The Book of Firsts is an entertaining, enlightening, and highly browsable tour of the major innovations of the past twenty centuries and how they shaped our world. Peter D’Epiro makes this handy overview of human history both fun and thought-provoking with his survey of the major “firsts”—inventions, discoveries, political and military upheavals, artistic and scientific breakthroughs, religious controversies, and catastrophic events—of the last two thousand years. Who was the first to use gunpowder? Invent paper? Sack the city of Rome? Write a sonnet? What was the first university? The first astronomical telescope? The first great novel? The first Impressionist painting? The Book of Firsts explores these questions and many more, from the earliest surviving cookbook (featuring parboiled flamingo) and the origin of chess (sixth-century India) to the first civil service exam (China in 606 AD) and the first tell-all memoir about scandalous royals (Byzantine Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora). In the form of 150 brief, witty, erudite, and information-packed essays, The Book of Firsts is ideal for anyone interested in an enjoyable way to acquire a deeper understanding of history and the fascinating personalities who forged it.

This book deals with “Saint Paul” (of Tarsus) who was a highly learned person. He had no personal acquaintance with Jesus Christ. He was a great persecutor of Jesus Christ and his followers. But on the vision of Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus, he became a stronger believer, follower, preacher and Apostle of Jesus Christ and adapted Jesus’s Way of Life. However, he altered and contradicted most of Moses and Jesus’s teachings. During his missionary exhortations, Saint Paul was hounded by Jews for his controversial views and teachings. Rejected by Jews, Saint Paul turned his attention towards Gentiles who accepted him as an Apostle of Jesus and adapted his contentious teachings which are questionable and debatable even today.

Offering an essential historical overview of the chief developments in Christian mission, this should become a standard textbook.

The Imitation of Saint Paul takes us behind the headlines of his career and offers a fresh, compelling, contemporary look at the man who changed the world. When the exemplary apostle got into the face of his converts, he bluntly held up his own life as the pattern for theirs. How risky is that? The purpose of this readable work with a modern twist is to discover how Paul viewed his divine commission and how he managed to survive incredible obstacles and hardships that threatened to undo him. What elements in the apostle's life made him the man he was? How does his life become the format of ours? What changes can we make to follow in his footsteps? This work serves as both an introduction to the apostle for those new to the Christian faith and as a healthy reminder for those who want to go deeper in their obedience to and service for Christ.

At this critical point in the history of World Missions, it is imperative for us to take a step back from “business as usual” in our work around the globe and reevaluate the strategies and methods we are implementing. What is working? What isn’t? If we’re honest, there may be more not working than we would care to admit. In this book, written in the early 1900s, Roland Allen invites us to look at the missionary work of the Apostle Paul with fresh eyes and an igniting perspective that is strikingly relevant to the greatest challenges we are facing today in modern missions. He offers a well of insight from the methodology of Paul that will focus and unite us as we draw nearer than ever before to our goal of fulfilling the Great Commission and reaching the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.