American Vision Collection (17 vols.)

by Joel McDurmon; Kenneth L. Gentry Jr.; James M. Willson; James B. Jordan

and

5 more

Publishers:

American Vision; Covenant Media Press

, 1999–2011

Overview

The American Vision Collection brings you 17 volumes on biblical prophecy, apologetics, and the place of the Law in modern government. It also includes commentaries on Daniel, Luke, Romans, and Revelation. The aim of these volumes is to help Christians develop a biblical worldview that subjects every modern philosophy, trend, and thought to the authority of the Scriptures. 

The titles on biblical prophecy discuss common misconceptions in eschatology, end-times events, and interpreting Revelation and Daniel. Several works offer an introduction to presuppositional apologetics, while others present a presuppositional approach to combating atheism, Darwinism, the historicity of Jesus Christ, and other controversial subjects. Finally, top scholars in the field, such as Greg Bahnsen and Gary North, discuss the relationship between the Mosaic Law and modern government and its application for today. The American Vision Collection addresses the common misconceptions and misinterpretations of the Bible’s passages, prophecies, and parables, and the consequences that result from them. It is perfect if you are a pastor, student, or layperson seeking a deeper understanding of key biblical topics.

Key Features

• Analyzes popular misconceptions of biblical prophecy
• Provides a biblical perspective on contemporary issues
• Includes four commentaries
• Standard works on presuppositional apologetics

Product Details

• Title: American Vision Collection
• Publisher: American Vision
• Volumes: 17
• Pages: 5,109

Ten Popular Prophecy Myths Exposed: The Last Days Might Not Be as near as You Think

• Author: Gary DeMar
• Publisher: American Vision
• Publication Date: 2010
• Pages: 190

There is a seismic shift taking place in the study of Bible prophecy. For decades, popular prophecy writers have emphatically insisted that our generation is the terminal generation, the last generation before the rapture of the church. First, we were told that 1988 was the end date. Then it was the turn of the 2001 millennial clock. Next it was 2007. The end keeps getting pushed farther in the future.

As a result of many failed predictions, many Christians are beginning to take a second look at a prophetic system that they were told is the only one that takes the literal interpretation of the Bible seriously. Gary DeMar has taken on the task of exposing some of the popular myths foisted upon the public by prophetic speculators:

• The Myth of the Israel-Church Distinction
• The Myth that the Modern State of Israel is a Sign that the Rapture is Near
• The Myth that Only Dispensationalists Have a Future for Israel
• The Myth of the Postponed Abrahamic Covenant
• The Myth of Replacement Theology
• The Myth that Animal Sacrifices and Circumcision Are Everlasting Rites
• The Myth that the Temple Needs to be Rebuilt
• The Myth that the Gospel Has Yet to be Preached in the Whole World
• The Myth that Earthquakes are Signs of the End Times
• The Myth that Oil in Israel is a Prophetic Sign

Some of the material in 10 Popular Prophecy Myths Exposed & Answered will shock you, but it will make you a better student of the Bible.

Gary DeMar is President of American Vision, and has authored over twenty-seven titles including Last Days Madness: The Obsession of the Modern Church and Is Jesus Coming Soon?

Biblical Law: A Text of the Statues, Ordinances, and Judgments of the Bible

• Author: H. B. Clark
• Publisher: American Vision
• Publication Date: 2010
• Pages: 392

Written in the style of a law reference guide, Biblical Law is a layman's compendium of the Bible's applications to all manners of contemporary society. Now with a new introduction by Gary DeMar, Clark's classic exposé finds itself in a prime position to educate a whole new generation of Christians.

With topics ranging from war and taxation to contracts and loans, from marriage and hospitality to welfare and husbandry, Clark's expositions are as practical as they are scriptural.

Biblical Logic in Theory and Practice: Refuting the Fallacies of Humanism, Darwinism, Atheism, and Just Plain Stupidity

• Author: Joel McDurmon
• Publisher: American Vision
• Publication Date: 2011
• Pages:404

In the so-called marketplace of ideas, Christians face countless attacks on and challenges to their faith, many of which engage in subversive rhetoric and logic in order to undermine the whole counsel of God. Whether coming from skeptics, atheist, leftists, cults, or even other Christians, poor logic and dubious reasoning deserve exposure and correction. In his new book, Biblical Logic, Joel McDurmon returns to God's Word to recover logic and critical thinking from the hands of the enemy, and to expose the fallacies of unbelief and unbiblical ideas.

