Paul L. Maier

Next to Josephus, Eusebius is the most widely-consulted reference work on the early church. Much of our knowledge of the first three centuries of Christianity--the terrible persecutions, the courageous martyrs, and the theological controversies--come from the writings of this first century historian. The hardcover edition of this new translation includes more than 150 color photographs, maps, and charts.

Vivid style and keen insights make this book a delight and a genuine educational experience.--Moody Magazine In this richly illustrated volume--formerly titled In the Fullness of Time--Paul Maier visits the origins of Christianity, taking the reader back to the first Christmas, the first Easter, and the first Christians. His impressive research and brilliant insights correlate history, archaeology, and the New Testament to bring alive the true drama of earliest Christianity. This skillful narrative sheds a brilliant new light on the life of Jesus and the adventures of the courageous men and women who carried His message throughout a hostile empire. A host of magnificent color and black-and-white photographs recreate the world, the mood, the people, and the events with an immediacy that sweeps readers into the exciting first years of Christianity. The author is at home in the vast literature of his subject.--The New York Times Book Review For the supremely pivotal event of the Resurrections, Paul Maier's book lends fresh and scholarly support.--Billy Graham Fascinating. . . . Brings a new perspective to a story we have known all our lives.--Redbook Fact-filled, interesting, and successful . . . splendid research. This is a beautiful book.--Christian Century

Vivid style and keen insights make this book a delight and a genuine educational experience.--Moody Magazine In this richly illustrated volume--formerly titled In the Fullness of Time--Paul Maier visits the origins of Christianity, taking the reader back to the first Christmas, the first Easter, and the first Christians. His impressive research and brilliant insights correlate history, archaeology, and the New Testament to bring alive the true drama of earliest Christianity. This skillful narrative sheds a brilliant new light on the life of Jesus and the adventures of the courageous men and women who carried His message throughout a hostile empire. A host of magnificent color and black-and-white photographs recreate the world, the mood, the people, and the events with an immediacy that sweeps readers into the exciting first years of Christianity. The author is at home in the vast literature of his subject.--The New York Times Book Review For the supremely pivotal event of the Resurrections, Paul Maier's book lends fresh and scholarly support.--Billy Graham Fascinating. . . . Brings a new perspective to a story we have known all our lives.--Redbook Fact-filled, interesting, and successful . . . splendid research. This is a beautiful book.--Christian Century

Will the real Martin Luther please stand up? After five hundred years of examining the life of the "father of the Reformation," we must surely know all there is to know about Martin Luther. But is that true? Did he really nail his Ninety-Five Theses to the church door? Did he throw an inkpot at the devil? Did he plant an apple tree? Did his wife escape her convent in a herring barrel? German radio and television journalist Andreas Malessa looks at the actual history of Luther and concludes that many of the tales we know best are nothing but nonsense. Diving gleefully into the research, Malessa investigates many of the falsehoods and fallacies surrounding the reformer, rejecting them in favor of equally incredible facts. Full of humor and irony, this book educates and entertains while demonstrating a profound respect for Luther's life and mission. If you're looking for the truth of the man behind the theses, come discover his faith and influence--with the myths stripped away.

An updated and modernized edition of the unparalleled classic with resurgent relevance for the twenty-first century Foxe's Book of Martyrs is one of the most influential and well-known books in history, as well as one of the top-sellers of the past, right up there with the Bible itself. Immensely popular in Foxe's own sixteenth century, its influence has been felt throughout literature. Copies of the original text (Acts and Monuments) were chained beside the Bible in churches of England, and even sailed with English pirates. This was not a book designed to comfort, but instead to present the truth of the persecution faced by Protestant Christians in hostile environments. The inscription from the 1563 edition--now commonly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs--indicates the gravity of the task: "[In] latter and perilous days . . . the great persecutions and horrible troubles . . . [are here] gathered and collected according to true copies and writings . . . of the parties themselves that suffered." Foxe was committed to commemorating the ultimate sacrifice of those who gave their lives for the sake of their faith. Paul L. Maier brings his exceptional mind for history to bear on Foxe's work in this new edition. While abridgement of the original 2,100 pages was necessary, Maier does include every martyr, and text was changed only where modern readers may not readily understand the original archaic wording. John Foxe (1516-1587) was an academic and zealous student of the Scriptures, leading to his persecution as a Protestant by the Catholic rulers of his day. Beyond his work in pastoral ministry, Foxe continued to work on his martyrology until his death.

In a world full of DVD extras, behind-the-scenes commentary, and social media, people are used to getting the story behind the story. Readers want to understand not just what happened but why. Historian and author Paul L. Maier has created a compelling style of documentary fiction with a view to answering these questions. He uses what is historically known of Pilate's life and rise to power, adds in the known political climate of first-century Judea, and unveils the colourful, untold story that changed history for all time. He provides intriguing answers to questions such as: What really happened at that most famous of trials? Were the proceedings against Jesus legal? Did cowardice or necessity motivate Pilate's judgment? What became of this successful Roman politician after his verdict?

Historian and author Paul L. Maier has created a compelling style of documentary fiction, using only known historical events and persons to bring to life first-century Rome in all its excess, treachery, and insanity as it was seen by the apostle Paul visits, where he's placed on trial, and which is forever changed by his testimony and witness. Maier takes readers into the courtroom of imperial justice and into the homes of the people struggling with the new faith they've encountered to answers questions such as: How did Christianity first reach Rome? Why did Paul have to wait two years for trial and was he condemned or set free? Why does the New Testament account in Acts end so abruptly? Why did Nero persecute Christians so horribly?

