Author: Christian Smith
Publisher: Brazos Press
ISBN: 1587433036
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 240
Book Description
A world-renowned sociologist argues that evangelical biblicism is impossible and produces unwanted pastoral consequences.
The Bible Made Impossible
Author: Christian Smith
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1441241515
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 314
Book Description
Biblicism, an approach to the Bible common among some American evangelicals, emphasizes together the Bible's exclusive authority, infallibility, clarity, self-sufficiency, internal consistency, self-evident meaning, and universal applicability. Acclaimed sociologist Christian Smith argues that this approach is misguided and unable to live up to its own claims. If evangelical biblicism worked as its proponents say it should, there would not be the vast variety of interpretive differences that biblicists themselves reach when they actually read and interpret the Bible. Far from challenging the inspiration and authority of Scripture, Smith critiques a particular rendering of it, encouraging evangelicals to seek a more responsible, coherent, and defensible approach to biblical authority. This important book has generated lively discussion and debate. The paperback edition adds a new chapter responding to the conversation that the cloth edition has sparked.
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1441241515
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 314
Book Description
Biblicism, an approach to the Bible common among some American evangelicals, emphasizes together the Bible's exclusive authority, infallibility, clarity, self-sufficiency, internal consistency, self-evident meaning, and universal applicability. Acclaimed sociologist Christian Smith argues that this approach is misguided and unable to live up to its own claims. If evangelical biblicism worked as its proponents say it should, there would not be the vast variety of interpretive differences that biblicists themselves reach when they actually read and interpret the Bible. Far from challenging the inspiration and authority of Scripture, Smith critiques a particular rendering of it, encouraging evangelicals to seek a more responsible, coherent, and defensible approach to biblical authority. This important book has generated lively discussion and debate. The paperback edition adds a new chapter responding to the conversation that the cloth edition has sparked.
How to Go from Being a Good Evangelical to a Committed Catholic in Ninety-Five Difficult Steps
Author: Christian Smith
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1621892441
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 216
Book Description
American evangelicalism has recently experienced a new openness to Roman Catholicism, and many evangelicals, both famous and ordinary, have joined the Catholic Church or are considering the possibility. This book helps evangelicals who are exploring Catholicism to sort out the kind of concerns that typically come up in discerning whether to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church. In simple language, it explains many theological misunderstandings that evangelicals often have about Catholicism and suggests the kind of practical steps many take to enter the Catholic Church. The book frames evangelicals becoming Roman Catholic as a kind of "paradigm shift" involving the buildup of anomalies about evangelicalism, a crisis of the evangelical paradigm, a paradigm revolution, and the consolidation of the new Catholic paradigm. It will be useful for both evangelicals interested in pursuing and understanding Catholicism and Catholic pastoral workers seeking to help evangelical seekers who come to them.
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1621892441
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 216
Book Description
American evangelicalism has recently experienced a new openness to Roman Catholicism, and many evangelicals, both famous and ordinary, have joined the Catholic Church or are considering the possibility. This book helps evangelicals who are exploring Catholicism to sort out the kind of concerns that typically come up in discerning whether to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church. In simple language, it explains many theological misunderstandings that evangelicals often have about Catholicism and suggests the kind of practical steps many take to enter the Catholic Church. The book frames evangelicals becoming Roman Catholic as a kind of "paradigm shift" involving the buildup of anomalies about evangelicalism, a crisis of the evangelical paradigm, a paradigm revolution, and the consolidation of the new Catholic paradigm. It will be useful for both evangelicals interested in pursuing and understanding Catholicism and Catholic pastoral workers seeking to help evangelical seekers who come to them.
Sacred Word, Broken Word
Author: Kenton L. Sparks
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 0802867189
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 193
Book Description
The Bible is a religious masterpiece. Its authors cast a profound vision for the healing of humanity through the power of divine love, grace and forgiveness. But the Bible also contains "dark texts" that challenge our ethical imagination. How can one book teach us to love our enemies and also teach us to slaughter Canaanites? Why does a book that preaches the equality of all people -- male and female, slave and free, Greek and Jew -- also include laws that permit God's people to trade in slaves and to persecute those of a different faiths or ethnicities? In Sacred Word, Broken Word Kenton Sparks argues that the "dark side" of Scripture is not an illusion. Rather, these dark texts remind us that all human beings, including the biblical authors, stand in need of God's redemptive solution in Jesus Christ.
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 0802867189
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 193
Book Description
The Bible is a religious masterpiece. Its authors cast a profound vision for the healing of humanity through the power of divine love, grace and forgiveness. But the Bible also contains "dark texts" that challenge our ethical imagination. How can one book teach us to love our enemies and also teach us to slaughter Canaanites? Why does a book that preaches the equality of all people -- male and female, slave and free, Greek and Jew -- also include laws that permit God's people to trade in slaves and to persecute those of a different faiths or ethnicities? In Sacred Word, Broken Word Kenton Sparks argues that the "dark side" of Scripture is not an illusion. Rather, these dark texts remind us that all human beings, including the biblical authors, stand in need of God's redemptive solution in Jesus Christ.
