Religion Theory

In Sacrifice, Rene Girard interrogates the Brahmanas of Vedic India, exploring coincidences with mimetic theory that are too numerous and striking to be accidental. The Bible reveals collective violence, similar to that which generates sacrifice everywhere, but instead of making victims guilty, the Bible and the Gospels reveal the persecutors of a single victim. Instead of elaborating myths, they tell the truth absolutely contrary to the archaic sense.

There has been renewed interest in the five points of Calvinism among many Christians today. But these doctrines are not a product of the twenty-first century. So where did they come from, and why are they so important? Dr. W. Robert Godfrey takes us back to 1618-19 when the Canons of Dort were written in response to a mounting theological assault on Reformed Christianity. Now, for its four-hundredth anniversary, he offers a new translation and pastoral commentary on the canons, equipping the next generation with these God-glorifying truths.

In this magisterial work, leading cultural critic Mary Eberstadt delivers a powerful new theory about the decline of religion in the Western world. The conventional wisdom is that the West first experienced religious decline, followed by the decline of the family. Eberstadt turns this standard account on its head. Marshalling an impressive array of research, Eberstadt shows that the reverse has also been true: the undermining of the family has further undermined Christianity itself.

Alors que l'homme s'attache à ses performances, ce livre nous ramène à une réalité spirituelle essentielle : la grâce de Dieu. Charles H. Spurgeon, «Prince des Prédicateurs», nous la décrit avec toute la passion et la vitalité qui le caractérisent. Ce classique du 19e siècle énonce des vérités bibliques qui s'appliquent encore parfaitement aujourd'hui. Indispensable au pécheur qui vient à Jésus-Christ, la grâce œuvre tout autant dans la vie du croyant. (Re)découvrez la profondeur de l'amour, du pardon et de la puissance de Dieu pour vous.

In a world that is “woke”, how many Christians are actually awake? This short theologically sound primer is a resource for pastors, ministry leaders, community leaders, and other thinking Christians that explains carefully and clearly what critical race theory and wokeness truly are, what the Bible teaches about race and ethnicity, why wokeness is distinct from Christianity and should be rejected, and how the church can work for unity based in the gospel of grace.

Far too many Christians are waiting, hoping, and praying for healing, but either it doesn’t last, or it doesn’t come at all. Doctors shrug and say there is nothing they can do. Pastors say it is your sin or attacks of the devil that blocks your healing. This only leaves people more helpless, hopeless, afraid, ashamed, and still sick or in pain.

Ed Uszynski—whose PhD in American culture studies navigated readings in Marxism, Critical Theory, and Critical Race Theory—carefully unpacks what critical race theorists seek to accomplish and what Christians can learn from them. Uszynski generously explores CRT's roots, context, and central tenets, revealing how its insights are used and distorted but also how they might benefit the church.

If the church is going to use the Bible to decide whether divorce is legitimate in certain cases and whether divorced couples have the right to remarry with the approval and blessing of God’s people, then the Bible must be studied without prejudice toward a particular answer. The author examines the relevant passages in both the Old and New Testaments so that his listeners can consider the many issues and interpretations that arise in trying to establish a consistently biblical position.

Conventional wisdom holds that America has been a Christian nation since the Founding Fathers. But in One Nation Under God, historian Kevin M. Kruse argues that the idea of "Christian America" is nothing more than a myth - and a relatively recent one at that.

From the outset, the implications of this book are terrifying. In this thorough, and sometimes disquieting, investigation of the biblical predictions, the Great Apostasy emerges, not as a foreboding future event, but as the very essence of today's postmodern Church. Like tares in the wheat field, false adherents are presently growing up alongside true believers. But how will we know them? This is where Steve Gallagher is at his best. He exposes the prevailing self-centeredness, widespread sensuality, and rebellion to authority that epitomizes this false part of the Body.

Oswald Chambers here shows us the parallel between our Lord’s wondrous life on Earth and our life lived in his name. The psychology of the sanctified life is perfectly illustrated in our Lord’s life as set forth in the Gospels. The First Adam mishandled and disarranged his human nature. The Last Adam restored human nature to a right working relation to God. I pray that the book may prove as great a blessing to many thoughtful students, as it has been to some of us for years, bringing them to the Apostolic climax of confession, “For to me to live is Christ.”

We humans are prone to failure. We’re experts at muddying, mixing, and messing up our lives. Who among us hasn’t looked up from the bottom of a pit and realized he dug it himself? Who hasn’t fallen so far, messed up so badly that she thought there was no hope? And it’s at these low points that we crave reminders that there’s hope for the broken. No reminder is quite as poignant as a story of second chances. A story of grace in action. Who couldn’t use more stories of grace like this? Second Chances includes tales of second chances for the rebellious and more.

The history of the United States displays an uncanny pattern: At moments of crisis, when the odds against success seem overwhelming and disaster looks imminent, fate intervenes to provide deliverance and progress. Historians may categorize these incidents as happy accidents, callous crimes, or the products of brilliant leadership, but the most notable leaders of the past 400 years have identified this good fortune as something else - a reflection of divine providence.

Einstein’s revolutionary scientific ideas have transformed our world, ushering in the nuclear age. The current pace of scientific and technological progress is simply astounding. So is there any place for faith in such a world? Einstein himself gave careful thought to the deepest questions of life. His towering intellectual status means he is someone worth listening to when we think through the big questions of life.

Many of us believe that in order to please God, we have to be perfect. It’s an easy lie to buy into. In a culture that emphasizes accomplishment and ever-higher goals, we feel driven to do more, achieve more, be more. And we get caught up in the unforgiving treadmill of self-imposed rules, believing that we should, we need to, we must. The result? Anger, frustration, and anxiety that keep us far away from the life of peace that Jesus promised.

What does the Bible mean when it says that Christians have died to sin? How is it possible for a just God to justify the ungodly without becoming unjust Himself? What is regeneration? What is justification? This book attempts to set forth in clear Biblical light the nature and characteristics of justification and regeneration that God may be glorified and His children brought to know more fully the liberty that is theirs in Christ.

Cold Tangerines is a collection of stories that celebrate the extraordinary moments hidden in our everyday lives. It is about God, and about life, and about the thousands of daily ways in which an awareness of God changes and infuses everything. It is about spiritual life, and about all the things that we have called nonspiritual life that might be spiritual after all.

In his acclaimed books, renowned writer, speaker, and philosophy professor Dallas Willard explored the nature of Christian life in God's Kingdom. Yet one topic remained undisclosed: Willard's understanding of heaven and eternal life. In the months before his death, Willard engaged in moving and insightful conversations about the meaning of life and the life to come with close friend and theologian Gary Black, Jr. These inspiring dialogues were steeped in biblical theology as well as practical wisdom grounded in the here-and-now.

The greatest promise ever given to the human race came from the lips of our Redeemer when Jesus said, "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me...I go to prepare a place for you...I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:1-3). Just after his 95th birthday, Mr. Graham proclaimed with resolve, "When I die, tell others that I've gone to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ - that's where I am."

Critical theory and its expression in fields such as critical race theory, critical pedagogy, and queer theory are having a profound impact on our culture. Contemporary critical theory's ideas about race, class, gender, identity, and justice have dramatically shaped how people think, act, and view one another—in Christian and secular spheres alike. In Critical Dilemma, authors Neil Shenvi and Pat Sawyer illuminate the origins and influences of contemporary critical theory, considering it in the light of clear reason and biblical orthodoxy.