Restoring The Reformation

What does it mean to be a woman or a man created in the image of God? Many Christians don't have a good grasp of what their sexuality means. Many women in the church don't feel like their contributions matter. Why is this? The church is sadly still confused about what it means to be a man or a woman. While secular society talks about sexuality in terms of liberation, many in the church define manhood and womanhood in terms of reductive roles that rob us of the dignity of personhood, created in the image of God. In her poetic, theologically contemplative style, Aimee Byrd invites you to enter the rich treasure trove of the Song of Songs as its lyrics reveal how our very bodies are visible signs that tell us something about our God. This often-ignored biblical book has much to teach us about Christ, his church, man, and woman. And what it teaches us is not a list of roles and hierarchy. It is a love song. As it unfolds throughout the canon of Scripture, the meaning of our sexuality extends beyond biology, nature, and culture to give us a glimpse of what is to come. This meaningfulness reinforces our discipleship as we participate in the eschatological song. In The Sexual Reformation, you will discover the beautiful message that our bodies—and our whole selves—are part of the greater story in which Christ received the gift of his bride, the church. Within the context of that story, you'll rediscover your sexuality as a gift.

This book traces British missionary initiative in post-Revolutionary Francophone Europe from the genesis of the London Missionary Society, the visits of Robert Haldane and Henry Drummond, and the founding of the Continental Society. While British evangelicals aimed at the reviving of a foreign Protestant cause of momentous legend, they received unforeseen reciprocating emphases from the Continent which forced self-reflection on Evangelicalism's own relationship to the Reformation.

Death by drowning or being burned at the stake. In the days of the Reformation, many Christians suffered this horrible fate. What was their crime? Simply being baptised, immersed into Christ as believing adults. Why did they endure death? They preferred death to compromising their faith. Today we are beneficiaries of the stand they took and the spiritual heritage they passed on. Thank God that after 150 years of these killing times a more enlightened age came in. This was the age of religious discussion and discovery as men sought the truth in religion. It was not easy to go against over 1500 years of human tradition. Where was truth to be found? In that which existed from the days of the apostles, the Word of God. Their spiritual quest also blesses our lives if we are but willing to listen. A further 100 years would elapse before Restoration principles produced fruit. Again, we are blessed with the fruit of their labours. However, every generation has to decide what to believe and why. That challenge remains and it is a challenge that confronts each one of us: What are we going do about it?

This book examines the struggle for Protestant consensus and unity through the work of John a Lasco (1499-1560). It is only in recent years that scholars have begun to recognize the importance of Lasco as one of the leading figures of the European Reformation, and a pivotal figure between Lutheran and Reformed theologians. The Polish reformer was among the most dynamic church organizers of the sixteenth century, dedicated to healing the divisions among evangelicals and searching for the key to Protestant unity in the example of the Apostolic Church. It was to this end that he published the Forma ac ratio in 1555, a work that recorded the rites and practices of the London Strangers' Church (of which he had been the first superintendent) and to provide a model for uniting the disparate Protestant communities on the Continent. Although some recent works have focused on aspects of Lasco's early career in Germany and England, this is the first book to provide a comprehensive analysis of the Forma ac ratio, and the reformer's reasons for writing it. This study also puts Lasco's distinct model for Protestant churches into the wider European context and assesses his impact on the struggle for unity through an examination of his correspondence, the reaction to his writings, and his influence on Protestant congregations across Europe.