Sean Michael Lucas (BA, MA, Bob Jones University; PhD, Westminster Theological Seminary) is senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He is the author of 5 P&R titles and the contributor of one.
1. For a Continuing Church:The Roots of the Presbyterian Church in America
368 pages | Direct Price: $19.99 $15.00 | Paperback | SAMPLE CHAPTER
Summary—The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is the largest conservative, evangelical Presbyterian denomination in North America. And yet ministers, elders, and laypeople know only the barest facts concerning the denomination’s founding. For a Continuing Church is a fully researched, scholarly yet accessible account of the theological and social forces that brought about the PCA.
Drawing on little used archival sources, as well as Presbyterian newspapers and magazines, Lucas charts the formation of conservative dissent in response to the young progressive leadership that emerged in the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS) in the 1920s and 1930s. Their vision was to purify the PCUS from these progressive theological elements and return it to its spiritual heartland: evangelism and missions. Only as the church declared the gospel with confidence in the inspired Scriptures would America know social transformation.
Forty years after its founding, the PCA has nearly 400,000 members and is still growing in the United States and internationally.
2. On Being Presbyterian: Our Beliefs, Practices, and Stories
288 pages | Direct Price: $14.99 $11.50 | Paperback
Summary—Pastor and seminary professor Sean Michael Lucas suggests that being Presbyterian means embracing distinctive beliefs, practices, and stories as one’s own. As new members, church officers, and potential Presbyterians read about beliefs, practices, and stories, they will understand and move to embrace this way of being Christian.
Written in a nontechnical style, On Being Presbyterian is a unique resource for equipping believers and introducing them to Presbyterian church practice.
3. Robert Lewis Dabney: A Southern Presbyterian Life
296 pages | Direct Price: $24.99 $3.00 | Hardcover | American Reformed Biographies series
Summary—Robert Lewis Dabney (1820–1898) was a Presbyterian theologian and educator who served on the faculties of Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, the University of Texas, and Austin Theological Seminary. Those who knew him—both friends and foes—viewed him as larger than life, “closer to a biblical prophet than a theological professor,” writes Sean Lucas.
As this biography explains, “Dabney was far more complex than either historians or admirers concede.” He was “in many ways a representative man, one who embodied the passions and contradictions of nineteenth-century Southerners.” As such he “provides a window into the postbellum Southern Presbyterian mind” and a reminder of how important nineteenth-century theology is for contemporary issues and debates.
Dabney has been described as an “apostle of the Old South,” a perception that may explain why this biography is the first of this key nineteenth-century leader in more than one hundred years. It is also the inaugural volume in the American Reformed Biography series.
32 pages | Direct Price: $4.99 $4.00 | Booklet | Basics of the Faith series
Summary—Many Presbyterians have never thought through what stands at the very heart of Presbyterianism: the church’s organization both locally and on a wider scale.
This booklet is a basic introduction to Presbyterian church government, examining it in light of the example set by Christ and his headship. Useful for new members, officer-training classes, and those investigating Presbyterianism for the first time, this biblical look at the church and its function in the world can help to meet the deep needs of our postmodern generation.
Basics of the Faith booklets introduce readers to basic Reformed doctrine and practice. On issues of church government and practice they reflect that framework—otherwise they are suitable for all church situations.
32 pages | Direct Price: $4.99 $4.00 | Booklet | Basics of the Faith series | SAMPLE CHAPTER
Summary—The doctrine of grace is at the heart of the Reformed faith. It is at the center of our best hymns, our truest expositions of Scripture, and our theological systems. Yet, even though it is such an important word, many people use it with little understanding of what it means. Even Christians familiar with the idea sometimes fail to grasp all that grace implies.
Here Sean Michael Lucas cuts through popular misconceptions about grace and exposes inadequate definitions of the word. He turns to the authority of the Bible to understand what grace truly is and all that it entails. This theologically rich and pastorally sensitive approach to grace is accessible to all Christians—pastors and laypeople alike.
Basics of the Faith booklets introduce readers to basic Reformed doctrine and practice. On issues of church government and practice they reflect that framework—otherwise they are suitable for all church situations.
6. The Problem of Good: When the World Seems Fine without God – Contributor
192 pages | Direct Price: $14.99 $11.50 | Paperback | SAMPLE CHAPTER
Summary—The problem of evil is one we’re all familiar with . . . but what about the problem of good?
If Christianity is true, why do many people seem to live moral, fulfilling lives outside the gospel? Do such moral non-Christians really need the gospel, or will their good deeds save them? Is the traditional view of hell really justified? And if it is, how do we evangelize people who seem more upright than we are? Can we legitimately benefit from their contributions to culture and society?
Many of the answers to these questions lie in the doctrine of common grace. Here authors from a variety of backgrounds tackle these questions and others by exploring God’s common grace and its daily implications.
Includes discussion questions.
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