Rethinking Hell

Rethinking Hell
Author: Christopher M. Date
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 344
Release: 2014-04-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1630871605

Most evangelical Christians believe that those people who are not saved before they die will be punished in hell forever. But is this what the Bible truly teaches? Do Christians need to rethink their understanding of hell? In the late twentieth century, a growing number of evangelical theologians, biblical scholars, and philosophers began to reject the traditional doctrine of eternal conscious torment in hell in favor of a minority theological perspective called conditional immortality. This view contends that the unsaved are resurrected to face divine judgment, just as Christians have always believed, but due to the fact that immortality is only given to those who are in Christ, the unsaved do not exist forever in hell. Instead, they face the punishment of the "second death"--an end to their conscious existence. This volume brings together excerpts from a variety of well-respected evangelical thinkers, including John Stott, John Wenham, and E. Earl Ellis, as they articulate the biblical, theological, and philosophical arguments for conditionalism. These readings will give thoughtful Christians strong evidence that there are indeed compelling reasons for rethinking hell.

Vindicating the Filioque: The Church Fathers at the Council of Florence

Vindicating the Filioque: The Church Fathers at the Council of Florence
Author: Fr. Thomas Crean
Publisher: Emmaus Academic
Total Pages: 471
Release: 2023-06-27
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1645853195

The Catholic doctrine of the Filioque—that the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son—has historically been a source of contention between the Western Church and the Eastern Church. While recent efforts to reach ecumenical agreement have claimed to overcome this divide, their proposed solutions not only overlook but overturn the consensus reached by West and East alike at the fifteenth-century Council of Florence, which defined the doctrine and clarified its rootedness in the teaching of the Fathers of the Church. In Vindicating the Filioque, Thomas Crean, O.P., mounts a robust ecumenical defense of the truth of this doctrine and the authority of its Florentine definition, building his case on principles common to both Catholics and Orthodox. The first part of the study gives a careful presentation of patristic testimony concerning the procession of the Spirit—material central to the conciliar debates at Florence and of abiding theological consequence. In the second part, Crean explores the nature of ecumenical councils, drawing on the first seven councils to establish criteria for conciliar ecumenicity and authority that can be used to evaluate the status of the Council of Florence. The third part describes the Council of Florence itself, showing how it fulfils the criteria for an ecumenical council and replying to objections against its authority. Combining thorough study of patristic texts, sensitivity to theological common ground, and historical attentiveness to the acta of the council, Vindicating the Filioque demonstrates the soundness of the Florentine definition of the Holy Spirit’s procession and its importance as a basis for lasting unity of East and West.

Who Were the First Christians?

Who Were the First Christians?
Author: Thomas Arthur Robinson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 313
Release: 2017
Genre: History
ISBN: 0190620544

Challenges the consensus view of the urban character of early Christianity Demonstrates that almost every scenario in reconstructing early Christian growth is mathematically improbable and in many case impossible unless a rural dimension of the Christian movement is factored in Points to the likelihood that the marginal and the rustic made up a larger part of its membership than is generally recognized.

The City in the Valley

The City in the Valley
Author: Dieter Georgi
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2005
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004130659

Is there still promise in the metropolis? Can modern cities have lasting value? Drawing on a wide range of resources including the writings of Paul, the Apocalypse, Greco-Roman literature, church history, theology, and socioeconomic theory, Dieter Georgi answers yes. Our cities can become more than human and ecological garbage dumps; they can aspire to be communities where people live in harmony with one another and their environment. In support of this lofty goal, Georgi unmasks economic and political theories and elements of Christian theology that have led to the demise of cities and then advocates a new praxis of urban theology, a concrete way of living together in the cities of today and tomorrow. "Paperback edition is available from the Society of Biblical Literature (www.sbl-site.org),"

The Story of Creeds and Confessions

The Story of Creeds and Confessions
Author: Donald Fairbairn
Publisher: Baker Academic
Total Pages: 399
Release: 2019-10-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1493418181

Creeds and confessions throughout Christian history provide a unique vantage point from which to study the Christian faith. To this end, Donald Fairbairn and Ryan Reeves construct a story that captures both the central importance of creeds and confessions over the centuries and their unrealized potential to introduce readers to the overall sweep of church history. The book features texts of classic creeds and confessions as well as informational sidebars.

