This richly detailed biography examines the colorful life and preaching of evangelist John Lakin Brasher (1868-1971), effectively destroying old stereotypes that portrayed holiness folk as fanatical and uneducated. Relying primarily on Brasher's 25,000 manuscripts and on extensive sound recordings of his preaching and storytelling, J. Lawrence Brasher analyzes the dynamics of holiness religious experience and explores the beliefs, rituals, politics, cultural context, and folklore of the southern holiness movement.
Expert biblical and practical advice for handling today's most challenging sexual issues Although modern culture constantly changes its views on sexuality, God's design for sexuality remains the same. Bringing together twenty-five expert contributors in relevant fields of study, Gary Barnes and Sandra Glahn address the most important and controversial areas of sexuality that Christians face today. From a scriptural perspective and with an irenic tone, the contributors address issues such as: • The theology of the human body • Male and female in the Genesis creation accounts • Abortion • Celibacy • Sexuality in marriage • Contraception • Infertility • Cohabitation • Divorce and remarriage • Same-sex attraction • Gender dysphoria An ideal handbook for pastors, counselors, instructors, and students, Sanctified Sexuality provides solid answers and prudent advice for the many questions Christians encounter on a daily basis.
The Church’s Marian beliefs have constantly shed light on other teachings, and the Theology of the Body is no exception. In this compilation of essays, some of the world’s most foremost Mariologists and experts on the Theology of the Body share their insights on how Mary illuminates the message of the Theology of the Body in a profound way. As the Mother of God, Mary provided Jesus with His body, a body that would be offered on the cross for our redemption. She bore witness to His bodily resurrection and ascension, and she herself was assumed bodily into heaven. Through an understanding of Mary’s role in salvation history, we are able to see more clearly our personal roles in the Christian life. In this book you will learn about: ● The nuptial meaning of the body in the marriage of Joseph and Mary ● The Immaculate Conception and the human person ● The significance of Mary as virgin and mother ● The Virgin Mary and the culture of life ● The image of God in the image of Mary as model Christian
The first of its kind, this seminal work charts the unlikely theological quest for Christian holiness by founder Charles Harrison Mason and the Wesleyan-Holiness Pentecostal tradition known as the Church of God in Christ (COGIC), the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States. Through fresh research and critical analysis, this book challenges existing assumptions by scholars and reveals how little-known black renewal movements informed Mason's theological understanding and that of the movement. The rich theological resources of this historically marginalized movement are not primarily accessible in academic journals, position papers, or theological treatises. Instead, these resources function as "lived religion," where the theological presuppositions are embedded in primitive worship, ecstatic religious practices, and countercultural distinctives. By unpacking the "lived religion" of this self-professed sanctified church, this book explores how sanctification and the practice of Christian holiness shaped and empowered the COGIC, its people, and its practices in creative and profound ways--resulting in a radical holiness ethic that emerged from an inexhaustible exilic vitality with personal, social, and political implications. Given the challenge of Christian nationalism today, this book provides a framework that informs Christian identity and faithful living for the broader Christian community.
