largely misunderstood in many Western churches today, if not outright ignored.
That’s not the case in Emilio Alvarez’s tradition, though. In this Fullness of Time volume, the Pentecostal bishop and theologian offers us a rich biblical and theological introduction to the day of Pentecost and sets it in its liturgical context–not only in the Protestant tradition but also in Catholic, Orthodox, and Pentecostal expressions. The result is a rich theological feast and an invitation to find afresh the power of the gospel for all peoples.
Each volume in the Fullness of Time series invites readers to engage with the riches of the church year, exploring the traditions, prayers, Scriptures, and rituals of the seasons of the church calendar.
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Rise And Fall Of Dispensationalism
$29.99Add to cartA fascinating history of dispensationalism and its influence on popular culture, politics, and religion
In The Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism, Daniel G. Hummel illuminates how dispensationalism, despite often being dismissed as a fringe apocalyptic movement, shaped Anglo-American evangelicalism and the larger American cultural imagination.
Hummel locates dispensationalism’s origin in the writings of the nineteenth-century Protestant John Nelson Darby, who established many of the hallmarks of the theology, such as premillennialism and belief in the rapture. Though it consistently faced criticism, dispensationalism held populist, and briefly scholarly, appeal-visible in everything from turn-of-the-century revivalism to apocalyptic bestsellers of the 1970s to current internet conspiracy theories.
Measured and irenic, Hummel objectively evaluates evangelicalism’s most resilient (and contentious) popular theology. As the first comprehensive intellectual-cultural history of its kind, The Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism is a must-read for students and scholars of American religion.
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Charging Interest : Medieval Wisdom For A Modern Financial Crisis
$19.99Add to cartCharging Interest explores current exploitative financial practices through the lens of Martin Luther’s explosive treatise called Exhortation to the Clergy to Preach Against Usury. Written in 1540 and translated anew by Michael T. Grzonka, this treatise tackles the growing problem of usury (money lending) in Luther’s time and context. Wittenberg authorities claimed powerlessness in the face of poverty, famine, egregious hoarding, and price-gouging. Luther urged pastors to confront lenders who were charging exploitive interest rates, dooming many to a life of continual poverty and starvation.
Luther went so far as to ask exploitive lenders to repent of their practices, and if they refused to excommunicate them from worship, from participating in the sacraments, and refuse to provide burial services. Clergy who did not condemn these practices would risk facing God’s judgment.
Michael Grzonka provides a detailed introduction and new translation of Luther’s treatise as well as reflections on faithful and ethical responses to unfair financial practices in our own day. A detailed study guide raises key questions for review and helps readers reflect on how Luther’s text still may address issues in the contemporary world. Renowned historian and Reformation scholar Carter Lindberg provides a forward to this topic, which Martin Luther addressed on more than one occasion.
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Tell Her Story
$24.00Add to cartWomen were there.For centuries, discussions of early Christianity have focused on male leaders in the church. But there is ample evidence right in the New Testament that women were actively involved in ministry, at the frontier of the gospel mission, and as respected leaders.
Nijay Gupta calls us to bring these women out of the shadows by shining light on their many inspiring contributions to the planting, growth, and health of the first Christian churches. He sets the context by exploring the lives of first-century women and addressing common misconceptions, then focuses on the women leaders of the early churches as revealed in Paul’s writings. We discover the major roles of people such as:
*Phoebe, Paul’s trusted coworker
*Prisca, strategic leader and expert teacher
*Junia, courageous apostle
*Nympha, representative of countless lesser-known figuresWhen we understand the world in which Jesus and his followers lived and what the New Testament actually attests about women in the churches, it becomes clear that women were active participants and trusted leaders all along. They were welcomed by Paul and other apostles, were equipped and trained for ministry leadership, instructed others, traveled long distances, were imprisoned-and once in a while became heroes and giants.
The New Testament writers tell their stories. It’s time for the church to retell them, again and again.
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Benedictine Reader 1530-1930
$49.95Add to cartA Benedictine Reader shares the treasures of the Benedictine traditionthrough the collaboration of a dozen scholars. It provides a broad and deep sense of the reality of Benedictine monasticism using primary sources in English translation. The texts included are drawn from many different genres and originally written in six different languages. The introduction to each of the chapters aims to situate each author and text and to make connections with other texts and studies within and outside the Reader.
This second volume of A Benedictine Reader looks at Benedictine monks and nuns from many angles, as founders, reformers, missionaries, teachers, spiritual writers and guides, playwrights, scholars, and archivists. In four centuries, they went from Bavaria to North America and Africa, from England and Spain to Australia, adapting to new environments. Committed to the liturgy by their profession, they played an important role in the liturgical renewal that culminated at Vatican II. Rooted in God, church, and their surroundings, they showed remarkable resilience in the face of wars, confiscations, suppression, and exile. Their impact has been deep and stabilizing, and their story is a microcosm of the history of the church in modern times.
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God The Bestseller
$32.99Add to cartNew York Times bestselling author and acclaimed religion scholar, Stephen Prothero, captures the compelling and unique saga of twentieth-century America on an identity quest through the eyes and books of one of the most influential editors of the day–a search, born of two world wars, for resolution of our divided identity as a Christian nation and a nation of religions.
One summer evening in 1916 in Blanchester, Ohio, a sixteen-year-old farm boy was riding his horse past the town cemetery. The horse reared back and whinnied, and Eugene Exman saw God. For the rest of his life, he struggled to recreate that moment. Through a treasure of personal letters and papers, God, the Bestseller explores Exman’s personal quest. A journey that would lead him in the late 1920s to the Harper religious books department, which he turned during the Great Depression into a money-making juggernaut and the country’s top religion publisher.
Exman’s role in the shaping of American religion is undeniable. Here was a man who was ahead of his time and leading the rest of the nation through books on a spiritual exploration. Exman published bestsellers by the controversial preacher Harry Emerson Fosdick, the Catholic radical Dorothy Day, the Civil Rights pioneer Howard Thurman, and two Nobel laureates: Albert Schweitzer and Martin Luther King Jr. Exman did not just sit at a desk and read. In addition to his lifelong relationships with the most influential leaders of the day, Exman was on a spiritual journey of his own traversing the world in search of God. He founded a club of mystics, dropped acid in 1958, four years before Timothy Leary. And six years before The Beatles went to India, he found a guru there in 1962.