The events surrounding the birth of Jesus are told with remarkable simplicity in the Bible, but they have too often been obscured by myths, mistletoe, and consumerism. Now in paperback, The First Christmas separates fact from fiction, stripping away Yuletide folklore and questionable traditions to tell how it really was in the world of the Nativity. Delving into Jewish, Greek, Roman, and early Christian sources, Paul L. Maier uncovers fresh and fascinating insights into the true, yet unfamiliar, story of the first Christmas. A captivating combination of sacred and secular history, this informative and entertaining book answers many compelling questions, such as: Why did the Roman emperor Augustus order his famous census? What marriage customs applied to Mary and Joseph? When and where was Jesus born? Who were the Wise Men? What was the Star of Bethlehem? This beautifully illustrated gift book by a best-selling author and church history expert offers a glimpse at the real, historical drama of Christmas.

When an ancient skeleton is discovered in Israel, will it shed new light on the life of Jesus or plunge the world into chaos? Dr. Jonathan Weber, Harvard professor and biblical scholar, is looking forward to his sabbatical year on an archaeological dig in Israel. But a spectacular find that seems to be an archaeologist’s dream-come-true becomes a nightmare that many fear will be the death rattle of Christianity. Carefully researched and compellingly written, A Skeleton in God’s Closet explores the tension between faith and doubt when science and religion collide. In the end, it’s a thought-provoking page-turner, driven by one man’s determination to find the truth—no matter the cost.

A man claiming to be Jesus is in Rome. Is it the beginning of the end? Joshua Ben-Yosef attracts a huge following. He was born in Nazareth to parents name Mary and Joseph and speaks more than a dozen languages—fluently and without accent. His words ripple with wisdom and authority. And the crowds that follow him are enthralled as he heals the sick, gives sight to the blind, casts out demons, and even raises the dead. Is Dr. Merton, the well-known leader and author of end-times books, correct about the return of Christ? It seems everyone is a believer in this “Messiah”—including Jonathan Weber’s wife, Shannon—especially when Joshua performs the ultimate sign by raising a disciple from the dead. Plagued by skepticism, Jonathan faces the ultimate challenge in uncovering whether this is the actual return of Christ of the most devious betrayal ever carried out.

The epistle of James is often poorly understood. Beyond questions of authorship and dating, its contents are troubling. Its powerful accusations of sin seem to overshadow the Gospel. For this reason Luther called it an epistle of straw and questioned whether it should be in the Bible at all. Author David Scaer thinks differently, and he shares his insights with us in 'James, the Apostle of Faith'. As the title indicates, faith in Christ and the comforting Gospel are prominent in many places throughout this epistle. Far from being a dreary series of moralisms, James is filled with references to the atonement, faith, and forgiveness - the sublime Gospel themes of the New Testament. Particularly revealing are many parallels between the Epistle of James and the Gospel of Matthew, especially the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus' agricultural parables. In this study of James, Dr. Scaer makes exciting discoveries, some of which will surprise you. You may not agree with everything he says, but your thinking will certainly be stimulated. Dr. Paul Maier, Professor of Ancient History at Western Michigan University and author of several best-selling studies of the New Testament, provides a most interesting and informative Foreword, giving valuable historical background about James, the brother of our Lord, and the times in which he lived.

The Protestant Reformation was hardly a unified protest against the doctrines and practices of the Medieval church. Aside from the mainstream Lutheran, Anglican, and Reformed divisions, a variety of eddies and side currents also flowed through reform in the sixteenth century. There were Anabaptists, of course, as well as Spiritualists, Mystics, Pantheists, Anti-Trinitarians, and others in the so-called Radical Reformation. One of the most intriguing of these smaller, too-marginalized movements were the Schwenkfelders, named for the Silesian lay theologian, Casper Schwenckfeld von Ossig (1489-1561). An irenic voice in the raucous controversies of the sixteenth century, Schwenckfeld pioneered a Reformation of the Middle Way that sought to avoid the extremes of the day. He started as an admirer of Luther, but developed a more spiritual interpretation of Christ's presence in the Sacrament. Venturing further along this vector, he emphasized the spiritual dimension in all ecclesiastical externals, including preaching, the ministry, baptism, and church. Themes involving Christology and Soteriology, however, fill all 19 volumes of the Schwenckfeld's writings - the 'Corpus Schwenckfeldianorum - and form the very center of Schwenckfeldian theology, still espoused by the Schwenkfelders of eastern Pennsylvania. In brilliant fashion, this study illumines that core.

Ten-year-old Christopher yearns for stories that are real; truth, not fiction. So Mom and Dad tell Christopher the story of the very first Easter, and the sorrow and joy of Jesus' trial, death, and resurrection. Illustrations.

Next to Josephus, Eusebius is the most widely-consulted reference work on the early church. Much of our knowledge of the first three centuries of Christianity--the terrible persecutions, the courageous martyrs, and the theological controversies--come from the writings of this first century historian. This sparkling new translation includes more than 150 color photographs, maps, and charts.

No source, other than the Bible itself, provides more relevant information on the first century than the work of Flavius Josephus. This newly edited version updates the original 18th century language; includes commentary by the award winning author and historian, Dr. Paul L. Maier; features over forty photos of ancient sites and artifacts mentioned by Josephus; cross references numbers throughout to the Greek text of Josephus in the Loeb Classical Library; and offers revised indexes of subjects and Old Testament texts.

This is an updated, full-color edition of Josephus: The Essential Writings. The Jewish Antiquities and The Jewish War of Josephus take on a brilliant new dimension in this revised edition of the award-winning translation and condensation now with full-color photographs, charts, and maps.