Religious Imaging in Millennialist America


Book Description

Ashley Crawford investigates how such figures as Ben Marcus, Matthew Barney, and David Lynch—among other artists, novelists, and film directors—utilize religious themes and images via Christianity, Judaism, and Mormonism to form essentially mutated variations of mainstream belief systems. He seeks to determine what drives contemporary artists to deliver implicitly religious imagery within a ‘secular’ context. Particularly, how religious heritage and language, and the mutations within those, have impacted American culture to partake in an aesthetic of apocalyptism that underwrites it.




Why Trust the Bible?


Book Description

The Bible stands at the heart of the Christian faith. But this leads to an inescapable question: why should we trust the Bible? Written to help non-Christians, longtime Christians, and everyone in between better understand why God’s Word is reliable, this short book explores the historical and theological arguments that have helped lead millions of believers through the centuries to trust the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. Written by pastor Greg Gilbert, author of the popular books What Is the Gospel? and Who Is Jesus?, this volume will help Christians articulate why they trust the Bible when it comes to who God is, who we are, and how we’re supposed to live.




The New Copernicans


Book Description

"Our millennial children, as well as nonchurchgoing millennials, are both the church's greatest challenge and its most exciting new opportunity." —John Seel, PhD Warning: There is a fundamental frame of reference shift in American society happening right now among young adults. You may think of this group as millennials—those born between 1980 and 2000—but millennials resist this label for good reason: the national narrative on them is pejorative, patronizing, and just plain wrong. Here's what we do know: Of Americans with a church background, 76 percent are described as "religious nones" or unaffiliated—and it's the fastest growing segment of the population. Close to 40 percent of millennials fit this religious profile. Roughly 80 percent of teens in evangelical church high school youth groups will abandon their faith after two years in college. It's unlikely that the evangelical church can survive if it is uniformly rejected by millennials, and yet: Millennial pastors and youth ministers are disempowered; their perspective is often not taken seriously by senior church leadership. Most millennial research is framed in categories rejected by millennials; that is, left-brained, analytical communication is lost on right-brained, intuitive millennials. Evangelicals' bias toward rational left-brained thinking makes the church seem tone-deaf. What's next? Read on. John Seel suggests survival strategies—communication on-ramps for genuine human connection with the next generation. It can be done.




Religious Outsiders and the Making of Americans


Book Description

In light of the curious compulsion to stress Protestant dominance in America's past, this book takes an unorthodox look at religious history in America. Rather than focusing on the usual mainstream Protestant churches--Episcopal, Congregationalist, Methodist, Baptist, and Lutheran--Moore instead turns his attention to the equally important "outsiders" in the American religious experience and tests the realities of American religious pluralism against their history in America. Through separate but interrelated chapters on seven influential groups of "outsiders"--the Mormons, Catholics, Jews, Christian Scientists, Millennialists, 20th-century Protestant Fundamentalists, and the African-American churches--Moore shows that what was going on in mainstream churches may not have been the "normal" religious experience at all, and that many of these "outside" groups embodied values that were, in fact, quintessentially American.




How Millennials Can Lead Us Out of the Mess We're In


Book Description

During troubled times, millions have been inspired by the stories and spiritual lessons of the selfless leadership of Moses. In a world increasingly affected by political, social, and racial imbalance, we need strong, innovative leaders who have not forgotten or ignored these valuable lessons. How Millennials Can Lead Us Out of the Mess We're In: A Jew, a Muslim, and a Christian Share Leadership Lessons from the Life of Moses brings together an Israeli-born rabbi, a Pakistani-born Muslim scholar, and an ordained Midwestern American to inspire the next generation of leaders with a timeless story of the ancient prophet Moses. Written in an easy and accessible style, this book is meant for sincerely spiritual but church-resistant Bible readers as well as those who are familiar with the Moses narrative. No leadership book has ever attempted to synthesize the religious views of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity into one unified, harmonious voice singing a single hymn.




African-American Religion


Book Description

African American religions encompass a broad spectrum of beliefs & practices. This book brings together in one forum the most important essays on the development of these traditions to provide an overview of the field & its most important scholars.




Inventing a Christian America


Book Description

Steven K. Green explores the historical record that supports the popular belief about the nation's religious origins, seeking to explain how the ideas of America's religious founding and its status as a Christian nation became a leading narrative about the nation's collective identity.




Critical Issues in American Religious History


Book Description

On many occasions Americans as a religious people have experienced tension and indecision as they have wrestled with a variety of critical issues crossing their paths. How to implement their religious creeds and ideals in an ever-changing society is recorded in the religious language of the people as they have sought to articulate their identity and destiny. Critical Issues in American Religious History identifies fifteen key, chronologically arranged issues that have prompted considerable debate and discussion over the years. The distinctive element of this work is the singular thematic thread which runs from cover to cover: America's religious experience reflects four interrelated dimensions of religious tension. The carefully selected primary and secondary materials speak to the tension between the secular and sacred, beliefs and behaviors, inclusion and exclusion, and conflict and consensus. Each chapter theme is woven around a particular critical issue pertaining to one or more of these four tensions. Ideally suited for classroom use, Mathisen's work enlarges the reader's critical thinking through an examination of primary and secondary sources of America's religious past. Special features in each chapter include: -- Introductory commentary -- Primary and secondary source readings -- Questions for reflection and discussion -- Suggested readings for further study




African-American Religion


Book Description

African American Religion brings together in one forum the most important essays on the development of these traditions to provide an overview of the field.




Apocalyptic Fever


Book Description

How will the world end? Doomsday ideas in Western history have been both persistent and adaptable, peaking at various times, including in modern America. Public opinion polls indicate that a substantial number of Americans look for the return of Christ or some catastrophic event. The views expressed in these polls have been reinforced by the market process. Whether through purchasing paperbacks or watching television programs, millions of Americans have expressed an interest in end-time events. Americans have a tremendous appetite for prophecy, more than nearly any other people in the modern world. Why do Americans love doomsday? In Apocalyptic Fever, Richard Kyle attempts to answer this question, showing how dispensational premillennialism has been the driving force behind doomsday ideas. Yet while several chapters are devoted to this topic, this book covers much more. It surveys end-time views in modern America from a wide range of perspectives--dispensationalism, Catholicism, science, fringe religions, the occult, fiction, the year 2000, Islam, politics, the Mayan calendar, and more.