In the end, this is the story of the popularization of the religion of experience–a cultural story of modern America on a quest of its own. Exman helped to reimagine and remake American religion, turning the United States into a place where denominational boundaries are blurred, diversity is valued, and the only creed is that individual spiritual experience is the essence of religion.
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New Book Of Christian Martyrs:
$34.99Add to cartAn inspiring keepsake that honors the heroic sacrifice of today’s martyrs for the Christian faith and shows how their actions mirror the courage of a long line of brave Christians.
In the twenty-first century, we are witnessing an escalation in Christian persecution like we have rarely seen since the first century. Many people don’t realize that today thousands of Christians are dying cruel deaths throughout much of the world. There were, in fact, more martyrs in the last century than in all the previous Christian centuries combined. Millions have given their lives since the fall of Rome, and today tens of thousands die annually for their faith in Jesus. Most of these modern stories are not legendary; in fact, many are unknown.
The New Book of Christian Martyrs commemorates those modern-day heroes. In this update to Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, Johnnie Moore and Jerry Pattengale highlight key martyrs of past centuries and feature stories of contemporary martyrs around the world. Through tears, Johnnie and Jerry offer this compendium of heroes from the first century to the twenty-first century, from Europe to Africa and from Asia to the Americas, to inspire Christians around the globe. Today, we live in solidarity with them and in the next life, we will rejoice by their side. We will never forget their sacrifice for the truth.
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Worship By Faith Alone
$35.00Add to cartIn every age, the church must consider what it means to gather together to worship God.
If the church is primarily the people who follow the risen Christ, then its worship should be “gospel-centered.” But where might the church find an example of such worship for today?
In this Dynamics of Christian Worship volume, scholar, worship leader, and songwriter Zac Hicks contends that such a focus can be found in the theology of worship presented by Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury during the English Reformation. Hicks argues that Cranmer’s reformation of the church’s worship and liturgy was shaped primarily by the Protestant principle of justification by faith alone as reflected in his 1552 edition of the Book of Common Prayer, which was later codified under Elizabeth I and has guided Anglican worship for centuries.
Here, we find a model of “gospel-centered” worship through which the church of today might be reformed yet again.
The Dynamics of Christian Worship series draws from a wide range of worshiping contexts and denominational backgrounds to unpack the many dynamics of Christian worship–including prayer, reading the Bible, preaching, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, music, visual art, architecture, and more–to deepen both the theology and practice of Christian worship for the life of the church.
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Dining With The Saints
$39.99Add to cartMichael Foley’s fans have been devoutly drinking with the saints for years. Now it’s time for dinner! The inimitable theologian and mixologist teams up with the priest and TV chef Leo Patalinghug in a culinary romp through the liturgical year.
Want to get closer to the saints while upping your dinner game? Now every meal can be a family feast-with the Saints!
Dining with the Saints brings the Catholic liturgical year to life, pairing over two hundred saints’ stories with an irresistible smorgasbord of international recipes.
Craving a breakfast treat? Join St. David of Wales and learn to craft Crempogs-Welsh pancakes-in March. Searching for a spicey dinner feast? Uncover the life of St. Cristobal of Mexico and serve up a delicious pinto bean soup with queso fresco dumplings during the month of May. Tempted by sweets? Honor St. Agrippina of Mineo with a crostata di pesca, a free-form peach tart.
Featuring dozens of new and exciting recipes, Dining with the Saints provides an unforgettable feast that sinners and saints will enjoy!
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Living Together In Unity With Dietrich Bonhoeffer
$16.99Add to cartThe church needs community that is deep and real. In Living Together in Unity with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Nicholas J. Abraham reclaims Bonhoeffer’s vision for Christian community. By exploring Bonhoeffer’s life and writings, Abraham identifies the foundations for community and how we can build upon them. Truly Christian fellowship is through Jesus and in Jesus. It is created by Jesus and maintained by the Spirit. Unity does not come through trending techniques or correct opinions, but through love, forgiveness, and God’s word. Bonhoeffer provides a thoughtful and timely vision for life together in Christ.
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Understanding Saint Paul
$18.95Add to cartHe traveled more than ten thousand miles without an airplane or car and founded fourteen dioceses. When he was blinded on the road to Damascus, St. Paul received his epic calling and was “made new.”
Although there are numerous books on St. Paul and his letters, none “knock over” the average person. In Understanding St. Paul, Deacon Bob Evans breaks open the wealth of St. Paul’s wisdom in brief, understandable chapters through the lens of fascinating findings. You will learn about St. Paul’s tempestuous times and heroic life which reveal the mystery of his message. St. Paul’s letters, revered throughout the ages, construct much of the foundation for Christian theology. Next to Christ, St. Paul had the mightiest effect in winning souls for God and summoning all to evangelize. In page after page, St. Paul will help you answer the “why” questions about the meaning of life and stir and arm you with valor to defend your faith.
As Evans unpacks the meaning of St. Paul’s words, you will learn what:
*This apostle says to those promoting watered down theology
*Style St. Paul used to write his letters and how this motivates listeners
*Cultural revolution St. Paul composed his letters in and its impact on the texts
*Ways Greek language possesses multiple meanings and how it helps interpret St. Paul’s letters
*Passages from St. Paul are often mistranslated or interpreted erroneously
*Letters attributed to St. Paul were actually written by him
St. Paul didn’t shrink from the controversial topics of his time – many which remain relevant today – such as slavery, scandals, excommunication, sexuality, idol worship, witchcraft, sorcery, and Gnosticism.
Evans lays out how St. Paul’s letters are organized and his view about important topics including grace, the struggle against evil, and the resurrection of the dead. Best of all, you will grow in knowledge of and fervor for the Holy Eucharist, Sacraments and charisms. St. Paul will teach you how Christology evolved and ways to most prudently order your life.
Also provided are guidelines based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church for understanding Scripture, as well as an extensive bibliography and glossary.
By imitating St. Paul in opening your heart and trusting God with ardent faith you begin to experience His Kingdom on earth. St. Paul’s letters embolden those undergoing persecutions and hardships to fight the good fight. Through the theology of the Cross, his writings prepare you for
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5 Puritan Women
$16.99Add to cartWhat the Lives of 5 Puritan Women Teach about Holy Living and Devotion to God
The writings of the Puritans have had a recent resurgence, but many Puritan women have often been overlooked or misunderstood. As mothers, daughters, grandmothers, and wives, the vibrant faith of Puritan women has much to teach modern day readers.
