Walter Bauer's 'Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity' created a stir with its argument that the teachings later condemned as heresy, in the later second century onward, were, in fact, dominant in the earliest decades of the church. This full-scale response by H. E. W. Turner has not enjoyed the attention it deserves. Turner's volume represents a learned and sophisticated restatement of the traditional view: what became official orthodoxy was taught early on by the majority of church teachers, albeit not in fully developed form.

The power of a word fitly spoken has often been proved down through the centuries. Such choice statements of profound truth are like apples of gold in settings of silver, according to Solomon (Prov. 25:11). Some of the finest from the most influential thinkers and writers of all the Christian centuries is now brought together in this volume.An A-Z of Christian Truth and Experienceis the result of Graham Miller's lifelong practice of collecting and recording memorable quotations from leading authors. Now arranged alphabetically under subject headings, these sayings cover the entire range of Christian truth and experience. This is truly a store of priceless treasure, affording rich instruction and help to all Christians.

Biblical guidelines for growing to Christian maturity. It explains the pattern of God's work in the lives of his people and concludes with a brief spiritual check-up. Relevant to all stages of spiritual development, it provides a guide book that will be specially helpful to new Christians.

Focusing on pastoral leadership within local churches or groups of churches, Derek Tidball provides a comprehensive survey of the variety of ministry models and patterns found in the New Testament with applications for today's ministry.

How to love God with your heart, soul, and mind. Christians are surrounded by differing voices and opinions. How can you be grounded? How can you be sure you think Christianly? In What Does It Mean to be a Thoughtful Christian?, David S. Dockery argues that Christians must be intentional about their thought life. Thoughtful Christians follow guidance from the Bible, possess a consistent worldview, listen to voices of the past, engage with the world, and prioritize faithful community and character development. Learn how thinking well and thinking Christianly is what you, your church, and your culture needs. The Questions for Restless Minds series applies God's word to today's issues. Each short book faces tough questions honestly and clearly, so you can think wisely, act with conviction, and become more like Christ.

Trolls & Truth is the story of a local church of homeless people, college students, middle-class Christians, some poor and some rich, black, white, and brown, drunks, materialists, mentally ill, and former inmates who meet beneath the noise of 18-wheelers and rushing traffic under an interstate bridge in Waco, Texas. As they live out biblical mandates across racial and cultural barriers and institutional baggage, they remind us that the gospel cannot be shaped by socially accepted values and remain "good news."

Eighty years ago, Walter Bauer promulgated a bold and provocative thesis about early Christianity. He argued that many forms of Christianity started the race, but one competitor pushed aside the others, until this powerful 'orthodox' version won theday. The victors rewrote history, marginalizing all other perspectives and silencing their voices, even though the alternatives possessed equal right to the title of normative Christianity. Bauer's influence still casts a long shadow on early Christian scholarship. Were heretical movements the original forms of Christianity? Did the heretics outnumber the orthodox? Did orthodox heresiologists accurately portray their opponents? And more fundamentally, how can one make any objective distinction between 'heresy' and 'orthodoxy'? Is such labeling merely the product of socially situated power? Did numerous, valid forms of Christianity exist without any validating norms of Christianity? This collection of essays, each written by a relevant authority, tackles such questions with scholarly acumen and careful attention to historical, cultural-geographical, and socio-rhetorical detail. Although recognizing the importance of Bauer's critical insights, innovative methodologies, and fruitful suggestions, the contributors expose numerous claims of the Bauer thesis (in both original and recent manifestations) that fall short of the historical evidence.

The primary source of disagreement in the religious world is a departure from the New Testament pattern given by the apostles, with churches relying instead on opinion for authority in religious practice and doctrine. By abandoning the apostolic original Christ's church has been left behind, producing today's debate and division. The only way to achieve the unity Christ prayed for is a return to the pattern He gave through His apostles. What is that pattern, how is it gleaned from scripture, and how is it applied in the 21st century? Rogers shows that by letting the Bible speak for itself, employing the same methods to interpret scripture that were used in New Testament times, a clear set of expectations emerges: a blueprint for the church's faith, practice, and purity. All who follow it will stand shoulder to shoulder with the first-century Christians: teaching for doctrine only what they taught, organizing as they were organized, and worshiping as they worshiped. The apostolic pattern is thus a blueprint for Christian unity, the only ground upon which everyone may stand with complete assurance that all they do is pleasing to God.

In The Color of Compromise, Jemar Tisby takes readers back to the roots of sustained racism and injustice in the American church. Filled with powerful stories and examples of American Christianity's racial past, Tisby's historical narrative highlights the obvious ways people of faith have actively worked against racial justice, as well as the complicit silence of racial moderates. Identifying the cultural and institutional tables that must be flipped to bring about progress, Tisby provides an in-depth diagnosis for a racially divided American church and suggests ways to foster a more equitable and inclusive environment among God's people. Book jacket.