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The Christian church was born in the Middle East and grew there for centuries. Its interaction with Islam turned Christianity in this once predominantly Christian region into a marginalized jewel, surviving at great peril within a difficult, even sometimes hostile, political and religious climate. Of course, the story of Christianity over the last 1,300 years is not solely one of conflict, marginalization, and persecution but is also about accommodation, interchange, and cooperation. This introductory book details the history of the church in its Middle Eastern birthplace through the past two thousand years. It is a story described as "a lost history" by Philip Jenkins, but it is here uncovered and placed on display. For those with eyes to see, the church of the Middle East is here revealed as a precious jewel, still catching the light.
Few churches today can trace their lineage as far back as the Copts. Their ancient traditions and rituals go back as far as the very beginnings of Christianity. For centuries, they have withstood many trials and martyrdoms. But in the twentieth century, many Copts left their homeland and scattered all over the Earth, seeking prosperity and security. Many went to the West, but many others went to the heart of the Islamic world: the Arabian Gulf. They took their faith with them into this new and challenging environment. In this context, hybrid forms of spirituality emerged, anchored in the ancient practices but sharpened by contact with globalisation. This migrant spirituality characterises their stories and touches the heart of what it means to be a Christian sojourner today.
Utilizing the Nag Hammadi codices and early Christian writings, this book explores the earliest development of Christianity in Alexandria.
This book tells the story of the people’s experience in dealing with profound changes in religion during the English Reformation. Continental Protestantism influenced the changing nature of English religion, but Catholicism was still the familiar old religion. Official religious policy swung back and forth between different forms of Protestantism and Catholicism, probably causing some to experience some form of spiritual whiplash. But, most clung to their old, familiar faith. Official religious policies provide the backdrop for this story with the people taking the lead. Over time, especially during Elizabeth I’s reign, Protestantism became more familiar, leading most people to accept some form of that new religion by the end of her reign. However, religion continued to change, or at least to shift in subtle ways. And so, the book’s story doesn’t end with Elizabeth’s death. It continues through key religious developments in England and beyond, answering the question of how the church of Elizabeth’s day became the global Anglican church of today.
This book examines the history of religions in Africa from the burial practices of the earliest humans to the rise of centralized theocratic kingdoms like ancient Egypt up to the rise of Islam in the Seventh Century.
What is free will and do humans possess it? While these questions appear simple they have tied some of our greatest minds in knots over the millennia. This little book seeks to clarify for an audience of educated non-specialists some of the issues that often arise in philosophical disputes over the existence and the nature of human free will. Beyond that, it proposes a particular solution to the puzzles. Many philosophers have argued that free will is incompatible with determinism, and many have also argued that it is incompatible with indeterminism. So, is free will simply an incoherent concept? Talbott argues that the best way out of this quagmire requires that we come to appreciate why ce...
In Introduction to Eastern Christian Liturgies, renowned liturgical scholars Stefanos Alexopoulos and Maxwell E. Johnson fulfill the need for a new, comprehensive, and straightforward survey of the liturgical life of the Eastern Christian Churches within the seven distinct liturgical Eastern rites still in existence today: Armenian, Byzantine, Coptic, Ethiopic, East Syrian, West Syrian, and Maronite. This topical overview covers baptism, chrismation, Eucharist, reconciliation, anointing, marriage, holy orders, burial, Liturgy of the Hours, the liturgical year, liturgical ethos and spirituality, and offers a brief yet comprehensive bibliography for further study. This book will be of special interest to masters-level students in liturgy and theology, pastoral ministers seeking an introduction to the liturgies of the Christian East, and all who seek to increase their knowledge of the liturgical riches of the Christian East.
A wide-ranging exploration of the daily lives of ordinary Coptic Christians, from late Antiquity until today This volume brings together leading experts from a range of disciplines to examine aspects of the daily lived experiences of Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority from late Antiquity to the present. In doing so, it serves as a supplement and a corrective to institutional or theological narratives, which are generally rooted in studying the wielders of historical power and control. Coptic Culture and Community reveals the humanity of the Coptic tradition, giving granular depth to how Copts have lived their lives through and because of their faith for two thousand years. The first three s...
To read and visualize the transfiguration of Christ is to enter its mystery and encounter its hope. Like the Gospel writers and the disciples who climbed the mountain with Jesus, we struggle to tell the story and explain its meaning. Yet this astounding event reveals God's ultimate purpose in sending his Son--the complete restoration of humanity and all creation--our transfiguration in Christ. The light and glory of that moment reveal a destiny that is infinite and eternal, made possible by the power of grace. Transfiguration is the trajectory and goal of our spiritual journey. Across time and space, Christians have reflected on the mystery and hope epitomized in the transfiguration, yet their voices have been heard primarily within their own cultural and ecclesiastical contexts. This study gathers many of those voices from the panorama of Scripture and church history and finds in them the common theme of radical transformation in Christ. The point of this theological conversation is spiritual transfiguration and hope for each of us as we reach toward the future Christ has shown us in himself.
A definitive history of Christian evangelism—including noteworthy persons, movements, and methods from the past Christians have been sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with nonbelievers for two thousand years. Within this deep history is wisdom for today—including numerous models for understanding what evangelism is and how it should be done. In Gospel Witness through the Ages, David Gustafson introduces readers to evangelism’s noteworthy persons, movements, and methods from the entire scope of church history—including both examples to emulate and examples to avoid. With this thorough historical approach, Gustafson expands the reader’s conception of the evangelistic task and suggests new ways to shape our identity as gospel witnesses today through the influence of these earlier generations of Christians. With discussion questions for further reflection and primary sources from major evangelistic figures of the past, Gospel Witness through the Ages is the most definitive history of evangelism available—essential for understanding how Christians today can continue proclaiming the gospel to the whole world, as Christians have in every century past.