Alexander risked everything for Michael, only to see himself barely tolerated in the reconciliation between the Space Empire's king and his son. Forces are at work far beyond Lorelei's Peace Child plans and Randolph and Aidan's struggles for acceptance. The empire that has never welcomed an Earthling into its ranks, much less allowed a marriage with someone who might step up to the throne. The Church's claimed ministry of mediation and peace deserves a closer look.
"The blessings of Sanctification and Justification walk hand in hand; and never were, never will be, never can be parted. No more than the delicious scent can be separated from the beautiful bloom of the rose or carnation: let the flower be expanded, and the fragrance transpires. Try if you can separate gravity from the stone or heat from the fire. If these bodies and their essential properties, if these causes and their necessary effects, are indissolubly connected, so are our justification and our sanctification"
"This rich and engaging book looks at instances of sanctified violence, the holy wars related to religion. It covers it all, from ancient to present day, including examples of warfare among Sikhs, Hindus and Buddhists, as well as Christians, Jews and Muslims. It is a comprehensive and readable overview that provides a lively introduction to the subject of holy war in its broadest sense—as ‘sanctified violence’ in the service of a god or ideology. It is certain to be a useful companion in the classroom, and a boon to anyone fascinated by the dark attraction of religion and violence." —Mark Juergensmeyer, University of California, Santa Barbara Contents: Introduction: What Is Holy War? Chapter 1: Holy Wars in Mythic Time, Holy Wars as Metaphor, Holy Wars as RitualChapter 2: Holy Wars of Conquest in the Name of a DeityChapter 3: Holy Wars in Defense of the SacredChapter 4: Holy Wars in Anticipation of the Millennium Epilogue: Holy Wars Today and Tomorrow Also included are a description of the Critical Themes in World History series, Preface, index, and suggestions for further reading.
A Visualized Novel with Story Choices Part of the Space Empire Universe Mark and Michele Connors want to preserve the Space Empire's historic religious and personal freedom but Earth interference and imperial corruption threaten their way of life. Mark's cousin Daniel means to launch a gas collecting mission to Titan to strike a blow for energy independence. Espionage and sabotage dog the mission as well as media smears and intimidation tactics. Everyone must make choices as the mission proceeds and these can spell success or disaster at every turn as the launch window approaches and time and resources go critical.
Among all the things that a pastor will do on any given day, he must not lose sight of his one ultimate goal: the sanctification of God’s people. This is the heart of God’s purpose for Christians. John MacArthur calls pastors to remember what all the countless hours preparing sermons, visiting hospitals, counseling, conducting weddings, and more are all about, even when the finish line seems so far in the distance that they’re tempted to give up. He encourages pastors with the power God gives them to place the sanctification of God’s people at the center of their ministry.
Peter Leithart weighs what we've been taught about Constantine and claims that in focusing on these historical mirages we have failed to notice the true significance of Constantine and Rome baptized. He reveals how beneath the surface of this contested story there lies a deeper narrative--a tectonic shift in the political theology of an empire--with far-reaching implications.
Ben Carlisle's longtime dream has been to travel west with his family. When he is offered a newspaper job in Detroit, he is forced to question whether moving west is really God's will for him. Can he leave behind his grandfather, the girl he thought he loved, and an opportunity few writers could even dream about? Can he risk the life of one of his best friends, or face an old enemy head-on? What price will he have to pay just to make his writing live?
How does the doctrine of sanctification shape the Christian life? Offering a fully developed treatment of "accomplished" sanctification, Don Payne explains that the primary biblical focus in sanctification is not progressive growth but that which has already occurred for Christians to make growth possible, necessary, and grace-driven. As Payne explores the significance Scripture attributes to the accomplished aspect of sanctification, he helps us understand that we are already sanctified. Sanctification is not synonymous with transformation but undergirds strategies and resources related to Christian discipleship and formation.
Bob Tennant presents a history of the missionary work, cultures, and rhetoric of the Church of England in 1760-1870, when it was the predominant organizer of Protestant overseas missions. Through close attention to the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK, founded 1699), the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG, 1701), and the Church Missionary Society (CMS, 1799) Tennant offers a systematic exploration of the complex relationship between the Societies' policies, decision-making systems, and administration, as recorded in their unpublished minute books, and the rhetorical and theological activity of their sermon literature. Thus their 'corporate holiness' is shown to be a synthesis of theology, ministry, rhetoric, administration, and methods of building public support. In the process, Tennant also offers analyses of controversies within the Church of England about questions such as the relationship of Bible to liturgy, the nature and techniques of mass education, charitable behaviour, and the processes of decision-making. Supported by statistical evidence, he offers a revisionist account of the Church's relationship to the American Revolution, the Romantic movement, and the Indian 'Mutiny'. Besides offering a critical history of his subject, Tennant also suggests a methodology for approaching a general thesis of Christian missionary societies on their own terms, theoretically separable from and avoiding the distortions and imbalances which have been imposed by the secularist imperial historiography to which they have so often been subordinated.
C. S. Lewis--On the Christ of a Religious Economy. II. Knowing Salvation, opens with a discussion of the Anscombe-Lewis debate (the theological issues relating to revelation and reason, Christ the Logos). This leads into Lewis on the Church (the body of Christ) and his understanding of religion: how is salvation enacted through the churches, how do we know we are saved? This concludes with, for Lewis, the question of sufferance and atonement, substitution and election, deliverance and redemption: heaven, hell, resurrection, and eternity--Christ's work of salvation on the cross. What did Lewis say of humanity in relation to God, now Immanuel, God with us, incarnate, crucified, resurrected, and ascended for humanity? What of Lewis's own death, and that of his wife? What does this tell us about the triune God of Love, who is Love? This volume forms the second part of the third book in a series of studies on the theology of C. S. Lewis titled C. S. Lewis: Revelation and the Christ. The books are written for academics and students, but also, crucially, for those people, ordinary Christians, without a theology degree who enjoy and gain sustenance from reading Lewis's work.
