Download or read book Symbols of the Christian Faith written by Alva William Steffler and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2002-02-21 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Symbols of the Christian Faith is an illustrated guide to the major visual symbols used by the Christian church throughout history. These stylized illustrations, designed by artist Alva William Steffler, are intended to provide usable, up-to-date resources for contemporary church worship and Christian education. Throughout church history symbols have been used to aid worship and to communicate difficult spiritual ideas. Steffler here collects these symbols, from early Christian catacomb art to the present, offering fresh graphic interpretations of old visual forms. The accompanying text notes the biblical sources for the various symbols and traces their use in church tradition and their links to Greco-Roman culture. Extensive glossaries and indexes round out the book. Broadly inclusive and sensitive to the perspectives of every church tradition, this volume will be an invaluable resource for churches using Christian art as well as for general readers curious about the meaning of common Christian symbols.
Download or read book Our Christian Symbols written by Friedrich Rest and published by Tpp. This book was released on 1954 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A classic sourcebook for those interested in the devotional and educational interpretations of the symbols of faith, from Acacia Bush to Yoke of Obedience. In print since 1954, this illustrated guide continues to inform those interested in the meanings of Christian symbols.
Download or read book Signs and Mysteries written by Mike Aquilina and published by Our Sunday Visitor. This book was released on 2008-08-04 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Imagine the dangerous life of an early Christian. You've embraced your newfound faith in Christ but fear the risk of persecution or death at the hands of the pagans living around you. Then a trusted friend tells you about some of Jesus' followers who secretly meet. He whispers into your ear, "Look for a fish carved in a paving stone" by a certain home on the Via Tiburtina. You smile in gratitude. Still today, modern society recognizes those Christian symbols that kept the early Christians safely connected: they appear on churches, bumper stickers, mugs -- even mints and stuffed animals. Yet we are often ignorant of the rich meaning of these symbols: their origins in Scripture, in ancient culture, and in the preaching of the Church Fathers. In this book, noted author Mike Aquilina conducts an intriguing and insightful tour of the symbols that expressed the life and devotion of the Church through the first four centuries of its existence. He explains how Christians freely borrowed pagan and Jewish symbols, giving them new, distinctly Christian meanings. Recover the zeal of our spiritual ancestors as you learn to read their symbolic language -- and discover the impact the symbols still have on your life today. More than a hundred illustrations, reproduced by artist Lea Marie Ravotti from the ancient originals, beautifully complement the text. View a mulitmedia presentation and listen to an interview of the author here.
Download or read book Signs Symbols in Christian Art written by George Ferguson and published by New York : Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1959 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines the use and meaning of Christian symbols found in Renaissance art.
Download or read book The Symbols of the Church written by Maurice Dilasser and published by Liturgical Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This colorful book looks both beyond the church building and deep within it to find symbols relevant to Judeo-Christianity.
Download or read book A Commentary on the Divine Liturgy written by Nicolaus Cabasilas and published by St Vladimir's Seminary Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Nicholas Cabasilas' Commentary on the Divine Liturgy is a remarkable product of Byzantium's last great flowering of theology. The work has long been essential reading for specialists in the fields of comparative liturgy and history of liturgy, since Cabasilas comments in detail on the Byzantine rite of his day and is able to draw comparisons with the Roman liturgy as well. The work is also invaluable for all those who wish to understand more about the theory and practice of worship in the Orthodox Church. In this edition the text of the Commentary, translated by J. M. Hussey and P. A. McNulty, has been supplemented by a brief foreword which places Cabasilas' work in its historical context. A helpful introduction by R. M. French describes the celebration of the liturgy in the Orthodox Church."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Download or read book Clashing Symbols written by Michael Paul Gallagher and published by Paulist Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new edition provides a guide to the relationship between faith and culture. Providing an introduction to all the major figures, issues and debates, this guide is useful for students and those wishing to unlock the realities of contemporary culture.
Download or read book Stories of Calvary written by Danny Hodges and published by Winepress Pub. This book was released on 2008-04-01 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Danny Hodges became the senior pastor of a young church fellowship known as Calvary Chapel in St. Petersburg, Florida, in April of 1984. Three years later when he was introduced to Pastor Chuck Smith and the Calvary Chapel movement, he felt an immediate sense of being at home and was grateful to God for leading him to this network of churches that upheld a simple, biblical philosophy of ministry and well-balanced doctrine. Calvary Chapel St. Petersburg soon became a fellowship of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, and since that time God has steadily grown the ministry from a handful of mostly young single adults to a large church full of families. It has been exciting to see God's Spirit bring many to salvation through Jesus Christ, see lives change and mature in the Lord, see relationships bloom and grow, see ministries evolve and prosper, see a hunger for the Word of God and see a passionate desire to win the lost to Jesus. Pastor Danny and his wife, Wendy, consider it an honor to serve this growing body of believers together with their four children, Tanner, Hayden, Jairus and Audra.