But is the Bible really the place to turn for logic? Is not logic the domain of scholars and philosophers?

Long ago, the British philosopher John Locke answered this common misconception: God has not been so sparing to men to make them barely two-legged creatures, and left it to Aristotle to make them rational. In other words, logic existed and people reasoned and used the critical faculties of their minds long before any philosopher came along to teach about it. God created logic and reasoning as He created man, and He created it for man, and therefore we should find it reasonable that God's Word has something to say—if not a lot to say—about logic, rationality, and good judgment.

Christ has made us priests and kings (Revelation 1:6). He has determined that His saints shall judge the world, and even judge angels (1 Corinthians 6:23), and He has thoroughly equipped us to perform these tasks. God's Word sets the standard of reasoning and law by which we shall judge, and the Bible teaches us this standard—a standard we must follow and to which we ourselves must give account. Biblical Logic returns to God's Word to find that standard, and to recover the God-given directives for faithful logic and critical thinking. By this standard, and by this example, God's saints (you) can indeed discern and judge the world as God has commanded.

Joel McDurmon is a staff writer and researcher at American Vision. A popular lecturer at conferences across the nation, Joel maintains a weekly column for the American Vision website and preaches regularly at Christ Church in Branch Cove, Alabama. His works focus on apologetics, theology, and history. Joel and his family reside in Dallas, Georgia.

By This Standard: The Authority of God's Law Today

• Author: Greg L. Bahnsen
• Publisher: American Vision
• Publication Date: 2008
• Pages: 265

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

God's Law is Christianity's tool of dominion. This is where any discussion of God's law ultimately arrives: the issue of dominion. Ask yourself: Who is to rule on earth, Christ or Satan? Whose followers have the ethically acceptable tool of dominion, Christ's or Satan's? What is this tool of dominion, the biblically revealed law of God, or the law of self-proclaimed autonomous man? Whose word is sovereign, God's or man's?

Millions of Christians, sadly, have not recognized the continuing authority of God's law or its many applications to modern society. They have thereby reaped the whirlwind of cultural and intellectual impotence. They implicitly denied the power of the death and resurrection of Christ. They have served as footstools for the enemies of God. But humanism's free ride is coming to an end. This book serves as an introduction to this woefully neglected topic.

Back in print after several years, this is the best layman's guide to the application of God's Law to our society available.

—Gary DeMar, President, American Vision

Dr. Greg L. Bahnsen (1948–1995) was once described as "the man atheists fear most." He was a distinguished scholar, author, and Christian apologist. He was an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, and the author of Theonomy in Christian Ethics, No Other Standard: Theonomy and Its Critics, and co-author with Kenneth Gentry of House Divided: The Breakup of Dispensational Theology.

Jesus v. Jerusalem: A Commentary on Luke 9:51–20:26, Jesus' Lawsuit Against Israel

• Author: Joel McDurmon
• Publisher: American Vision
• Publication Date: 2011
• Pages: 251

Most people don’t realize that many (if not most) of Jesus’ parables were intended not as general morality tales, but as particular pronouncements of coming judgment and change. Jesus was warning Jerusalem to repent and to accept its new King (Jesus) or else fall under ultimate condemnation of God.

In fact, much of Jesus’ teaching in the Gospels pertains primarily to that pre-AD 70 crowd, and without reading it in this light, we misunderstand it. And when we misunderstand it, we misapply it.

The section of Luke covered in this commentary requires this understanding. The parables Jesus tells during His final journey to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51–20:26, and beyond) almost all pertain to the rebellion, faithlessness, judgment, and coming destruction of Jerusalem, and the salvation of a tiny remnant of His elect people.

Joel McDurmon (MDiv, Reformed Episcopal Theological Seminary) is Director of Research for American Vision. He is the author of: Manifested in the Flesh: How the Historical Evidence of Jesus Refutes Modern Mystics and Skeptics, The Return of the Village Atheist, and Zeitgeist Refuted: Is Jesus an Astrological Myth? He also serves as a lecturer and regular contributor to the American Vision website, joining their staff in June of 2008.

