This major sourcebook provides significant primary readings from the history of Christian theology on the topics of creation and humanity. Beginning with an extended introduction, McFarland fleshes out the topics of creation and humanity in sections such as "God as Creator," "The Human Creature," "Evil and Sin," and "Providence," and provides a brief introduction to each selection that demonstrates its importance and establishes its historical context. This collection will be of special value in classrooms, allowing students to experience firsthand some major works that shaped efforts to forge a sound Christian understanding of creation and humanity.

Theologians from the early church to the present have written much about the Holy Spirit and Christian salvation. This extensive sourcebook of primary theological texts makes many of these writings available with a description of their context and importance. Especially valuable are more recent works emerging from theologians in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This global perspective, coupled with the broad selection of writings from the history of theology, makes this the most complete collection of primary source material on these topics.

Dealing with a time when "Christians" were moving towards separation from the movement's Jewish origins, this inaugural volume of A People's History of Christianity tells "the people's story" by gathering together evidence from the New Testament texts, archaeology, and other contemporary sources. Of particular interest to the distinguished group of scholar-contributors are the often overlooked aspects of the earliest "Christian" consciousness: How, for example, did they manage to negotiate allegiances to two social groups? How did they deal with crucial issues of wealth and poverty? What about the participation of slaves and women in these communities? How did living in the shadow of the Roman Empire color their religious experience and economic values?

First published in 1985 as Les sources de la morale chrétienne by University Press Fribourg, this work has been recognized by scholars worldwide as one of the most important books in the field of moral theology

The church's development and use of sacraments has evolved in many ways from the days of the early church to the present. This sourcebook provides key theological texts that played a role in those movements. Johnson traces the history and theology of individual sacraments along with their liturgical context in the church's worship. He includes materials previously developed in James F. White's classic collection, Documents of Christian Worship: Descriptive and Interpretive Sources (Westminster John Knox Press, 1992), and supplements these to provide a wide range of indispensible materials. He also contributes helpful background notes to give the reader the full breadth and depth of the church's thought on these important topics. This book will be of great value to those studying the history of Christian worship and the development of the sacraments.

When early Christians began to study the Bible, and to write their own history and that of the Jews whom they claimed to supersede, they used scholarly methods invented by the librarians and literary critics of Hellenistic Alexandria. But Origen and Eusebius, two scholars of late Roman Caesarea, did far more. Both produced new kinds of books, in which parallel columns made possible critical comparisons previously unenvisioned, whether between biblical texts or between national histories. Eusebius went even farther, creating new research tools, new forms of history and polemic, and a new kind of library to support both research and book production. Christianity and the Transformation of the Book combines broad-gauged synthesis and close textual analysis to reconstruct the kinds of books and the ways of organizing scholarly inquiry and collaboration among the Christians of Caesarea, on the coast of Roman Palestine. The book explores the dialectical relationship between intellectual history and the history of the book, even as it expands our understanding of early Christian scholarship. Christianity and the Transformation of the Book attends to the social, religious, intellectual, and institutional contexts within which Origen and Eusebius worked, as well as the details of their scholarly practices--practices that, the authors argue, continued to define major sectors of Christian learning for almost two millennia and are, in many ways, still with us today.,

For too long, the history of Christianity has been told as the triumph of orthodox doctrine imposed through power and hierarchy. In A People's History of Christianity, historian and religion expert Diana Butler Bass reveals an alternate history that includes a deep social ethic and far-reaching inclusivity: "the other side of the story" is not a modern phenomenon, but has always been practiced within the church. Butler Bass persuasively argues that corrective—even subversive—beliefs and practices have always been hallmarks of Christianity and are necessary to nourish communities of faith. In the same spirit as Howard Zinn's groundbreaking work The People's History of the United States, Butler Bass's A People's History of Christianity brings to life the movements, personalities, and spiritual disciplines that have always informed and ignited Christian worship and social activism. A People's History of Christianity authenticates the vital, emerging Christian movements of our time, providing the historical evidence that celebrates these movements as thoroughly Christian and faithful to the mission and message of Jesus.

Building on Charles Taylor's Sources of the Self, this book explores lived Christian identity through the ages. Beginning with such Old Testament figures as Abraham, Moses, and Daniel and moving through the New Testament, the early church, the Middle Ages, and onward, 40 short biographical chapters illustrate how Christian identity has been formed by history, society, and God. Among the many historical subjects are Justin Martyr, Augustine, Julian of Norwich, Dante, John Calvin, Teresa of Avila and C. S. Lewis - all of whom boldly lived their Christian identities in the world. Sources of the Christian Self shows how Christian identity has evolved over time and, in so doing, offers deep insight into our own Christian selves today. -- ‡c From publisher's description.