A concise history of medieval Scandinavia Christianity and European-style monarchy—the cross and the scepter—were introduced to Scandinavia in the tenth century, a development that was to have profound implications for all of Europe. Cross and Scepter is a concise history of the Scandinavian kingdoms from the age of the Vikings to the Reformation, written by Scandinavia's leading medieval historian. Sverre Bagge shows how the rise of the three kingdoms not only changed the face of Scandinavia, but also helped make the territorial state the standard political unit in Western Europe. He describes Scandinavia’s momentous conversion to Christianity and the creation of church and monarchy there, and traces how these events transformed Scandinavian law and justice, military and administrative organization, social structure, political culture, and the division of power among the king, aristocracy, and common people. Bagge sheds important new light on the reception of Christianity and European learning in Scandinavia, and on Scandinavian history writing, philosophy, political thought, and courtly culture. He looks at the reception of European impulses and their adaptation to Scandinavian conditions, and examines the relationship of the three kingdoms to each other and the rest of Europe, paying special attention to the inter-Scandinavian unions and their consequences for the concept of government and the division of power. Cross and Scepter provides an essential introduction to Scandinavian medieval history for scholars and general readers alike, offering vital new insights into state formation and cultural change in Europe.

The noted Catholic psychologist Dr. G.C. Dilsaver writes that the time has come for Catholic families to re-discover true patriarchy--time for Catholic men to accept and fulfill their role as leader and head of their families. The role of Christian manhood, as ordained by God and confirmed by Catholic teaching, is symbolized by three staffs: the Scepter of authority and self-discipline, the Crosier of spiritual headship, and the Cross of redemptive suffering. Dr. Dilsaver promotes a new and untainted patriarchy in which the husband's ultimate authority is rooted in Christ's example of humility and self-sacrificing love. Three Marks of Manhood can help Christian families realize their identity to the fullest--empowering them to resist the encroachment of secular culture. Read it and learn how to build a strong and lasting marriage, raise children to become faithful men and women of God, and foster an authentic Catholic culture in your home. Dr. Dilsaver, with his development of the first fully integrated Christian psychology, Imago Dei Psychotherapy, is truly the father of Christian Psychology; with the publication of Three Marks of Manhood he may also be the father of a new Christian patriarchy.

In this book, Ligita Ryliskyte addresses what is arguably the most important and profound question in systematic theology: What does it mean for humankind to be saved by the cross? Offering a constructive account of the atonement that avoids pitting God's saving love against divine justice, she provides a biblically-grounded and philosophically disciplined theology of the cross that responds to the exigencies of postmodern secular culture. Ryliskyte draws on Bernard J. F. Lonergan's development of the Augustinian-Thomist tradition to argue that the justice of the cross concerns the orderly communication and diffusion of divine friendship. It becomes efficacious in the dynamic order of the emergent universe through the transformation of evil into good out of love. Showing how inherited theological traditions can be transposed in new contexts, Ryliskyte's book reveals a Christology of fundamental significance for contemporary systematic theology, as well as the fields of theological ethics and Christian spirituality.