The most inclusive church history text on the market today — it pays special attention to Christianity in the southern hemisphere, Eastern Orthodoxy, the church among minority cultures in North America, and the role of women in church history.

This second volume of Reclaiming Our Roots carries readers on a whirlwind journey from the eve of the Reformation to developments in Christianity in the twentieth century. As in the first volume, Mark Ellingsen gives special attention to the history of Christianity in the southern hemisphere, the church among minority cultures in North America, and the role of women in church history. Ellingsen's careful and critical eye ranges over the entire panorama of modern church history. He provides balanced theological analyses of major movements and figures as well as the interactions between them. Ellingsen presents church history as an opportunity to enter into a dialogue with the church's richly diverse heritage. He sees the role of church history as: Community builder--teaching the faithful their heritage, Safety patrol--sensitizing church leaders to the errors of the past that they must still confront, Liberating instrument--learning to look at reality from the perspective of the other, no longer chained to one's own suppositions and cultural biases, and Source of theological creativity--providing access to the stimulating insights of the great theological minds of the past. This thought-provoking book offers readers a sympathetic exposure to a variety of credible, scholarly interpretations of major figures and encourages them to make their own judgments with the help of suggested primary source readings. Ellingsen closes each chapter with questions that lead readers to ponder the deeper meanings of various events in the history of Christianity.

Reclaiming Our Roots, the most inclusive church history textbook on the market today, pays special attention to such matters as Christianity in the southern hemisphere, Eastern Orthodoxy, the church among minority cultures in North America, and the role of women in church history. It includes not just names, dates, and events in church history, but also sophisticated theological analyses of the issues that have made history, making it useable as a text for both history of Christian thought as well as introduction to church history courses. Readers are exposed to a variety of credible, scholarly interpretations of issues, events, and major figures, and encouraged to make their own judgments based upon the evidence and with the help of suggested primary source readings. Leading questions that open doors for group discussion and individual reflection on the core issues follow each section.

"A timely and groundbreaking take on the roots of the Christian church and its place in the entirety of God's kingdom. . . . There is no better time than now to learn about and become firmly grounded within your spiritual heritage." —from the foreword by Perry Stone The early church was made up of Jewish and Gentile followers of Jesus, and the church's culture was rooted in Judaism and a Jewish understanding of God's relationship to His people. Over time, however, Christianity became increasingly more Roman than Jewish, and the church lost its identity. Rabbi Curt Landry's personal story is remarkably similar. Born to a Jewish mother and a Catholic father, Landry was put up for adoption, and for more than thirty years he had no understanding of his heritage, his roots, or who his parents were. But when he discovered the truth of his story, his life changed completely. The key to a life of power and purpose is understanding who you are. In this revelatory book, Curt Landry helps Christians discover their roots in Judaism, empowering them to walk in the revelation of who they really are and who they are born to be. Reclaiming Our Forgotten Heritage reveals the mysteries of the church, letting Christians grasp the power that comes from connecting with their true identity.

Reclaiming Our Food tells the stories of people across the United States who are finding new ways to grow, process, and distribute food for their own communities. Discover how abandoned urban lots have been turned into productive organic farms, how a family-run sustainable fish farm can stay local and be profitable, and how engaged communities are bringing fresh produce into school cafeterias. Through photographic essays and interviews with innovative food leaders, you’ll be inspired to get involved and help cultivate your own local food economy.

A sweeping history of Indigenous traditions of gender, sexuality, and resistance that reveals how, despite centuries of colonialism, Two-Spirit people are reclaiming their place in Native nations. Reclaiming Two-Spirits decolonizes the history of gender and sexuality in Native North America. It honors the generations of Indigenous people who had the foresight to take essential aspects of their cultural life and spiritual beliefs underground in order to save them. Before 1492, hundreds of Indigenous communities across North America included people who identified as neither male nor female, but both. They went by aakíí’skassi, miati, okitcitakwe or one of hundreds of other tribally specific identities. After European colonizers invaded Indian Country, centuries of violence and systematic persecution followed, imperiling the existence of people who today call themselves Two-Spirits, an umbrella term denoting feminine and masculine qualities in one person. Drawing on written sources, archaeological evidence, art, and oral storytelling, Reclaiming Two-Spirits spans the centuries from Spanish invasion to the present, tracing massacres and inquisitions and revealing how the authors of colonialism’s written archives used language to both denigrate and erase Two-Spirit people from history. But as Gregory Smithers shows, the colonizers failed—and Indigenous resistance is core to this story. Reclaiming Two-Spirits amplifies their voices, reconnecting their history to Native nations in the 21st century.

Christianity Today 2013 Book Award Winner Winner of The Foundation for Pentecostal Scholarship's 2012 Award of Excellence 2011 Book of the Year, Christianbook.com's Academic Blog Most modern prejudice against biblical miracle reports depends on David Hume's argument that uniform human experience precluded miracles. Yet current research shows that human experience is far from uniform. In fact, hundreds of millions of people today claim to have experienced miracles. New Testament scholar Craig Keener argues that it is time to rethink Hume's argument in light of the contemporary evidence available to us. This wide-ranging and meticulously researched two-volume study presents the most thorough current defense of the credibility of the miracle reports in the Gospels and Acts. Drawing on claims from a range of global cultures and taking a multidisciplinary approach to the topic, Keener suggests that many miracle accounts throughout history and from contemporary times are best explained as genuine divine acts, lending credence to the biblical miracle reports.