Last Days Madness: Obsession of the Modern Church

• Author: Gary DeMar
• Publisher: American Vision
• Publication Date: 1999
• Pages: 443

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

The end is here . . . again. At every calendar milestone, self-proclaimed modern-day "prophets" arise to stir up a furor rivaled only by the impending apocalypse they predict. This doom-and-gloom prognostication is not only spread by a few fanatics, but millions of Christians, including some of the most recognized names in mainstream Christianity who are caught up in the latest "last days" frenzy.

Seduced by the popular craze, they are driven not to action, but to radical inactivity, ineffectiveness, and lethargy while waiting for the easy-out "end." In this authoritative book, Gary DeMar clears the haze of "end-times" fever, shedding light on the most difficult and studied prophetic passages in the Bible, including Daniel 7:13–14; 9:24–27; Matthew 16:27–28; 24–25; 2 Thessalonians 2; 2 Peter 3:3–13, and clearly explaining a host of other controversial topics, including:

• The Meaning of Near, Shortly, Quickly, and "This Generation"
• The Prophetic Discourse of Matthew 24
• The Rebuilt Temple
• The Abomination of Desolation
• The Man of Lawlessness
• The Meaning of 666
• The Return of Jesus
• The Cursed Fig Tree
• The Passing Away of Heaven and Earth
• The Antichrist and Armageddon
• The Rapture
• The Identity of "Mystery Babylon"
• And so much more!

In this book, DeMar tests your views and renews your zeal for the living truth. This is the most thoroughly documented and comprehensive study of Bible prophecy ever written! Last Days Madness will be your survival guide and spiritual compass to ensure you escape the paralysis of last days madness.

Gary DeMar is President of American Vision, and has authored over twenty-seven titles including Is Jesus Coming Soon?

Left Behind: Separating Fact from Fiction

• Author: Gary DeMar
• Publisher: American Vision
• Publication Date: 2009
• Pages: 224

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Will anyone actually be left behind? You might think so, if you've read Tim LaHaye's Left Behind series (written with Jerry Jenkins). You can be convinced that the Bible specifically teaches that in the end times Christians will be rescued from a terrible seven-year tribulation period while unbelievers will remain on earth to be subjected to countless horrors at the hands of the antichrist.

In Left Behind: Separating Fact From Fiction, Gary DeMar takes a critical look at the theology behind this popular fiction series and challenges readers to consider a different interpretation. With confidence based on years of biblical study, DeMar carefully examines eleven major components of the pre-tribulation rapture theology and offers clear, convincing alternatives to the interpretations of Bible prophecy presented in Left Behind.

What difference does it make what we believe about the end times anyway? DeMar addresses that question as well, showing how our point-of-view regarding end-times prophecies affects the way we live each day. In addition, DeMar answers skeptics who use failed end-times predictions to disprove the Bible. Giving us a different perspective on the end times, this approach to Bible could revolutionize the life of the church.

In Left Behind: Separating Fact From Fiction, Gary DeMar brilliantly skewers all the current pretentious prophecy claims, showing how they have no biblical support, and returns sanity to Christian hopes for the future.

—Paul L. Maier, Professor of Ancient History, Western Michigan University

Gary DeMar is President of American Vision, and has authored over twenty-seven titles including Last Days Madness: The Obsession of the Modern Church and Is Jesus Coming Soon?

Manifested in the Flesh: How the Historical Evidence of Jesus Refutes Modern Mystics and Skeptics

• Author: Joel McDurmon
• Publisher: American Vision
• Publication Date: 2007
• Pages: 213

In Manifested in the Flesh, author Joel McDurmon illustrates the uniqueness, richness, and importance of the Christian doctrine of the Incarnation of Christ. Drawing from Scripture, the Early Church Fathers, ancient history, and the most recent of New Testament scholarship, this timely and lively work presents the robust truth of Christ and exposes the lies of modern pagans, atheists, and New-Age attacks on the gospel.

Manifested in the Flesh brings diverse areas of New Testament scholarship into a readable and unified witness to the truth, and dismantles recent works of unbelief and skepticism with the force of credible and thorough scholarship. At once a viable apologetic, an intense Bible study, a survey of ancient history, and a review of vital theology, Manifested in the Flesh gives the reader an understanding of Christian truth. This volume is remarkable in both its breadth and depth of scholarship, and is written in a stimulating and refreshing style.

