A century ago, as the United States prepared to enter World War I, the military chaplaincy included only mainline Protestants and Catholics. Today it counts Jews, Mormons, Muslims, Christian Scientists, Buddhists, Seventh-day Adventists, Hindus, and evangelicals among its ranks. Enlisting Faith traces the uneven processes through which the military struggled with, encouraged, and regulated religious pluralism over the twentieth century. Moving from the battlefields of Europe to the jungles of Vietnam and between the forests of Civilian Conservation Corps camps and meetings in government offices, Ronit Y. Stahl reveals how the military borrowed from and battled religion. Just as the state relied on religion to sanction war and sanctify death, so too did religious groups seek recognition as American faiths. At times the state used religion to advance imperial goals. But religious citizens pushed back, challenging the state to uphold constitutional promises and moral standards. Despite the constitutional separation of church and state, the federal government authorized and managed religion in the military. The chaplaincy demonstrates how state leaders scrambled to handle the nation’s deep religious, racial, and political complexities. While officials debated which clergy could serve, what insignia they would wear, and what religions appeared on dog tags, chaplains led worship for a range of faiths, navigated questions of conscience, struggled with discrimination, and confronted untimely death. Enlisting Faith is a vivid portrayal of religious encounters, state regulation, and the trials of faith—in God and country—experienced by the millions of Americans who fought in and with the armed forces.

This special edition of the Lectures on Faith from Zion’s Camp Books is formatted for convenience on an eReader, with more than 100 internal links to scriptures and citations. We hope it will give you a great reading experience! The Lectures on Faith were originally prepared as materials for the School of the Prophets in Kirtland, Ohio in 1834 and were included in the Doctrine and Covenants from 1835 to 1921. Although the Lectures on Faith have never been accepted as revelation by the body of the church (and so were removed from the Doctrine and Covenants in 1921), they contain important doctrinal insights that can help anyone seeking to learn more about faith and come closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. President Joseph Fielding Smith noted, “I suppose that the rising generation knows little about the Lectures on Faith. . . . In my own judgment, these Lectures are of great value and should be studied. . . . I consider them to be of extreme value in the study of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Seek Ye Earnestly. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1970.) Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has stated the lectures contain “some of the best lesson material ever prepared on the Godhead; on the character, perfections, and attributes of God; on faith, miracles, and sacrifice. They can be studied with great profit by all gospel scholars.” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966.)

Extremely well researched and unique in its approach, citing nine individual Confederate soldiers and the impact of the Civil War on their Christianity. These case studies, largely drawn from their own words in letters and diaries, give a personal and individual perspective that has largely been overlooked in other similar works.

Have you been in ministry and "Failed"? Do you feel like you have failed your God, your mission, your family, your friends, and yourself? Then this book is for you! This book is a letter from a loving God to His hurt child. It is a letter of healing and restoration. This is not an academic book. It is based on real experience, and offers real steps to healing and restoration. Some of your beliefs will be challenged. Scriptures and phrases that have been used falsely will be exposed, and that exposure will aid in your healing.

Christians cannot ignore the intersection of religion and violence. In our own Scriptures, war texts that appear to approve of genocidal killings and war rape raise hard questions about biblical ethics and the character of God. Have we missed something in our traditional readings? Identifying a spectrum of views on biblical war texts, Webb and Oeste pursue a middle path using a hermeneutic of incremental, redemptive-movement ethics.

Have you left the church in search of Jesus? Studies show that one in four young adults claim no formal religious affiliation, and church leaders have long known that this generation is largely missing on Sunday morning. Hundreds of thousands of “church leavers” have had a mentor and pastor, however, in Michael Spencer, known to blog readers as the Internet Monk. Spencer guided a vast online congregation in its search for a more honest and more immediate practice of Christian faith. Spencer discovered the truth that church officials often miss, which is that many who leave the church do so in an attempt to find Jesus. For years on his blog Spencer showed de-churched readers how to practice their faith without the distractions of religious institutions. Sadly, he died in 2010. But now that his last message is available in Mere Churchianity, you can benefit from the biblical wisdom and compassionate teaching that always have been hallmarks of his ministry. With Mere Churchianity, Spencer’s writing will continue to point the disenchanted and dispossessed to a Jesus-shaped spirituality. And along the way, his teachings show how you can find others who will go with you on the journey.