(Book). The definitive work on the design and construction of an acoustic archtop guitar, this updated second edition features 288 pages of content, including 24 color pages and 4 tear-outs. See what industry greats have said about this book: I know of no other work offering comprehensive step by step coverage of the making of an acoustic jazz guitar. George Gruhn This book is for everyone who loves woodworking, loves guitars, appreciates artistry, and believes that organic materials like spruce, maple and ebony can only achieve their highest function through the hands of a craftsman. Howard Paul I can think of no one more knowledgeable and qualified to share his years of expertise than master luthier Robert Benedetto. Dick Boak

Historical Dictionary of the Reformed Churches, Third Edition contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 1,000 cross-referenced entries on leaders, personalities, events, facts, movements, and beliefs of the Reformed churches.

With historical sketches of some 165 churches that were known to exist in Hawai'i during the nineteenth century, Nā Hale Pule: Portraits of Native Hawaiian Churches, 1820-1900 is the first comprehensive survey of the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches of Hawai'i as established by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and later operated by Ka 'Ahahui 'Euanelio o Hawai'i (The Hawaiian Evangelical Association). While many of these churches were first led by missionary pastors, the ali'i (hereditary chiefs) founders of the churches together with their membership and congregational leaders were predominately Native Hawaiian. Worship services were soon led by Native Hawaiian pastors and were conducted in 'ōlelo Hawai'i (Hawaiian language).

This study draws upon the official archives of the churches, English-language newspaper articles, missionary and pastoral correspondence, and a twentieth-century architectural survey. The body of this work includes an island-by-island listing of the names and locations of the Native Hawaiian churches, the pastors who served the congregations, and brief histories of the churches themselves. These portraits tell the stories of the founding of the churches, Christianity's rise in the islands through the Great Revival years of the 1840s, the devastating impact of foreign diseases that swept through Hawai'i during the mid-nineteenth century, and the efforts of the churches to maintain their properties and congregations.

The book's introduction describes the founding of mother and branch churches, the importance of the lands on which the churches resided, church construction and builders, the struggle for self-support and self-governance, demographic changes that led to the churches' decline, and a resurgence of Native Hawaiian culture and polytheism that caused understandings of faith and the future to further evolve. Also included are a chronology of Native Hawaiian churches, a robust glossary of Hawaiian theological vocabulary, and meticulous citations.

This volume is a companion to Nā Kahu: Portraits of Native Hawaiian Pastors at Home and Abroad, 1820-1900, by Nancy J. Morris and Robert Benedetto, which tells the stories of the lives of Native Hawaiian pastors.

As its name implies, the Reformed tradition grew out of the 16th century Protestant Reformation. The Reformed churches consider themselves to be the Catholic Church reformed. The movement originated in the reform efforts of Huldrych Zwingli (1484-1531) of Zurich and John Calvin (1509-1564) of Geneva. Although the Reformed movement was dependent upon many Protestant leaders, it was Calvin's tireless work as a writer, preacher, teacher, and social and ecclesiastical reformer that provided a substantial body of literature and an ethos from which the Reformed tradition grew. Today, the Reformed churches are a multicultural, multiethnic, and multinational phenomenon.

The second edition of the Historical Dictionary of the Reformed Churches contains information on the major personalities, events, facts, movements, and beliefs of the Reformed churches. This is done through a list of acronyms and abbreviations, a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, a bibliography, and over 800 cross-referenced dictionary entries on leaders, personalities, events, facts, movements, and beliefs of the Reformed churches.

In 1791, Pierre Charles L'Enfant was hired as city planner of what would become Washington, D.C. However, after little more than a year, L'Enfant was dismissed after a dispute erupted involving the destruction of a mansion on Capitol Hill belonging to wealthy landowner Daniel Carroll that interfered with L'Enfant's vision of what would become our nation's capital. The original city surveyor, Andrew Ellicott, and his assistant, Benjamin Banneker, were asked to carry out the construction of the city using the L'Enfant Plan.

