6 books found
There is no question that we live in an age of weak theology and casual Christianity. We have substituted intuition for truth, feeling for belief and immediate gratification for enduring hope. Evangelicalism desperately needs to return to the doctrines that once before reformed the world: radical depravity, unconditional election, particular redemption, efficacious grace and persevering grace. James Boice and Philip Ryken not only provide a compelling exposition on these doctrines of grace, but also look briefly at their historical impact. The authors leave no doubt that the church suffers when these foundational truths are neglected and that she must return to a Christianity that is practical-minded, kind-hearted, and most importantly, biblically based.
Ven. Fulton J. Sheen, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Rev. Jerry Falwell—religious leaders who popularized theology through media campaigns designed to persuade the public In Religion in the Public Square, James M. Patterson considers religious leaders who popularized theology through media campaigns designed to persuade the public. Ven. Fulton J. Sheen, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Rev. Jerry Falwell differed profoundly on issues of theology and politics, but they shared an approach to public ministry that aimed directly at changing how Americans understood the nature and purpose of their country. From the 1930s through the 1950s, Sheen was an early adopter of paperbacks, radio, and television to condemn totalitarian ideologies and to defend American Catholicism against Protestant accusations of divided loyalty. During the 1950s and 1960s, King staged demonstrations and boycotts that drew the mass media to him. The attention provided him the platform to preach Christian love as a political foundation in direct opposition to white supremacy. Falwell started his own church, which he developed into a mass media empire. He then leveraged it during the late 1970s through the 1980s to influence the Republican Party by exhorting his audience to not only ally with religious conservatives around issues of abortion and the traditional family but also to vote accordingly. Sheen, King, and Falwell were so successful in popularizing their theological ideas that they won prestigious awards, had access to presidents, and witnessed the results of their labors. However, Patterson argues that Falwell's efforts broke with the longstanding refusal of religious public figures to participate directly in partisan affairs and thereby catalyzed the process of politicizing religion that undermined the Judeo-Christian consensus that formed the foundation of American politics.
Voluntary associations have been ubiquitous in our society for hundreds of years. Efforts to develop a classification scheme have often overlooked one important segment: membership-based organizations (MBOs). MBOs are created voluntarily by a group of like-minded individuals who seek to advance their interests by organizing to promote and protect a specific domain. A number have earned the reputation for operating as “special interests.” To accept that notion would not be telling the full story and would overlook the many contributions they have made. A central thesis of Special Interest Society:How Membership-based Organizations Shape America is that no modern democratic society can function without them. With a focus on how they emerge and the steps they take to advance their mutual interests, the book also provides a sober account of how MBOs can be slow to accept important and necessary changes. It also reveals the less flattering role they have played in denying access or limiting acceptance to eligible individuals based on their race, gender, ethnicity, and more. In Special Interest Society, James R. Hudson analyzes over 400 published histories of MBOs to report on their emergence, growth, and development. Many provide essential services within our society of which we are unaware that we have come to rely upon. Employing several sociological theories, he explains why their actions have enabled these organizations to thrive in a democratic society as well as affect significant social change. Throughout, he demonstrates how open and democratic societies provide a fertile ground for their continued emergence. He explains why their numbers have increased over the last two hundred years as occupations and personal interests have become more specialized and complex. Written for students and scholars working in sociology, public policy, business, community development, and nonprofit management, as well as association professionals and their staff, this book provides an unparalleled insight into the history, purpose, and challenges of associations in America.
All of us are shaped in many ways by unseen markers in our DNA. Unknown ancestral traits contribute to determination of such things as eye and hair color, height, and even a certain propensity or susceptibility to certain diseases. To some extent religious bodies are similarly the product of their beliefs and doctrines, at times and in certain ways, to beliefs and doctrines buried in the inherited make-up of that body or denomination. Landmarkism is such a genetic-like marker in the Southern Baptist Convention yet is largely unknown, and its influence is barely recognized today as a contributing factor in much of Baptist practice and belief. This book seeks to trace the origin and transmission of landmark beliefs from the time of its greatest influence to the present day when it is largely unknown but certainly present in beliefs and practices that have developed and become part of the Southern Baptist body in many instances.
This title offers a comprehensive analysis of Baptist theology. Embracing in one common trajectory the major Baptist confessions of faith, the major Baptist theologians, and the principal Baptist theological movements and controversies, this book spans four centuries of Baptist doctrinal history. Acknowledging first the pre-1609 roots (patristic, medieval, and Reformational) of Baptist theology, it examines the Arminian versus Calvinist issues that were first expressed by the General Baptists and the Particular Baptists; that dominated English and American Baptist theology during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries from Helwys and Smyth and from Bunyan and Kiffin to Gill, Fuller, Backus, and Boyce; and, that were quickened by the 'awakenings' and the missionary movement. Concurrently there were the Baptist defense of the Baptist distinctives vis-a-vis the pedobaptist world and the unfolding of a strong Baptist confessional tradition. Then during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the liberal versus evangelical issues became dominant with Hovey, Strong, Rauschenbusch, and Henry in the North and Mullins, Conner, Hobbs, and Criswell in the South even as a distinctive Baptist Landmarkism developed, the discipline of biblical theology was practiced and a structured ecumenism was pursued. Missiology both impacted Baptist theology and took it to all the continents, where it became increasingly indigenous. Conscious that Baptists belong to the free churches and to the believers' churches, a new generation of Baptist theologians at the advent of the twenty-first century appears somewhat more Calvinist than Arminian and decidedly more evangelical than liberal.
In terms of time, energy, and money, a career is one of the most important investments that a person makes during his or her lifetime. Career Stress in Changing Times is an exciting volume that covers the entire career cycle, from beginning through mid-career dilemmas to the retirement transition. Many key career issues and stressors--as they are experienced during each stage of one's career--are examined. Experts also explore the major social and cultural forces that influence careers and will continue to do so in the next century, including women's influx into the workplace, the decline of blue-collar labor, the changing demographics of our nation, and the movement toward a world economy. Career Stress in Changing Times is ideal for individuals involved in career planning activities, professionals counseling people engaged in career planning transitions, and educators involved in teaching career planning seminars. This volume is unique in that it blends the work of academic researchers with that of practitioners on the firing line; it blends theoretical and conceptual work with empirical, data-based research as well as with the results of in-depth interviews and reports from the direct experience of practitioners.