Welcome to Volume II of Alternative Christianities. For those that have read Alternative Christianities – Volume I: Early Christian Sects and the Formation of the Bible, Welcome Back and I hope you enjoy Alternative Christianities – Volume II: The Validity of Today’s Christian Teachings and the Lost Gospels of the Other Disciples. If you have not read Volume I, I do hope you pick it up or order it. It is well-worth reading. For those new readers to whom I have not introduced myself in Volume I: I am Vince Nicolas. I am a “historian” not a “theologian.” I am writing these books as a “historian” not as a “theologian.” I want to make that very clear.
Alternative Christianities is a series of books, articles, and lectures. This is only Volume I which introduces the many ancient Christian sects that were ostracized and had their Sacred Scriptures (what they were taught by one Jesus direct Disciples) not only left out of the New Testament but also suppressed, banned, and destroyed in the early centuries of Christianity by the emerging universal (catholic) Christian Church. Vince Nicolas is a historian not a theologian. Vince is a teacher not a preacher. Vince extensively researched this subject from the works of the best university religious studies professors in the United States. Additionally in compiling his treatise, Vince learned how the New Testament, besides more Sacred Scriptures were consciously being left out than included, many of the texts that were included had been repeatedly changed either accidentally or intentionally to suit the emerging Christian church and their "preferred Christian teachings;" then to accommodate the numerous and compounded Protestant Reformations. Consequently today there is not ONE Christian Bible or ONE Christian religion but dozens of versions of the Christian Bible and thousands of iterations of Christian religions, denominations, sects, and cults. Christianity is a hodgepodge disaster as viewed by outsiders! A 20th century discovery of these discarded ancient texts brought them back to light. More amazing are the differences from the traditional Christianity being taught and followed today. This made many of todays Biblical scholars, theologians, and university professors question whether we all have been led down the wrong Christian path for the past 2,000 years. In fact, these ancient discarded Alternative Christianities even make more sense in todays world and brings Christianity back to being a religion of "Good News"! Maybe these recent discoveries were a Divine intervention to adjust Christianity back onto its right path; the real path that was intended by Jesus Christ? Maybe people now can have a fresh and refreshing new look at Christianity? Volume I is guaranteed to pique your interest, get you hooked, and make you want to go more in depth in Volumes II and III. This treatise is not only very enlightening and educational for Christians but also for our intertwined Abrahamic-descendant Judaism and Islam relatives. This is an ecumenical book; it is not meant to convert anyone, promote any religion, or disseminate anyones beliefs. This series is a MUST READ for any serious theology or religious studies student to have a complete comprehension of the Bible and Christianity, especially if they are going to teach or preach it intelligently and correctly; or just for your own education. WARNING: This series will ruffle many feathers among the ultra-conservative and closed-minded communities and promises to be very controversial! GET YOUR CORRECT FACTS HERE.
Is it possible that we have left Christ out of Christianity? Is the faith and practice of American Christians today more American than Christian? These are the provocative questions Michael Horton addresses in this thoughtful, insightful book. He argues that while we invoke the name of Christ, too often Christ and the Christ-centered gospel are pushed aside. The result is a message and a faith that are, in Horton's words, "trivial, sentimental, affirming, and irrelevant." This alternative "gospel" is a message of moralism, personal comfort, self-help, self-improvement, and individualistic religion. It trivializes God, making him a means to our selfish ends. Horton skillfully diagnoses the problem and points to the solution: a return to the unadulterated gospel of salvation.
When computers freeze, they are "rebooted" and soon working properly again. Similarly, legendary thinkers throughout history have argued that Christianity should start fresh by recapturing the humanitarian spirit of Jesus' original message. These include such disparate individuals as Thomas Jefferson, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, Walt Whitman, Friedrich Nietzsche, Leo Tolstoy, George Bernard Shaw, and the religious leaders of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Surprisingly enough, even classic television shows and films meant to be entertaining--Lost, Battlestar Galactica, It's a Wonderful Life, Groundhog Day, Decalogue, and A Charlie Brown Christmas--are attempts to apply the basic principles of Christianity to modern times. This book offers new essays by scholars of literature, film, history, theology and philosophy examining how various thinkers and storytellers over time have conceived of a reinvented Christianity. In confronting this controversial idea, this book examines how unorthodox interpretations of the Bible can be some of the most valid, how visions of Jesus as a revolutionary may be the most historically sound, and how compassionate Christians such as Origen have wrestled with the eternal questions of the existence of evil, the gift of free will and the promise of universal salvation.