Learn about:

• The basis behind all attacks on the gospel
• The true nature of the pagan mystery religions
• The rise of the mystery religion threat in recent years
• The Early Church confrontation with and defeat of pagan religions
• The background to St. Paul's understanding of Christ
• The importance and implications of the incarnation of Christ
• And more!

By weaving apologetics, biblical study, historical study, and theology together, McDurmon has created a work of Christian worldview for pastor, teacher, parent, and student alike. No Christian seeking to understand the nature of our Lord and the great battles that both the early and modern Church have fought—and continue to fight—over the historical Jesus, can afford to skip this book.

Joel McDurmon is a staff writer and researcher at American Vision. A popular lecturer at conferences across the nation, Joel maintains a weekly column at American Vision and preaches regularly at Christ Church in Branch Cove, Alabama. His works focus on apologetics, theology, and history. Joel and his family reside in Dallas, Georgia.

Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths: How Misreading the Bible Neutralizes Christians and Empowers Liberals, Secularists, and Atheists

• Author: Gary DeMar
• Publisher: American Vision
• Publication Date: 2010
• Pages: 372

Myths, Lies and Half-Truths adopts Jesus’ methodology of taking a closer look at God’s Word and applies it to erroneous misinterpretations that have resulted in a virtual shut-down of the church’s full-orbed mission in the world (Acts 20:27). These traditional but mistaken interpretations and applications of popular Bible texts to contemporary issues have resulted in the Christian faith being “thrown out and trampled under foot by men” (Matthew 5:13).

Too many Christians believe that the Bible is irrelevant this side of heaven. While the homosexual community—which makes up about one percent of our population—exercises tremendous impact on our culture and laws, Christians—who make up about thirty-five percent of the population—have voluntarily abandoned the culture war, electing to hide the gospel under a bushel instead.

Our nation is in a crisis. The world is crying out for answers in the face of bewildering and seemingly unsolvable problems. Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths shows that the Bible has real answers to these problems—answers that the church is currently ignoring.

Christianity's failure to show itself practical in the past 150 years has guaranteed the success of secularism and militant Islam, both of which are doing incalculable harm at home and abroad. The rejection of any type of "this-worldly" application of the Bible has resulted in the proliferation of man-centered worldviews that have steadily drained the life out of our world and left behind a spiritual vacuum.

Will the church of Jesus Christ be prepared with biblical answers for the millions who will be ready to follow the light of the gospel as the folly of humanism and Islam is made manifest? (2 Timothy 3:9). Now is the time to make the necessary theological preparations.

Gary DeMar is President of American Vision, and has authored over twenty-seven titles including Last Days Madness: The Obsession of the Modern Church and Is Jesus Coming Soon?

Presuppositional Apologetics: Stated and Defended

• Author: Greg L. Bahnsen
• Publisher: American Vision
• Publication Date: 2008
• Pages: 314

What once was lost is now found! Years before his untimely death, Dr. Greg L. Bahnsen, "the man atheists fear most,” wrote a systematic treatise and defense of Cornelius Van Til's revolutionary apologetics, and it was destined to become his finest work. Amid the complications from his passing, however, the only copy was lost, and the book was never published.

Now, the last great work of this giant of Christian philosophy is back! Bahnsen’s magnum opus lays out the biblical presuppositional method, provides rigorous biblical proof, and defends the uniqueness of the method.

This is the work we all longed for Bahnsen to write, yet never knew that he already had written! Rescued from the dustbin of history, this monument of apologetics will provide must-reading for Christian defenders of the faith for generations to come. If there were only one resource for the exposition and defense of the Reformed presuppositional apologetic, this would be it; by far, it's the clearest expression by one of the sharpest Christian thinkers of the twentieth century.

Both the beginner and seasoned reader will benefit from Bahnsen's lucid presentation.

—Dr. Lane Tipton, Westminster Theological Seminary

I commend this book to all who seek to think God's thoughts after him.

—Dr. John M. Frame, J. D. Trimble Chair of Systematic Theology and Philosophy, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, FL

Dr. Greg L. Bahnsen (1948–1995) was once described as "the man atheists fear most." He was a distinguished scholar, author, and Christian apologist. He was an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the author of Theonomy in Christian Ethics, No Other Standard: Theonomy and Its Critics, and co-author with Kenneth Gentry of House Divided: The Breakup of Dispensational Theology.

