A study of the lives and theology of evangelical Anabaptists encourages a reader to dig deeper into the Bible, count the cost of discipleship to Jesus Christ, and commit oneself to engaging the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The theological commitment of Anabaptists like Balthasar Hubmaier to the supremacy of the Word of God encourages us to live by the motto that "the truth is unkillable." The example of Leonhard Schiemer, who understood that following Jesus meant taking up the cross of Jesus Christ, prepares one for the joyous difficulty of a life of discipleship. The loving attitude, missionary fervor, and desire for communal integrity of leaders like Hans Denck and Michael Sattler draws us into a stronger commitment to share the gospel from an authentically Christian heart and life.

Finally, such great contemporary leaders as Paige Patterson and Rick Warren have drawn upon the legacy of the evangelical Anabaptists to build great churches and seminaries. Their thoughts and stories are included here to encourage the recovery of the Anabaptist vision among Baptists and other free churches today.

These papers also serve as a Festschrift honoring the lifelong work of Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, in the study of the Radical Reformation. Indeed, he has inspired the recovery of the Anabaptist vision as a means of restoring New Testament Christianity.

This volume in the popular For Today series, written by the highly respected theologian and author Justo González, explains the familiar Apostles' Creed in easy, accessible language. González explores not only what the Creed meant in the early centuries but also its ongoing importance and relevance for Christian faith and practice today.

The For Today series was designed to provide reliable and accessible resources for the study and real life application of important biblical texts, theological documents, and Christian practices. The emphasis of the series is not only on the realization and appreciation of what these subjects have meant in the past, but also on their value in the present--"for today." Thought-provoking questions are included at the end of each chapter, making the books ideal for personal study and group use.

Schreiner argues that Europe in the sixteenth century was preoccupied with concerns similar to ours; both the desire for certainty -- especially religious certainty -- and warnings against certainty permeated the earlier era. Digging beneath overt theological and philosophical problems, she tackles the underlying fears of the period as she addresses questions of salvation, authority, the rise of skepticism, the outbreak of religious violence, the discernment of spirits, and the ambiguous relationship between appearance and reality.

In her examination of the history of theological polemics and debates (as well as other genres), Schreiner sheds light on the repeated evaluation of certainty and the recurring fear of deception. Among the texts she draws on are Montaigne's Essays, the mystical writings of Teresa of Avila, the works of Reformation fathers William of Occam, Luther, Thomas Muntzer, and Thomas More; and the dramas of Shakespeare. The result is not a book about theology, but rather about the way in which the concern with certitude determined the theology, polemics and literature of an age.