Christian Essentials
The Christian Essentials series passes down tradition that matters. The ancient church was founded on basic biblical teachings and practices like the Ten Commandments, baptism, the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Supper, the Lord’s Prayer, and corporate worship. These basics of the Christian life have sustained and nurtured every generation of the faithful—from the apostles to today. The books in the Christian Essentials series open up the meaning of the foundations of our faith.
Baptism
A Guide to Life from Death
You’ve been baptized. But do you understand what it means? All Christians use water to baptize. But the sacrament that is meant to unite us is often a spring of division instead. Peter Leithart reunifies a church divided by baptism. He recovers the baptismal imagination of the Bible, explaining how baptism works according to Scripture. Then, in conversation with Christian tradition, he shows why baptism is something worth recovering and worth agreeing on.
Learn more“A book of liturgical wisdom for all of God’s people—wherever their place may be in the Lord’s family.”
“This book is an incredible gift to us all, and will greatly enhance the ongoing conversation about our one Lord, one faith, one baptism (Eph 4:5).”
The Ten Commandments
A Guide to the Perfect Law of Liberty
You know them. But do you understand them? The Ten Commandments have become so familiar to us that we don’t think about what they actually mean. They’ve been used by Christians throughout history as the basis for worship, confessions, prayer, even civil law. Are these ancient words still relevant for us today? Peter Leithart re-introduces the Ten Commandments. He shows us how they address every arena of human life, giving us a portrait of life under the lordship of Jesus, who is the heart and soul of the commandments.
Learn more“This little gem of a book is the best introduction to the Ten Commandments I have yet come across. I learned something new on almost every page.”
“Peter Leithart mines the riches of the biblical tradition to show us the way to true freedom.”
The Lord’s Prayer
A Guide to Praying to Our Father
You pray it. But do you understand it? The Lord’s Prayer has become so familiar to us that we don’t think about what we’re praying. It’s a portrait of Jesus’ heart. And in it Christians from different times, places, and traditions have been united. We pray it, but do we actually believe it? Wesley Hill re-introduces the Lord’s Prayer. He shows us a God who is delighted to hear prayer. Petition by petition, in conversation with the Christian tradition, he draws out the significance of Jesus’ words for prayer today.
Learn more“In this treasure of a book, Hill opens up the prayer with great freshness for the ordinary reader, so that we seem to hear Jesus himself speaking to us, showing us how to pray to his Father in the same spirit that he himself does. This little volume will enrich a reader’s life immeasurably.”
“This book is a sharing in the Lord’s own life of prayer that is also a sharing in his disciple Wesley Hill’s life of prayer. Once you have prayed Christ's prayer with Wesley Hill, you will want to do it again and again.”
The Apostles’ Creed
A Guide to the Ancient Catechism
You recite it. But do you understand it? The Apostles’ Creed has united Christians from different times, places, and traditions. It proclaims eternal truths for life today. We believe them, we recite them, but do we build our lives on them? Ben Myers re-introduces that creed. He shows us what about the Christian faith is so counter-cultural, and what truths embedded in the Apostles’ Creed we’ve come to assume, when really they should amaze us and earn our allegiance unto death.
Learn more“Myers shows as much as he tells, introducing us to the audacious wisdom of ancient voices whose insights prove timely and perennial. This is the catechesis we need for a secular age, overcoming the forgetting we parade as enlightenment.”
“Myers is alive to both the richness of Christian tradition and the needs of the hour. This is popular theology in the best sense of that term, making accessible the great truths of the Christian faith.”