Takes an honest look at two controversial events in Christian history, showing in what ways the seemingly different historical events are related, and undoing several misconceptions about both.

The author of The Rise of Christianity reviews the history of the seven major crusades from 1095-1291 in this work of religious revisionist history.Distinguished and award-winning scholar Rodney Stark takes on the current vogue in liberal thinking to argue that, in fact, the Crusades were not unprovoked. They were not the first round of European colonialism. They were not conducted for land, loot, or converts. The Crusad...

A history of the Dark Ages "explain[s] very clearly why people in the early Christian era were so passionately concerned with issues of high theology.( The Economist ).Jesus Wars reveals how official, orthodox teaching about Jesus was the product of political maneuvers by a handful of key characters in the fifth century. Philip Jenkins argues that were it not for these controversies, the papacy as we know it woul...

The heroic, #1 New York Times bestselling tale of the men who saved the world's greatest art from the Nazis, and the basis for the acclaimed motion picture starring George Clooney.At the same time Adolf Hitler was attempting to take over the western world, his armies were methodically seeking and hoarding the finest art treasures in Europe. The Fuhrer had begun cataloguing the art he planned to collect as well as the art h...

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the acclaimed author of No god but God comes “a lucid, intelligent page-turner” (Los Angeles Times) that challenges long-held assumptions about Jesus.“Riveting . . . [Reza] Aslan synthesizes Scripture and scholarship to create an original account.”—The New YorkerTwo thousand years ago, an itinerant Jewish preacher walked across the Galilee, gathering followers to establ...

Explore the power of the underdog in Malcolm Gladwell's dazzling examination of success, motivation, and the role of adversity in shaping our lives, from the bestselling author of The Bomber Mafia.Three thousand years ago on a battlefield in ancient Palestine, a shepherd boy felled a mighty warrior with nothing more than a stone and a sling, and ever since then the names of David and Goliath have stood for battles between underdogs and giants. David's vict...

This is an account of the possesion of the nuns of Loudun. In 1634 the Ursuline nuns of Loudon were allegedly possessed by demons. This is one of the largest cases of mass possession in history. Father Urbain Grandier, a local priest, was interrogated under torture, convicted of being responsible for the possessions (as well as sorcery), and subsequently burned at the stake.

The Riveting Story of the Reformation and Its Significance TodayThe Reformation unfolded in the cathedrals and town squares of Europe--in Wittenberg, Worms, Rome, Geneva, and Zurich--and it is a stirring story of courage and cowardice, of betrayal and faith.The story begins with the Catholic Church and its desperate need for reform. The dramatic events that followed are traced from John Wycliffe in England, to the burning of John Hus at the stake in Prague,...

When Pontius Pilate ordered the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, he thought he was putting an end to the Jewish uprising that had been threatening the authority of the Roman Empire. What Pilate didn't realize, however, was that real revolution was just getting started.Based on the epic NBC television series, A.D. The Bible Continues: The Revolution that Changed the World is a sweeping Biblical narrative that brings the political intrigue, religious persecution, and emotional t...

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...

For nearly twenty centuries, the Roman Catholic Church withstood all the currents of change and history and maintained a closely guarded orthodoxy which has always served as the basis and center of all Christianity. Yet, it is as if all of that has been just arbitrarily swept away in the few years since Vatican II. Given what the Church has always taught about itself being indefectible, how could this have happened? Did that Council have something to do with that terrible loss of faith? Ca...

Preaching Survey of the Year's Best Books for PreachersPreaching's Preacher's Guide to the Best Bible ReferenceDid the New Testament canon arise naturally from within the early Christian faith?Were the books written as Scripture, or did they become Scripture by a decision of the second-century church?Why did early Christians have a canon at all?These are the types of questions that ...