Systematics

7 Books That Rocked the Church, by Daniel Crane, explores controversial books throughout history that the Christian church has famously disavowed--and asks the question why?

Engagingly written and thoughtfully researched, this book explores what the "fuss" was all about with books ranging in date from the second century after Christ to more contemporary authors. Books by Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, Galileo Galilei, and many others profoundly upset the church by calling into question foundational Christian doctrines or beliefs. Most of the books discussed here were banned at some time by Christian authorities.

The author's aim is to challenge Christians to respond critically but open-mindedly to books that oppose a Christian worldview. Readers of 7 Books That Rocked the Church will come away better equipped to answer the charge that the church is intolerant of competing ideas. They will also develop the ability to interact with new and possibly dangerous ideas that comport with Jesus' admonition to be wise as serpents but gentle as doves. This book also includes discussion questions for further study.

1. Valentinus the Gnostic: Who Doesn't Love a Conspiracy Theory? (Think The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown)

2. Galileo Galilei: A Scandal of Religion, Science, and Politics

3. Voltaire's Candide, Enlightenment Rationalism, and the Church's Thin Skin

4. Darwin's Origin of Species: The Many Faces of Evolutionary Theory

5. Marx's Communist Manifesto: The Red Bull of the Masses

6. Sigmund Freud's Ego

7. Joseph Campbell: Christianity as an (Almost) Enlightened Myth (A book that strongly influenced George Lucas's Star Wars films)

This book documents today's rising rates of cremation in the West, and notes that these rates now include many deceased Christians, a stark contrast to Christians in the past who had consistently rejected cremation from their earliest years in pagan Rome to the mid-1960s. Christians opposed and spurned cremation for a number of reasons, discussed in this book. By mid-fourth century, Christianity's rejection of cremation influenced pagan Rome to abandon cremation. Earth burial became the only acceptable way to dispose of deceased humans, resulting in a major cultural change in the West. Converts to Christianity had to promise they would never be cremated. Graveyards were named coemeteria, Latin for where dead people "sleep;" from which we get the word "cemetery," a name now contradicted by cremation.

This book is a clarion call to Christians. Dr. Schmidt has amassed historical, biblical, theological, and practical evidences that the modern Christian church will only refuse to hear to its great loss, both now and at the judgment Seat of Christ where we each shall receive what is due to for things done "while in (might we add "to") the body" (2 Corinthians 5:10).

--Craig A. Parton, M.A., J.D. United States Director,

International Academy of Apologetics, Santa Barbara, California.

This powerful apologetic clearly establishes that cremation fails to find endorsement in the inspired Holy Scriptures. Dr. Schmidt's research will prove invaluable for those who might query the need for burial rather than cremation. Hopefully, this book will have a wide influence on Christian thought and practice.

--Donald Howard, Pastor Emeritus, Anglican Church, Diocese of Sydney,

NSW, Australia. Author of Burial or Cremation: Does It Matter?

I heartily recommend Dr. Schmidt's excellent book Cremation, Embalmment, or Neither?A Biblical/Christian Evaluation to clergy and faithful laypeople alike concerned with the increasing rates of cremation among Christians. This will be in keeping with the Apostle Paul's admonition: "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of the world" (Romans 12:2).

--Archpriest Victor S. Potapov, Rector,

Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Washington, DC.

This book provides an excellent opportunity for Christians to engage in deep theological thought regarding end of life decisions. Dr. Schmidt has thoroughly documented the historical roots for Christian burial. A must read for all Christians.

--Beth Hoeltke, Ph.D., Librarian, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO.

The root and ground of Christian ethics, the author says, is the reality of God as revealed in Jesus Christ. This reality is not manifest in the Church as distinct from the secular world; such a juxtaposition of two separate spheres, Bonhoeffer insists, is a denial of God's having reconciled the whole world to himself in Christ. On the contrary, God's commandment is to be found and known in the Church, the family, labor, and government. His commandment permits man to live as man before God, in a world God made, with responsibility for the institutions of that world.