Download or read book The Americanized Gospel written by John M. Jerpe and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2024-04-01 with total page 79 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book I have tried to raise the awareness of mainly working Catholics regarding the spiritual pitfalls of excessive nationalism. Nationalism in this book is not synonymous with patriotism. Nationalism, carried to its natural conclusion, amounts to the “de facto worship” of the nation state. In our current state of collective anxiety, we can and will be easily victimized.
Download or read book The Gospel According to America written by David Dark and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Evangelicalism written by Richard Kyle and published by Transaction Publishers. This book was released on 2011-12-31 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most forms of religion are best understood in the con- text of their relationship with the surrounding culture. This may be particularly true in the United States. Certainly immigrant Catholicism became Americanized; mainstream Protestantism accommodated itself to the modern world; and Reform Judaism is at home in American society. In Evangelicalism, Richard Kyle explores paradoxical adjustments and transformations in the relationship between conservative Protestant Evangelicalism and contemporary American culture. Evangelicals have resisted many aspects of the modern world, but Kyle focuses on what he considers their romance with popular culture. Kyle sees this as an Americanized Christianity rather than a Christian America, but the two are so intertwined that it is difficult to discern the difference between them. Instead, in what has become a vicious self-serving cycle, Evangelicals have baptized and sanctified secular culture in order to be considered culturally relevant, thus increasing their numbers and success within abundantly populous and populist-driven American society. In doing so, Evangelicalism has become a middle-class movement, one that dominates America's culture, and unabashedly populist. Many Evangelicals view America as God's chosen nation, thus sanctifying American culture, consumerism, and middle-class values. Kyle believes Evangelicals have served themselves well in consciously and deliberately adjusting their faith to popular culture. Yet he also thinks Evangelicals may have compromised themselves and their future in the process, so heavily borrowing from the popular culture that in many respects the Evangelical subculture has become secularism with a light gilding of Christianity. If so, he asks, can Evangelicalism survive its own popularity and reaffirm its religious origins, or will it assimilate and be absorbed into what was once known as the Great American Melting Pot of religions and cultures? Will the Gospel of the American dream ultimately engulf and destroy the Gospel of Evangelical success in America? This thoughtful and thought-provoking volume will interest anyone concerned with the modern-day success of the Evangelical movement in America and the aspirations and fate of its faithful.
Download or read book Evangelicalism written by Richard Kyle and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-20 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most forms of religion are best understood in the con- text of their relationship with the surrounding culture. This may be particularly true in the United States. Certainly immigrant Catholicism became Americanized; mainstream Protestantism accommodated itself to the modern world; and Reform Judaism is at home in American society. In Evangelicalism, Richard Kyle explores paradoxical adjustments and transformations in the relationship between conservative Protestant Evangelicalism and contemporary American culture. Evangelicals have resisted many aspects of the modern world, but Kyle focuses on what he considers their romance with popular culture. Kyle sees this as an Americanized Christianity rather than a Christian America, but the two are so intertwined that it is difficult to discern the difference between them. Instead, in what has become a vicious self-serving cycle, Evangelicals have baptized and sanctified secular culture in order to be considered culturally relevant, thus increasing their numbers and success within abundantly populous and populist-driven American society. In doing so, Evangelicalism has become a middle-class movement, one that dominates America's culture, and unabashedly populist. Many Evangelicals view America as God's chosen nation, thus sanctifying American culture, consumerism, and middle-class values. Kyle believes Evangelicals have served themselves well in consciously and deliberately adjusting their faith to popular culture. Yet he also thinks Evangelicals may have compromised themselves and their future in the process, so heavily borrowing from the popular culture that in many respects the Evangelical subculture has become secularism with a light gilding of Christianity. If so, he asks, can Evangelicalism survive its own popularity and reaffirm its religious origins, or will it assimilate and be absorbed into what was once known as the Great American Melting Pot of religions and cultures? Will the Gospel of the American dream ultimately engulf and destroy the Gospel of Evangelical success in America? This thoughtful and thought-provoking volume will interest anyone concerned with the modern-day success of the Evangelical movement in America and the aspirations and fate of its faithful.
