Yunnan Province, China, 1943... Two men wage an intellectual war over a timeworn chessboard, a metaphor for the conflict that rages in the skies above. The young, handsome Army pilot seethes against the violent forces of a hostile world, angry that his bombs and bullets cannot vanquish the enemy who threatens all his values. His opponent, the older, world-wise man of the cloth dispatched long ago to this dreary, distant outpost, offers divine guidance: "You can't force the hand of God." Such advice is wasted on Major Rodger Brown, who has never been one to simply accept fate--not since the terrible night of his childhood when another evil penetrated his world, forcing a good man to flee for his life. A helpless boy then, Rodger grew to be a man who vowed to change the course of injustice--even if it meant using the lethal power he learned to wield both above the clouds and in the boxing ring.

The book explores the danger posed by Christian fundamentalism - a doctrine that is sweeping America. Leaders of the doctrine proclaim that God wants - even demands - that Planet Earth be destroyed in our generation. Adherents to this doctrine are said to constitute the fastest growing movement in Christianity today. Fundamentalist Evangelicals believe there will be catastrophic events on earth, some occurring already, including the turmoil in the Middle East, culminating in the Battle of Armageddon in which Christ will triumph and begin ruling the earth. At this point, they believe, non-believers will be destroyed, good Christians saved and any remaining Jews converted to Christianity. By praying for their Rapture and the End of Time, might they Force the Hand of God -- to bring it about? The book also includes CBS 60 Minutes program, Zion's Christian Soldiers and an interview with Jerry Falwell. Grace Halsell (1923-2000) served President Lyndon Johnson as his speech writer for three years. She covered both Korea and Vietnam as a journalist and wrote for newspapers in the U.S., South America, Europe, Russia, China, Japan and the Middle East. She wrote fourteen books among them the well-received Soul Sister, Prophecy and Politics: Militant Evangelists on the Road to Nuclear War, Journey to Jerusalem and The Illegals. A great expose' of the strange marriage of convenience between the U.S. Christian Right and Israel. Neither likes the other- but they use one another. Dr. Alfred LilientA great expose' of the strange marriage of convenience

Author Leonard Swidler himself is one of the American originators of the term trialogue (words among three persons), and here he raises it to a new level as he shares the podium with professors Reuven Firestone and Khalid Duran. These three professors, beginning with Firestone and Judaism, present their faith traditions and the challenges as well as possibilities for genuine trialogue. Each offers invaluable insights into the ways they share Hebraic roots and Abrahamic traditions and how their beliefs and practices have evolved through the centuries up to and including the present. Throughout the text, readers are encouraged to pause for reflection and/or discussion of the key points presented by the authors. This is a fascinating, enlightening, and highly recommended introduction to these three great faith traditions and how they evolved and are practiced today.

This groundbreaking book, developed with a grant from the Harriet and Robert Heilbrunn Institute for Interreligious Understanding of the American Jewish Committee, is a stepping stone to dialogue. Descended from a common ancestor, Jews and Muslims share a special relationship and practice religions that exhibit remarkable moral and theological resemblance. But most Muslims know little about Judaism. In his volume, Rabbi Firestone presents Judaism with a Muslim sensibility in mind, and thus establishes unprecedented intimacy between Jewish and Muslim consciousness and worldviews. His work is the first of its kind to offer a comprehensive introduction to Judaism with a special emphasis on issues of particular concern to Muslims. A publication of the Harriet and Robert Heilbrunn Institute for International Interreligious Understanding of the American Jewish Committee.

The past two or three decades have witnessed significant activity in research on the Jesus of the Gospels and history. In fact, there has been such a plethora of publication on such a wide variety of facets of this issue that it is difficult to keep pace with the rate of publication. In this volume, Dunn and McKnight have collected and provided introductions to a wide cross-section of essays on the topic, ranging from classic essays by the likes of Bultmann, Cadbury, and Schweitzer to the most recent investigations of Horsley, Levine, and Wright. This volume will be a very useful book for courses and seminars on Jesus or the historical Jesus, because it draws together in one place a wide variety of perspectives and approaches to the issues. Authors represented include: P. S. Alexander, D. C. Allison, P. W. Barnett, M. J. Borg, R. Bultmann, H. J. Cadbury, P. M. Casey, G. B. Caird, B. Chilton, C. E. B. Cranfield, J. D. G. Dunn, R. A. Horsley, J. Jeremias, M. Kähler, W. G. Kümmel, E. E. Lemcio, A.-J. Levine, G. Luedemann, J. P. Meier, B. F. Meyer, R. Morgan, J. A. T. Robinson, E. P. Sanders, A. Schweitzer, K. R. Snodgrass, G. N. Stanton, P. Stuhlmacher, G. Theissen, N. T. Wright.

This work illuminates the tension between divine empowering and the neglected element of the work of the Spirit in contexts of opposition. This lacuna, not addressed in previous Pentecostal scholarship, is at the heart of Mittelstadt's exegesis. Thus, Jesus not only lives and ministers in the power of the Holy Spirit, but also experiences opposition and persecution as a man of the Spirit. Further, the Lukan Jesus not only transfers the Spirit to his disciples, but also anticipates a similar fate for his followers. Finally, Luke forecasts that this divine enablement of the Spirit, also available for future witnesses, brings with it a similar anticipation of the same rejection and opposition as was experienced by Jesus and the disciples. While Pentecostals owe a debt of gratitude for the pioneering work of Pentecostal scholars, this book furthers their efforts by exploring the implications of Spirit-led witness in Luke-Acts.