| Audio
Authors, A-Z
Authors by last name
, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Bibles
»
Catholicism
»
Christian Living
Church History
Clergy
Education
Evangelism
Fiction
Holidays
Jesus
Protestantism
»
Reference
»
Theology
»
Worship and Devotion
|
| |
|
| 1. |  | |
John Calvin: Selections from His Writings (HarperCollins Spiritual Classics)
| | <p> A pivotal figure of the Protestant Reformation, John Calvin's vision of God changed the world. Calvin (1509-1564), who, in response to God's call became a pastor against his natural inclinations, transformed an unimportant city into a powerful force for religious reform. Today, many know of John Calvin as an historical figure, but few have read his writings or are familiar with the personal spirituality that drove his life. This volume presents the main facets of Calvin's faith, including his personal religious experience, his pastoral ministry, and his revolutionary theological vision. This is a perfect resource for those seeking to learn about the man behind the legacy. </p> | |
 |
 |
| 3. | ![]() | |
John Calvin: A Sixteenth-Century Portrait
| | Calvinism has been widely credited--or blamed--for much that is thought to characterize the modern world: for capitalism and modern science, for secularization and democracy, for individualism and utilitarianism. But John Calvin the man has been largely ignored by historians; most of us, if we think of him at all, tend to view him as little more than the joyless tyrant of Geneva and the source of an abstract theology as forbidding as its author. This book, by an eminent historian whose career has been devoted to understanding the larger patterns of early modern European history, aims to make Calvin come alive by putting him back in his own time and understanding how he dealt with its problems.<br> A Frenchman, an exile, and a humanist in the tradition of Erasmus, Calvin was unusually sensitive to the complexities and contradictions of later Renaissance culture. The Calvin who emerges from this eloquent study is a surprisingly human, more plausible, more ecumenical, and often sympathetic figure, whose achievement was both more and less than -- and at the same time quite different from -- the way it has commonly been portrayed. The result is a brilliant interpretation not only of Calvin but also of the Reformation and its relationship to the movements of the Renaissance.<br> | |
 |
| 4. | ![]() | |
What Does the Lord Require?: How American Christians Think about Economic Justice
| | From the support given to Reagan and Bush's conservative economic agenda by the Religious Right, to the questioning of some features of American capitalism by the Catholic Bishops, Christians have been highly visible in the public forum during the last decade. In What Does the Lord Require, Stephen Hart shows that the views on economic issues held by less vocal Christians are also grounded in deeply-held religious beliefs. For these grass roots Christians, Hart writes, faith lays in the foundation for views that range from staunchly conservative to radical.<br> Hart paints a rich portrait of how everyday Christians actually connect their faith to such issues as economic equality, government intervention, and the rights of private enterprise. Drawing on lengthy interviews, he makes a comprehensive analysis of forty-seven diverse Christians--Roman Catholics, Pentecostals, mainline Protestants, Jehovah's witnesses, and others--who range from manual laborers to corporate executives, from conservatives to socialists. <br> The results are sometimes surprising. On economic issues, Hart shows, evangelicals and fundamentalists are at least as liberal as mainline Protestants. One Missionary Alliance member, for example, bases her populist views on the ideas that we are all children of God and God favors the lowly. Many traditionalists come to liberalism through the belief that economic life should be governed by an ethical vision, not just market forces. Modernists, on the other hand, often desire and unbridled free market out of concern to maximize individual freedom.<br> Hart identifies five themes from Christian tradition--voluntarism, universalism, love, thisworldliness, and otherworldliness--that respondents repeatedly draw upon when they think about economic justice issues. He shows how these themes are used to support both conservative and liberal views, arguing that Christianity is a terrain of debate with no single inherent set of political implications, let alone the monolithic conservative ones promoted by the Christian Right. In fact, he writes, the respondents tend to speak in more liberal terms when they articulate the social implications of faith than when they talk about economic issues in purely secular terms. Christian faith this provides many Americans with a vision that can contribute to change in the direction of greater equality, community, and economic justice.<br> Most Americans are members of Christian churches, and the last decade has shown the tremendous impact politically active Christians can have. In What Does the Lord Require, Stephen Hart offers a new understanding of how faith shapes the capacity of grass roots Christians to participate in public debate about economic life. | |
 |
| 5. |  | |
The Body Broken: The Calvinist Doctrine of the Eucharist and the Symbolization of Power in Sixteenth-Century France (Oxford Studies in Historical Theology)
