A series of lectures considering how Christians should involve themselves politically as Christians

Adding Cross to Crown: The Political Significance of Christ's Passion

Noll, Mark A.

Skillen, James W.

Bratt, James D.

Stackhouse, Max L.

Lugo, Luis E.

Religion & Spirituality

Baker Pub Group

Crucial themes and issues explored by a premier missiologist Johan Herman Bavinck (1895-1964) was a prominent twentieth-century Dutch Calvinist missiologist who wrestled with the tension between religious absolutism and relativism, as many Christians do in today's pluralistic context. The J. H. Bavinck Reader gathers together a choice selection of Bavinck's significant writings that are essential for understanding his theology of missions, his approach to world religions, and his religious psychology. His treatment of religious consciousness and Christian faith expands on the brief treatment of it in his own work The Church Between Temple and Mosque. The concluding chapters show how Bavinck's theoretical reflection on religious consciousness was rooted in his close observation during his years as a missionary in Indonesia. Offering a constructive way forward, Bavinck affirms both the particularity of salvation in Christ and the universality of the Christian hope. A substantial introduction enhances the book with the most thorough biographical sketch of Bavinck available.

The J.H. Bavinck Reader

Bolt, John

Visser, Paul J.

Christian Books & Bibles

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

This book samples the rich variety of worship practices in American history to show how worship can be a fruitful subject for historians to study and, alternatively, how past case studies can enrich our understanding of worship today. By the Vision of Another World gathers highly regarded historians and other scholars who usually are not read together because of the widely different subject areas in which they typically work. Yet their essays all fit together here as they address how worship, work, and worldview converge and reinforce each other no matter what particular place, era, denomination, or ethnic group is under consideration. The variety of methodologies and voices will appeal to a breadth of critical interests, while the consistently high quality of historical narrative will keep readers engaged. Contributors Dorothy C. Bass James D. Bratt Ruth Alden Doan Paul Harvey George M. Marsden Timothy Matovina Harry S. Stout Leslie Woodcock Tentler Michael Woods Joyce Ann Zimmerman

By the Vision of Another World: Worship in American History (The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship Liturgical Studies (CICW))

History

World

The definitive biography of Abraham Kuyper, giant of Dutch Calvinism This is the first full-scale English-language biography of the highly influential and astonishingly multifaceted Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920) -- theologian, minister, politician, newspaper editor, educational innovator, Calvinist reformer, and prime minister of the Netherlands from 1901 to 1905. James Bratt is the ideal scholar to tell the story of Kuyper's remarkable life and work. He expertly traces the origin and development of Kuyper's signature concepts -- common grace, Christian worldview, sphere sovereignty, Christian engagement with contemporary culture -- in the dynamic context of his life's story. Based on voluminous primary and secondary Dutch sources, Bratt's Abraham Kuyper: Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat will prove to be the go-to biography of this major figure whose ideas and influence extend far beyond his own time and place.

Abraham Kuyper: Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat (Library of Religious Biography (LRB))

Biographies & Memoirs

Leaders & Notable People

Book by Bratt, James D., Meehan, Christopher H.

Gathered at the River: Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Its People of Faith

Meehan, Christopher H.

Religious Studies

Eerdmans Pub.Co.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, when asked at a press conference about the roots of his political philosophy, responded simply, “I am a Christian and a Democrat.” This is the story of how the first informed the second—how his upbringing in the Episcopal Church and matriculation at the Groton School under legendary educator and minister Endicott Peabody molded Roosevelt into a leader whose politics were fundamentally shaped by the Social Gospel. A work begun by religious historian John Woolverton (1926 2014) and recently completed by James Bratt, A Christian and a Democrat is an engaging analysis of the surprisingly spiritual life of one of the most consequential presidents in US history. Reading Woolverton’s account of FDR’s response to the toxic demagoguery of his day will reassure readers today that a constructive way forward is possible for Christians, for Americans, and for the world.

A Christian and a Democrat: A Religious Biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt (Library of Religious Biography (LRB))

Woolverton, John F.