In 5 Puritan Women: Portraits of Faith and Love, Jenny-Lyn de Klerk shows how the lives and writings of Christian women encourage the beauty of holy living and provide practical wisdom for the home and the church. Each chapter portrays a different Puritan woman-Agnes Beaumont, Lucy Hutchinson, Mary Rich, Anne Bradstreet, and Lady Brilliana Harley-telling their stories of devotion, lament, and family. By studying their faith journeys, modern readers can learn more about their roles in church history and glean insights into the Christian life.
*Accessible Introduction: An affordable, easy-to-read format to introduce readers to the neglected writings of Puritan women
*Applicable: Explains the need for, and the value of, studying Puritan women today and highlights spiritual disciplines that these women demonstrate
*Women in Church History: Broadens the reader’s understanding of women’s roles in furthering God’s kingdom throughout history
Foreword by Karen Swallow Prior
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Freedom Of A Christian
$9.99Add to cartMartin Luther’s Classic Work, Newly Translated by Robert Kolb
Originally published in 1520, The Freedom of a Christian is one of Martin Luther’s most well-known and enduring treatises. In it, the German Reformer examines Christian ethics and how justification by faith alone impacts the liberty of believers. He famously writes, “A Christian is a free lord of everything and subject to no one. A Christian is a willing servant of everything and subject to everyone.” Luther also further develops ideas and doctrines that were key to the Reformation, such as the priesthood of all believers and union with Christ.
This addition to the Crossway Short Classics series features a new translation from the original German to English by renowned Reformation scholar Robert Kolb. The Freedom of a Christian reminds modern-day readers that it is ultimately grace that transforms God’s people and frees us to love and obey.
*Accessible: Helpful for those looking to learn more about Luther and the Christian life, both new Christians and seasoned saints alike
*Part of the Crossway Short Classics Series: Introducing modern-day readers to classic works of faith-other volumes include Fighting for Holiness; Heaven Is a World of Love; and The Emotional Life of Our Lord
*New Translation: Translated from the original German by world-renowned scholar Robert Kolb, author of Martin Luther: Confessor of the Faith.
*Foreword by Carl R. Trueman: Author of the bestselling book The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self
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Jesus Revolution Movie Edition
$14.97Add to cartNow a major motion picture
The Jesus Movement transformed the church–and it can transform you
God has always been passionate about turning unlikely people into His most fervent followers. Prostitutes and pagans, tax collectors and tricksters, the pompous and the pious–the more unlikely, the more it seemed to please God to demonstrate His power, might, and mercy through them. America in the 1960s and 1970s was full of many such characters–young men and women who had rejected the conformist religion of their parents’ generation, didn’t follow conventional rules, and didn’t fit in. Their longing for something more set the stage for the greatest spiritual awakening of the twentieth century.
Discover the remarkable true story of the Jesus Movement, an extraordinary time of mass revival, renewal, and reconciliation. Setting intriguing personal stories within the context of one of the most tumultuous times in modern history, Greg Laurie and Ellen Vaughn draw important parallels with our own time of spiritual apathy and overt hostility, offering a new vision for the next generation of unlikely believers–and hope for the next great American revival.
Because God can always bring a new Jesus Revolution.
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Mementoes Of The English Martyrs And Confessors
$21.95Add to cartFr. Henry Sebastian Bowden wrote this powerful book so we will never forget the sacrifices of those martyrs who preserved and bequeathed to us our Catholic Faith.
The heroic witness of the English martyrs you meet in this superb volume of daily meditations will instill a greater piety and zeal in your heart. Each day features a captivating short story from the life of a martyr or an excerpt from his or her writings. Their testimonies, sometimes prophetic, always profound, impart urgent reminders to us about Catholic persecution as it has occurred through time.
The period of the English martyrs opened with Henry VIII’s “Oath of Supremacy” and the suppression of monasteries and then continued into forced Protestantism by blood under Elizabeth, and from there to the age in which Puritans killed Catholics solely for their Faith. In these gripping pages – increasingly relatable in our time – you will encounter extraordinary examples of valor in the face of shocking danger and cruelty, including the consequences laypeople faced for harboring priests.
Stirred by the selection of stories included, you will discover:
*Why the boy orator St. Edmund Campion was called “golden-mouthed”
*Which Jesuit priest martyr was also a renowned poet
*The courageous faith of four lay women named Margaret
*The number of brave souls who converted (it’s more than you think!)
*How priests such as Ven. William Davies fortified their fellow prisoners
*The sublime work of especially gifted English martyr poetsMost powerfully, these pages lay bare the thoughts the thoughts and feelings of martyrs such as Bl. William Hart, who wrote heartfelt letters to his Protestant mother and exhorted his spiritual children through his preaching to “Stand fast!”
From famous saints such as John Fisher, the “saintly cardinal,” to Thomas More, the civil lawyer and illustrious chancellor, you will read about greater- and lesser-known heroes of the Faith resisting bribes and withstanding tortures and steadfastly refusing to apostatize or betray friends.
Be inspired by the profound wisdom and courage of great Catholics who shed their blood for Christ and His Church. Such a cloud of witnesses will make your heart grateful for the Faith our fathers preserved for us and more confident than ever about the truths in which we believe.
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Faithful Disobedience : Writings On Church And State From A Chinese House C
$28.00Add to cartThroughout China’s rapidly growing cities, a new wave of unregistered house churches is growing. They are developing rich theological perspectives that are both uniquely Chinese and rooted in the historical doctrines of the faith. To understand how they have endured despite government pressure and cultural marginalization, we must understand both their history and their theology.
In this volume, key writings from the house church have been compiled, translated, and made accessible to English speakers. Featured here is a manifesto by well-known pastor Wang Yi and his church, Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, to clarify their theological stance on the house church and its relationship to the Chinese government. There are also works by prominent voices such as Jin Tianming, Jin Mingri, and Sun Yi. The editors have provided introductions, notes, and a glossary to give context to each selection.
These writings are an important body of theology historically and spiritually. Though defined by a specific set of circumstances, they have universal applications in a world where the relationship between church and state is more complicated than ever. This unique resource will be valuable to practical and political theologians as well as readers interested in international relations, political philosophy, history, and intercultural studies.
