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Anyone visiting a large bookstore in an American city will quickly
discover that it is possible to buy travel guides on every imaginable
subject. In addition to learning where to stay, eat, play golf,
or even go on a potentially dangerous adventure, there are an increasing
number of spiritual travel guides with titles like Pagan Europe,
Occult France, Magical Britain, and The Traveler's Guide to Jewish
Germany. All of these books supplement more traditional travel guides
that attempt to take in everything worth seeing. Yet there really
are no books that deal with Christianity and the Christian heritage
of Europe in a satisfactory way. Even books like the Frommer's,
Fodor's, and Rough guides, although they mention Christian places
and events, tend to underplay the Christian contribution to Western
Civilization through neglect or a negative tone.
Therefore,
Zondervan has produced a series of books that present the Christian
view of things. These books are concerned with people and events
of historical significance through their association with particular
places where God worked through ordinary humans in history. Thus
they attempt to locate the development of ideas that have changed
the world through their relationship with people and places. Consequently,
the Zondervan Christian Travelers Guides series suggests visits
to particular places because by visiting them you can gain a better
understanding of the times when important events took place.
The
central theme of these books is remembering what the Lord our God
has done in human history through a recognition of the contribution
of Christianity to Europe and the world. But not everyone
discussed in these books was Christian. Indeed, many of the people
we mention were strongly anti-Christian. Such people are included
because it is impossible to understand our own times without appreciating
the destructive forces that have attempted to replace Christianity
by secularism and neo-pagan religions.
The
aim of this series is to bring history alive and to help Christians
remember that the Bible constantly exhorts us to remember what the
Lord has done. Visiting places of historical significance can become
a deeply spiritual act that calls us all back to our roots and strengthens
our faith and our dedication to serving the Lord through a recognition
of how great men and women of faith shaped European history.
Christianity
is rooted in history. By traveling to other countries you will meet
the fascinating people God used throughout history. You will visit
the places where they worked, worshiped, and died. You will discover
the incredible impact Christianity has had on Western civilization.
The
Christian Travelers Guides deal directly with what even the best
general travel guides only touch on: Christianity's enormous influence
on Europe—and, through its history and culture, Europe's influence
on Christianity.
This
unique series guides you on a pilgrimage to the heart of our Christian
heritage. Saints and secularists, martyrs and kings, castles and
cathedrals, public squares and rolling hillsides, great works of
art, literature, and architecture: The legacy of the Christian
faith takes on immediacy and impact as you see firsthand the places
where believers through the centuries lived and died, shaping our
world with their faith.
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