Download or read book From Here to Maturity written by Thomas E. Bergler and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2014-11-27 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Expert guidance on how to grow up in Christ This book is a follow-up to Thomas Bergler’s acclaimed work The Juvenilization of American Christianity, which documents how church youth ministries over the past several decades have contributed to a process of adolescent spiritual traits becoming accepted and even celebrated by Christians of all ages. This “juvenilization” in the church is a real problem that must be addressed, says Bergler, and in his new book he addresses it head-on. Bergler’s From Here to Maturity is an accessible guide for helping both individuals and whole faith communities to grow spiritually. Bergler claims that spiritual maturity -- defined as “basic competence in the Christian life” -- is both desirable and attainable, and he effectively presents a biblical theology of spiritual maturity, identifying its traits from pertinent New Testament passages. Adapting Dallas Willard’s model of spiritual formation and applying it to congregational life, Bergler offers a wealth of practical, research-based guidance as to how Christian leaders can effectively foster spiritual maturity in their congregations. He also identifies six key faith-sustaining factors and provides a system for evaluating a church’s state of spiritual maturity and steps for improving it. Ecumenically friendly, From Here to Maturity will be useful to individuals and leaders from many different churches and theological traditions.
Download or read book Has American Christianity Failed written by Bryan Wolfmueller and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Wolfmueller sounds the alarm against the false teaching and dangerous practices of Christianity in America. He offers a beautiful alternative: the sweet savor of the Gospel, which brings us to to the real comfort, joy, peace, freedom, and sure hope of Christ." -- Back cover
Download or read book The Evolution of the American Gospel written by Arthur Bailey and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-06-11 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Another Gospel? Did you know that today's "Christian" Gospel is not the Gospel of the biblical Messiah's day? Over time at the hands of men, the Gospel of the Kingdom (which is about repentance, obedience to the commandments and acceptance of the Savior's sacrifice) has evolved into a Gospel that is barely recognizable to Messiah, his Apostles or to true believers of the faith once delivered to the saints. How is it possible that men, religious traditions, cultures and kings have so profoundly and malignantly influenced what billions of people think of as sacred Scripture? Why is it that when the truth is finally revealed, many people will choose instead to hold onto false religious teachings and traditions instead of accepting that we have all inherited lies from our ancestors as Scripture prophesies? Follow The Evolution of the American Gospel along a remarkable trail across languages, cultures and centuries to reveal the true message of Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) and the path to salvation that is very different and far more powerful than what we have been taught to "believe." You will never look at the Bible, religion or faith in the same manner again.
Download or read book Almost Christian written by Kenda Creasy Dean and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010-07-16 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on the National Study of Youth and Religion--the same invaluable data as its predecessor, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers--Kenda Creasy Dean's compelling new book, Almost Christian, investigates why American teenagers are at once so positive about Christianity and at the same time so apathetic about genuine religious practice. In Soul Searching, Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton found that American teenagers have embraced a "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism"--a hodgepodge of banal, self-serving, feel-good beliefs that bears little resemblance to traditional Christianity. But far from faulting teens, Dean places the blame for this theological watering down squarely on the churches themselves. Instead of proclaiming a God who calls believers to lives of love, service and sacrifice, churches offer instead a bargain religion, easy to use, easy to forget, offering little and demanding less. But what is to be done? In order to produce ardent young Christians, Dean argues, churches must rediscover their sense of mission and model an understanding of being Christian as not something you do for yourself, but something that calls you to share God's love, in word and deed, with others. Dean found that the most committed young Christians shared four important traits: they could tell a personal and powerful story about God; they belonged to a significant faith community; they exhibited a sense of vocation; and they possessed a profound sense of hope. Based on these findings, Dean proposes an approach to Christian education that places the idea of mission at its core and offers a wealth of concrete suggestions for inspiring teens to live more authentically engaged Christian lives. Persuasively and accessibly written, Almost Christian is a wake up call no one concerned about the future of Christianity in America can afford to ignore.
Download or read book This American Gospel written by Ethan Richardson and published by Createspace Independent Pub. This book was released on 2012-04-01 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For millions of listeners worldwide, the public radio program This American Life serves as an indispensable weekly reminder of what it means to be alive. The show has a rare gift for capturing the complexities of life, and in a very deep way does what radio has always sought to do: tell honest, entertaining stories with both humor and heart. In This American Gospel, Ethan Richardson sheds light on the elements of the program that most resonate with the Christian faith, such as the weariness that comes from demand and expectation, and the inspiring power of love and mercy. With playfulness and wit, This American Gospel selects episodes from the show's tenure, and expounds on their potential as parables of the paradoxical and no-less-complicated realities of the Christian message.