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What Nuns Read
$49.95Add to cartThe literacy and education of medieval nuns has been a subject of dispute and study in recent years. In his third Index of medieval libraries, David Bell presents a comprehensive list of all manuscripts and printed books which have been traced with certainty or high probability to english nunneries. A systematic listing of the books available to english nuns, and in the process an indication of the wealth, the intellectual level, and the spirituality of english nuns from the Conquest to the Reformation.
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Letters Of Saint Anselm Of Canterbury Volume Two
$49.95Add to cartA monk and a scholar generally recognized as the keenest philosophical and theological mind of his time, of Bec, found himself forcibly and unwillingly invested as Archbishop of Canterbury on 6 March 1093. It was the first of many sharp differences between the Norman King and an archbishop who considered the reform of the church and the improvement of the moral conduct of the kingdom his prime tasks.
Among his chief weapons in fighting to establish the Gregorian Reform in his new land was the letter. Whether reporting events or asking for news, proffering advice or wheeding favors, currying friends or placating adversaries, Anselm kept up a steady correspondence throughout his sixteen-year archiepiscopate. Collections of these letters circulated during his lifetime, establishing his position on any number of topics.
Now translated into English for the first time, The Letters of Saint Anselm give new insights into the life and mind of this pivotal figure in European history.
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Reluctant Queen And Other Reformation Women
$17.99Add to cartThe women in this book – Lady Jane Grey, Anne Askew, Katherine Parr and Catherine Willoughby were Christian women of outstanding courage and conviction. Each was transformed by the teachings of the Reformation and experienced its dramas and dangers.
Elaine Snuggs has researched widely and deeply to portray for us four remarkable women living through a fascinating period in history, a period with immense consequences for England and indeed the world. The women are both well known (Katharine Parr, sixth and surviving wife of Henry VIII, and Lady Jane Grey, the Nine Days Queen) and not so well known (martyr Anne Askew and Catherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk).
These were not flawless heroines but in their times of trial showed themselves to be brave, intelligent, educated women, of strong character and radiant spirit, living for the Lord who had saved them and whom they had come to know as the only Saviour and Redeemer by grace alone through faith alone.
See how God has exercised his sovereignty in history – in the public sphere as well as in the lives of individuals, and be inspired to love Christ more, and live for him.
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Great Is Thy Faithfulness
$34.99Add to cartFrom basement Bible study to leading evangelical institution
Starting from humble beginnings in the late nineteenth century, the story of Trinity International University and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School is one of faithfulness.
In Great Is Thy Faithfulness, scholars John D. Woodbridge, David M. Gustafson, Scott M. Manetsch, and Bradley J. Gundlach trace the journey of Trinity International University and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. In order to tell the story of evangelicalism in America, one must know the story of Trinity International University. Great Is Thy Faithfulness is an essential resource for understanding an institution that has been at the center of evangelical theological life for decades. Readers will be encouraged by God’s faithfulness to his people.
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Lent : The Season Of Repentance And Renewal
$17.97Add to cartLent is inescapably about repenting. Every year, the church invites us into a season of repentance and fasting in preparation for Holy Week. It’s an invitation to turn away from our sins and toward the mercy and grace of Christ.
Often, though, we experience the Lenten fast as either a mindless ritual or self-improvement program. In this short volume, priest and scholar Esau McCaulley introduces the season of Lent, showing us how its prayers and rituals point us not just to our own sinfulness but also beyond it to our merciful Savior.
Each volume in the Fullness of Time series invites readers to engage with the riches of the church year, exploring the traditions, prayers, Scriptures, and rituals of the seasons of the church calendar.
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Americas Mary : The Story Of Our Lady Of Good Help
$19.95Add to cartOur Lady’s appearances to young Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France, in 1858 are well known and well documented. Just one year later, a lesser-known but still important Marian apparition took place in an American frontier settlement.
Based on historical documents, testimonies, personal interviews, and expert analysis, America’s Mary: The Story of Our Lady of Good Help chronicles for the first time the United States’ only Church-approved Marian apparition.
In 1859 on the Door County Peninsula of northeast Wisconsin, Mary appeared three times to a young Belgian woman named Adele Brise. She identified herself as the Queen of Heaven and gave Adele instructions to teach the children their catechism, pray, do penance, sacrifice, and receive the sacraments frequently. Adele was initially met with skepticism, and during her lifetime she experienced many trials, including persecution. Still, she maintained that she was telling the truth and courageously carried on the mission the Blessed Mother had given to her.
Although the local community accepted Adele’s story as real, and popular piety built up around Mary’s appearances and messages, it was more than 100 years before the Church conducted a thorough investigation. In 2010, the apparition was approved.
Since then, thousands of pilgrims each year have visited the National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion, WI, seeking the Queen of Heaven’s intercession for peace, healing, and help.
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Visible Image Of The Invisible God
$24.00Add to cartA comprehensive and beautifully illustrated guide to Russian icons — the “beating heart of the Christian East”
Religious icons have been at the spiritual heart of the Christian East for nearly two thousand years. Their mysterious, peaceful quality and almost magnetic power can stop us in our tracks and draw our gaze, without us even knowing why. The sophisticated composition and symbolism of icons emphasize that their subjects are inhabitants of another, transcendent, world. They are not simply the art of the Christian East, but the expression and pulse of its spirituality. And on a personal level for many Christians of all backgrounds, icons are not only objects of admiration, but a deep wellspring of meditation, reflection, and veneration. A docent at the Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton, Massachusetts, for many years, Dennis J. Sardella now offers an inviting guide to the most famous icons in the collection. This vibrantly illustrated book will:
– Introduce you to icons and instill a desire for a deeper appreciation of them – Teach you about their origin, their historical evolution, their complex symbolic language, and their role in the spiritual and liturgical life of the Eastern Churches, both Orthodox and Catholic – Answer your questions about when and where the first icons were created – Show the physical and spiritual steps in their creation – Explain the different types of icons, the symbolism that is key to deciphering them, as well as their role in Eastern Christian spirituality and liturgy.
Those who are knowledgeable about Russian icons and Byzantine icons, as well as newcomers, will find Visible Image of the Invisible God to be a treasured resource.
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By Strange Ways
$19.95Add to cartThe only work that exclusively features the conversion stories of theologians, this book provides a unique vantage point on the intellectual challenges faced by those being drawn to the Catholic Church.
The men and women featured here come from a variety of backgrounds: Agnosticism, Secularism, New Age thought, punk rock, and various stripes of Christianity. Their theological vocation had specially prompted them to question their own intellectual presuppositions once they encountered Catholicism, which only gained in credibility the more they studied it.