Pushing the Antithesis: The Apologetic Methodology of Greg L. Bahnsen

• Editor: Gary DeMar
• Publisher: American Vision
• Publication Date: 2007
• Pages: 270

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Dr. Greg L. Bahnsen believed that to deal with the academics of the day and their arguments against the Christian faith, it is necessary to do battle with them at the highest levels of scholarship—using their intellectual tools against them. He could quickly analyze and give direct and compelling answers to all their objections. Prior to his untimely death in 1995, Dr. Bahnsen delivered a series of lectures on apologetics at American Vision's Life Preparation Conference. These lectures are rare in that they are some of the only video presentations of Dr. Bahnsen's teachings.

The week-long sessions, presented before high school and college students, set forth the basics of the Christian worldview and the biblical approach to defending the faith. These lessons have been distilled and turned into a one-of-a kind handbook on apologetics. Pushing the Antithesis consists of twelve chapters that include study questions, an answer key, a glossary of terms, and a comprehensive bibliography. If you want to be equipped to present the truth of the gospel in a compelling way, then Pushing the Antithesis is required reading.

Gary DeMar is President of American Vision, and has authored over twenty-seven titles including Last Days Madness: The Obsession of the Modern Church and Is Jesus Coming Soon?

The Book of Revelation Made Easy: You Can Understand Bible Prophecy

• Author: Kenneth L. Gentry
• Publisher: American Vision
• Publication Date: 2008
• Pages: 157

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

With twenty-two chapters of symbolism, mysterious characters, and apocalyptic drama—all told in “picture language” unmatched in the rest of Scripture­—the book of Revelation is difficult enough on its own. But in ignoring the Apostle John’s clear directives for interpreting his prophecies, contemporary theologians have wrested Revelation away from its first-century context and perverted its significance for the church—then and now­—often turning the book into a stumbling block.

Kenneth Gentry’s The Book of Revelation Made Easy seeks to pry John’s narrative of the victory of Christ’s bride out of the grip of speculative futurists, and put it back in the hands of everyday Christians. Revelation is the most Hebraic of all the New Testament books, and no student of the Word can afford to miss its clear connections with the figures, language, and imagery of Old Testament literature in bringing the story of God’s covenant to a close. Relying heavily on Old Testament prophecy and first-century history, Gentry provides his reader with the essential keys for unlocking the text—the guideposts necessary for following its winding paths and discerning its key figures and their roles—and without indulging in tedious detail.

The Book of Revelation Made Easy—is a short, lively, and topical study that will help you understand Bible prophecy better.

Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr. received an MDiv from Reformed Theological Seminary and a ThD from Whitfield Theological Seminary, and has authored several books on prophecy including Before Jerusalem Fell: Dating the Book of Revelation and The Beast of Revelation. Ken is a widely respected lecturer, author, and scholar. He is married, has three children and two grandchildren.

The Covenantal Tithe

• Author: Gary North
• Publisher: American Vision
• Publication Date: 2011
• Pages: 159

Are you cheating God? If you are a typical Christian, the answer is yes. Is God going to withhold blessings from you because of this? Probably. God requires his people to turn over ten percent of their income to their local congregation. The money is not to go from the donor to other charities—only to the local congregation. This is not taught by the church today. It has not been the official position of any denomination, and has not been adhered to in church history. Why not? Because churches do not want to conform to the explicit requirements of biblical law. Theologians and pastors would rather see the churches beg for money than honor the God who does not beg for anything.

Theologians and pastors say that (1) the Old Testament's laws of the tithe no longer apply, and (2) nothing has replaced them. The first statement is true; the second is not. Christians are therefore said to be authorized by God to "give as the Holy Spirit leads." There are two great evils that result from this view. First, church members give too little, thereby forcing the churches either to beg or cut programs. Second, this open-ended standard creates guilt in dedicated Christians, because they never know when they have given enough to meet their obligations.

The Covenantal Tithe presents the case for the Christian tithe in Chapter ten. The previous nine chapters are detailed discussions of the pre-Christian doctrine of the tithe: who, what, when, and where.

Gary North (PhD, University of California) is the author of over forty books on economics, theology, history, and education. His articles have appeared in National Review, American Spectator, The Wall Street Journal, and The Westminster Theological Journal. Gary continues to speak and write prolifically.

