America: The Last Best Hope (2 vol set)

( volume 1 | volume 2 )

Volume 1: New York Times best-selling author William J. Bennett underscores the heritage of how our nation became truly great and even today draws millions of people yearning to breathe free to its shores. Get to know the pillars of our country's founding-not as dusty pages in history, but as the flesh and blood that set this great experiment into motion. It's an inspirational reacquainting with history that will lead you to embrace America's greatness once again.

Volume 2: Little-known (and even less taught!) historical information brings U.S. history from World War I to the Reagan years to life in the second volume of America The Last Best Hope. Conservative scholar and former Secretary of Education Bill Bennett offers an entertaining, enjoyable volume of history that will be treasured by readers young and old.

The American Heritage Series

"Discover the forgotten and astonishing story of our nation's foundation in The American Heritage Series. For centuries, Americans were taught a truthful view of history that recognized the godly heroes and moral foundation upon which our nation was founded. But in recent years, a new version of history has assaulted the moral and spiritual fiber of our nation, leaving the truth of our past eliminated and forgotten. Until today. From Separation of Church and State, to the Civil Rights Movement, the heroism of our founding Fathers to the building of our nation's monuments, this series will inspire every American to reclaim the Godly, true story of our nation. Experience the untold story of our nation's history in the American Heritage Series. America: this is your heritage!" (26 episodes: 30 min. each in length)

In this new, revised and expanded edition of The Body, Charles Colson revisits the question, "What is the church and what is its relevance to contemporary culture at large?" Provocative and insightful, this book inspires us to rise above a stunted "Jesus and me" faith to a nobler view of something bigger and grander than ourselves--the glorious, holy vision for which God created the church.

Winner of the 2004 ECPA Gold Medallion Book Award in Christianity and Society.

The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary: New Testament, 3 volumes

vol 1: Matthew - Luke

vol 2: Acts - Philemon

vol 3: John, Hebrews - Revelation

A biblical examination of the historical, geographical, cultural, and economic background of the New Testament for a 21st century understanding of the first century world. This is not theology, nor is it a word study; rather it's opening a window to transport the reader back into the setting of the New Testament to see, touch, and hear as much of the world of that time as possible. (description from vol 1)

The civil war brought to a climax the country's bitter division. But the beginnings of slavery's denouement can be traced to a courageous band of ordinary Americans, black and white, slave and free, who joined forces to create what would come to be known as the Underground Railroad, a movement that occupies as romantic a place in the nation's imagination as the Lewis and Clark expedition. The true story of the Underground Railroad is much more morally complex and politically divisive than even the myths suggest. Against a backdrop of the country's westward expansion arose a fierce clash of values that was nothing less than a war for the country's soul. Not since the American Revolution had the country engaged in an act of such vast and profound civil disobedience that not only challenged prevailing mores but also subverted federal law.

Bound for Canaan tells the stories of men and women like David Ruggles, who invented the black underground in New York City; bold Quakers like Isaac Hopper and Levi Coffin, who risked their lives to build the Underground Railroad; and the inimitable Harriet Tubman. Interweaving thrilling personal stories with the politics of slavery and abolition, Bound for Canaan shows how the Underground Railroad gave birth to this country's first racially integrated, religiously inspired movement for social change.

After nearly nineteen centuries, the content of the canon is still debated by Christians and scholars. Who decided what the canon should include? What criteria were used? In this significant study, F.F. Bruce brings the wisdom of a lifetime to bear in answering questions and clearing away confusion about the Christian canon.

Winner of the 1989 ECPA Gold Medallion Book Award in Theology/Doctrine.

This third edition of Christianity Through The Centuries brings the reader up-to-date by discussing events and developments in the church into the 1990's. This edition has been redesigned with new typography and greatly improved graphics to increase clarity, accessibility, and usefulness. ... From a conservative viewpoint for the student/advanced lay person.

Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament

Readers of the New Testament often encounter quotes or allusions to Old Testament stories and prophecies that are unfamiliar or obscure. In order to fully understand the teachings of Jesus and his followers, it is important to understand the large body of Scripture that preceded and informed their thinking. Leading evangelical scholars G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson have brought together a distinguished team of scholars to provide readers with a comprehensive commentary on every quotation, allusion, and echo of the Old Testament that appears from Matthew through Revelation.

Christianity Today 2008 Award of Merit in Biblical Studies

Dictionary of Christianity in America

(LINK TO: software edition)

Coordinating editor Reid states that "if any emphasis may be detected, ... it would be an attempt to give comprehensive attention to the evangelical tradition in America. But given the prominent role the evangelical tradition has played in America's religious history, it is doubtful that this emphasis upsets the balance of coverage." The 2600 cross-referenced articles by 430 contributors evenhandedly describe most of the key institutions, movements, churches, and persons in American religious history. (description from Amazon.com)

Dictionary of New Testament Background

(LINK TO: software edition)

A library of scholarship in summary form, this study encompasses the full scope of Jewish and Greco-Roman cultures, and features articles on such topics as the Dead Sea Scrolls and second-temple Jewish writings.

Winner of the 2001 ECPA Gold Medallion Book Award in Reference Works/Commentaries.

This book brings together some of the most helpful prayers and teaching about prayer of the past two millennia, offering a vast collection of over 5,000 prayers and writings about prayer. Although it does include hundreds of contemporary prayers, its focus is on the rich and often neglected heritage of classic Christian prayers.

