How Christianity Changed the World

Author: Alvin J. Schmidt
Publisher: Zondervan
ISBN: 0310862507
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 452

Book Description
Western civilization is becoming increasingly pluralistic,secularized, and biblically illiterate. Many people todayhave little sense of how their lives have benefited fromChristianity’s influence, often viewing the church withhostility or resentment.How Christianity Changed the World is a topicallyarranged Christian history for Christians and non-Christians. Grounded in solid research and written in apopular style, this book is both a helpful apologetic toolin talking with unbelievers and a source of evidence forwhy Christianity deserves credit for many of thehumane, social, scientific, and cultural advances in theWestern world in the last two thousand years.Photographs, timelines, and charts enhance eachchapter.This edition features questions for reflection anddiscussion for each chapter.

How Christianity Transformed the World

Author: Sharon James
Publisher: Christian Focus
ISBN: 9781527106475
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 208

Book Description
Many people today would say that Christianity has done more harm than good to our world. Sharon James argues, however, in seeking to love their neighbour and reflect God's moral character the followers of Jesus have had a largely positive impact on our society. James takes a number of areas - education, healthcare, justice, human dignity - and traces the ways in which these benefits have spread with the gospel. Chapter Headings: Freedom Religious Liberty Justice Protecting Life The Dignity of Women Philanthropy Healthcare Education for All The Creation Mandate and the Value of Work History: The Triumph of Christ

Dominion

Author: Tom Holland
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465093523
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 624

Book Description
A "marvelous" (Economist) account of how the Christian Revolution forged the Western imagination. Crucifixion, the Romans believed, was the worst fate imaginable, a punishment reserved for slaves. How astonishing it was, then, that people should have come to believe that one particular victim of crucifixion-an obscure provincial by the name of Jesus-was to be worshipped as a god. Dominion explores the implications of this shocking conviction as they have reverberated throughout history. Today, the West remains utterly saturated by Christian assumptions. As Tom Holland demonstrates, our morals and ethics are not universal but are instead the fruits of a very distinctive civilization. Concepts such as secularism, liberalism, science, and homosexuality are deeply rooted in a Christian seedbed. From Babylon to the Beatles, Saint Michael to #MeToo, Dominion tells the story of how Christianity transformed the modern world.

Seven Revolutions

Author: Mike Aquilina
Publisher: Image
ISBN: 0804138974
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 227

Book Description
Combining history, politics, and religion, Mike Aquilina and Jim Papandrea provide practical lessons to be learned from the struggles of the Early Church, lessons that can be applied to the day-to-day lives of Christian readers. Prolonged, multiple wars in the Middle East. Waves of immigrants crossing the borders. Ongoing economic recession. Increasing political polarization, often with religious overtones. Conflicts over ideologies that pit the progressive against the traditional. Sound familiar? These conditions not only describe the United States, but the situation of the Roman Empire in the third century. That situation led to religious persecution and the eventual collapse of the empire. In the middle of the third century, the Roman Empire was roughly the same age as the United States is now. In this book, authors Mike Aquilina and Jim Papandrea examine the practices of the Early Church—a body of Christians living in Rome—and show how the lessons learned from these ancient Christians can apply to Christians living in the United States today. The book moves from the Christian individual, to the family, the church and the world, explaining how the situation of the Early Church is not only familiar to modern Christian readers, but that its values are still relevant

The Evolution of the West

Author: Nick Spencer
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
ISBN: 1611648564
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 204

Book Description
What has Christianity ever done for us? A lot more than you might think, as Nick Spencer reveals in this fresh exploration of our cultural origins. Looking at the big ideas that characterize the West, such as human dignity, the rule of law, human rights, science, and even, paradoxically, atheism and secularism,he traces the varied ways in which many of our present values grew up and flourished in distinctively Christian soil. Always alert to the tensions and mess of history, and careful not to overstate or misstate the Christian role in shaping our present values, Spencer shows us how a better awareness of what we owe to Christianity can help us as we face new cultural challenges.

To Change the World

Author: James Davison Hunter
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199745390
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 369

Book Description
The call to make the world a better place is inherent in the Christian belief and practice. But why have efforts to change the world by Christians so often failed or gone tragically awry? And how might Christians in the 21st century live in ways that have integrity with their traditions and are more truly transformative? In To Change the World, James Davison Hunter offers persuasive--and provocative--answers to these questions. Hunter begins with a penetrating appraisal of the most popular models of world-changing among Christians today, highlighting the ways they are inherently flawed and therefore incapable of generating the change to which they aspire. Because change implies power, all Christian eventually embrace strategies of political engagement. Hunter offers a trenchant critique of the political theologies of the Christian Right and Left and the Neo-Anabaptists, taking on many respected leaders, from Charles Colson to Jim Wallis and Stanley Hauerwas. Hunter argues that all too often these political theologies worsen the very problems they are designed to solve. What is really needed is a different paradigm of Christian engagement with the world, one that Hunter calls "faithful presence"--an ideal of Christian practice that is not only individual but institutional; a model that plays out not only in all relationships but in our work and all spheres of social life. He offers real-life examples, large and small, of what can be accomplished through the practice of "faithful presence." Such practices will be more fruitful, Hunter argues, more exemplary, and more deeply transfiguring than any more overtly ambitious attempts can ever be. Written with keen insight, deep faith, and profound historical grasp, To Change the World will forever change the way Christians view and talk about their role in the modern world.

Atheist Delusions

Author: David Bentley Hart
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300155646
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 268

Book Description
Religious scholar Hart argues that contemporary antireligious polemics are based not only upon conceptual confusions but upon facile simplifications of history and provides a powerful antidote to the New Atheists' misrepresentations of the Christian past.

Unimaginable

Author: Jeremiah J. Johnston
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1493413805
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 258

Book Description
A Stirring Account of Christianity's Power for Good In a day when Christians are often attacked for their beliefs, professor and speaker Jeremiah Johnston offers an inspiring look at the positive influence of Christianity, both historically and today. In Unimaginable, you'll discover the far-reaching ways that Christianity is good for the world--and has been since the first century AD--including: · How the plights of women and children in society were forever changed by Jesus · Why democracy and our education and legal systems owe much to Christianity · How early believers demonstrated the inherent value of human life by caring for the sick, handicapped, and dying · How Christians today are extending God's kingdom through charities, social justice efforts, and other profound ways Like It's a Wonderful Life, the classic film that showed George Bailey how different Bedford Falls would be without his presence, Unimaginable guides readers through the halls of history to see how Jesus' teachings dramatically changed the world and continue to be the most powerful force for good today. This provocative and enlightening book is sure to encourage believers and challenge doubters.

7 Truths That Changed the World (Reasons to Believe)

Author: Kenneth R. Samples
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1441238506
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 240

Book Description
Ideas have consequences, sometimes far-reaching and world-changing. The Christian faith contains many volatile truths that challenged--and continue to challenge--the cultural and religious status quo of the world. This biblical, historical, and philosophical exploration of some of Christianity's most transformational ideas offers a unique look at how the world changed when Christ and his followers came on the scene. These ideas include the resurrection Jesus as God incarnate creation out of nothing the compatibility of faith and reason justification by grace through faith humankind in God's image the greater good of suffering Pastors, students, and thoughtful Christians will be strengthened to face contemporary challenges to these truths and will find the confidence to impact their world for Christ.

Christianity

Author: Linda Woodhead
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199687749
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 145

Book Description
This is a short, accessible analysis of Christianity that focuses on its social and cultural diversity as well as its historical dimensions.