Download or read book The Juvenilization of American Christianity written by Thomas Bergler and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2012-04-20 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pop worship music. Falling in love with Jesus. Mission trips. Wearing jeans and T-shirts to church. Spiritual searching and church hopping. Faith-based political activism. Seeker-sensitive outreach. These now-commonplace elements of American church life all began as innovative ways to reach young people, yet they have gradually become accepted as important parts of a spiritual ideal for all ages. What on earth has happened? In The Juvenilization of American Christianity Thomas Bergler traces the way in which, over seventy-five years, youth ministries have breathed new vitality into four major American church traditions -- African American, Evangelical, Mainline Protestant, and Roman Catholic. Bergler shows too how this "juvenilization" of churches has led to widespread spiritual immaturity, consumerism, and self-centeredness, popularizing a feel-good faith with neither intergenerational community nor theological literacy. Bergler s critique further offers constructive suggestions for taming juvenilization. Watch the trailer:
Download or read book The Social Gospel in America 1870 1920 written by Robert T. Handy and published by New York : Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1966 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Seeking Allah Finding Jesus written by Nabeel Qureshi and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2016-04-19 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, now expanded with bonus content, Nabeel Qureshi describes his dramatic journey from Islam to Christianity, complete with friendships, investigations, and supernatural dreams along the way. Providing an intimate window into a loving Muslim home, Qureshi shares how he developed a passion for Islam before discovering, almost against his will, evidence that Jesus rose from the dead and claimed to be God. Unable to deny the arguments but not wanting to deny his family, Qureshi struggled with an inner turmoil that will challenge Christians, Muslims, and all those who are interested in the world’s greatest religions. Engaging and thought-provoking, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus tells a powerful story of the clash between Islam and Christianity in one man’s heart?and of the peace he eventually found in Jesus. "I have seldom seen such genuine intellect combined with passion to match ... truly a 'must-read' book."—Ravi Zacharias
Download or read book The Americanized Gospel written by John M. Jerpe and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2024-04-01 with total page 79 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book I have tried to raise the awareness of mainly working Catholics regarding the spiritual pitfalls of excessive nationalism. Nationalism in this book is not synonymous with patriotism. Nationalism, carried to its natural conclusion, amounts to the “de facto worship” of the nation state. In our current state of collective anxiety, we can and will be easily victimized.
Download or read book Radical written by David Platt and published by Multnomah. This book was released on 2012-02-28 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: WHAT IS JESUS WORTH TO YOU? It's easy for American Christians to forget how Jesus said his followers would actually live, what their new lifestyle would actually look like. They would, he said, leave behind security, money, convenience, even family for him. They would abandon everything for the gospel. They would take up their crosses daily... BUT WHO DO YOU KNOW WHO LIVES LIKE THAT? DO YOU? In Radical, David Platt challenges you to consider with an open heart how we have manipulated the gospel to fit our cultural preferences. He shows what Jesus actually said about being his disciple--then invites you to believe and obey what you have heard. And he tells the dramatic story of what is happening as a successful" suburban church decides to get serious about the gospel according to Jesus. Finally, he urges you to join in The Radical Experiment -- a one-year journey in authentic discipleship that will transform how you live in a world that desperately needs the Good News Jesus came to bring. (From the 2010 edition)"
Download or read book A Western Jesus written by Mike Minter and published by B&H Publishing Group. This book was released on 2007 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The transcendent Christ found in the Bible is rediscovered and plugged back into the wayward, truth-hungry, over-Americanized world in A Western Jesus.
Download or read book The Gospel and the American Dream written by Bruce Leon Shelley and published by Multnomah Books. This book was released on 1989 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Christianity and the Mass Media in America written by Quentin J. Schultze and published by MSU Press. This book was released on 2005-11-09 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The mass media and religious groups in America regularly argue about news bias, sex and violence on television, movie censorship, advertiser boycotts, broadcast and film content rating systems, government regulation of the media, the role of mass evangelism in a democracy, and many other issues. In the United States the major disputes between religion and the media usually have involved Christian churches or parachurch ministries, on the one hand, and the so-called secular media, on the other. Often the Christian Right locks horns with supposedly liberal Eastern media elite and Hollywood entertainment companies. When a major Protestant denomination calls for an economic boycott of Disney, the resulting news reports suggest business as usual in the tensions between faith groups and media empires. Schultze demonstrates how religion and the media in America have borrowed each other’s rhetoric. In the process, they have also helped to keep each other honest, pointing out respective foibles and pretensions. Christian media have offered the public as well as religious tribes some of the best media criticism— better than most of the media criticism produced by mainstream media themselves. Meanwhile, mainstream media have rightly taken particular churches to task for misdeeds as well as offered some surprisingly good depictions of religious life. The tension between Christian groups and the media in America ultimately is a good thing that can serve the interest of democratic life. As Alexis de Tocqueville discovered in the 1830s, American Christianity can foster the “habits of the heart” that ward off the antisocial acids of radical individualism. And, as John Dewey argued a century later, the media offer some of our best hopes for maintaining a public life in the face of the religious tribalism that can erode democracy from within. Mainstream media and Christianity will always be at odds in a democracy. That is exactly the way it should be for the good of each one.