Download or read book Gospel Discipleship Congregation Guide written by Michelle J. Morris and published by Abingdon Press. This book was released on 2020-03-31 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Each congregation has a unique mission field. Several tools for developing disciples and for engaging in discipleship are available to churches; however, the resources assume that the churches using them are similar to the church that created them. With Gospel Discipleship, individuals and churches learn how to engage in self-reflection, which then defines a path that fits their context. The discipleship path for each individual disciple is assessed and determined through the Gospel Discipleship Participant Guide while this Gospel Discipleship Congregation Guide guides the implemntation of the program and assesses the discipleship path for the congregation as a whole. Therefore, the program leader(s) needs the congregation guide while individual particpants need their own participant guide. With Gospel Discipleship, churches can identify a pathway for discipleship applied from one of the four Gospel storytellers: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Each had a distinct approach to discipleship which can be applied to a given church's identity, vision, and mission. As disciples are encouraged by the church to step beyond the door and engage the needs of people, they can be sent forth confidently with an awareness of personal, unique gifts, and insights into the actual mission field where they participate with God in changing the world.
Download or read book Catechism of the Catholic Church written by U.S. Catholic Church and published by Image. This book was released on 2012-11-28 with total page 849 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over 3 million copies sold! Essential reading for Catholics of all walks of life. Here it is - the first new Catechism of the Catholic Church in more than 400 years, a complete summary of what Catholics around the world commonly believe. The Catechism draws on the Bible, the Mass, the Sacraments, Church tradition and teaching, and the lives of saints. It comes with a complete index, footnotes and cross-references for a fuller understanding of every subject. The word catechism means "instruction" - this book will serve as the standard for all future catechisms. Using the tradition of explaining what the Church believes (the Creed), what she celebrates (the Sacraments), what she lives (the Commandments), and what she prays (the Lord's Prayer), the Catechism of the Catholic Church offers challenges for believers and answers for all those interested in learning about the mystery of the Catholic faith. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a positive, coherent and contemporary map for our spiritual journey toward transformation.
Download or read book The Secret Roots of Christianity written by David Wray and published by . This book was released on 2012-11-01 with total page 756 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traditional religious history preserves a rarely acknowledged secret that Christianity developed from at least three ancient roots: a Western structural root derived from Mediterranean Greek culture, an Eastern spiritual root from Anatolia and Persia, and a literary Jewish historical root, which masked the other roots and supported the idea that Christians had taken the place of Jews in relationship with God by entering a new covenant with Jesus. Each root contributed something special to the development of Christianity as follows: Supported by pagan iconography and rhetoric, the Western root imprinted Christianity with Greek spirit in a Hellenistic universe. The Eastern root filled the Greek construct with magic, focused humanity on a divine mission, and infused popular reverence for goddesses into Christian beliefs about the Virgin Mary. The literary Jewish root played two contradictory roles: Jewish scripture served as the reliable witness that proved Jesus to be both God and savior; and double-edged moral lessons in the Old Testament explained catastrophic events in the first century A.D. as divine judgment against Jews, supporting beliefs by early pagan converts to Christianity that Romans were good, Jews were bad, and God abandoned Jews for treacherously murdering Jesus. Two thousand years ago, Mediterranean cults included practices and beliefs that modern Christians associate exclusively with Christianity. People worshipped divine mothers who gave birth to dying and resurrecting gods on December 25. Saviors miraculously healed faithful followers and guided them to lead moral lives. Some cults baptized their followers, some passed their sins and inner demons to pigs, and some waited for a complete destruction of evil during the imminent End of Days. Then, as now, people argued whether the end would come by fire or water and whether many or few souls would be saved. Numerous symbols and beliefs associated in modern times with Christianity already existed in pre-Christian Hellenistic cults: Madonna and child images, angels, God the Father, the cross as a symbol of life after death, and the gift of eternal life through the shedding of immortal blood. On temple walls, wise men offered gifts of incense and gold to newborn gods; and merciful mothers granted salvation to the poor in spirit who confessed, repented, and begged forgiveness for their sins. However, Jews generally rejected all these practices, symbols, and beliefs. Some Jews believed in physical resurrection, and some did not. Some believed in eternal life, and some did not. For most Jews, however, a righteous life required the following of God's laws. If a Jew sinned against another man, no automatic forgiveness from God was possible. Forgiveness required acknowledgement of wrongdoing, restitution, and then forgiveness from the wronged party. Applying Jewish ethics to problems at the Jerusalem Temple meant recognizing the corruption within the priesthood, refusing to tolerate the evil rule of Rome, and giving one's life if necessary to precipitate the Kingdom of God. Just as God always had responded to the prayers of suffering Jews in the Bible, he would do so again. Soon he would send a messiah to deliver Jerusalem from the evil power of Rome and to cleanse Judea from the polluting practices of pagan cults. Drawing from both visible and secret roots, Christians freed themselves from paying for salvation from mystery cults while preserving the ability to worship a virgin-born hero with all the trappings of a pagan solar deity. This book explores the roots of Christianity in seven parts. The first three parts provide an overview of religious beliefs, practices, and iconography in the ancient Greek world that influenced Western culture and religion. The fourth, fifth, and sixth parts describe how the West developed under Roman influence. Then the seventh part focuses on the life of Jesus and the emergence of Christian cults in the first century A.D.