Although it was the theological truth of the Catholic faith that initially captured the attention of these theologians, each of these essays tells a fully human story. They are not collections of arguments, but stories of grace. Among the ten converts are Scott Hahn, Lawrence Feingold, Melanie Barrett, Petroc Willey, and Jeff Morrow. Each story offers a fresh glimpse at God’s work in the world.
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Turning Points : Decisive Moments In The History Of Christianity
$59.99Add to cartNow in its fourth edition, this bestselling textbook (over 125,000 copies sold) isolates key events that provide a framework for understanding the history of Christianity. The book presents Christianity as a worldwide phenomenon rather than just a Western experience.
This popular textbook is organized around 14 key moments in church history, providing contemporary Christians with a fuller understanding of God as he has revealed his purpose through the centuries. The new edition includes a new preface, updates throughout the book, revised “further readings” for each chapter, new sidebar content, and study questions. It also more thoroughly highlights the importance of women in Christian history and the impact of world Christianity.
Turning Points is well suited to introductory courses on the history of Christianity as well as study groups in churches. Additional resources for instructors are available through Textbook eSources.
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American Methodism Revised And Updated
$39.99Add to cartThe essential guide to American Methodism revised and updated through 2020.
Four of Methodism’s most respected teachers give us a vivid picture of 260 years of Methodist experience in America. The revised edition updates the Methodist movement’s story through 2020, including the social, political, economic, technological, and global disruptions that cause faith communities and denominations to pull apart.
American Methodism Revised and Updated begins with the explosion of evangelical Pietism and revolutionary Methodism, the First Great Awakening, as an independent nation was formed.
It then highlights key 19th century themes and Methodist contributions, such as spreading scriptural holiness through missions and literature, planting tens of thousands of Sunday schools and churches by Circuit Riders, the pivotal Methodist schism between abolitionists and enslavers, the innovative building of schools and hospitals into the next century, and the revivalism of the Second Great Awakening.
Finally it explores the movements of 20th century Methodism, including the expansion of home and foreign missions, the Methodist drive for Prohibition, the decision for nationwide reunification on the cusp of World War II, reunification with the United Brethren during the Vietnam War, the Methodist ordination of women during the 1950s, Black Methodist leadership in the 1960s Civil Rights movement, and the liturgical renewal or reformation of worship (ancient and future).
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Turning Points : Decisive Moments In The History Of Christianity
$29.99Add to cartNow in its fourth edition, this bestselling textbook (over 125,000 copies sold) isolates key events that provide a framework for understanding the history of Christianity. The book presents Christianity as a worldwide phenomenon rather than just a Western experience.
This popular textbook is organized around 14 key moments in church history, providing contemporary Christians with a fuller understanding of God as he has revealed his purpose through the centuries. The new edition includes a new preface, updates throughout the book, revised “further readings” for each chapter, new sidebar content, and study questions. It also more thoroughly highlights the importance of women in Christian history and the impact of world Christianity.
Turning Points is well suited to introductory courses on the history of Christianity as well as study groups in churches. Additional resources for instructors are available through Textbook eSources.
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From Ignatius To Francis
$29.95Add to cartPope Francis is the first member of the Society of Jesus, the Catholic Church’s largest religious order of men, to be elected to the papacy in its nearly five-hundred-year existence, even though the Society is known for the special vow of obedience to the papacy taken by its leading members. Yet despite that oath of loyalty, Jesuits and popes have frequently been at loggerheads, eventually leading to one pope imprisoning the Jesuit superior general and entirely abolishing the Society. While recounting the more significant events in the history of the Jesuit order, this book pays particular attention to the controversies that have surrounded it, especially those concerning human freedom.
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Worship In The Early Church
$35.00Add to cartWhile many histories of Christian worship exist, this project undertakes a task both more focused and more urgent. Rather than survey the whole history of the Christian church, it focuses on the formative period between the first and fifth centuries CE, when so many of the understandings and patterns of Christian worship came to be. And rather than include such developments as the monastic hours of prayer and the history of ordination, the authors deal primarily with those aspects of worship that recur on a weekly or regular basis: preaching, Eucharist, and baptism. The book divides its subject into three period. It begins with the emerging worship of the New Testament era. It moves to the second and third centuries, when the church’s main tasks of establishing its identity in relation to its Jewish roots and making its way in a hostile Roman environment showed up in its theology and practice of worship. And it concludes with the fourth and fifth centuries, when introducing the increasing numbers of converts after Constantine to Christian faith became one of the highest priorities of the church’s worship. This resource will serve as a valuable guide to the historical developments that brought about Christian worship as we know it today.
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Legacy Of Melchior Rinck
$39.99Add to cart“Reformer. Revolutionary. Anabaptist.After witnessing the failure of the peasants’ movement in sixteenth-century Germany, Melchior Rinck was motivated by a passion to see both church and society reformed. His name appears in sixteenth-century lists of significant early Anabaptist leaders, but he has not received much scholarly attention. In this first full-length study of Rinck’s life, relationships, ministry, debates, theological emphases, impact, and legacy, Stuart Murray paints a portrait of an underappreciated Anabaptist pioneer who did not fit neatly into any of the major branches of the movement but developed his own approach. Rinck was vehemently opposed to infant baptism because of the damage this practice did to church and society, more nuanced than many other Anabaptists in his views on church and state, and convinced that love was the supreme divine characteristic and the highest calling of humanity. The Legacy of Melchior Rinck contains previously untranslated writings and the first complete collection of extant works by and about Rinck, offering readers a comprehensive but readable introduction to Rinck’s pioneering role in the unusually tolerant territory of Hesse and an opportunity to consider his legacy. “
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What Kind Of Christianity
$30.00Add to cartLike most Americans, Presbyterians in the United States know woefully little about the history of slavery and the rise of anti-Black racism in our country. Most think of slavery as a tragedy that “just happened” without considering how it happened and who was involved. In What Kind of Christianity William Yoo paints an accurate picture of the complicity of the majority of Presbyterians in promoting, supporting, or willfully ignoring the enslavement of other human beings. Most Presbyterians knew of the widespread physical and sexual violence that enslavers visited on the enslaved, and either approved of it or did nothing to prevent it. Most Presbyterians in the nineteenth century-whether in the South or the North–held racist attitudes toward African Americans and put those attitudes into daily application. In short, during that period when the Presbyterian church was establishing itself as a central part of American life most of its members were promoting slavery and anti-Black racism. In this important book William Yoo demonstrates that to understand how Presbyterian Christians can promote racial justice today, they must first understand and acknowledge how deeply racial injustice is embedded in their history and identity as a denomination.
