Showing titles in History

The Septuagint, the name given to the translation of the Hebrew scriptures between the third century BC and the second century AD, played a central role in the Bible's history. Many of the Hebrew scriptures were still evolving when they were translated into Greek, and these Greek translations, along with several new Greek writings, became Holy Scripture in the early Church. Yet gradually the Septuagint lost its place at the heart of Western Christianity.

The Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Pope and Mussolini tells the story of the bloody revolution that stripped the pope of political power and signaled the birth of modern Europe. “[David I.] Kertzer’s brilliant treatment of the crisis in the papacy between 1846 and 1850 reads like a...

For many Christians, our understanding of the history of the church universal jumps straight from what we read in the New Testament to a basic understanding of the Reformation. We're missing more than a millennium! And it was a busy, fascinating, tumultuous thousand-or-so years during which Christianity spread across three continents. In places as distant and different from each other as China, Sudan, and Britain, the gospel was spreading, the church was growing, and believers were expressing their faith in myriad ways.

Get to know the Knights Hospitaller. Lesser known than the Knights Templar, the Hospitaller were nevertheless heroic and among the bravest of all the knights orders that fought for their faith during the Crusades. And they still stand strong to this day, helping those in need. Many of us have grown up with tales of knights in shining armor who arrived just at the nick of time to save the day and of selfless warriors who would give their own lives in the service of others.

For 70 years, we have been taught that Jesus died on the cross from asphyxiation (strangulation) because in the hanging position he was unable to exhale. This theory is not based on sound science. This audiobook explains the medical cause of Jesus's death and why even Pilate was surprised how soon Jesus had died. The dramatic changes that took place in Jesus's body from the Last Supper until death are described in layman's terms.

The time of William Carey was unique in Church history. It was a time when missions had almost entirely ceased because of an extreme version of the doctrine of predestination. This belief is summed up in the words of J. R. Ryland (father of John Ryland) to William Carey at that fateful conference that would change Carey’s life forever.

Politics are being transformed by religion, namely in China - within the next 30 years, one-third of this potential superpower could be Christian. If this religious transformation occurs, China would be one of the largest Christian nations in the world.

The prophets of old were not easy to listen to because they did not flatter. They did not cajole. They spoke hard words that often chafed and unsettled their listeners. Like the Old Testament prophets, and more recent prophetic voices like Frederick Douglass, Dr. Eric Mason calls the evangelical church to a much-needed reckoning.  

The parish, the lowest level of hierarchy in the medieval church, was the shared responsibility of the laity and the clergy. Most Christians were baptized, went to confession, were married, and were buried in the parish church or churchyard; in addition, business, legal settlements, sociability, and entertainment brought people to the church, uniting secular and sacred concerns.

Venture on a thrilling journey through the captivating annals of the European past with The Teutonic Knights: The Order, the Legends, and the Legacy of the Crusaders of the Baltic Shores. This enlightening narrative paints a comprehensive, vivid picture of the renowned Teutonic Knights–a unique order of warrior monks whose influences ripple through the Baltic region and beyond.

Step into the earliest generations of Christianity with two powerful texts tied to one of the apostolic fathers: Polycarp of Smyrna. This book brings together Polycarp’s pastoral letter—rich with Scripture, practical counsel, and early Christian ethics—alongside the moving account of his death, one of the most famous martyr narratives of the early church. With clear historical notes and theological commentary throughout, this edition helps you understand the people, pressures, and beliefs that shaped Christian life in the second century.

Del padre Pío a Carlo Acutis, pasando por nombres imprescindibles, estas vidas demuestran que los santos también son imperfectos. Antes de ser venerados, muchos santos fueron cuestionados. ¿Qué hubo detrás de la fama, los milagros y las devociones? ¿Qué significa realmente ser santo? José María Zavala, autor de la novela El profeta, se adentra en la cara menos conocida de algunas de las figuras más influyentes de la Iglesia: persecuciones, dudas, escándalos, errores, campañas de descrédito y, en ocasiones, el golpe más doloroso: el ataque que llega desde dentro.

Who would have thought that from its humble beginnings as a small group of followers of a Jewish man called Jesus that Christianity would become, less than 2,000 years later, the most widespread religion on Earth? Christianity’s birth and development is a vast, complex story filled with setbacks and contradictions but also with triumphs.

What is the true nature and mission of the church? Is its proper Christian purpose to save souls, or to transform the social order? This question is especially fraught when the church is one built by an enslaved people and formed, from its beginning, at the center of an oppressed community's fight for personhood and freedom. Such is the central tension in the identity and mission of the Black church in the United States.

In Beyond Belief, renowned religion scholar Elaine Pagels continues her groundbreaking examination of the earliest Christian texts, arguing for an ongoing assessment of faith and a questioning of religious orthodoxy. Spurred on by personal tragedy and new scholarship from an international group...

The first and chief need of our Christian life is fellowship with God.

Did you know that Christianity has gone through many changes since its origin? Over two thousand years ago, a Jewish man was born into a society in turmoil. It is impossible to tell the story of Christianity without understanding the man behind it. What were the lives of Jesus and his followers like? How were their words so impactful that they changed history and affected the lives of billions of people over the course of two thousand years?

Buried around 340 AD, unearthed in 1945 and translated into English in 1959, this text has been studied, debated and analyzed by dozens of scholars and historians searching for clues about the meaning of these cryptic sayings of Jesus. In The Quantum Sayings of Jesus, author Keith Giles offers a look at the text from the perspective of non-duality and divine oneness. If true, these sayings may unlock the key to solving humanity’s greatest challenges and reveal the startling truth that all of us are connected in surprising ways.

How can Christians engage meaningfully with history? In an age underpinned by the idea that life is about self-invention and fulfilment, contemporary Western culture holds that the past has little to teach us. We live in what this book terms the "Ahistoric Age," in which we are profoundly...

A leading Catholic intellectual explains why the teachings of the Second Vatican Council are essential to the Church's future—and the world's The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) was the most important Catholic event in the past five hundred years. Yet sixty years after its opening on...