The Early Church and the End of the World

• Author: Gary DeMar and Francis X. Gumerlock
• Publisher: American Vision
• Publication Date: 2006
• Pages: 180

The claim has been made by a number of prophecy writers that the early church was predominately premillennial on millennial issues and exclusively futuristic on almost everything else. This means that early Christian writers who commented on prophetic passages like the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21) believed and wrote that the biblical authors were always referring to events in the distant future just before the return of Christ.

While these claims have been made with certainty, there has always been a lack of clear historical documentation to back them up. Sometimes the historical record has been stretched and exaggerated to fit an already developed theory. But since the futurist perspective has been promoted as an early church reality by so many for so long, few people today actually question it. The Early Church and the End of the World is the first book to question the prevailing futurist view by a careful study of the historical record.

The Early Church and the End of the World asks this fundamental question: What did the earliest of the early Christian writers actually believe about prophetic events? We can only answer this question by actually studying what they wrote. Unfortunately, we do not have a complete record of the period. To make our historical investigation even more difficult, there are translation issues. Many of the works of those who wrote soon after the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 and beyond remain untranslated.

This book seeks to remedy some of these problems. Thomas Ice, in his chapter on the history of preterism in The End Times Controversy, makes some bold historical claims that cannot be supported when the historical record is actually analyzed. The early church was not monolithic in its views of Bible prophecy. There was no unanimous acceptance of either premillennialism or a distant futurism.

The Early Church and the End of the World will show that some of the earliest writers, most likely writing before the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, were referring to the judgment coming of Jesus, an event that the gospel writers tell us was to take place before that first-century generation passed away (Matthew 24:34). Adding to the confirmation of this view are the writings of the church's first historian, Eusebius Pampilus of Caesarea, whose Ecclesiastical History is a window on the first few centuries of the church.

In addition, Francis Gumerlock has undertaken the task of translating a number of ancient and medieval commentators who have written on Matthew 24. He shows that many early and medieval writers believed that these prophecies had already been fulfilled before the end of Jerusalem, that is, before its destruction by the Romans in AD 70.

Gary DeMar is President of American Vision, and has authored over twenty-seven titles including Last Days Madness: The Obsession of the Modern Church and Is Jesus Coming Soon?

Francis X. Gumerlock teaches history and Latin and is the author of The Day and the Hour: Christianity's Perennial Fascination with Predicting the End of the World.

The Establishment and Limits of Civil Government: An Exposition of Romans 13:1–7

• Author: James M. Willson
• Publisher: American Vision
• Publication Date: 2009
• Pages: 180

It seems that almost on a daily basis we are losing our God-given rights. Some even make the case that there is a direct assault on the Christian religion because it is the only belief system that is greater than government and puts limits on governments. Relegating God to a distant corner of the universe empowers and emboldens governments to do what they will.

The Bible tells us that civil rulers are ministers of God. The Greek word translated ministers is the same word used to describe ministers in a church. There are civil ministers and church ministers. Both serve as God's ministers within their jurisdictions. It is unbiblical to assume that civil rulers are autonomous, that they can legitimately rule independent of God's limiting authority of them. It is a serious mistake to take Paul's instructions in Romans 13 and claim that civil rulers cannot be challenged by the citizenry.

Civil authorities are to rule in terms of good and evil. Those who rule are bound by the same laws as the rest of us. To obey Romans 13 is to call our civil officials to uphold their oath of office, an oath that nearly all of them took by repeating the words "So help me God!" James Willson's study of Romans 13 is needed more than ever. What's most helpful about it is that it was written in a time that is not muddied by the politics of our day. There are no current or recently passed politicians named. He sticks to principles based on the Bible. If we are to save our Republic, then we are bound to heed his instruction and warnings.

Civil government continues to increase in authority, power, and scope. Too many Christians are under the false impression that they are obligated to endure the legislative acts handed down by government officials no matter how evil they may be. This is a simplistic and dangerous reading of Paul's instructions in Romans 13. Elected officials are as equally bound to distinguish between good and evil in the area of civil government as are unelected citizens. Being a ruler offers no exemption. James Willson's exposition of Romans 13 is a much needed antidote to both the advocacy of passivity and rebellion that some are inclined to take.