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Reorganized Religion : The Reshaping Of The American Church And Why It Matt
$27.00Add to cartUncover the ways the Christian church has changed in recent years–from the decline of the mainline denominations to the mega-churchification of American culture to the rise of the Nones and Exvaneglicals–and a hopeful reimagining of what the church might look like going forward.
The United States is in the middle of an unprecedented spiritual, technological, demographic, political and social transformation– moving from an older, mostly white, mostly Protestant, religion-friendly society to a younger diverse, multiethnic, pluralistic culture, where no one faith group will have the advantage. At the same time, millions of Americans are abandoning organized religion altogether in favor of disorganized disbelief.
Reorganized Religion is an in-depth and critical look at why people are leaving American churches and what we lose as a society as it continues. But it also accepts the dismantling of what has come before and try to help readers reinvent the path forward. This book looks at the future of organized religion in America and outline the options facing churches and other faith groups. Will they retreat? Will they become irrelevant? Or will they find a new path forward?
Written by veteran religion reporter Bob Smietana, Reorganized Religion is a journalistic look at the state of the American church and its future. It draws on polling data, interviews with experts, and reporting on how faith communities old and new are coping with the changing religious landscape, along with personal stories about how faith is lived in everyday life. It also profiles faith communities and leaders who are finding interesting ways to reimagine what church might look like in the future and discuss various ways we can reinvent this organization so it survives and thrives. The book also reflects the hope that perhaps people of faith can learn to become, if not friends with the larger culture, then at least better neighbors.
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Heart. Soul. Mind. Strength
$22.00Add to cartSome publishers tell you what to believe. Other publishers tell you what you already believe. But InterVarsity Press helps you believe.
J. I. PackerThe history of evangelicalism cannot be understood apart from the authors and books that shaped it. Over the past century, leading figures such as pastor-scholar John Stott, apologist James W. Sire, evangelist Rebecca Manley Pippert and spiritual formation writer Eugene Peterson helped generations of readers to think more biblically and engage the world around them. For many who take their Christianity seriously, books that equip them for a life of faith have frequently come from one influential publisher: InterVarsity Press.
Andy Le Peau and Linda Doll provide a narrative history of InterVarsity Press, from its origins as the literature division of a campus ministry to its place as a prominent Christian publishing house. Here is a behind-the-scenes look at the stories, people, and events that made IVP what it is today. Recording good times and bad, celebrations and challenges, they place IVP in its historical context and demonstrate its contribution to the academy, church and world.
In honor of IVP’s seventy-fifth anniversary, senior editor Al Hsu has updated this edition with new content, bringing the story up to 2022 and including stories about contemporary authors such as Esau McCaulley and Tish Harrison Warren. As IVP continues to adapt to changes in publishing and the global context, the mission of publishing thoughtful Christian books has not changed. IVP stands as a model of integrative Christianity for the whole person–heart, soul, mind and strength.
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Call To Follow
$16.99Add to cartReexamining the Nature of Leadership and “Followership” in Light of Biblical Teaching
The market is flooded with books, conferences, and workshops on how to be a better leader. In most companies, leaders are noticed and applauded while followers are often viewed as weak and passive. However, Scripture tells us a different story; although leadership is valued and respected, being obedient followers of Christ is at the very heart of faith.
In The Call to Follow, Richard Langer and Joanne J. Jung teach readers that “followership” is essential to both organizational and spiritual flourishing. They argue that followership requires the development of specific skills and virtues modeled and extolled throughout Scripture. They point to examples of people from the Bible and church history who focused on following in the footsteps of their Savior rather than positions of leadership among others. This helpful book seeks to dismantle the idol of leadership that’s so prevalent in our culture and points us instead to the biblical concept of followership.
*Biblically Centered: Contains examples of “followership” from Scripture and church history
*Mission Oriented: Explains how being a follower of Jesus Christ is a missional calling
*Community Focused: Written to encourage Christ followers, in both leadership and followership positions -
Church History In Plain Language Workbook
$19.99Add to cartThis workbook is designed to accompany the fifth edition of Bruce Shelley’s Church History in Plain Language.
Following the textbook’s structure, this workbook offers discussion questions for group and personal reflection, assessments, activities, and resources for further study, all of which reinforce the textbook’s teaching and support the students’ learning experience.
The newest edition of Bruce Shelley’s Church History in Plain Language brings the story of global Christianity into the twenty-first century. In this fifth edition, Marshall Shelley assembled a team of historians, historical theologians, and editors to revise and update his father’s classic text. As a result, it now includes important stories of the development of Christianity in Asia, India, and Africa, both in the early church as well as in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It also highlights the stories of women and non-Europeans who significantly influenced the development of Christianity but whose contributions are often overlooked in overviews of church history.
Covering recent events, this book also:
*Details the rapid growth of Christianity in the southern hemisphere
*Examines the influence of technology on the spread of the gospel
*Discusses how Christianity intersects with other religions in countries all over the worldTogether with this workbook companion, the new edition of Church History in Plain Language provides an easy-to-read guide to global Christianity and promises to set a new standard for readable church history.
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Pilgrimage To The Museum
$19.95Add to cartHave you ever visited a museum and found the narrations in the self-guided-tour headsets a bit tedious? Slightly too clinical, perhaps? And have you ever noticed that God is rarely mentioned in art museums these days, unless in a cold, archaeological, “scientific” way? All of that is about to change.
In Pilgrimage to the Museum, author-curator Stephen Auth takes you on a provocative and colorful journey through the history of Western art, interpreted through a lens of profound Christian faith – appropriately so since, in Auth’s view, much of Western art expresses humanity’s search for God, the Divine Artist-Creator.
In this beautifully illustrated voyage, you will experience with Auth and his wife, Evelyn, the ups and downs of man’s determined quest. Leaving all the art-history jargon at the front door, Auth will transport you in his spiritual time machine from Egypt’s Old Kingdom, through Greece and Rome, to medieval Europe; from the age of the Renaissance, through the Ages of Exploration and Enlightenment; and from the rise of atheism in the late 1800s to the seeds of a spiritual rebirth in the modern era. Along the way, you will experience anew the masterpieces of many artists, from Polykleitos to Raphael, Duccio to Rembrandt, Monet to Picasso.
