Free Republic

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (RNS) The collected works of Jonathan Edwards, the 18th-century preacher and one of America’s most famous theologians, are now available for download thanks to Logos Bible Software. But for those who don’t want to cough up $1,289.95 to purchase them, there’s good news: The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale Divinity School lets you view them online for free. The colonial preacher was instrumental in America’s Great Awakening and is known for fiery sermons such as “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” The 26-volume collection, “The Works of Jonathan Edwards,” comprises more than 10,000 sermons, articles...

DURHAM, N.C. (ABP) – About one in five Protestant churches in America is now independent of any denomination, and about one in five Protestants attends those independent churches, Duke sociologist Mark Chaves says in his new book American Religion: Contemporary Trends. Chaves, professor of sociology, religion, and divinity at Duke University in Durham, N.C., and director of the National Congregations Study, says the number of Protestants attending independent churches increased from 14 percent in 1989 to 19 percent in 2006. “If the unaffiliated congregations were all in one denomination, they would constitute the second largest in number of participants (behind...