Eerdmans

Abraham Kuyper (1837 - 1920) is a significant figure in the history of the Netherlands and one of the most remarkable figures in the annals of Calvinism. Kuyper celebrated the Reformed founders, subscribed heart and soul to their teachings, and worked ceaselessly to restore their authority in an age that had either forgotten them or contradicted their word. From their theology, Kuyper extruded a whole worldview, and by that worldview he hoped to refashion the politics, scholarship, art, and social arrangements of his time. "Calvinism" was his soul and system, the purest form of Christianity, the treasure of the past, the hope of the future. This anthology, published in the centennial year of Kuyper's famous Stone Lectures, gathers sixteen key writings by Kuyper never before available in English. Included are his definitive statements on politics, education, culture, and the religious currents and social problems of his time. Also included are Kuyper's own conversion narrative, his critiques of Modernism and of Holiness theology, his proposals on common grace and Calvinist politics, his reflections on a culture in thrall to pantheism and evolution, and his classic address on "sphere sovereignty." In his introduction, editor James Bratt sets Kuyper's work in its 19th century context and shows the relevance of his ideas to contemporary debates on modernism, evangelicalism, and fundamentalism. Bratt also provides helpful explanatory notes and a brief introduction to each piece. Photographs, cartoons, and short excerpts from some of Kuyper's better-known works make this an attractive volume that will stand as the definitive Kuyper anthology for years to come.

Abraham Kuyper: A Centennial Anthology

Kuyper, Abraham

Authentic Media

In this scholarly yet entertaining book, James D. Bratt takes a look at the Dutch in America from the late 19th century to the present. A comprehensive study of an ethnic subculture, the book is in large part a study of the group's religious history as well, since, as Bratt points out, the contours of the Dutch presence in America have been overwhelmingly shaped by the church and its subsidiary organizations. Although the book is extensively and scrupulously documented, Bratt has infused his scholarship with a considerable amount of anecdote that is by turns poignant and tragic and hilarious. In Bratt's analysis of the fitful progress of Americanization that this close-knit religious community has undergone, we are treated to the sharp insights of a bemused and sometimes disaffected insider. Included is a chapter on novelists Arnold Mulder, David Cornel DeJong, Frederick Manfred, and Peter DeVries - four sons of the Dutch who fled the subculture only to reflect upon it almost obsessively from the outside. Well written, scholarly, and highly readable, 'Dutch Calvinism In Modern America' will have wide appeal among both academic and general readers.

Dutch Calvinism in Modern America: A History of a Conservative Subculture

Wipf & Stock Pub

This book stems from the course on early American history that Professor Bratt taught for many years at Calvin College. It traces the roots of American diversity back to the earliest European and African settlements along the Atlantic shore. It follows the development of five distinct regions that would eventually converge in the young United States, identifying the strengths, vulnerabilities-and arguments-that each contributed to the new nation. "American Roots is a gem of a book. Instead of seeing "the American colonies" as a whole, author James Bratt shows how remarkably different the colonies' five main regions--New England, Middle Colonies, Chesapeake, Lower South and Back Country--were in their development and defining moments. Each put its unique stamp, for good and ill, on what it means to be an American today. This is one powerful little book, full of insights for Americans who want to know themselves and for anyone else who wants to understand Americans." --Joel Carpenter, Nagel Institute, Calvin College "James Bratt has distilled a lifetime of study and teaching into this one Calvin Shorts. For an efficient, clear, balanced, readable--but above all, reliable--introduction to colonial American history, it is hard to imagine a better book." --Mark Noll, author In the Beginning Was the Word: The Bible in American Public Life, 1492-1783 "James D. Bratt's American Roots offers a brisk, engaging review of the often grim realities of early America, and those realities' enduring significance in our national life. Readers will find Bratt a sure guide and a judicious interpreter of these controversial issues." --Thomas S. Kidd, Distinguished Professor of History, Baylor University "This slim volume is at once a masterful primer on colonial America, a lively exemplar of historical thinking, and a pocket guide to understanding the tensions and ideals that created and continue to shape the American nation. Crisply written and chock full of colorful bits of wisdom and insight, Bratt's book is ideal for the classroom or for a quiet evening at home." --Kristin Kobes Du Mez, author A New Gospel for Women: Katharine Bushnell and the Challenge of Christian Feminism "I am really impressed with Jim's ability to pack so broad a story into so tight a package. The book covers a huge amount of ground in a manner that is unified, coherent, and accessible. It accomplishes its purpose admirably . . . . the introductory chapter explains a historians work in terms about as clear as he could make them to a high school student. I wish every student in the US--and most teachers--had a copy of this book just for this purpose alone." --Timothy D. Hall, Associate Dean and Professor of History, Central Michigan University

American Roots (Calvin Shorts)

Americas

Calvin College Press

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Books by Bratt, James D.