Through the works of these great artists, you will encounter the profound truths that lead many to God and cause many others to wonder. You will discover how various themes and motifs of man’s struggle to find God occur, morph, fade, and then reoccur centuries later. As you laugh, cry, and pray your way through this illuminating voyage, you will emerge refreshed and renewed in your own journey to God- and you will never look at a work of art the same way again.
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Becoming A Missionary Church
$39.99Add to cartThis book offers a historical assessment and balanced critique of contemporary church movements, especially in light of missional ecclesiology. An expert on Lesslie Newbigin and an expert on contemporary church models show how Newbigin’s ideas have been developed and contextualized in three popular contemporary church movements: missional, emergent, and center church. In addition, the authors explain that some of Newbigin’s insights have been neglected and need to be retrieved for the present day. This book calls for the recovery of the missionary nature of the church and commends church practices applicable to any congregation.
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Becoming A Missionary Church
$28.99Add to cartThis book offers a historical assessment and balanced critique of contemporary church movements, especially in light of missional ecclesiology. An expert on Lesslie Newbigin and an expert on contemporary church models show how Newbigin’s ideas have been developed and contextualized in three popular contemporary church movements: missional, emergent, and center church. In addition, the authors explain that some of Newbigin’s insights have been neglected and need to be retrieved for the present day. This book calls for the recovery of the missionary nature of the church and commends church practices applicable to any congregation.
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Sonorous Desert : What Deep Listening Taught Early Christian Monks–And Wha
$19.95Add to cartEnduring lessons from the desert soundscapes that shaped the Christian monastic tradition
For the hermits and communal monks of antiquity, the desert was a place to flee the cacophony of ordinary life in order to hear and contemplate the voice of God. But these monks discovered something surprising in their harsh desert surroundings: far from empty and silent, the desert is richly reverberant. Sonorous Desert shares the stories and sayings of these ancient spiritual seekers, tracing how the ambient sounds of wind, thunder, water, and animals shaped the emergence and development of early Christian monasticism.
Kim Haines-Eitzen draws on ancient monastic texts from Egypt, Sinai, and Palestine to explore how noise offered desert monks an opportunity to cultivate inner quietude, and shows how the desert quests of ancient monastics offer profound lessons for us about what it means to search for silence. Drawing on her own experiences making field recordings in the deserts of North America and Israel, she reveals how mountains, canyons, caves, rocky escarpments, and lush oases are deeply resonant places. Haines-Eitzen discusses how the desert is a place of paradoxes, both silent and noisy, pulling us toward contemplative isolation yet giving rise to vibrant collectives of fellow seekers.
Accompanied by Haines-Eitzen’s evocative audio recordings of desert environments, Sonorous Desert reveals how desert sounds taught ancient monks about solitude, silence, and the life of community, and how they can help us understand ourselves if we slow down and listen.
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Suffering Not Power
$26.99Add to cartOverturning a popular view of the atonement
Was Christ’s death a victory over death or a substitution for sin? Many today follow Gustav Aulen’s Christus Victor view, which portrays Christ’s death as primarily a ransom paid to the powers of evil and which, according to Aulen, reflected the beliefs of the early church. Aulen held that this ransom theory view dominated until Anselm reframed atonement as satisfaction and the Reformers reframed it as penal substitution.
In Suffering, Not Power, Benjamin Wheaton challenges this common narrative that Christ’s work of atonement was reframed by Anselm, showing that sacrificial and substitutionary language was common well before Anselm’s Cur Deus Homo. Wheaton displays this through a careful analysis of three medieval theologians whose writings on the atonement are commonly overlooked: Caesarius of Arles, Haimo of Auxerre, and Dante Alighieri. These figures come from different times and contexts and wrote in different genres, but each spoke of Christ’s death as a sacrifice of expiation and propitiation made by God to God.
Let history speak for itself, read the evidence, and reconsider the church’s belief in Christ’s substitutionary death for sinners.
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Shape Of Christian History
$22.00Add to cartWhile understanding history has always been an essential task for God’s people, rapid changes within the past two generations of Christianity have challenged many of our assumptions and methods for studying the past. How should thoughtful Christians–and especially historians and missiologists–make sense of global Christianity as an unfolding historical movement?
Scott Sunquist invites readers to join him for a capstone course in historical thinking from a master teacher. Highlighting both the continuity and the diversity within the Christian movement over the centuries, he identifies three key concepts for framing church history: time, cross, and glory. These themes shed light to help us discern how the Jesus movement developed from the first century to the present, through an explosion of contextual expressions. Tracing these concepts through the centuries, we learn from the stories of Christians reflecting the glories of God’s kingdom–and from their failures.
Filled with historical case studies and stories from Sunquist’s teaching around the world, The Shape of Christian History offers a framework for how to read and write church history. Even more, it demonstrates how the study of history illuminates God’s mission in the world and sharpens our understanding of how to participate in that mission faithfully.
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Creeds Confessions And Catechisms
$29.99Add to cartFor centuries, followers of Jesus have used creeds and confessions to express their Christian beliefs. Summarizing key truths from Scripture into succinct statements, these words have shaped the church for generations and continue to teach and inspire believers today.
Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms gathers 13 historic statements of faith-including the Apostles’ Creed, the Belgic Confession, and the Heidelberg Catechism-into one beautiful collection. Each text includes an introduction from editor Chad Van Dixhoorn that explains its origins and significance to the early church. By learning and revisiting these timeless confessions of faith, readers can grow spiritually and learn more about Christian history.
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27 Servants Of Sovereign Joy
$44.99Add to cartFrom Bestselling Author John Piper: 27 Biographies of Notable Figures from Church History, including Augustine, John Calvin, and Martin Luther
Throughout church history, the faithful ministries of Christian leaders–though full of struggle, sin, and weakness–have magnified the worth and majesty of God. Their lives and teachings are still profoundly relevant. Their voices live on in the stories we read and tell today.
In this book, John Piper celebrates the lives of 27 such leaders from church history, offering a close look at their perseverance amidst opposition, weakness, and suffering. Let the resilience of these faithful but flawed saints inspire you toward a life of Christ-exalting courage, passion, and joy.