Reading the Bible Badly
Author: Karl Allen Kuhn
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1725266989
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 240
Book Description
Reading the Bible Badly exposes how American Christians misunderstand and misuse the Bible, reading Scripture through “lenses” that distort its true character. As Americans, we often read the Bible’s stories and instruction unmindful of their historical and cultural settings, disregarding the testimony of our spiritual ancestors, and finding mostly a mirror image of our own values and selves in Scripture. Some of us insist that the Bible must be the “inerrant word of God,” historically factual in every way and doctrinally infallible, and overlook so much of what makes Scripture beautiful and relevant. Others follow a lectionary that dices and splices Scripture into bite-size morsels for Sunday worship, divorces passages from their biblical settings, strikes verses deemed offensive, and undermines the literary artistry that is the lifeblood of Scripture’s profound revelation. Many of us read the Bible in fear, warping our witness to Jesus and tragically neglecting Scripture’s ever-persistent call to compassion, hospitality, and love. We come to the Bible looking for simple rules that affirm our sense of right and wrong, while missing the point of what Jesus taught about wisdom and true righteousness. Reading the Bible Badly challenges Christians to set aside their misaligned lenses, that they may encounter the Bible more fully and faithfully.
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1725266989
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 240
Book Description
Reading the Bible Badly exposes how American Christians misunderstand and misuse the Bible, reading Scripture through “lenses” that distort its true character. As Americans, we often read the Bible’s stories and instruction unmindful of their historical and cultural settings, disregarding the testimony of our spiritual ancestors, and finding mostly a mirror image of our own values and selves in Scripture. Some of us insist that the Bible must be the “inerrant word of God,” historically factual in every way and doctrinally infallible, and overlook so much of what makes Scripture beautiful and relevant. Others follow a lectionary that dices and splices Scripture into bite-size morsels for Sunday worship, divorces passages from their biblical settings, strikes verses deemed offensive, and undermines the literary artistry that is the lifeblood of Scripture’s profound revelation. Many of us read the Bible in fear, warping our witness to Jesus and tragically neglecting Scripture’s ever-persistent call to compassion, hospitality, and love. We come to the Bible looking for simple rules that affirm our sense of right and wrong, while missing the point of what Jesus taught about wisdom and true righteousness. Reading the Bible Badly challenges Christians to set aside their misaligned lenses, that they may encounter the Bible more fully and faithfully.
Evangelical Faith and the Challenge of Historical Criticism
Author: Christopher M. Hays
Publisher: Baker Academic
ISBN: 1441245758
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 331
Book Description
Many introductions to biblical studies describe critical approaches, but they do not discuss the theological implications. This timely resource discusses the relationship between historical criticism and Christian theology to encourage evangelical engagement with historical-critical scholarship. Charting a middle course between wholesale rejection and unreflective embrace, the book introduces evangelicals to a way of understanding and using historical-critical scholarship that doesn't compromise Christian orthodoxy. The book covers eight of the most hotly contested areas of debate in biblical studies, helping readers work out how to square historical criticism with their beliefs.
Publisher: Baker Academic
ISBN: 1441245758
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 331
Book Description
Many introductions to biblical studies describe critical approaches, but they do not discuss the theological implications. This timely resource discusses the relationship between historical criticism and Christian theology to encourage evangelical engagement with historical-critical scholarship. Charting a middle course between wholesale rejection and unreflective embrace, the book introduces evangelicals to a way of understanding and using historical-critical scholarship that doesn't compromise Christian orthodoxy. The book covers eight of the most hotly contested areas of debate in biblical studies, helping readers work out how to square historical criticism with their beliefs.
When Doctrine Divides the People of God
Author: Rhyne R. Putman
Publisher: Crossway
ISBN: 1433567903
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 350
Book Description
An Excellent Study on Christian Unity and Doctrinal Diversity "This helpful book will encourage Christians to hold their convictions with greater irenicism, humility, awareness, and wisdom." — Gavin Ortlund, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church of Ojai; author, Finding the Right Hills to Die On As evangelicals, we desire to be biblical—we want our doctrine to be rooted in the Bible, our lives to be guided by the Bible, and our disagreements to be resolved by the Bible. And yet, conflicts within our church communities continue to appear and seemingly multiply with time. Interpretations of the Bible and deeply held convictions often put Christians at odds. Encouraging us toward grace in disagreement and firmness in truth, Rhyne Putman reflects on how Christians can maintain the biblical call for unity despite having genuine disagreements.
Publisher: Crossway
ISBN: 1433567903
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 350
Book Description
An Excellent Study on Christian Unity and Doctrinal Diversity "This helpful book will encourage Christians to hold their convictions with greater irenicism, humility, awareness, and wisdom." — Gavin Ortlund, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church of Ojai; author, Finding the Right Hills to Die On As evangelicals, we desire to be biblical—we want our doctrine to be rooted in the Bible, our lives to be guided by the Bible, and our disagreements to be resolved by the Bible. And yet, conflicts within our church communities continue to appear and seemingly multiply with time. Interpretations of the Bible and deeply held convictions often put Christians at odds. Encouraging us toward grace in disagreement and firmness in truth, Rhyne Putman reflects on how Christians can maintain the biblical call for unity despite having genuine disagreements.