Prayers are organized by theme and occasion, to make it easy to find a particular prayer. There are also indexes of first lines; subjects; and authors and sources. All prayers are addressed to one of the Trinity. Authors range from Abelard and Ambrose through Wesley and Zwingli.

The second part of the Encyclopedia offers over seventy extracts from classic teachings on prayer and praise, as well as prayer collections, stories about prayer and people who prayed, and prayers to be prayed with children.

"The history of Christian Theology is in large part a history of heresies, because Jesus and the claims he made ... seemed incredible," writes the author. Heresies presents the story of how succeeding generations of Christians through almost twenty centuries have tried to understand, trust, and obey Jesus Christ. Particularly concerned with christology and trinitarianism, the author calls on the four major creeds of the church -- Apostles, Nicene, Athanasian, and Chalcedonian -- to separate orthodoxy from heresy. He acknowledges that heresy served this purpose historically, so it serves this purpose pedagogically in Heresies. This volume presents a clarion call to evangelicals to preserve tenaciously the faith once delivered to the saints.

In the sixteenth century, to attempt to translate the Bible into a common tongue wasn't just difficult, it was dangerous. A Bible in English threatened the power of the monarch and the Church. Early translators such as Tyndale, whose work greatly influenced the King James, were hunted down and executed, but the demand for English Bibles continued to grow. Indeed it was the popularity of the Geneva Bible, with its anti-royalist content, that eventually forced James I to sanction his own, pro-monarchy, translation. Errors in early editions -- one declared that "thou shalt commit adultery" -- [and] Puritan preferences for the Geneva Bible initially hampered acceptance of the King James, but it went on to become the definitive English-language Bible. This absorbing history of a literary and religious masterpiece explores the forces that led to the decision to create an authorized translation, the method of translation and printing, and the central role this version of the Bible played in the development of modern English.

The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament

(LINK TO: software edition)

To understand and apply the Bible well, you need two crucial sources of information. One is the Bible itself. The other is an understanding of the cultural background of the passage you're reading.

Only with the background can you grasp the author's original concerns and purposes. This unique commentary provides, in verse-by-verse format, the crucial cultural background you need for responsible -- and richer -- Bible study. It includes a glossary of cultural terms and important historical figures, maps and charts, up-to-date bibliographies, and introductory essays about cultural background information for each book of the New Testament.

The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament

(LINK TO: software edition)

The narratives, genealogies, laws, poetry, proverbs and prophecies of the Old Testament are deeply rooted in history. Archaeologists, historians, and social scientists have greatly advanced our knowledge of the ancient world of the Bible. This unique commentary joins The IVP Bible Background Commentary New Testament in giving historical, social, and cultural background for each Old Testament passage. From Genesis through Malachi it gathers and condenses an abundance of specialized knowledge and makes it available to ordinary readers of the Old Testament.

Arranged in biblical order, this valuable Bible study companion takes you from the earliest recorded civilizations in history through the end of the first Christian century, helping you to put the Bible into its cultural context. For each of the twenty times and places in biblical history, you'll discover how everyday life was affected by geography, government, warfare, housing, diet, dress, family, religion, work, travel, commerce, and so many other things. Rather than blurring all the lands and cultures of the Bible into a single, inaccurate "Bible time," this volume distinguishes the way life differed from period to period and place to place.

Nelson's Dictionary of Christianity: The Authoritative Resource on the Christian World (formerly Nelson's New Christian Dictionary: The Authoritative Resource On The Christian World)

This dictionary provides definitions for over 7,000 terms and names in the history of Christianity. The topics range from the foundational theological developments of the early church to the divisions of the Protestant Reformation to the missionary enterprises of the last two centuries. (description from Amazon.com)

From Aaron to Zurishadai, the New International Encyclopedia of Bible Characters is an exhaustive, ready reference of every person named in the Bible. Discover the parts men and women from the obscure to the famous to the infamous have played in the unfolding story of Scripture. Entries range from one-line biblical references for minor characters to full-length articles that address the theological significance of over forty major figures.

High-profile bailouts, controversial economic stimulus packages, universal health care ... Are we slipping into socialism? Senator DeMint says yes -- but it's not too late to reverse course! Offering a comprehensive action plan, he shows how conservative legislation can reduce debt, fix Social Security, provide tax credits to pay for health insurance, stop America's cultural decline, and more.

In This panoramic work of historical theology, Roger Olson vividly recounts the deeds and words of the apostolic fathers of the second century, the clash between the theological schools of Alexandria and Antioch, the epochal division between East and West, the revolutionary advent of the Reformation and much more -- right on up to the dazzling, sometimes dismaying fallout that has continued to shake Christians through the twentieth century. Through it all he highlights a common thread: a concern for salvation -- God's redemptive activity in forgiving and transforming sinful human beings.

Winner of the 2000 ECPA Gold Medallion Book Award in Theology/Doctrine..

The life of Jesus Christ takes on fresh clarity and meaning in this masterful work by Dwight Pentecost. The words, the miracles, and overarching message of the Messiah come alive in flowing and detailed chronology, set against the cultural, political, and religious setting of his day. You'll gain new understanding of why Jesus came, how he operated, and what he accomplished. Above all, you'll acquire a deeper appreciation for the love that guided his path, beginning in a manger in Bethlehem, leading through three and a half years of ministry that ended abruptly at the cross on Golgotha, and blazing forth in eternal triumph at the resurrection.

 Home \ Contents \ Site Search \ Contact