Church Theology

A clear, concise introduction to the holy book that guides the lives of 1.6 billion people on our planet, this brief volume opens the world of the Qur'an to interested listeners who want to know where this scripture came from and how it has achieved a profound influence in today's world. Writing in an accessible question-and-answer format, Jane McAuliffe, one of the world's foremost scholars of the Qur'an, introduces listeners to this important text by discussing its origins, structure, themes, interpretations, and what it has to say about a host of critical contemporary issues.

In this powerful book, the renowned exorcist of Rome tells of his many experiences in his ministry as an exorcist doing battle with Satan to relieve the great suffering of people in the grip of evil. The importance of the ministry to "expel demons" is clearly seen in the Gospels, from the actions of the Apostles, and from Church history. Fr. Amorth allows the listener to witness the activities of the exorcist, to experience what an exorcist sees and does.

Anne Catherine Emmerich was born in Germany in 1774. As a child she believed that angels, saints, and the Holy Family visited and talked with her as she worked in the fields. At twenty-four, she had her first mystic vision of the sufferings of Christ, accompanied by stigmata and bleeding as if from the crown of thorns. At twenty-nine, she became an Augustinian nun and continued to have visions and stigmata. In her visions, she recounted scenes from the life of Christ, which she seemed to have witnessed.

In theology, just as in battle, some hills are worth dying on. But how do we know which ones? When should doctrine divide, and when should unity prevail? Pastor Gavin Ortlund makes the case that while all doctrines matter, some are more essential than others. He considers how and what to prioritize in doctrine and ministry, encouraging humility and grace along the way. Using four basic categories of doctrine in order of importance, this book helps new and seasoned church leaders alike wisely labor both to uphold doctrine and to preserve unity.

For years, we have learned principles of individual spiritual warfare. Yet, as the end times are upon us, the forces of darkness are intensifying their attacks around the world. For this next season, says renowned prophetic leader Dr. Bill Hamon, we as the church must up the ante and learn to fight on a higher level than we ever have, in corporate spiritual warfare. With wisdom, urgency, and keen prophetic insight, Hamon lays the biblical foundation for this final level of warfare and tells how we, as the church, can prepare to work in unity to become the army of the Lord.  

The enduring influence of the Catholic Church has many sources, but in the first half of the 19th century, the foundations upon which the church had rested were shaken. For many people, liberalism in the guise of liberty, equality, and fraternity was the quintessence of the evils that shook those foundations. At the Vatican Council of 1869-1870, the church made an effort to set things right by defining the doctrine of papal infallibility. Author John W. O'Malley draws us into the bitter controversies over papal infallibility that at one point seemed destined to rend the church in two.

In this short, accessible account of the Eastern Orthodox Church, John McGuckin begins by tackling the question "What is the Church?" His answer is a clear, historically and theologically rooted portrait of what the Church is for Orthodox Christianity and how it differs from Western Christians' expectations.

Church merger consultant Jim Tomberlin, with cowriter Warren Bird, makes the case that mergers today work best not with two struggling churches but with a vital, momentum-filled lead church partnering with a joining church. In this new audiobook, they provide a complete, practical, hands-on guide for church leaders of both struggling and vibrant churches so that they can understand the issues, develop strategies, and execute a variety of forms of merger for church expansion and renewal to reinvigorate declining churches and give them a "second life".

What is the true nature and mission of the church? Is its proper Christian purpose to save souls, or to transform the social order? This question is especially fraught when the church is one built by an enslaved people and formed, from its beginning, at the center of an oppressed community's fight for personhood and freedom. Such is the central tension in the identity and mission of the Black church in the United States.

In today’s polarized context, Christians often have committed, biblical rationales for very different positions. How can Christians navigate disagreements with both truth and love? Tim Muehlhoff and Rick Langer provide lessons from conflict theory and church history on how to negotiate differing biblical convictions in order to move toward Christian unity.

In this exciting book, Paula Fredriksen explains the variety of New Testament images of Jesus by exploring the ways that the new Christian communities interpreted his mission and message in light of the delay of the Kingdom he had preached. A new introduction reviews the most recent scholarship on Jesus and its implications for both history and theology.

In this provocative new contribution to public theology, world-renowned theologian Miroslav Volf (named "America's New Public Intellectual" by Scot McKnight on his Jesus Creed blog) and Matthew Croasmun explain that the intellectual tools needed to rescue us from our present malaise and meet our new cultural challenge are the tools of theology. A renewal of theology is crucial to help us articulate compelling visions of the good life, find our way through the maze of contested questions of value, and answer the fundamental question of what makes life worth living.

What do Christians hope for? To leave this wicked world and go to 'heaven'? For the 'kingdom of God' to grow gradually on earth? What do we mean by the 'resurrection of the body'? And how does all this affect the way we live in the here and now? Tom Wright addresses these questions in this lively and thoroughly biblical book. He describes the persistent confusion about 'the last things' in both Church and world.

For five hundred years, Latina/o culture and identity have been shaped by their challenges to the religious, socio-economic, and political status quo, whether in opposition to Spanish colonialism, Latin American dictatorships, US imperialism in Central America, the oppression of farmworkers, or the current exploitation of undocumented immigrants. Christianity has played a significant role in that movement at every stage. Robert Chao Romero, the son of a Mexican father and a Chinese immigrant mother, explores the history and theology of what he terms the "Brown Church."

Profiled on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, Iranian-born scholar Vali Nasr has become one of America's leading commentators on current events in the Middle East, admired and welcomed by both media and government for his "concise and coherent" analysis (Wall Street Journal). In this "smart, clear and timely" book (Washington Post), Nasr brilliantly dissects the political and theological antagonisms within Islam. He provides a unique and objective understanding of the 1,400-year bitter struggle between Shias and Sunnis, and sheds crucial light on its modern-day consequences—from the nuclear posturing of Iran's President Ahmadinejad to the recent U.S.-enabled shift toward Shia power in Iraq and Hezbollah's continued dominance in Lebanon.

What comes to mind when you think of the word church? In this volume, Gregg R. Allison helps define the church and its mission by presenting an overview of the specific doctrines and practices of different churches and denominations. He lays a basic foundation for better understanding the common practices among local church communities (“mere ecclesiology”) and the ways that they diverge from one another (“more ecclesiology”).

The Centrality of the Church is the latest book in Kingdom Pastor's Library, a new series of books that brings you a succinct, complete pastoral philosophy and training from Tony Evans.

The second in Joe Thorn's series on the confession, nature, and expression of the church, The Character of the Church explores what the church is fundamentally like. Useful for training in membership classes, discipleship groups, and elder boards, The Character of the Church is at once theological, practical, and experiential. Listeners will be not simply informed but led to a deeper appreciation of the church of God.

Pressure is rising. The global atmosphere is morphing as never before. It's time to pay attention to the warnings around us that point to inevitable catastrophes to come. Bible prophecy expert Ron Rhodes surveys 15 current trends that affect us on a worldwide, national, and personal scale - suggesting some inescapable consequences to our safety, rights, and way of life. You will see how the stage is being set for the end times.

The third in Joe Thorn's series on the confession, nature, and expression of the Church, The Life of the Church explores what the church does because of who it is. Useful for training in membership class, discipleship groups, and elder boards, The Life of the Church is at once theological, practical, and experiential. Listeners will not simply be informed, but led to a deeper conviction about their role in the body of Christ.