Written by Best-Selling Author John Piper: The author of more than 50 books, including Desiring God; Don’t Waste Your Life; Providence; The Supremacy of God in Preaching; Expository Exultation; and Why I Love the Apostle Paul
Short Biographies of 27 Inspiring Figures from Church History: Features short biographies of Augustine, John Calvin, John Bunyan, Martin Luther, John Newton, William Wilberforce, and more
Updated from 21 Servants of Sovereign Joy Includes new chapters about Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Jonathan Edwards, Bill Piper, J. C. Ryle, Andrew Fuller, and Robert Murray McCheyne
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Constantine Doctrine : Christian Leadership In Western Civilization
$16.99Add to cartThe Constantine Doctrine asserts that religion and governance are, and should be, interwoven and that Christians should take a prominent role in shaping a nation’s policies and laws. When Christians step up in public leadership, the result is a government that provides justice, freedom, and morality.
In this well-researched and sweeping historical chronicle, Dr. Jeff Darville not only separates fact from fiction but offers fresh analysis and insight for Christian leaders in America who may doubt their responsibilities and opportunities. The clear prose will capture your attention, causing you to carefully consider the historical and social precedent that strong faith and religious practice are intrinsic to public life.
Darville’s clarion call is for believers in Jesus to stop checking their minds and souls at the door of the courthouses and legislative halls. We must look to the history of the church in Western Civilization and rise up by instilling Christian values into the public arena.
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Treatises : A Mirror For Novices A Threefold Exercise On The Recitation Of
$29.95Add to cartTranslated here for the first time are four works written by Stephen for his monks: A Mirror for Novices, A Threefold Exercise, On the Recitation of the Divine Office, and Meditations on the Joys of the Blessed Virgin. Each expresses the devotion of his day and provides an insight into the inner life of an early thirteenth century Cistercian monastery.
A monk at Fountains Abbey and later abbot of Sawley, Stephen in his Meditations on the Gospel, on the Virgin, and on the Divine Office, delicately expresses the monastic devotion of the early thirteenth century.
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Klaas Schilder Reader
$49.99Add to cartRecovering a forgotten theologian.
Klaas Schilder (1890-1952) was a prominent Dutch Reformed theologian in the early twentieth century, first as a pastor and then as a professor. While his fame spread to North America in the 1940s, he is mostly forgotten today. In Schilder Reader: The Essential Theological Writings, readers will rediscover this important Dutch theologian.
Working in the tradition of Abraham Kuyper and Herman Bavinck, Schilder applies Dutch Neo–Calvinism to the twentieth century. This includes secularism, the rise and influence of Karl Barth, opposition to Nazism, and the relation between the church and society. Schilder Reader contextualizes his work and furthers the neo–Calvinist tradition.
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British Evangelical Theologians Of The 20th Century
$52.99Add to cartThroughout the twentieth century, Britain produced some of the most prominent evangelical theologians in both church and academic circles. This survey and introduction, edited by Thomas Noble and Jason Sexton, presents twelve of these theologians, exploring what made their work so influential and their continued relevance for today.
As well as surveying each man’s work, British Evangelical Theologians of the Twentieth Century considers what is meant by calling these theologians ‘evangelical’ Christians – taking into account their understanding of biblical authority, standing in the Reformation tradition and treatment of Scripture as well as their approaches to biblical criticism and liberal theology. As a result, it is ideal for students looking to deeper their understanding of British evangelical Christianity as a whole, as well as increasing their knowledge of the individual figures
From James Orr and Lesslie Newbigin to John Stott and J. I. Packer, a range of perspectives within British evangelicalism is reflected. Along with brief biographies, each body of work is examined in three particular areas: stance on the Bible (‘biblicism’), the atonement (‘crucicentrism’), and concern for mission and evangelism (‘conversionism’).
British Evangelical Theologians of the Twentieth Century is a thorough introduction to twelve of the keenest and most influential minds in British evangelical thought. It will leave you with an appreciation of each man’s contribution to English-speaking evangelicalism, as well as helping you to engage critically with their theology and understand how their work is relevant to the development and discussion of British evangelical theology today.
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Mystics Who Came To Dinner
$22.00Add to cartThe Mystics Who Came to Dinner brings Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Hildegard of Bingen, and the English mystics Julian of Norwich, The Cloud of Unknowing author, Richard Rolle, and Margery Kempe together for dinner and lively conversation in a modern home setting. The strange and sometimes alienating aspects of the medieval world are removed so that the mystics’ experiences and insights, and their resulting spiritual writings, are given fresh appeal and relevance to the lives of a twenty-first century reader. The Mystics Who Came to Dinner offers a new “take” on the medieval mystics and their insights, filling a significant gap in the current range of books on the topic by providing an accurate and accessible account of the mystics that not only speaks to the spirit but also delivers their messages both authentically and accessibly in these difficult times.
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Faith Of Our Fathers
$19.95Add to cartThe Catholic Church has been a part of English history since the arrival of Christian missionaries to Roman Britain in the first century after Christ. England was evangelized in these early centuries to such an extent that, by the time the Romans withdrew in the fifth century, the Celtic population was largely Catholic.
Anglo-Saxon England, prior to the Norman Conquest, was a land of saints. From St. Bede, with his history of the early Church, to the holy king St. Edward the Confessor, Saxon England was ablaze with the light of Christ. During the reign of St. Edward, a vision of the Virgin at Walsingham placed the Mother of God on the throne as England’s queen, the land being considered her dowry. Even following the Norman Conquest, the Faith continued to flourish and prosper, making its joyful presence felt in what would become known as Merrie England.
Then in the sixteenth century, this Catholic heart was ripped from the people of England, against their will and in spite of their spirited and heroic resistance, by the reign of the Tudors. This made England once again a land of saints-that is, of martyrs, with Catholic priests and laity being put to death for practicing the Faith. The martyrdoms would continue for 150 years, followed by a further 150 years of legal and political persecution.
In the nineteenth century, against all the odds, there was a great Catholic revival, heralded by the conversion of St. John Henry Newman, which would continue into the twentieth century. Much of the greatest literature of the past century has been written by literary converts to the Church, such as G.?K. Chesterton, Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene, and J.?R.?R. Tolkien.
This whole exciting, faith-filled story is told by Joseph Pearce within a single-volume history of “true England”, the England that remained true to the faith through thick and thin, in times both “merrie” and perilous. It is a story not only worth telling but worth celebrating.