The Burr in the Burgh

Dr. Alvin Schmidt writes really awesome books. You may note that I have several of them highlighted along the right edge of my blog.

But I've noticed that one of his books is now travelling under a new name and that's why I felt the need to highlight it. I've probably recommended his "Under the Influence" around 100 times since I purchased and read it a couple of years ago. While that title is cute, the new title maybe does a little better job of explaining what it's about. Now it's called "How Christianity Changed the World."

Schmidt is a sociologist and a historian as well as a theologian. So he cruises through the two millenia since the birth of Christ and demonstrates the ways in which Christianity has positively impacted every civilization in which its presence has become prominent. A couple of years ago, I preached a Christmas Eve sermon that I entitled "What If Jesus Had Never Been Born?" and Dr. Schmidt's book gave me some good illustrative material. You need to read it. And you each need to convince at least one other person to read it, yhear?