Download or read book Young Readers Book of Christian Symbolism written by Michael Daves and published by . This book was released on 1967 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Creed as Symbol written by Nicholas Ayo and published by . This book was released on 1988-12-31 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From its probable beginnings as an interrogatory creed for catechumens to its current place in the Sunday liturgy, the Apostoles' Creed has played an integral role in the sacraments of the church. The symbol of faith, as it was called by generations of Christians, was not only a vehicle of orthodox instruction but a profession of faith of profound beauty and meaning to be memorized and pondered for a lifetime. It is this Creed, a lasting achievement of the Christian tradition that Nicholas Ayo, C.S.C., presents to the general reader in The Creed as Symbol. A meditative yet thought-provoking study, this volume presents the Apostles' Creed as more than a basic confession of faith but as a symbol/metaphor of the mystery of God. Ayo holds that the Apostles' Creed is a sacred poem, an ancient psalm, holy and beautiful in its form as well as in its content. Basic literary criticism and linguistics are used to explicate the figurative body of the Creed--its words--as well as the theological meditation of its soul--the mysteries it seeks to teach. And as Ayo balances the study of the medium with the message, he does so with the conviction that the two are inextricably linked together and can never be separated. Ayo divides the Apostoles' Creed into its 12 historically recognized articles, each with its own chapter. In addition to his introduction, Ayo has included a brief history of the Creed's formation, a full summary of the ideas covered, an appendix containing differing versions of the Creed, a bibliography, and complete notes. This work is an ideal companion piece to any student religious text or standing alone, as a parish renewal source book or primary text for catechumens. The Creed as Symbol will enrich anyone's understanding of the Creed, the perennial and core doctrine of Christianity.
Download or read book Family Driven Faith Paperback Edition with Study Questions written by Voddie Baucham Jr. and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2011-04-04 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More teens are turning away from the faith than ever before: it is estimated that 75 to 88 percent of Christian teens walk away from Christianity by the end of their freshman year of college. Something must be done. Family Driven Faith equips Christian parents with the tools they need to raise children biblically in a post-Christian, anti-family society. Voddie Baucham, who with his wife has overcome a multi-generational legacy of broken and dysfunctional homes, shows that God has not left us alone in raising godly children. In his Word he has given us timeless precepts and principles for multi-generational faithfulness. Baucham’s celebrated guide for godly, healthy families is now available in paperback, with study questions added. Parents will find this a critical resource for the spiritual nourishment and protection of the next generation.
Download or read book Paradise and Paradigm written by Christopher Buck and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 1999-05-13 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a novel approach that the author terms "symbolic paradigm analysis," Paradise and Paradigm offers a "theoretically modular" systematic comparison of two "Persian" religions: early Syriac Christianity as the foundation of the East Syrian "Church of the East" (the Nestorian Church of Persia) and the Baha'i Faith, a new world religion. The author compares the hymns of the greatest poet of early Christianity, Saint Ephrem the Syrian, and the richly imagistic writings of the founder of the Baha'i religion, Baha'u'llah. The book employs an original analytic technique in the creation of "symbolic profiles" constructed on Ninian Smart's dimensional model of religion. As Buck skillfully demonstrates, formal similarities between any two religions are best comprehended in terms of paradigmatic differences, which nuance all parallels through a process of symbolic transformation. Buck also shows the communal reflexivity of paradise imagery in representing the ideal faith-community in both traditions.
Download or read book Symbols in the Church written by Carl Van Treeck and published by Hassell Street Press. This book was released on 2021-09-10 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Download or read book Loyola Kids Book of Catholic Signs Symbols written by Amy Welborn and published by . This book was released on 2018-07 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the sign of the fish to the Stations of the Cross, from palms to ashes, this book will enable readers to appreciate the symbols of faith all around us.