Church Philosophy

In this culmination of his highly acclaimed Cultural Liturgies project, James K. A. Smith examines politics through the lens of liturgy. What if, he asks, citizens are not only thinkers or believers but also lovers? Smith explores how our analysis of political institutions would look different if we viewed them as incubators of love-shaping practices—not merely governing us but forming what we love.

THIS is a book for the top shelf, out of the boy’s reach. Not that its counsels are bad; though it frankly takes the risk of going behind rules and commands to principles and freedom. The reason why no boy should read it is that it describes stages through which the normal boy should pass in entire unconsciousness that such stages exist That was not a wholesome attitude revealed by a Seattle boy, who, in reply to his teacher’s question, “What is the matter with you, James?" replied, “Oh, I'm passing through adolescence." Parents, teachers and leaders, however, ought to know these ...

Best-selling author Steven Johnson recounts - in dazzling, multidisciplinary fashion - the story of the brilliant man who embodied the relationship between science, religion, and politics for America's Founding Fathers. The Invention of Air is a title of world-changing ideas wrapped around a compelling narrative, a story of genius and violence and friendship in the midst of sweeping historical change that provokes us to recast our understanding of the Founding Fathers.

The Catholic Church has a history that spans over 2,000 years, and it began with none other than Jesus Christ himself. At least, that is what modern popes believe. But at first, there was just one church, and there was no division between Catholics, Protestants, Eastern Orthodox, and other branches of Christianity. Christians all over the known world were united, and together, they made their spirituality bloom. Their religion took over the lives of villagers, nobles, kings, queens, and even newly arrived pagan armies that came to conquer Europe.

Shortly after the birthing pangs of Christianity's birth subsided it faced a threat to its ideals and existence as we know it today. This threat was an internal one forged in the fires of desire to meld Greek philosophy with Christian teachings. The heat of the debates, books written, and sermons preached resulted in the first, but not well known, schism of the church. In this eight treatise in the Theological Threads series learn how Plato's ideas fractured the early church and how those ideas still threaten to pervert the understanding of Christians today.

Robert P. Jones, CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), challenges us to grasp the profound political and cultural consequences of a new reality - that America is no longer a majority white Christian nation.

Marsilius of Padua for Beginners: The Man Who Challenged Papal Power Imagine a world where the Church controls everything—laws, kings, even your freedom. Now, imagine one man bold enough to say, “No more.” Marsilius of Padua didn’t just question the authority of the Church, he took it head-on, laying the foundation for modern democracy and the separation of church and state. This book tells the story of that revolutionary thinker and his battle to shift power back to the people. Why should you care about a 14th-century philosopher? Because the ideas Marsilius championed—democratic...

IN his inmost heart every man seeks good and loves God. But God is great, and man is small; good is complex, while passion is simple and insistent. Hence all men forsake the good, and disobey God. This, in the concept form of philosophy, is the truth contained in the historical-pictorial representation that Adam was created holy, and subsequently fell. External quest of goods less than the best is easily forgivable: internal habits of hugging self and pushing God and the good away, though harder to eradicate, are still forgivable. Only the confirmed perversity that hates and despises ...

THIS small volume has been born of doubt and conflict. The author became a member of the Church at the age of thirteen. Since that time he has fought over the whole ground of modern skepticism, in a hand to hand contest with its shadows and its facts. He has found it impossible to rest in tradition, and has felt compelled to seek a reasonable basis on which to stand. And there has been a stimulus to this conflict beyond his own personal longing for rest. He has tried to help others. And in so trying, has found the necessity of knowing a way that satisfied himself, along which he might point...

Most of us experience the world through competing perspectives. A job or a religion seems important and fulfilling when looked at in one way; but from a different angle they seem tedious or ridiculous. A friend is obtuse from one point of view, wise from another. Continuing to hold both views at once can be unsettling, highlighting conflicts between our own judgments and values, and undermining our ability to live purposefully and effectively. Yet, as Jennifer Church argues in this book, inner conflict can be a good thing.

THE recurrence of a religious note in the verse inspired by the war, in many of the stories and essays, and especially in soldiers’ letters, is due to a closer contact with reality and expresses an enhanced sense of personality. It seems extraordinary only to the spiritually dull. Those who but the other day said that religion was not talked about, except pro¬fessionally by propagandists, must have forgotten their youth. Among those for whom life is still an adventure no important subject is talked about more. We may count out, of course, that mere repetition of news which is hardly talk...

Religious freedom is a bitterly contested issue that spills over into political, public, and online spheres. It's an issue that's becoming ever more heated, and neither of the global political polarities is interested in protecting it. While the political left is openly hostile toward traditional religion, the political right seeks to weaponize it. How can we ensure that "religious freedom" is truly about freedom of one's religion rather than serving an ethno-nationalist agenda?

Stephen Robert Cass has been playing and mixing songs in church and for bands for over 50 years. He has 14 album projects and hundreds of studio hours as a musician and producer and wants to help produce your next song demo or worship team mix. Find your new mix philosophy with the five key methods. Take charge behind the mixing console, physical or digital. These five keys, plus two bonus strategies with immediate results for a professional mix, will inform and prepare you, instilling the confidence you need to manage a multitrack recording or a live band.

In What It Means to Be Moral: Why Religion Is Not Necessary for Living an Ethical Life, Phil Zuckerman argues that morality does not come from God. Rather, it comes from us: our brains, our evolutionary past, our ongoing cultural development, our social experiences, and our ability to reason, reflect, and be sensitive to the suffering of others.

Politics Reformed makes a provocative contribution to understanding foundational questions in an era of rising fundamentalism and emboldened secularism, inspiring listeners to rethink the importance of religion in political theory and practice, and the role of the covenant tradition in particular.

Most of us have probably heard the story of how a German monk named Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of a church. These Ninety-five Theses were essentially ninety-five complaints lodged against the Catholic Church. In those days, the Catholic Church was the big guy on the block when it came to religion.

At the heart of the nation's spiritual history are audacious and often violent scenes. But the Puritans and the shining city on the hill give us just one way to understand the United States. Rather than recite American history from a Christian vantage point, Peter Manseau proves that what really happened is worth a close, fresh look.

The Rise of Western Lawlessness: Second Edition is an expansion of Volume 1 and includes a foreword by Douglas W. Krieger. Many images have been added to better illustrate the the philosophies of man and the spiritual systems of wickedness that have exalted themselves against the knowledge of Christ. Steinle takes the reader on a journey through 3,000 years of western history exposing the deceptive spirits of humanism and deism rooted in ancient philosophy- the same ungodly influences that were reintroduced to western thought during the Renaissance and Age of Enlightenment. Along the way, ...

Talking to key modern influences and thinkers, and drawing inspiration from the Bible and the historical experience of the Jewish people, Sacks argues that there are eight key factors in establishing, maintaining and passing on resilient moral values within a broad group, among them attitudes of lifelong learning and of thanksgiving, the importance of family life and community, and a culture of positive argument in place of destructive conflict.

‘In the beginning was the Word,’ says the Gospel of John. This sentence – and the words of all four gospels – is central to the teachings of the Christian church and has shaped Western art, literature and language, and the Western mind. Yet in the years after the death of Christ there was not merely one word, nor any consensus as to who Jesus was or why he had mattered.