Evangelicalism is in trouble. Surveying the modern evangelical landscape, professor Michael Svigel asks, "Why does evangelicalism appear to be spinning out of control, losing appeal to younger generations, dwindling in numbers, or selling out to pop culture to muster a crowd?" He seeks to answer this question by looking to the past—to a Retro Christianity. Calling for a return to evangelicalism's historical and theological roots, Svigel begins by addressing some of present-day evangelicalism's problems and explores what can be done to help churches regain a healthy perspective on doctrine. He then gives practical examples of what establishing a biblical, historical, and theologically sound foundation will mean for Christians as they think through aspects of church life and worship. As the numbers of those confused or disenchanted with evangelicalism continue to grow, Svigel's book meets a timely need and will benefit many readers with his balanced argument for preserving the evangelical faith.

In the 35th Century, mankind has colonized vast reaches of space, yet war remains constant as galactic governments and interstellar corporations fight for control of resource-rich planets and lucrative interstellar trade routes. And if centuries of war has taught man one thing, it's that planets are valuable and lives are cheap. In a desperate attempt to escape his current life, Mark Rizer drops out of his prestigious university and enlists in the elite Marines of the United Systems Alliance defense forces. It's a decision that will take him across the galaxy, first to endure a sadistic boot camp designed to transform him into a ruthless killing machine, and then to join the ranks of the hardened Marines of Murder Company.Deployed to Verdant, a remote jungle moon at the edge of Alliance space, Mark finds himself fighting a ghostly enemy in an unending conflict where victories are measured in body counts and death is the only ticket home. The daily grind of combat patrols transforms good men into cold-blooded killers and weak ones into bitter memories. At the bleeding edge of space, Mark learns the true cost of war as he fights for his life, his platoon mates, and his humanity. In the 35th Century, war has evolved.Man hasn't.

Whether man has free will continues to be a hot topic among Bible teachers and theologians. After defining the issues involved, from both a worldview and a biblical standpoint, this work devotes three chapters to exploring the single-volume treatments against free will by the great theologians Luther, Calvin, and Edwards. The author then responds to the major issues involved in their objections to free will: foreknowledge and necessity, human depravity and the grace of God, the sovereignty and all-encompassing providence of God, and Edwards's rationalistic argument. In each instance, the doctrine of free will, rightly understood, is in full and biblical accord with these concerns. A concluding chapter summarizes and expresses the bottom-line differences in the doctrine of salvation between the Arminian and the Calvinistic wings of reformed theology.

Featuring over 80 full-color portraits of the pioneering legends of American comic books, including publishers, editors and artists from the industry’s birth in the ’30s, through the brilliant artists and writers of behind EC Comics in the ’50s. All lovingly rendered and chosen by Drew Friedman, a cartooning legend in his own right. Featuring subjects popular and obscure, men and women, as well as several pioneering African-American artists. Each subject features a short essay by Friedman, who grew up knowing many of the subjects included (as the son of writer Bruce Jay Friedman), including Stan Lee, Harvey Kurtzman, Will Eisner, Mort Drucker, Al Jaffee, Jack Davis, Will Elder, and Bill Gaines. More names you might recognize: Barks, Crumb, Wood, Wolverton, Frazetta, Siegel & Shuster, Kirby, Cole, Ditko, Werthem… it’s a Hall of Fame of comic book history from the man BoingBoing.com call “America’s greatest living portrait artist!”

It's not easy being Apollo, especially when you've been turned into a human and banished from Olympus. On his path to restoring five ancient oracles and reclaiming his godly powers, Apollo (aka Lester Papadopoulos) has faced both triumphs and tragedies. Now his journey takes him to Camp Jupiter in the San Francisco Bay Area, where the Roman demigods are preparing for a desperate last stand against the evil Triumvirate of Roman emperors. Hazel, Reyna, Frank, Tyson, Ella, and many other old friends will need Apollo's aid to survive the onslaught. Unfortunately, the answer to their salvation lies in the forgotten tomb of a Roman ruler . . . someone even worse than the emperors Apollo has already faced.

A guide to series fiction lists popular series, identifies novels by character, and offers guidance on the order in which to read unnumbered series.

There's a new kind of crisis threatening the heroes of the DC Universe, ripped from real-world headlines by C.I.A.-operative-turned-comics-writer Tom King: How does a superhero handle PTSD? Welcome to Sanctuary, an ultra-secret hospital for superheroes who've been traumatized by crime-fighting and cosmic combat. But something goes inexplicably wrong when many patients wind up dead, with two well-known operators as the prime suspects: Harley Quinn and Booster Gold! It's up to the DC Trinity of Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman to investigate but can they get the job done in the face of overwhelming opposition?

By comparison of late nineteenth-century ghost stories between China and Britain, this monograph traces the entangled dynamics between ghost story writing, history-making, and the moulding of a gendered self. Associated with times of anxiety, groups under marginalisation, and tensions with orthodox narratives, ghost stories from two distinguished literary traditions are explored through the writings and lives of four innovative writers of this period, namely Xuan Ding (宣鼎) and Wang Tao (王韬) in China and Vernon Lee and E. Nesbit in Britain. Through this cross-cultural investigation, the book illuminates how a gendered self is constructed in each culture and what cultural baggage and assets are brought into this construction. It also ventures to sketch a common poetics underlying a "literature of the anomaly" that can be both destabilising and constructive, subversive, and coercive. This book will be welcomed by the Gothic studies community, as well as scholars working in the fields of women’s writing, nineteenth-century British literature, and Chinese literature.