This is the shocking truth: Jesus was a zealot who wanted to be King of Israel. The apostles and disciples were members of his family, by blood and by marriage, and they went on to wage a war against Rome. Far from converting, Saul, the false apostle, remained malicious and vindictive to the end. Saul invented Christianity, borrowing the rituals of a pagan religion, Mithraism. The gospels are a deliberately scrambled version of Jewish zealot propaganda with characters, who were Jewish warriors, stolen and subverted by Christian writers.
How should Christians respond to terrorism and terrorists in their midst? Terrorism is a global problem, and no society on earth faces it alone. The mainly Christian society of Kenya has suffered more than most as it attempts to counter the threat of al-Shabaab. Some pastors have asked for permission to carry guns. Many Christians support government military action, while others recommend pacifist stances, and strive for dialogue and reconciliation with the Muslim community. In this book, ten Kenyan Christian thinkers and practitioners share their experiences and insights. A response section from seven others, including a Kenyan Muslim scholar, enrich the discussion.
What does the most infamous criminal proceeding in history--the trial of Jesus of Nazareth--have to tell us about capital punishment in the United States? Jesus Christ was a prisoner on death row. If that statement surprises you, consider this fact: of all the roles that Jesus played--preacher, teacher, healer, mentor, friend--none features as prominently in the gospels as this one, a criminal indicted and convicted of a capital offense. Now consider another fact: the arrest, trial, and execution of Jesus bear remarkable similarities to the American criminal justice system, especially in capital cases. From the use of paid informants to the conflicting testimony of witnesses to the denial of clemency, the elements in the story of Jesus' trial mirror the most common components in capital cases today. Finally, consider a question: How might we see capital punishment in this country differently if we realized that the system used to condemn the Son of God to death so closely resembles the system we use in capital cases today? Should the experience of Jesus' trial, conviction, and execution give us pause as we take similar steps to place individuals on death row today? These are the questions posed by this surprising, challenging, and enlightening book
Proposes that the Middle East and the Islamic faith--rather than Europe and Christianity--will initiate the End of Times, discussing the connections between the Bible, current world events, the Koran, and the Antichrist.
Completely revised and updated, this new edition of Terror in the Mind of God incorporates the events of September 11, 2001 into Mark Juergensmeyer's landmark study of religious terrorism. Juergensmeyer explores the 1993 World Trade Center explosion, Hamas suicide bombings, the Tokyo subway nerve gas attack, and the killing of abortion clinic doctors in the United States. His personal interviews with 1993 World Trade Center bomber Mahmud Abouhalima, Christian Right activist Mike Bray, Hamas leaders Sheik Yassin and Abdul Azis Rantisi, and Sikh political leader Simranjit Singh Mann, among others, take us into the mindset of those who perpetrate and support violence in the name of religion.
Jon Sobrino's latest book takes its starting point from tragedy and violence: a devastating earthquake in El Salvador, the terrorist attacks of September 11, and the subsequent bombing of Afghanistan. The topic of suffering and death has traditionally raised questions about the nature and existence of God. But for Sobrino the primary question is addressed to ourselves: Who are we human beings? What does it mean to be human in a world of inequality, injustice, and barbarism? In examining the cruelty of history from the standpoint of the victims, Sobrino finds a challenge not just to find meaning, but to answer a call to personal conversion, structural change, compassion, and solidarity. Ultimately, Christian faith finds hope in the cross--a cross borne not only by Christ, but by Romero, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the poor: "Because of that hope, no matter how hard it is to live through catastrophes, terrorism and barbarity, we cannot rule out the possibility of resurrection."
For four years, Jessica Stern interviewed extremist members of three religions around the world: Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Traveling extensively—to refugee camps in Lebanon, to religious schools in Pakistan, to prisons in Amman, Asqelon, and Pensacola—she discovered that the Islamic jihadi in the mountains of Pakistan and the Christian fundamentalist bomber in Oklahoma have much in common. Based on her vast research, Stern lucidly explains how terrorist organizations are formed by opportunistic leaders who—using religion as both motivation and justification—recruit the disenfranchised. She depicts how moral fervor is transformed into sophisticated organizations that strive for money, power, and attention. Jessica Stern's extensive interaction with the faces behind the terror provide unprecedented insight into acts of inexplicable horror, and enable her to suggest how terrorism can most effectively be countered. A crucial book on terrorism, Terror in the Name of God is a brilliant and thought-provoking work.
"Riveting, inspiring, at times hard to believe but utterly true...it gives some measure of hope in these rancorous times." -- John Grisham As an ordinary high school student in the 1960s, Tom Tarrants became deeply unsettled by the social upheaval of the era. In response, he turned for answers to extremist ideology and was soon utterly radicalized. Before long, he became involved in the reign of terror spread by Mississippi's dreaded White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, described by the FBI as the most violent right-wing terrorist organization in America. In 1969, while attempting to bomb the home of a Jewish leader in Meridian, Mississippi, Tom was ambushed by law enforcement and shot multiple times during a high-speed chase. Nearly dead from his wounds, he was arrested and sentenced to thirty years in the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman Farm. Unrepentant, Tom and two other inmates made a daring escape from Parchman yet were tracked down by an FBI SWAT team and apprehended in hail of bullets that killed one of the convicts. Tom spent the next three years alone in a six-foot-by-nine-foot cell. There he began a search for truth that led him to the Bible and a reading of the gospels, resulting in his conversion to Jesus Christ and liberation from the grip of racial hatred and violence. Astounded by the change in Tom, many of the very people who worked to put him behind bars began advocating for his release. After serving eight years of a 35-year sentence, Tom left prison. He attended college, moved to Washington, DC, and became copastor of a racially mixed church. He went on to earn a doctorate and became the president of the C. S. Lewis Institute, where he devoted himself to helping others become wholehearted followers of Jesus. A dramatic story of radical transformation, Consumed by Hate, Redeemed by Love demonstrates that hope is not lost even in the most tumultuous of times, even those similar to our own. "As a kid in Mississippi in the late 1960's, I remember the men of our church discussing the Klan's bombing campaign against the Jews. The men did not disapprove. Later, I would use this fascinating chapter of civil rights history as the backdrop for my novel The Chamber. Now, one of the bombers, Thomas Tarrants, tells the real story in this remarkable memoir. It is riveting, inspiring, at times hard to believe but utterly true, and it gives some measure of hope in these rancorous times." --John Grisham "Dramatic...Simply astonishing...Essential reading for these times. If you want to understand how the evil of extremist thought works--and how the gospel of God’s grace can overcome it--read this book." --Mark Batterson, New York Times bestselling author of The Circle Maker, lead pastor of National Community Church "Amazing...Gives hope for what God can do." --Dr. John Perkins, president emeritus, John Perkins Foundation; co-founder emeritus, Christian Community Development Association "A riveting narrative." --Russell Moore, president, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention "This gripping and inspiring story is as timely as today’s headlines....Put on your seatbelt and prepare to enter into one of the most extraordinary true stories you’ll ever encounter!" --Lee Strobel, best-selling author of The Case for Christ and The Case for Grace "Reveals how easily a political ideology can grow into a radical, extreme, life-taking worldview, all the while masquerading for some supposed form of a 'Christian' faith....A powerful story!" --Eric C. Redmond, associate professor of Bible, Moody Bible Institute, Chicago
A former member of the Islamic jihad recounts his early life in a terror training camp, his travels through the Middle East pursuing Umma, his conversion to Christianity, and his thoughts on the dangers of radical Islam.
