Protestants
Protestants

Author: Alec Ryrie

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2017-04-04

Total Pages: 528

ISBN-13: 0735222819

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On the 500th anniversary of Luther’s theses, a landmark history of the revolutionary faith that shaped the modern world. "Ryrie writes that his aim 'is to persuade you that we cannot understand the modern age without understanding the dynamic history of Protestant Christianity.' To which I reply: Mission accomplished." –Jon Meacham, author of American Lion and Thomas Jefferson Five hundred years ago a stubborn German monk challenged the Pope with a radical vision of what Christianity could be. The revolution he set in motion toppled governments, upended social norms and transformed millions of people's understanding of their relationship with God. In this dazzling history, Alec Ryrie makes the case that we owe many of the rights and freedoms we have cause to take for granted--from free speech to limited government--to our Protestant roots. Fired up by their faith, Protestants have embarked on courageous journeys into the unknown like many rebels and refugees who made their way to our shores. Protestants created America and defined its special brand of entrepreneurial diligence. Some turned to their bibles to justify bold acts of political opposition, others to spurn orthodoxies and insight on their God-given rights. Above all Protestants have fought for their beliefs, establishing a tradition of principled opposition and civil disobedience that is as alive today as it was 500 years ago. In this engrossing and magisterial work, Alec Ryrie makes the case that whether or not you are yourself a Protestant, you live in a world shaped by Protestants.

The Principle of Protestantism
The Principle of Protestantism

Author: Philip Schaff

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2004-05-03

Total Pages: 269

ISBN-13: 1592446787

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This series is the first modern edition of the main body of Mercersburg theology. It includes all the important works, large and small, of John W. Nevin, Philip Schaff, and lesser Mercersburg figures, covering the significant doctrines and issues of the movement. Each volume includes critical or explanatory notes, relevant introductions, and bibliographies of modern works. With few exceptions, the early texts are reproduced in unabridged form. Since the original Mercersburg materials are now extremely scarce, and almost impossible to assemble in their entirety, the Lancaster Series forms an invaluable resource for historians of American Christianity and, in particular, for serious students of theology. It will commend itself to all those who wish to understand the nineteenth-century background of contemporary Protestantism. Both of the Mercersburg theologians, Schaff and Nevin, looked forward to a new age of the church - an age which would call into unity and catholicity all the divisions of the body of Christ.

The End of Protestantism
The End of Protestantism

Author: Peter J. Leithart

Publisher: Brazos Press

Published: 2016-10-18

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 1493405837

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The Failure of Denominationalism and the Future of Christian Unity One of the unforeseen results of the Reformation was the shattering fragmentation of the church. Protestant tribalism was and continues to be a major hindrance to any solution to Christian division and its cultural effects. In this book, influential thinker Peter Leithart critiques American denominationalism in the context of global and historic Christianity, calls for an end to Protestant tribalism, and presents a vision for the future church that transcends post-Reformation divisions. Leithart offers pastors and churches a practical agenda, backed by theological arguments, for pursuing local unity now. Unity in the church will not be a matter of drawing all churches into a single, existing denomination, says Leithart. Returning to Catholicism or Orthodoxy is not the solution. But it is possible to move toward church unity without giving up our convictions about truth. This critique and defense of Protestantism urges readers to preserve and celebrate the central truths recovered in the Reformation while working to heal the wounds of the body of Christ.

The Development of the Church
The Development of the Church

Author: Philip Schaff

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2017-01-19

Total Pages: 424

ISBN-13: 1532610203

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Philip Schaff, the founder of church history in America, was widely celebrated in his later career. Soon after his arrival from Germany, however, his Principle of Protestantism (1845) was stiffly denounced for its favorable attitude toward Roman Catholicism, harsh critique of denominationalism, and theory of historical progress leading to a church that would be both Evangelical and Catholic. Charles Hodge's review of the book provided the most cogent analysis of its implications for American Christianity. Schaff further clarified his understanding of progress in What Is Church History? (1846) and "German Theology and the Church Question" (1853). Together, these early writings of the Mercersburg theology set forth the parameters of what later generations would call the ecumenical movement. This edition carefully preserves these texts while providing extensive introductions, annotations, bibliography, and a glossary of key names to orient the reader and facilitate further scholarship. The Mercersburg Theology Study Series presents attractive, readable, scholarly, modern editions of the key writings of the nineteenth-century theological movement led by Philip Schaff and John Nevin. It aims to introduce the academic community and the broader public more fully to Mercersburg's unique blend of American and European, Reformed and Catholic theology.

The Anabaptist Vision
The Anabaptist Vision

Author: Harold S. Bender

Publisher: MennoMedia, Inc.

Published: 1960

Total Pages: 29

ISBN-13: 0836197224

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The Anabaptist Vision, given as a presidential address before the American Society of Church History in 1943, has become a classic essay. In it, Harold S. Bender defines the spirit and purposes of the original Anabaptists. Three major points of emphasis are: the transformation of the entire way of life of the individual to the teachings and example of Christ, voluntary church membership based upon conversion and commitment to holy living, and Christian love and nonresistance applied to all human relationships.