| | This book examines the disputes about the eucharist that were carried out in the popular press in 16th-century France. Elwood's focus is on the way in which power is symbolized in eucharist doctrine, and how representations of power in the context of theological discussion influenced understandings of power in other spheres of life. By concentrating on writings that were accessible to and likely read by a popular lay audience, Elwood seeks to discover what ideas concerning the eucharist were actually conveyed by readers. His central argument is that the Calvinist eucharist theory propounded in the 16th century included a way on construing power and the relation between the sacred and society that contributed in a very significant way to the ideological, social, and political unrest that characterized the Reformation period. | |
 |
| 6. |  | |
Western Muslims and the Future of Islam
| | In a Western world suddenly acutely interested in Islam, one question has been repeatedly heard above the din: where are the Muslim reformers With this ambitious volume, Tariq Ramadan firmly establishes himself as one of Europe's leading thinkers and one of Islam's most innovative and important voices. As the number of Muslims living in the West grows, the question of what it means to be a Western Muslim becomes increasingly important to the futures of both Islam and the West. While the media are focused on radical Islam, Ramadan claims, a silent revolution is sweeping Islamic communities in the West, as Muslims actively seek ways to live in harmony with their faith within a Western context. French, English, German, and American Muslims--women as well as men--are reshaping their religion into one that is faithful to the principles of Islam, dressed in European and American cultures, and definitively rooted in Western societies. Ramadan's goal is to create an independent Western Islam, anchored not in the traditions of Islamic countries but in the cultural reality of the West. He begins by offering a fresh reading of Islamic sources, interpreting them for a Western context and demonstrating how a new understanding of universal Islamic principles can open the door to integration into Western societies. He then shows how these principles can be put to practical use. Ramadan contends that Muslims can-indeed must-be faithful to their principles while participating fully in the civic life of Western secular societies. Grounded in scholarship and bold in its aims, Western Muslims and the Future of Islam offers a striking vision of a new Muslim identity, one which rejects once and for all the idea that Islam must be defined in opposition to the West. | |
 |
| 7. |  | |
John Calvin's Ideas
| | This is a major study of the theological thought of John Calvin, which examines his central theological ideas through a philosophical lens, looking at issues in Metaphysics, Epistemology, and Ethics. The study, the first of its kind, is concerned with how Calvin actually uses philosophical ideas in his work as a theologian and biblical commentator. The book also includes a careful examination of those ideas of Calvin to which the Reformed Epistemologists appeal, to find grounds and precedent for their development of `Reformed Epistemology', notably the sensus divinitatis and the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit. | |
 |
| 9. |  | |
Christ's Churches Purely Reformed: A Social History of Calvinism
| | <div>This sweeping book tells the story of Calvinisms origins, expansion, and impact across Europe from the upheavals of the early Reformation to the end of the seventeenth century. The faiths fundamental doctrines, diverse ecclesiastical institutions, and significant consequences for lived experience are all explored, revealing the ongoing interplay between a dynamic religious tradition and the worlds in which it took root. <br><br>"This is a rare and great achievement: a broad survey . . . that is at once a gripping narrative and a fresh interpretation of the subject, as masterful with the small details as with the big picture." Carlos Eire, Yale University</div> | |
 |
| 10. |  | |
Calvin
| | <DIV><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">During the glory days of the French Renaissance, young John Calvin (1509-1564) experienced a profound conversion to the faith of the Reformation. For the rest of his days he lived out the implications of that transformationas exile, inspired reformer, and ultimately the dominant figure of the Protestant Reformation. Calvins vision of the Christian religion has inspired many volumes of analysis, but this engaging biography examines a remarkable life. Bruce Gordon presents Calvin as a human being, a man at once brilliant, arrogant, charismatic, unforgiving, generous, and shrewd. </P><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">?</P><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The book explores with particular insight Calvins self-conscious view of himself as prophet and apostle for his age and his struggle to tame a sense of his own superiority, perceived by others as arrogance. Gordon looks at Calvins character, his maturing vision of God and humanity, his personal tragedies and failures, his extensive relationships with others, and the context within which he wrote and taught. What emerges is a man who devoted himself to the Church, inspiring and transforming the lives of others, especially those who suffered persecution for their religious beliefs.</P></DIV> | |
|  |
|
| |