—Gary DeMar, President, American Vision

James M. Willson was born near Elizabeth, Allegheney County, Pennsylvania on November 17, 1809. He graduated from Union College in 1829. He studied theology under the direction of this father, James R. Willson, and was licensed by the Presbytery, June 5, 1834. He was ordained by the same Presbytery, and became Pastor of the First Congregation of Philadelphia, November 27, 1834. He was elected Professor of Theology in the Allegheny Seminary, May 31, 1859. He authored numerous pamphlets and books, including Bible Magistracy: or Christ's Dominion over the Nations: With an Examination of the Civil Institutions of the United States and An Essay on Submission to the Powers That Be. James M. Willson died at his residence in Allegheny, August 31, 1866.

The Handwriting on the Wall: A Commentary on the Book of Daniel

• Author: James B. Jordan
• Publisher: American Vision
• Publication Date: 2007
• Pages: 723

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Daniel is a book in two parts. The first is a seventy-year history of the life and work of the prophet Daniel while he lived in Babylon (the first phase of God’s New Empire). The second part is a 70x7-year prophecy of the life of Daniel’s people while they lived in God’s New Empire after Babylon.

The Handwriting on the Wall includes twenty-four chapters and eleven appendixes, explaining the historical context of Daniel’s life and prophecies, what those prophecies meant to the first generation who heard them, and what they continue to mean. This commentary emphasizes that Daniel spoke and wrote for those of his own day—first for those still living in Jerusalem who were supposed to submit to God’s New Empire, and then to those living in exile and looking to the future.

Unlike “liberal” commentaries, The Handwriting on the Wall takes seriously the claim that Daniel and his contemporaries put this book together. In this respect, this commentary stands within the mainstream of all Jewish and Christian commentaries. But unlike most “conservative” commentaries, the author, James B. Jordan, refuses to jump the prophecies off until the end of time, but takes seriously what they meant for those who heard them. Like any scholarly commentary, however, The Handwriting on the Wall is based on careful treatment of the grammar of the Hebrew and Aramaic text, and reflects a thoroughgoing familiarity with scholarly treatments of Daniel, “liberal” and “conservative,” up to the present day.

The Handwriting on the Wall is written in a reader-friendly style, designed for layman, pastor, and scholar alike. Jordan successfully takes the reader both into the amazing stylistic features of the text and into the amazing adventures of the protagonists.

The Handwriting on the Wall takes a Covenant Historical Approach to interpreting the imagery of God's prophecies revealed to Daniel. The prophecies of Daniel deal with the events in the Covenantal Era that were dawning in Daniel's lifetime: the Restoration Era after the exile, and the return of God's people back to the land, city, and temple. There are no "historical parentheses" or "gaps", no leaps of thousands of years into the future. The book of Daniel is not concerned about predicting the course of European church history after the Apostolic Age and into our time. This book is not only a commentary on Daniel, but an education in how to read and study the texts of the word of God.

James B. Jordan is the founder and director of Biblical Horizons, a Christian research and publishing institute located in Niceville, Florida. Since 2000, Jordan has been Head of the Department of Biblical Studies at Biblical Theological Seminary, St. Petersburg, Russia, where he teaches Old Testament and eschatology.

Unconditional Surrender: God's Program for Victory

• Author: Gary North
• Publisher: American Vision
• Publication Date: 2010
• Pages: 372

Everyone knows Christianity is a religion; but what difference does it make in a society? Is Christianity just a religion for private time, or is it a way of life that shapes one's understanding of the world——even able to transform a nation?

Does the Bible teach anything specific about how to raise a family, run a country, or manage an economy? Moreover, if the Bible does have something to say, do we have to observe those commands, or are they mere suggestions or general principles?

Despite widespread ignorance of the Bible's teachings—both inside and outside of the church—the Bible has plenty to say about social, civil, and political affairs. And when men and women apply these teachings to their lives and the world around them, the world will change for the better.

A primer in the Christian faith, Unconditional Surrender provides readers curious about the Bible with the blueprint of a biblical worldview. Using the Bible's basic teachings about God, man, law, judgment, and time—and illustrating how these beliefs affect society at large—Gary North wades in at the heart of the battle in today's culture war, and shows that the Bible has the answers modern science and socialism lack.

Gary North (PhD, University of California, Riverside) is the author of over forty books on economics, theology, history, and education. His articles have appeared in National Review, American Spectator, The Wall Street Journal, and The Westminster Theological Journal. Gary continues to speak and write prolifically.