Growing out of the most radical fringes of the abolitionist movement, the Society for Universal Inquiry and Reform set out to inaugurate a new social order based on the principles of nonresistance. The Society founded eight utopian communities which, though short-lived, were the setting for the most radical questioning of antebellum American society. The members of the Society renounced all forms of coercive relationships. They attempted to live without government or private property and to model new visions of work, education, religion, economics, women's rights and roles, and community. This book tells the story of their impassioned attempt to transform the world and begin the "Government of God."

The provocative and authoritative history of the origins of Christian America in the New Deal era We're often told that the United States is, was, and always has been a Christian nation. But in One Nation Under God, historian Kevin M. Kruse reveals that the belief that America is fundamentally and formally Christian originated in the 1930s. To fight the "slavery" of FDR's New Deal, businessmen enlisted religious activists in a campaign for "freedom under God" that culminated in the election of their ally Dwight Eisenhower in 1952. The new president revolutionized the role of religion in American politics. He inaugurated new traditions like the National Prayer Breakfast, as Congress added the phrase "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance and made "In God We Trust" the country's first official motto. Church membership soon soared to an all-time high of 69 percent. Americans across the religious and political spectrum agreed that their country was "one nation under God." Provocative and authoritative, One Nation Under God reveals how an unholy alliance of money, religion, and politics created a false origin story that continues to define and divide American politics to this day.

"Understanding God's Government" dares to explore the nature of government at all levels - its pyramidal, hierarchical structure - within civil, religious, business, military, and social spheres, and then dissect the motivations behind their leaders. It is discovered that fear is usually the prime motivator that leaders use to gain and maintain control. The Creator's intended form of government for mankind, however, is a brotherhood based upon lateral relationships of love and concern for one's fellow man. The author delves into Biblical and secular sources to elucidate the nature of today's governments, elements of Godly government, ideal government within the ecclesia, forms of government that work, and their consequences. Additional articles are included, by former presidential candidate Harry Browne, Herbert W. Armstrong, James Lloyd, Norman Edwards, and the author. Learn why future government holds so much promise within this war-torn, unstable world.

This book is about a physical formation of God's government.

In the beginning, during the time of the Patriarchs, no government existed but the rule of God directly over man. After the flood, men like Nimrod began placing themselves between God and man as they built their kingdoms and established their own authority. Despite civil government's origin and history being rooted in rebellion and arrogance against the Creator of man, God has found a use for it. He has ordained civil government for a purpose - to punish evildoers and to protect the liberty and security of its people, so that we may be able to "lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity" (1 Timothy 2:2). When government progresses beyond its limited, God-ordained role, both history and Scripture warn that such action eventually becomes a threat to God's people. This material focuses on what the Scriptures teach about the origin, history, nature, and role of civil government, so that we as God's people might heed the instructions and warnings contained in His word. The point of this is not to argue for or against any particular candidate or political party, but for Christians to remember to be loyal to God first, and to be reluctant to call for government to expand its powers beyond the role which God ordained for it.

Dr Francis S. Collins, head of the Human Genome Project, is one of the world's leading scientists, working at the cutting edge of the study of DNA, the code of life. Yet he is also a man of unshakable faith in God. How does he reconcile the seemingly unreconcilable? In THE LANGUAGE OF GOD he explains his own journey from atheism to faith, and then takes the reader on a stunning tour of modern science to show that physics, chemistry and biology -- indeed, reason itself -- are not incompatible with belief. His book is essential reading for anyone who wonders about the deepest questions of all: why are we here? How did we get here? And what does life mean?

R.T. France believes that much of today's popular use of "kingdom" language runs the risk of distorting Jesus' words, and trivializing the depth and richness of his teaching. This book will help many Christians avoid that risk, while also providing helpful and persuasive answers to a range of questions thrown up by modern scholarship. What would "the Kingdom of God" have meant to Mark's first readers? Is "kingdom" the best translation? What did Jesus mean when he said the kingdom would come "with power"? And what are we to make of those passages which seem to predict the coming of the "Son of Man" within the lifetime of the first disciples? R. T. France has taught at London Bible College and was principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, from 1989 to 1995. He is the author of Matthew in the Tyndale New Testament Commentary series, The Evidence for Jesus, The Living God, and Jesus and the Old Testament.