When God Walked on Campus
Author: Michael Gleason
Publisher: Dundas, Ont. : Joshua Press
ISBN: 9781894400169
Category : Evangelistic work
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Do you long for revival on your college or university campus? Is your heart burdened for the students you interact with each day? Here are some accounts of revivals in the past two centuries that will whet your appetite for the transforming work of God's Spirit on your campus today.From the academic halls of America - Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Dartmouth, Brown, Middlebury, Union, Bethel, Wheaton, Williams, Trinity, Ashland, and many others - comes the stirring stories of awakening and revival.On both secular and Christian Campuses, the moving of God is evident as men and women were converted and stirred to ministry and foreign service. Out of these pockets of awakening came the formation or strengthening of student and campus fellowships such as InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Youth for Christ, Campus Crusade for Christ, Navigators, and the YMCA.
Publisher: Dundas, Ont. : Joshua Press
ISBN: 9781894400169
Category : Evangelistic work
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Do you long for revival on your college or university campus? Is your heart burdened for the students you interact with each day? Here are some accounts of revivals in the past two centuries that will whet your appetite for the transforming work of God's Spirit on your campus today.From the academic halls of America - Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Dartmouth, Brown, Middlebury, Union, Bethel, Wheaton, Williams, Trinity, Ashland, and many others - comes the stirring stories of awakening and revival.On both secular and Christian Campuses, the moving of God is evident as men and women were converted and stirred to ministry and foreign service. Out of these pockets of awakening came the formation or strengthening of student and campus fellowships such as InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Youth for Christ, Campus Crusade for Christ, Navigators, and the YMCA.
Baptism and Fullness
Author: John Stott
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 0830834028
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 155
Book Description
The Holy Spirit continues to be at work around the world, yet much confusion and controversy remain regarding the Holy Spirit's activity. In this classic study, John Stott provides clear biblical exposition on the promise, the fruit, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, expanding on the nature of "the baptism of the Spirit" and whether certain spiritual experiences should be normative for all Christians.
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 0830834028
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 155
Book Description
The Holy Spirit continues to be at work around the world, yet much confusion and controversy remain regarding the Holy Spirit's activity. In this classic study, John Stott provides clear biblical exposition on the promise, the fruit, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, expanding on the nature of "the baptism of the Spirit" and whether certain spiritual experiences should be normative for all Christians.
Souls in Transition
Author: Christian Smith
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199707499
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 364
Book Description
How important is religion for young people in America today? What are the major influences on their developing spiritual lives? How do their religious beliefs and practices change as young people enter into adulthood? Christian Smith's Souls in Transition explores these questions and many others as it tells the definitive story of the religious and spiritual lives of emerging adults, ages 18 to 24, in the U.S. today. This is the much-anticipated follow-up study to the landmark book, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers. Based on candid interviews with thousands of young people tracked over a five-year period, Souls in Transition reveals how the religious practices of the teenagers portrayed in Soul Searching have been strengthened, challenged, and often changed as they have moved into adulthood. The book vividly describes as well the broader cultural world of today's emerging adults, how that culture shapes their religious outlooks, and what the consequences are for religious faith and practice in America more generally. Some of Smith's findings are surprising. Parents turn out to be the single most important influence on the religious outcomes in the lives of young adults. On the other hand, teenage participation in evangelization missions and youth groups does not predict a high level of religiosity just a few years later. Moreover, the common wisdom that religiosity declines sharply during the young adult years is shown to be greatly exaggerated. Painstakingly researched and filled with remarkable findings, Souls in Transition will be essential reading for youth ministers, pastors, parents, teachers and students at church-related schools, and anyone who wishes to know how religious practice is affected by the transition into adulthood in America today.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199707499
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 364
Book Description
How important is religion for young people in America today? What are the major influences on their developing spiritual lives? How do their religious beliefs and practices change as young people enter into adulthood? Christian Smith's Souls in Transition explores these questions and many others as it tells the definitive story of the religious and spiritual lives of emerging adults, ages 18 to 24, in the U.S. today. This is the much-anticipated follow-up study to the landmark book, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers. Based on candid interviews with thousands of young people tracked over a five-year period, Souls in Transition reveals how the religious practices of the teenagers portrayed in Soul Searching have been strengthened, challenged, and often changed as they have moved into adulthood. The book vividly describes as well the broader cultural world of today's emerging adults, how that culture shapes their religious outlooks, and what the consequences are for religious faith and practice in America more generally. Some of Smith's findings are surprising. Parents turn out to be the single most important influence on the religious outcomes in the lives of young adults. On the other hand, teenage participation in evangelization missions and youth groups does not predict a high level of religiosity just a few years later. Moreover, the common wisdom that religiosity declines sharply during the young adult years is shown to be greatly exaggerated. Painstakingly researched and filled with remarkable findings, Souls in Transition will be essential reading for youth ministers, pastors, parents, teachers and students at church-related schools, and anyone who wishes to know how religious practice is affected by the transition into adulthood in America today.