The astonishing growth of Christianity in the global South over the course of the twentieth century has sparked an equally rapid growth in studies of ''World Christianity,'' which have dismantled the notion that Christianity is a Western religion. What, then, are we to make of the waves of Western missionaries who have, for centuries, been evangelizing in the global South? Were they merely, as many have argued, agents of imperialism out to impose Western values? In An Unpredictable Gos...

In 1929 a constitutional storm that had long been gathering suddenly burst, sweeping from office General Bramwell Booth, the son and successor to William Booth Founder of The Salvation Army.So traumatic was this event that for many years '1929' – for that is how it was known – was only talked of in hushed tones in Army circles. The telling of what happened was left to those from outside the Army family.Now after more than 80 years, the full story of the crisis, with all its...

Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 31 January 1892) was a British Particular Baptist preacher who remains highly influential among Christians of different denominations, among whom he is still known as the "Prince of Preachers". Spurgeon was to 19th century England what D. L Moody was to America. Although Spurgeon never attended theological school, by the age of twenty-one he was the most popular preacher in London. A strong figure in the Reformed Baptist tradition, defending the Church...

On this day in history. . .something amazing happened in the Christian world. Find out just what with This Day in Christian History. Every day for an entire year, you’ll find a brief, easy-to-read highlight of church history, from the birth of modern Pentecostalism (January 1, 1901) to the first Salvation Army meeting (July 5, 1865) to one of the presumed endings of the world (December 31, 999). You’ll see the amazing panorama of Christian belief and practice over the course of th...

John Bunyan was a English preacher and Christian writer. Bunyan’s most famous work is The Pilgrim’s Progress and he wrote over 60 books. This edition of A Few Sighs From Hell includes a table of contents.

Galileo's trial by the Inquisition is one of the most dramatic incidents in the history of science and religion. Today, we tend to see this event in black and white--Galileo all white, the Church all black. Galileo in Rome presents a much more nuanced account of Galileo's relationship with Rome. The book offers a fascinating account of the six trips Galileo made to Rome, from his first visit at age 23, as an unemployed mathematician, to his final fateful journey to face the Inquis...

Despite the relatively small number of formal Christian believers in japan-less than one percent of the total population-Christianity has become and is likely to continue to be an important strand in modern Japanese culture.The Christian social message of the early decades of the twentieth century has become a lasting part of social welfare attitudes. The strong emphasis on education of the Christian missionary movement has left a visible legacy throughout Japanese...

"Delightful . . . a superb guide to the ecological themes of Merton's life and writings." ? The Christian CenturyNature was always vital in Thomas Merton's life, from the long hours he spent as a child watching his father paint landscapes in the fresh air, to his final years of solitude in the hermitage at Our Lady of Gethsemani, where he contemplated and wrote about the beauty of his surroundings. Throughout his life, Merton's study of the natural world sh...

John Bunyan (28 November 1628 31 August 1688) was an English Christian writer and preacher, famous for writing The Pilgrim's Progress. Though he was a Reformed Baptist, in the Church of England he is remembered with a Lesser Festival on 30 August, and on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on August 29. As his popularity and notoriety grew, Bunyan increasingly became a target for slander and libel; he was described as "a witch, a Jesuit, a highwayman" and was said to have m...

Among the Wisdom literature of the Old Testament, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon were all thought by the early church fathers to have derived from the hand of Solomon. To their minds the finest wisdom about the deeper issues of life prior to the time of God's taking human form in Jesus Christ was to be found in these books. As in all the Old Testament, they were quick to find types and intimations of Christ and his church that would make the ancient Word r...

The legend of Saint Patrick is irresistibly captivating-he drove the snakes out of Ireland, battled the druids, and used the three-leaf Shamrock to convert the pagan Irish to belief in the Christian Trinity. Yet, as so often happens, these stories are mere myths that fold under closer scrutiny. Snakes never plagued the Irish countryside, and the Emerald Isle's most beloved saint wasn't even Irish but a Briton of the Roman nobility. Fortunately, the truth is even more fascinating. In Th...

At the heart of the myths and legends surrounding St. George lies the story of an early Christian martyr persecuted by the Roman Empire around the third century AD. But England is only one country to have adopted this soldier saint as their patron. Others, including Germany, Hungary, and Portugal, claim him as their own,and there are churches dedicated to him in Ethiopia, Egypt, and Greece. His victory against the dragon can be interpreted as representing the bravery of an individual Chris...