Few, if any, thinkers and writers today would have the imagination, the breadth of knowledge, the literary skill, and-yes-the audacity to conceive of a powerful, secular alternative to the Bible. But that is exactly what A.C. Grayling has done by creating a non-religious Bible, drawn from the wealth of secular literature and philosophy in both Western and Eastern traditions, using the same techniques of editing, redaction, and adaptation that produced the holy books of the Judaeo-Christian and Islamic religions. The Good Book consciously takes its design and presentation from the Bible, in its beauty of language and arrangement into short chapters and verses for ease of reading and quotability, offering to the non-religious seeker all the wisdom, insight, solace, inspiration, and perspective of secular humanist traditions that are older, far richer and more various than Christianity. Organized in 12 main sections----Genesis, Histories, Widsom, The Sages, Parables, Consolations, Lamentations, Proverbs, Songs, Epistles, Acts, and the Good----The Good Book opens with meditations on the origin and progress of the world and human life in it, then devotes attention to the question of how life should be lived, how we relate to one another, and how vicissitudes are to be faced and joys appreciated. Incorporating the writing of Herodotus and Lucretius, Confucius and Mencius, Seneca and Cicero, Montaigne, Bacon, and so many others, The Good Book will fulfill its audacious purpose in every way.
In this indispensable reference tool for parents, students, and pastors alike, Larson analyzes dozens of world religions and spiritual movements from Islam to UFOs, New Age movements to witchcraft. This volume helps address tough questions from a biblical perspective.
The most complete resource of its kind on alternative medicine• Herbal remedies, dietary supplements, and alternative therapiesTheir specific usesWhich ones really work (and which ones don’t)What to watch out for• Christian versus non-Christian approaches to holistic health• Clinically proven treatments versus unproven or quack treatments• Truths and fallacies about supernatural healing• Ancient medical lore: the historical, cultural, and scientific facts• And much, much moreAlternative Medicine is the first comprehensive guidebook to nontraditional medicine written from a distinctively Christian perspective. Keeping pace with the latest developments and research in alternative medicine, this thoroughly revised edition combines the most current information with an easy-to-use format. University lecturer and researcher Dónal O’Mathúna, PhD, and national medical authority Walt Larimore, MD, provide detailed and balanced answers to your most pressing questions about alternative medicine—and to other questions you wouldn’t have thought to ask.Also includesTwo alphabetical reference sections:Alternative therapiesHerbal remedies, vitamins, and dietary supplementsA description of each therapy and remedy, an analysis of claims, results of actual studies, cautions, recommendations, and further resourcesHandy cross-references linking health problems with various alternative therapies and herbal remedies reviewed in the book
The second coming of Christ is a matter of sharp disagreement amongst Christians. Many hold to premillennialism: that Christ's return will be followed by 1,000 years before the final judgement. However, premillennialism is not the only option for Christians. In this new book, Sam Storms provides a biblical rationale for amillennialism; the belief that 1,000 years mentioned in the book of Revelation is symbolic with the emphasis being the King and his Kingdom. --from publisher description.
Insider twentysomething Christian journalist Brett McCracken has grown up in the evangelical Christian subculture and observed the recent shift away from the "stained glass and steeples" old guard of traditional Christianity to a more unorthodox, stylized 21st-century church. This change raises a big issue for the church in our postmodern world: the question of cool. The question is whether or not Christianity can be, should be, or is, in fact, cool. This probing book is about an emerging category of Christians McCracken calls "Christian hipsters"--the unlikely fusion of the American obsessions with worldly "cool" and otherworldly religion--an analysis of what they're about, why they exist, and what it all means for Christianity and the church's relevancy and hipness in today's youth-oriented culture.
The Other Black Church: Alternative Christian Movements and the Struggle for Black Freedom examines the movements led by Father Divine, Charles Mason, and Albert Cleage (later known as Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman) as alternative Christian movements in the middle of the twentieth century that radically re-envisioned the limits and possibilities of Black citizenship. These movements not only rethink the value and import of Christian texts and reimagined the role of the Black Christian prophetic tradition, but they also outlined a new model of protest that challenged the language and logic of Black essentialism, economic development, and the role of the state. By placing these movements in conversation with the long history of Black theology and Black religious studies, this book suggests that alternative Christian movements are essential for thinking about African American critiques of and responses to the failures of U.S.-based democracy. These prophets of Black theological thought and their attention to the limits of the state and traditional Black religious formations are most fully appreciated when studied in light of their conversations and interactions with other key Black prophetic and theological figures of the mid-twentieth century. Ultimately, The Other Black Church will use those conversations and archives from these movements to highlight their protest of the racial state, to explore the limits of the Black church, and to argue for their continued significance for thinking about the variety and vibrancy of Black protest, specifically Black religious protest, during the twentieth century.