Her Gates Will Never Be Shut

Her Gates Will Never Be Shut
Author: Brad Jersak
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 235
Release: 2010-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1606088823

Everlasting hell and divine judgment, a lake of fire and brimstone--these mainstays of evangelical tradition have come under fire once again in recent decades. Would the God of love revealed by Jesus really consign the vast majority of humankind to a destiny of eternal, conscious torment? Is divine mercy bound by the demands of justice? How can anyone presume to know who is saved from the flames and who is not? Reacting to presumptions in like manner, others write off the fiery images of final judgment altogether. If there is a God who loves us, then surely all are welcome into the heavenly kingdom, regardless of their beliefs or behaviors in this life. Yet, given the sheer volume of threat rhetoric in the Scriptures and the wickedness manifest in human history, the pop-universalism of our day sounds more like denial than hope. Mercy triumphs over judgment; it does not skirt it. Her Gates Will Never Be Shut endeavors to reconsider what the Bible and the Church have actually said about hell and hope, noting a breadth of real possibilities that undermines every presumption. The polyphony of perspectives on hell and hope offered by the prophets, apostles, and Jesus humble our obsessive need to harmonize every text into a neat theological system. But they open the door to the eternal hope found in Revelation 21-22: the City whose gates will never be shut; where the Spirit and Bride perpetually invite the thirsty who are outside the city to "Come, drink of the waters of life."

Pilgrims and Popes

Pilgrims and Popes
Author: Tobias Brandner
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 317
Release: 2019-10-31
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1532662149

Pilgrims and Popes introduces the foundational fifteen hundred years of the history of Christianity, from Jesus to the eve of the Reformation. The crucial decisions of the first centuries have indelibly shaped the subsequent journey of the Christian faith movement. The book tells how the Christian faith story unfolded in dialectic movements: hegemony and emancipation; institutionalization and protest; petrification and renewal; missionary involvement in the world and separation from the world. The book bridges the gap between the present and the seemingly remote world of the first fifteen hundred years of Christianity in the West by engaging with present-day readers’ cultures and contexts. The rich material is presented in an easily readable way, combined with charts and with questions for discussion and deepening reflection. This study book will be a welcome learning tool in classrooms and in churches, particularly in the context of the Global South.

The Complete Nicene and Post-Nicene Church Fathers Series 2 Collection [14 Volumes]

The Complete Nicene and Post-Nicene Church Fathers Series 2 Collection [14 Volumes]
Author: The Church Fathers
Publisher: Catholic Way Publishing
Total Pages: 13649
Release: 2015-02-13
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1783793945

THE COMPLETE NICENE AND POST-NICENE CHURCH FATHERS SERIES 2 COLLECTION [14 VOLUMES] THE CHURCH FATHERS — The Greatest Christian Classics! — Complete Edition: 14 Volumes — Includes an Active Index, 14 Tables of Contents for each Volume to all Books & Chapters and Layered NCX Navigation — Includes Illustrations by Gustave Dore ALSO AVAILABLE IN A COMPLETE 3 SERIES EDITION. Publisher: Large E-Book. THE COMPLETE NICENE AND POST-NICENE CHURCH FATHERS SERIES 2 COLLECTION [14 VOLUMES] NICENE AND POST-NICENE FATHERS: SERIES 2 NPNF2–01. Eusebius Pamphilius: Church History, Life of Constantine, Oration in Praise of Constantine NPNF2–02. Socrates and Sozomenus Ecclesiastical Histories NPNF2–03. Theodoret, Jerome, Gennadius, & Rufinus: Historical Writings NPNF2–04. Athanasius: Select Works and Letters NPNF2–05. Gregory of Nyssa: Dogmatic Treatises, Etc NPNF2–06. Jerome: The Principal Works of St. Jerome NPNF2–07. Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen NPNF2–08. Basil: Letters and Select Works NPNF2–09. Hilary of Poitiers, John of Damascus NPNF2–10. Ambrose: Selected Works and Letters NPNF2–11. Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian NPNF2–12. Leo the Great, Gregory the Great NPNF2–13. Gregory the Great (II), Ephraim Syrus, Aphrahat NPNF2–14. The Seven Ecumenical Councils PUBLISHER: CATHOLIC WAY PUBLISHING