Product Description: Christianity and the book this is hardly a superficial relationship. Their histories date back to about the same period: the rise of Christianity and the widespread adoption of the codex both occurred in Late Antiquity. There are also substantive connections, for Christianity was quick to put the new medium to use and for its part, the codex had its own share of repercussions on religion...read more

With more than 315,000 print copies sold, this is the story of the church for today’s listeners. Dr. Bruce Shelley makes church history come alive in this classic book that has become not only the first choice of many laypeople and church leaders but the standard text in many college classrooms. What separates Dr. Shelley’s book from others is its clarity of language and organization. Church History in Plain Language treats history as the story of people—their motivations, the issues they grapple with, the decisions they make—and the result is that history reads like a story, almost as dramatic and moving as a novel. Yet there is no fiction here. Dr. Shelley was a respected scholar whose work was painstakingly researched and carefully crafted for historical accuracy.The fourth edition of Shelley’s classic one-volume history of the church brings the story of Christianity into the twenty-first century. This latest edition of the book, revised by R.L. Hatchett, contains information concerning Gnosticism and its ongoing relevance, the theology of the early church and Reformation, and most extensively the rapid global extension and transformation of Christianity since 1900.Church History in Plain Language, 4th Edition makes history easy to follow and retain by dividing the Christian story into the great ages of the church:• The Age of Jesus and the Apostles• The Age of Catholic Christianity• The Age of the Christian Roman Empire• The Christian Middle Ages• The Age of the Reformation• The Age of Reason and Revival• The Age of Progress• The Age of Ideologies• The Age of Global Expansion and RelocationThe continuing popularity of this book attests to its success in achieving its purpose—to make church history clear, memorable, and accessible to every listener.Features include:Vivid stories of major persons in the church’s storyConcise explanations of key movementsContemporary developments related to the spread of the gospelThe explosion of Christianity in the southern hemisphere

A powerful chronicle of the astounding persistence of Indo-European glorification of battle, morphed into today's militant Christian Right. The book is written as a lively chronicle making clear the astounding power of the ancient cultural tradition embedding our language, and the real battle we face to contain this 'Christian' jihad.

Now organized around 14 key moments in church history, this well-received text provides contemporary Christians with a fuller understanding of God as He has revealed his purpose through the centuries and around the world. Original.

Product Description: Traditional understandings of the genesis of the separation of church and state rest on assumptions about "Enlightenment" and the republican ethos of citizenship. In The Religious Roots of the First Amendment, Nicholas P. Miller does not seek to dislodge that interpretation but to augment and enrich it by recovering its cultural and discursive religious contexts--specifically the discourse of Protestant dissent...read more