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A scholarly review of early Christian history and its policies against heresy and lessons for today’s church leaders and reformers Ancient heresies have modern expressions that influence our churches and culture, creating cruel dilemmas for today’s Christian in the form of error, sin, and various distortions on orthodox faith. In The Cruelty of Heresy, Bishop C. FitzSimons Allison captures the drama and relevance of the Councils of the fourth and fifth centuries and shows how the remarkable achievements of these early struggles provide valuable guidelines for believers today. “Bishop Allison has combined a lifetime of scholarship and pastoral experience in this remarkable, readable work. . . . He vividly describes how the two human tendencies toward self-centeredness and escape from the difficulties of life—both very popular today—always distort the gospel. . . . Invaluable reading for any minister of the gospel, those who are preparing for Christian ministry, and all who seek a deeper understanding of authentic Christian orthodoxy.”—Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Chicago (1982–1996)
Guilt, Anger & God: The Patterns of Our Discontents 1-57383-262-6 C. FitzSimons Allison 164 pp. Drawing from what perceptive non-Christians such as Freud, D.H. Lawrence, Reich and Marcuse have said about the human condition, Allison examines four contemporary patterns of the discontents of modern humanity-Anger, Disesteem, Guilt and Death. Believing that Christianity has been hurt as much by its friends as by its enemies, with deep pastoral concern Allison addresses the anguish many Christians feel today. He then discusses the gospel and its timeless message to our discontents. Skeptics, both within and outside the Church who hunger for more than "bread alone" will find this book an occasion for delightful surprises. "This is one of the most stimulating and evocative book I have read for some time. It is by no means the old psychological/theological witches' brew but really relates Christian doctrine to current and future questions about our human destiny."-David H. C. Read Dr. Allison is retired Bishop of South Carolina. His other books include The Rise of Moralism and Guilt, Love and Worship.
In this ground-breaking study first published in 1966 FitzSimons Allison carefully analyzes the seismic shift that occurred in English theology at the end of the seventeenth century. Until then, classical Anglicans such as Richard Hooker and James Ussher united in affirming that in justification the righteousness of Christ is imputed to the believer. So there is no sense in which the believer contributes to his own righteousness in order to be justified. Rather, the Christian life is a response to Gods free justification, not a part of it. But with the rise in influence of thinkers such as Jeremy Taylor and Richard Baxter such a view of justification became muffled; they held that a persons ...
Published on the occasion of the 450th anniversary of the Book of Common Prayer.
God is in the dock. Shall we convict him or forgive him? Shall we replace the God of Scripture with another of our choosing, mock and deride him, or ignore him? Shall we replace revelation with the chaos of speculation? We perceive ourselves, ratherthan God, as the center of the world and this universal condition leads to conflict with others and with God. Maintaining our center causes cheating, lying, litigation, divorce, wars, genocide, and human misery. Western civilization is giving up trust in the promise of God's mercy, justice, and forgiveness and replacing it with trust in the goodness of man. Jesus warned us to beware the teaching of the Sadducees and Pharisees. The Sadducees, who d...
Ecclesiology is the study of the very nature of the Church. Though he is an Anglican Bishop, John Fenwick, PhD, demonstrates for us all that ecclesiology isn t an appendix to the gospel lies at the very heart of communion with God calling us back to the Apostolic and Biblical roots of faith and practice rather than forward to modernization. Ecclesiology is not a matter of choosing sides on core issues of the day and applying church life to them but, rather, it is a matter of faithfulness to the apostolic tradition that has been handed to the Church, primarily within the Scriptures, and then living it out in the daily life of the Church. Fenwick is a master at showing us the interconnections while never losing sight of the ultimate authority of Holy Scripture. He strongly engages with the greater story of the Church Catholic: Eastern and Western. His footnotes and bibliography are a goldmine alone. Here is that literary rarity: a most scholarly work that is also a good read. "
Cross-cultural specialist Mary Lederleitner brings missiological and financial expertise to explain how global mission efforts can be funded with integrity, mutuality and transparency. Bringing together social science research, biblical principles and on-the-ground examples, she presents best practices for handling funding and finance.
An eminent group of Episcopal scholars and bishops addresses the core issues raised in Bishop Spong's books and teachings on the Virgin birth, resurrection, sexuality, scripture, sin, Jesus, culture, and God. These essays are incisive responses to an articulate and charismatic public figure whose provocative writings have stirred traditional and non-traditional thinkers alike. While acknowledging that Spong's writing strikes a chord with lay people in the churches and the general public, the book's authors believe a balanced response is needed. They accomplish this by commending the bishop for having the courage of his convictions while challenging his teachings on the cornerstone beliefs of Christian tradition.
Ancient heresies have modern expressions which influence our churches and culture, creating cruel dilemmas for the modern Christian in the forms of error, sin, and various distortions of orthodox faith. In this book the author aims to capture the drama and relevance of the Councils of the 4th and 5th centuries, and shows how the achievements of these early struggles still provide guidelines, embodied in the Creeds, for believers who are mystified and disturbed by attempts to jettison key doctrines of the faith.
Every Christian is assailed by the gales of temptation, but those in professional ministry face fiercer storms than the rest. As C. H. Spurgeon warned, contrary to what is often assumed, our dangers are more numerous and more insidious than those of ordinary Christians. This perspective was shared by the unified voice of the historic church, leading some patristic church fathers to initially flee the call to ministry. The same dangers were repeatedly identified in the writings of the early English pastoral theologians as they sought to mentor their protŽgŽs in successful ministry. A Most Dangerous Profession surfaces these gems so often overlooked in historic Christian literature, and ends with their practical advice on how to overcome. As both a pastoral and spiritual theology, A Most Dangerous Profession is bound to add an important voice to the ongoing dialog about pastoral self-care.