Mark U. Edwards Jr.

A People's History of Christianity

History & Biography

“Hidden for centuries by their anonymity and illiteracy, the people of God—the body of Christ, the church—are finally having their story told, and by some of today's finest historians of the church. The saints, bishops, and theologians of traditional histories can now be placed against the panoramic and fascinating backdrop of the lived religion of ordinary men and women of faith. Highly recommended.”

Callings

Work, Money & Leadership

“Callings shows how variously Christians have sought meaning and purpose in life, from the call to Christian commitment or religious vocation to callings that encompass jobs, parenting, citizenship, voluntary service, friendship, and much more. Drawn from the sweep of the Christian tradition, the selections are admirably long enough to give readers a true sense of the contours of each argument. Placher's introductions ably help the reader see how and why the quest for a meaningful Christian life has taken different forms over time. Highly recommended as a basis for courses, informal discussions, and individual reflection.”

Celebrating Nature by Faith

Theology

“In our time of ecological crisis, we urgently need to recover the best in the Christian tradition for thinking integrally about God, humanity, and nature. Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’ has rightly commanded the most attention but others like H. Paul Santmire have also made signal contributions. In Celebrating Nature by Faith Santmire offers a masterful re-presentation of key insights gleaned over his fifty-year career as a pioneering ecotheologian within the Reformation tradition.”

Leading Lives That Matter

“How can I earn a living while living a worthwhile life? Leading Lives That Matter includes some of the most insightful authors to write about this question in a contemporary (or timeless) idiom. . . . Highly recommended.”

Martin Luther's Theology

Theology

“Lohse was without doubt the leading Luther scholar. He was better able to deal with both the historical and the systematic better than anyone I know.”

The Shaping of the Reformed Baptismal Rite in the Sixteenth Century

Preaching & Worship

“With great clarity and obvious personal conviction Hughes Oliphant Old explores how in the cross fire of Catholic tradition and Anabaptist challenge the Reformed theologians of the early sixteenth century — men such as Zwingli and Oecolampadius, Bucer and Calvin — developed a covenantal theology of baptism, rooted in both the Old and New Testaments, that insisted that word and sacrament belonged together, that water and Spirit were indivisible, and that later catechetical instruction and vows should be seen as one expression among many of the continuing reality of baptism throughout the Christian life. In detailing the history of early Reformed baptism, Old has produced a deeply learned yet accessible book, of importance for scholars, pastors, and interested laity.”

Twentieth-Century Global Christianity

History & Biography

“Hidden for centuries by their anonymity and illiteracy, the people of God—the body of Christ, the church—are finally having their story told, and by some of today's finest historians of the church. The saints, bishops, and theologians of traditional histories can now be placed against the panoramic and fascinating backdrop of the lived religion of ordinary men and women of faith. Highly recommended.”