Crimes Of A Christian

Focusing on the 4th and 5th centuries, Michael Gaddis explores how various groups employed the language of religious violence to construct their own identities, to undermine the legitimacy of their rivals, & to advance themselves in the competitive & high stakes process of Christianizing the Roman Empire.

As an ordinary working man with a family in the suburbs life was simple for Kent Dickinson. But all that changed when a major international corporation threatened to destroy the union he worked for. He joined The Cause - the crusade to save his union and the careers of its 400 members. It was supposed to be a noble cause; fighting for his livelihood and his union against the major global company trying to destroy both. But in Chicago, nothing is as it seems. The union had mob ties going back to Al Capone and it fought Sony of Japan accordingly. His willing participation earned him a powerful position in the Chicago Mob-dominated union. This made him a target of an FBI task force commissioned to bring down the notorious union. After seven years of living in the dark, Kent asked God to deliver him from evil. That prayer began an odyssey through years of trials and prison that revealed life's true joy and its ultimate cause.

This collection, by leading legal scholars, judges and practitioners, together with theologians and church historians, presents historical, theological, philosophical and legal perspectives on Christianity and criminal law. Following a Preface by Lord Judge, formerly Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, and an introductory chapter, the book is divided into four thematic sections. Part I addresses the historical contributions of Christianity to criminal law drawing on biblical sources, early church fathers and canonists, as far as the Enlightenment. Part II, titled Christianity and the principles of criminal law, compares crime and sin, examines concepts of mens rea and intention, and considers the virtue of due process within criminal justice. Part III looks at Christianity and criminal offences, considering their Christian origins and continuing relevance for several basic crimes that every legal system prohibits. Finally, in Part IV, the authors consider Christianity and the enforcement of criminal law, looking at defences, punishment and forgiveness. The book will be an invaluable resource for students and academics working in the areas of Law and Religion, Legal Philosophy and Theology.

In this trenchant examination of Christianity’s dark side, a criminologist argues persuasively that high rates of violent crime in the United States can be correlated with Christian conservative attitudes, especially in regard to social mores and politics. Of particular concern is “Christian nationalism.” Supporters of this movement argue that America was founded as a Christian nation and they work to install their fundamentalist brand of Christianity as the dominant factor in American political and social life. Far from being a fanatic outlier sect, this group is shown to have significant cultural influence, especially in the American South. Not coincidentally, the author suggests, the South also has the highest homicide rates. Noting the violent biblical passages often cited by religious conservatives, their sense of righteousness, their dogmatic mindset that tolerates no dissent, and their support for harshly punitive measures toward “sinners,” Peterson Sparks shows that their worldview is the ideal seedbed for violence. Not only does this mindset make violent reactions in interpersonal conflicts more likely, the author says, but it exacerbates the problems of the criminal justice system by advocating policies that create high incarceration rates. The author also devotes particular attention to the victimization of women, children, and LGBT people, which follows from this rigid belief system. While not resorting to a blanket condemnation of Christianity or religion as a whole, Peterson Sparks issues a wake-up call regarding conservative Christianity’s toxic mixture of fundamentalism, authoritarian politics, patriotism, and retributory justice.

This book having been years in the making is a remarkable testimony of God's Amazing grace and saving power! A one hundred percent true account of a transition out a backslidden state of a gun-toting life of crime and addiction, to a "fiery love affair" with Jesus and a strong commitment to advancing His Kingdom. From sacrificial giving, mentoring, volunteer work, and evangelizing, I am no longer a prisoner of the state of Alabama, but a "prisoner of The Lord." My only desire for this book is that it reaches those it has been ordained to reach for the Kingdom of God. God has commissioned me to take this message of hope where it is needed most. To a lost and dying world. Jesus has done the impossible in and through me. He's transformed me from a dope dealer to "hope dealer."

In More God, Less Crime renowned criminologist Byron R. Johnson proves that religion can be a powerful antidote to crime. The book describes how faith communities, congregations, and faith-based organizations are essential in forming partnerships necessary to provide the human and spiritual capital to effectively address crime, offender rehabilitation, and the substantial aftercare problems facing former prisoners. There is scattered research literature on religion and crime but until now, there has never been one publication that systematically and rigorously analyzes what we know from this largely overlooked body of research in a lay-friendly format. The data shows that when compared to current strategies, faith-based approaches to crime prevention bring added value in targeting those factors known to cause crime: poverty, lack of education, and unemployment. In an age of limited fiscal resources, Americans can’t afford a criminal justice system that turns its nose up at volunteer efforts that could not only work better than the abysmal status quo, but also save billions of dollars at the same time. This book provides readers with practical insights and recommendations for a faith-based response that could do just that.

Written by an L. A. County homicide detective and former atheist, Cold-Case Christianity examines the claims of the New Testament using the skills and strategies of a hard-to-convince criminal investigator. Christianity could be defined as a “cold case”: it makes a claim about an event from the distant past for which there is little forensic evidence. In Cold-Case Christianity, J. Warner Wallace uses his nationally recognized skills as a homicide detective to look at the evidence and eyewitnesses behind Christian beliefs. Including gripping stories from his career and the visual techniques he developed in the courtroom, Wallace uses illustration to examine the powerful evidence that validates the claims of Christianity. A unique apologetic that speaks to readers’ intense interest in detective stories, Cold-Case Christianity inspires readers to have confidence in Christ as it prepares them to articulate the case for Christianity.

Karlheinz Deschner (1924-2014) was a German scholar. He spent the first sixty years of his life investigating the history of the Catholic Church before starting the ten volumes of his maximum opus, Kriminalgeschichte des Christentums (Christianity's Criminal History), which ended at ninety. White nationalists are pretty knowledgeable of the Jewish problem. But very few are aware that Jewish subversion is an epiphenomenon of a religion of Semitic origin: Christianity. Who among the white nationalists-or what more recently is known as the Alt-Right-knows the real history of Christianity? Who is aware that Christian fanatics literally destroyed the Greco-Roman world? The present book is an abridged translation of some chapters of the first three volumes of Deschner's Christianity's Criminal History.

This volume is a historical account of 25 biblical crimes, the people involved, the consequences of their actions, the lessons learned, and a comparison of punishments then and now.