Mark Noll

The Religious Life of Robert E. Lee

History & Biography

Foreword

(wrote the foreword)

The Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism

History & Biography

Foreword

(wrote the foreword)

The Spirit of Methodism

History & Biography

“Jeffrey Barbeau has provided a clear account of John and Charles Wesley as the founders of Methodism, a reliable outline of Methodist history in Western nations, a sensitive account of current controversies within Methodism over issues of human sexuality, and a particularly welcome account of Methodism in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The result is a first-rate primer, but, with its appeal for a Methodism balancing doctrinal fidelity and compassionate outreach, it is much more than just a primer.”

The Spiritual in the Secular

Evangelism & Missions

“Serious scholarship has long moved past the stereotype of missionaries as bumbling colonialists mindlessly serving the interests of hegemonic imperialism. But not until this book has the significant contribution of missionaries to careful scientific investigation been properly probed. Backed by unusually careful research, these chapters show how missionary mastery of local knowledge has contributed significantly to a wide range of sciences -- geology, ethnography, social anthropology, linguistics, and more. This book is especially welcome for its setting aside of ideological denunciation (or affirmation) in favor of disciplined empirical investigation.”

The Story of Christianity

History & Biography

“This crisp retelling of Christian history from the days of the apostles to the eve of the Reformation is filled with insight. Gonzalez excels in the brief character sketch. With economy of expression he is still able to define the significance and enliven the character of many great figures in the church's first 1500 years. An additional strength is the careful treatment of Christian expansion into Central and South America during the early modern era. This is a good book for introductory courses, for personal reading, and for adult education in the church.”

The Story of Christianity

History & Biography

“This crisp retelling of Christian history from the days of the apostles to the eve of the Reformation is filled with insight. Gonzalez excels in the brief character sketch. With economy of expression he is still able to define the significance and enliven the character of many great figures in the church's first 1500 years. An additional strength is the careful treatment of Christian expansion into Central and South America during the early modern era. This is a good book for introductory courses, for personal reading, and for adult education in the church.”

The Supernatural and the Circuit Riders

History & Biography

“Although historians have long known about Methodist ‘enthusiasm,’ Rimi Xhemajli has gone well beyond earlier work in documenting the centrality of supernatural phenomena among Methodist circuit riders in the United States’ early history. With thorough research in the works of the circuit riders themselves, this book shows the utterly pervasive presence of dreams, visions, angelic appearances, healings, exorcisms, power encounters with evil powers, extraordinary appearances of fire, wind, and light, slayings in the Spirit, and more. The book offers a needed historical corrective, but also a challenge for contemporary churches to learn from what has gone before.”

The Surprising Work of God

History & Biography

“In this thoroughly researched book, Garth Rosell has put flesh on the dry bones of history. His deep immersion in the rich records left by Harold John Ockenga brings to life the critical developments that forged the modern evangelical movement. The result is a most valuable book.”

The Unexpected Christian Century

History & Biography

Foreword

“A godsend for opening up a vitally important history and pointing the way toward responsible Christian life in the future.”

Theologies of the American Revivalists

History & Biography

“Revival—or even more, the longing for revival—has been central throughout American Christian history. But what is meant by revival? Robert Caldwell's well-researched and exceedingly evenhanded book explains clearly what leaders of the American First and Second Great Awakenings taught concerning conversion, free will, the Holy Spirit, and how to interpret Scripture. He also explores with rare sensitivity what they assumed in their revival theologies. The result is a book rich in historical insight but also practical in guiding believers today in thinking about this vitally important matter.”

To Think Christianly

History & Biography

“Deep research and interviews with many key individuals make this book a stimulating history of efforts to overcome evangelical anti-intellectualism. Cotherman presents the work of Francis (and Edith) Schaeffer at L'Abri in Switzerland, and then of James (and Rita) Houston at Regent College in Vancouver as the sparks stimulating broader, deeper, and wider Christian cultural engagement—culminating now in the Consortium of Christian Study Centers and other important initiatives. Good reasons abound to be pessimistic about the future of Christian intellectual life. This well-written and compelling book, by contrast, is a sign of hope.”

True Paradox

Apologetics

“Christianity, which is so simple that a child may understand and believe, is also filled with complexity. Those who have sung with Isaac Watts, 'When God the mighty maker died,' know that they live with much that cannot be explained simply. David Skeel's unusually thought-provoking book offers on one level a careful response to literature from the New Atheists. On a deeper level it explains why trying to understand the complexities of Christian faith may leave those who make the effort lost in wonder, love and praise.”

Turning Points in American Church History

World Religions

Foreword

(wrote the foreword)

Turning Points in the Expansion of Christianity

World Religions

“Because Alice Ott's new history takes seriously the essentially missionary character of Christianity (in the past as well as the present), it makes possible a truer, fuller, and more comprehensive understanding of the faith itself. Creative discussion of mission history in this well-researched and clearly written book make it an ideal resource for school, church, and personal instruction.”

Understanding Scientific Theories of Origins

Science & Faith

“This superbly designed textbook once again shows how foolish it is to think of 'warfare' when considering science in relation to Christian faith. The team of authors includes first-rate scientists and much-respected Bible scholars. Together they explain clearly, patiently, and with accessible language why modern believers have nothing to fear from established scientific research—and why orthodox Christian faith has so much to offer in clarifying what scientists discover. It is a book perfect for the classroom, but also full of insight for general readers as well.”

Understanding World Christianity

History & Biography

“This landmark study of Christianity in eastern Africa excels in breadth, depth, and insight. The history it discloses is rich beyond imagination, its standpoint bracingly ecumenical (Catholics, Anglicans, other missionary-founded churches [Lutherans, Quakers, Moravians], Pentecostals, African Independent Churches), its critiques boldly realistic. Most of all is the heartfelt empathy for all that the book describes. The authors succeed brilliantly in explaining what they call the vitality, the variety, and the volatility of their subject.”

Unsettling Truths

Ethics, Culture & Social Issues

“Why should I endorse a book when I do not agree with some of its historical judgments? Answer: for the same reason you should read it. Charles and Rah attack a pernicious principle (the Doctrine of Discovery), review an evil history (the United States' treatment of Native peoples), challenge a persistent stereotype (American exceptionalism), and psychoanalyze white America (in denial about the nation's history). The entire book, even when you think things could be evaluated differently, will make you think, and think hard, about crucially important questions of Christian doctrine, American history, and God's standards of justice.”

Unto a Good Land

History & Biography

“Unto a Good Land offers a sound general history of the American people and an unusually perceptive understanding of how religious matters have been important in that history. This combination makes this text distinctively useful. It is good reading that provides a solid foundation for advanced exploration in the very wide domains of American historical study.”

Water from a Deep Well

History & Biography

“This fine book is as useful as it is informative. In lucid prose and with a gentle spirit, Gerald Sittser offers a careful primer on the history of Christian spirituality, a gracious guide to spiritual experience today and most of all a winsome invitation to experience the reality of Jesus Christ, who inspires all true spirituality. In words spoken to St. Augustine, 'tolle, lege' (pick it up, read it). The book will make a real difference.”

Whitefield on the Christian Life

Christian Living

“With thorough research, empathy balanced by criticism, and unusual attention to often neglected aspects of George Whitefield’s life, Tom Schwanda and Ian Maddock make a notable contribution to the Theologians on the Christian Life series. If Whitefield is best known as a celebrity preacher and, more recently, as having tolerated slavery, he still provided many insights that lead from ‘the new birth’ he so famously preached into mature, enduring Christian existence. This book explains all that and much more.”