Religious Theology

The modern conception of sacrifice is at once cast as a victory of self-discipline over desire and condescended to as destructive and archaic abnegation. But even in the Old Testament, the dual natures of sacrifice, embodying both ritual slaughter and moral rectitude, were at odds. In this analysis, Terry Eagleton makes a compelling argument that the idea of sacrifice has long been misunderstood. Pursuing the complex lineage of sacrifice in a lyrical discourse, Eagleton focuses on the Old and New Testaments, offering a virtuosic analysis of the crucifixion.

On account of the superficial points of agreement between Islam and Christianity, many don't see how tremendously deep the divides between them really are, and fewer still have considered the evidence for each faith. How is jihad different from the Crusades? Can we know the life of Jesus as well as the life of Muhammad? What reason is there to believe in one faith over the other, and what difference can the Gospel really make?

Evangelical Theology: Audio Lectures, a companion to the textbook Evangelical Theology, presents systematic theology from the unique perspective of a biblical scholar. Author and scholar Michael Bird contends that the center, unity, and boundary of the evangelical faith is the evangel, or gospel, as opposed to doctrines like justification by faith or inerrancy.

Quite simply, three of the most important and well-known confessions of the Reformed faith. The Augsburg Confession is the earliest of the three and is the primary confession of the Lutheran Church. The Heidelberg Catechism was a response written by Zacharias Ursinus and consists of 129 questions and answers. The Westminster Confession is the best known and begins with "What is the chief end of man? Man's chief end is to glorify God, and enjoy Him forever."

Selected from sermons delivered by C. S. Lewis during World War II, these nine addresses show the beloved author and theologian bringing hope and courage in a time of great doubt. "The Weight of Glory", considered by many to be Lewis’s finest sermon of all, is an incomparable explication of virtue, goodness, desire, and glory.

For as long as he can remember, Blake K. Healy has seen angels and demons. He sees them as clearly as he would see you if you were standing right in front of him. He sees angels dancing in worship services and whispering words of encouragement in people's ears. He also sees demons latching on to people and perpetuating addiction and bitterness in their hearts. The Veil chronicles how Blake matured in this gifting, while overcoming the fear and confusion of what he saw.

Eve Tibbs offers a comprehensive, yet very accessible, introduction to the beliefs and practices of the Eastern Orthodox Church for Western listeners. Tibbs has devoted her career to translating the Orthodox faith to an evangelical audience, and she has over 20 years of experience teaching this material to students. Assuming no prior knowledge of Orthodox theology, this survey covers the basic ideas of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, from its origins at Pentecost to the present day.

Founder of the largest indigenous Christian church in American history, Joseph Smith published the 584-page Book of Mormon when he was 23 and went on to organize a church, found cities, and attract thousands of followers before his violent death at age 38. Richard Bushman, an esteemed cultural historian and a practicing Mormon, moves beyond the popular stereotype of Smith as a colorful fraud to explore his personality, his relationships with others, and how he received revelations.

Mere Christianity is C.S. Lewis' forceful and accessible doctrine of Christian belief. First heard as informal radio broadcasts and then published as three separate books, The Case for Christianity, Christian Behavior, and Beyond Personality, Mere Christianity brings together what Lewis sees as the fundamental truths of the religion.

To Christians, nothing is more important than clearly confessing and bearing witness to the truths of God's word, which reveals the glorious Gospel of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. That is what the Book of Concord is all about. This edition of the Lutheran Confessions instructs, inspires, and educates all who use it and help them learn what it means to be, and to remain, a genuinely confessing Lutheran Christian.

For 33 years, Jesus felt everything you have ever felt. Weakness. Weariness. Sadness. Rejection. His feet got tired. And his head ached. He was tempted and his strength was tested. And you know why? Because in becoming human, Jesus made it possible for us to see God. His tears, God’s tears. His voice, God’s voice. Want to know what matters to God? Find out what matters to Jesus. Want to know what in the world God is doing? Ponder the words and life of Jesus.

The study of Bible prophecy can seem complicated or controversial, yet Christians still long to understand what God’s Word reveals about the future. Whenever authors Amir Tsarfati and Barry Stagner teach on the end times, the most popular part of their ministry is the question-and-answer session, revealing the church’s great hunger to know more about the last days. In Bible Prophecy: The Essentials, Amir and Barry pool their knowledge to answer some of their most commonly asked questions.

From the manger in Bethlehem to the cross in Jerusalem, Philip Yancey presents a complex character who generates questions as well as answers—a disturbing and exhilarating Jesus who wants to radically transform your life and stretch your faith. The Jesus I Never Knew will engage your heart, mind, emotions, and senses, preparing you for a new, life-changing encounter with the real Jesus described in the Gospels.

For centuries Christians have been tormented by one question above all, "If God is good and all-powerful, why does he allow his creatures to suffer pain?"

Dig deep into the plain meaning of the Bible’s stories and commandments Would you like to know what the Old Testament (Pentateuch) is all about from a Jewish point of view? This book reveals the morals, ethics, and ideas behind the stories and commandments of one of the oldest books in the history of mankind – a book that serves as the foundation of Jewish and Christian religion. Given the difficult Hebrew in which the Old Testament was written and how challenging it is to translate and to explain, the author wanted to offer to the reader the simple meaning of the text (p’shat) in ...

Have we been taught to discount the veracity and deeper meaning of our emotional resonance with the world around us? In The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis looks at the curriculum of the English "prep school" and begins to wonder if this subliminal teaching has indeed produced a generation who discount such a nature.

The Insistence of God presents the provocative idea that God does not exist, God insists, while God's existence is a human responsibility, which may or may not happen. For John D. Caputo, God's existence is haunted by "perhaps," which does not signify indecisiveness but an openness to risk, to the unforeseeable. Perhaps constitutes a theology of what is to come and what we cannot see coming. Responding to current critics of continental philosophy, Caputo explores the materiality of perhaps and the promise of the world.

Jesus Christ of Nazareth was a man who healed all who came to him with power from the Holy Spirit. There was no challenge too great for him, and all who saw him knew he was sent from God. Yet, 2,000 years later, he is not with us anymore...or is he? F.F. Bosworth beautifully explains the healing power available to us today through the same one that healed all those years ago.

In a blossoming garden located far outside all worlds, a group of aging Greek gods have gathered to discuss the nature of existence, the mystery of mind, and whether there is a transcendent God from whom all things come. Turning to Eros, Psyche asks, "Do you see this flower, my love?"

What’s going on in our world? Why are suicide bombers attacking our cities? Why are shooters invading our workplaces and malls? Why are students attacking speakers at their colleges? Why are there two versions of the truth on the Internet and in the media? Michael Youssef, popular teacher and Middle Eastern expert, explains in detail what’s troubling today’s world. Aggressive secularism is stripping our nation of the vestiges of truth, as many Christians are browbeaten into silence.