The story of the construction of the capital of the United States is just one item covered in The A to Z of Washington, D.C.. This volume, unlike many others, is a guide to the whole city, not simply the glamorous parts. It examines the city from its inception to the present, showing how Washington grew - at times according to official plans, but more often sporadically as things worked out. And it focuses not only on the elite but Washingtonians of many different races, religions and classes. They all have their place in the chronology, the introduction, and the exhaustive dictionary.

The authors...have done an admirable job of distilling the enormous and increasing volume of information on Washington's people, places, and events into a practical handbook [which] should evolve into an appreciated resource for Washington's residents and students. -H-Net Reviews

...general readers likely will find it a browser's delight. -ARBA

This guide serves as a valuable introduction to the documentary heritage and tradition of the third largest group of protestants in the southern United States. A companion to Harold Prince's A Presbyterian Bibliography (1983), it locates and describes the unpublished papers of PCUS ministers. It also documents the larger southern tradition by including selected materials from the antebellum period and from other Presbyterian denominations. The result is a listing of resources for the study of the PCUS as well as southern Presbyterianism. It aims to promote and encourage research in Presbyterian history; to make files, diaries, sermons, minutes, letters more intelligible; and finally, to emphasize the continuing relevance of these materials in contemporary church life.

Robert Benedetto's forty-eight-page introduction includes a survey of nine subject areas: theology, education, church and society, international missions, national missions, women, racial ethnic ministries, ecumenical relations, and worship and music. Each area highlights major research and provides a concise orientation to the life and mission of the denomination. Each survey is followed by a brief listing of manuscript materials. The Guide itself includes manuscript collections from the Department of History (Montreat) and other repositories. This thorough volume concludes with a bibliography of PCUS reference works and a complete name and subject index.

The theological literature of the past 70 years reflects a steady interest in the theology of P.T. Forsyth (1848-1921), a Scottish Congregational theologian best known for anticipating the work of Karl Barth. This reference work provides an authoritative list of publications by and about Forsyth from 1886 to 1992. All but one of Forsyth's books lack indices, and this volume provides indices to the modern British editions of Forsyth's 22 major works. The bibliography is divided into two parts: works by Forsyth and works about him. Each part is sub-divided into sections by type of work, such as anthologies and collections, books, and book chapters. The indexes include a cumulative Scripture index, a cumulative index of names and cited works, and individual Scripture and name indexes for each of Forsyth's books. These separate book indexes also provide the table of contents for each work. The volume concludes with a title index of Forsyth's writings and a name index to the Forsyth bibliography.

Who is the King of Glory? could not be a more relevant question. How many of us have wondered exactly who God is or if it's even possible to know that? Robert Benedetto shows we can depend fully on the Bible in order to find answers. As intimidating as the idea feels, it is possible to know God because He has made Himself knowable. Benedetto will show you the character of God we can all encounter as we read the Bible. The gospel is a complete revelation that leaves us with no need to seek elsewhere. From the history of The Fall and the Israelites to the disciples and the crucifixion, Benedetto illuminates how God's very essence can be seen through it all. He shows why we tend to cloud God's character, misrepresenting and misunderstanding Him, and how we can avoid doing that by taking Him at His Word.

This volume contains 123 documents which illustrate the early history of the American Presbyterian Congo Mission and its struggle for human rights in the Congo from 1890-1918. The documents, many of which have never previously been published, are crucial to a full understanding of both the work of the Presbyterian Mission and its impact on the social, political, and religious life of the Congo. The book is divided into four parts. Part One documents the founding and early history of the Presbyterian Mission from 1890 to 1898. Part Two documents the deterioration of social conditions in the Congo under King Leopold, and the reform campaigns initiated by the American Mission in Britain and the United States. Part Three consists of documents related to the 1909 libel trial of William M. Morrison and William H. Sheppard, the principal leaders of the American Mission. Part Four documents the Mission's reaction to continuing human rights abuses, particularly religious persecution, under Belgian rule to 1918. The documents are annotated and the volume contains an introduction and an index.