By John R. Rice I cannot introduce Dr. J. Frank Norris, but I gladly say a word about his sermons, “Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.” A mighty preacher of a mighty gospel, bold defender of the faith, campaigner for righteousness, seeker for sinners and my beloved friend and brother that he is, I am delighted that you can have his message in print. Here is great preaching! Whether it is Dr. Norris at his greatest, I cannot say, when I remember his sermons on “The Prodigal Son,” on “Going to the Well,” or “And When the Morning Was Come,” or those on the eighth of Romans, or “Elijah at Mt. Carmel,” or the Twenty-third Psalm. Those who have read his seven hundred printed sermons or heard him in his own pulpit and in great revivals this almost a quarter of a century can best say. But here is great preaching, preaching to the heart as well as the head. Though my mind marveled at the riches from which Dr. Norris drew when I heard these sermons and then read them, and then again, my poor hungry heart was fed.

In Red Dynamite, Carl R. Weinberg argues that creationism's tenacious hold on American public life depended on culture-war politics inextricably embedded in religion. Many Christian conservatives were convinced that evolutionary thought promoted immoral and even bestial social, sexual, and political behavior. The "fruits" of subscribing to Darwinism were, in their minds, a dangerous rearrangement of God-given standards and the unsettling of traditional hierarchies of power. Despite claiming to focus exclusively on science and religion, creationists were practicing politics. Their anticommunist campaign, often infused with conspiracy theory, gained power from the fact that the Marxist founders, the early Bolshevik leaders, and their American allies were staunch evolutionists. Using the Scopes "Monkey" Trial as a starting point, Red Dynamite traces the politically explosive union of Darwinism and communism over the next century. Across those years, social evolution was the primary target of creationists, and their "ideas have consequences" strategy instilled fear that shaped the contours of America's culture wars. By taking the anticommunist arguments of creationists seriously, Weinberg reveals a neglected dimension of antievolutionism and illuminates a source of the creationist movement's continuing strength. Thanks to generous funding from Indiana University and its participation in TOME (Toward an Open Monograph Ecosystem), the ebook editions of this book are available as Open Access volumes from Cornell Open (cornellpress.cornell.edu/cornell-open) and other repositories.

Urban Legends of the New Testament surveys forty of the most commonly misinterpreted passages in the New Testament. These “urban legends” often arise because interpreters neglect a passage’s context, misuse historical background information, or misunderstand the Greek language. For each New Testament text, professor David Croteau describes the popular, incorrect interpretation and then carefully interprets the passage within its literary and historical context. Careful attention is given to sound principles of biblical interpretation to guide readers through the process and reach a more accurate understanding of each text’s meaning. With examples from the Gospels, Acts, the Epistles, and Revelation, Urban Legends of the New Testament will not only help readers avoid missteps in these forty texts but also provide a model for engaging in correct interpretation of other New Testament passages.