Biblical Studies
Showing 301–375 of 512 results
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On The Song Of Songs
$34.95Add to cartGregory the Great (+604) was a master of the art of exegesis. His interpretations are theologically profound, methodologically fascinating, and historically influential. Nowhere is this more clearly seen than in his exegesis of the Song of Songs. Gregory’s interpretation of this popular Old Testament book not only owes much to Christian exegetes who preceded him, such as Origen, but also profoundly influenced later Western Latin exegetes, such as Bernard of Clairvaux.
This volume includes all that Gregory had to say on the Song of Songs. This includes his Exposition on the Song of Songs, as well as the florilegia compiled by Paterius (Gregory’s secretary) and the Venerable Bede, and, finally, William of Saint Thierry’s Excerpts from the Books of Blessed Gregory on the Song of Songs. It is now the key resource for reading and studying Gregory’s interpretation of the Song of Songs.
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Stories From Ancient Canaan (Expanded)
$35.00Add to cartThe texts from ancient Ugarit are among the most important modern discoveries for understanding the Bible. For more than thirty years, Stories from Ancient Canaan has been recognized as a highly authoritative and readable presentation of the principal Canaanite myths and epics discovered at Ugarit. This fully revised edition takes into account advances in the reading, understanding, and interpretation of these stories since 1978. It also includes two additional texts, expanded introductions, and illustrations. Coogan and Smith have collaborated to bring this classic up to date in order to provide accessible and accurate translations of these texts for a new generation of students.
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Handbook Of Biblical Criticism (Revised)
$37.00Add to cartThe 4th edition of this best-selling textbook continues to be a valuable resource for the beginning student in the critical study of the Bible. Thoroughly revised to include the newest methods, recent discoveries, and developments in the field of biblical criticism over the past decade, the Handbook of Biblical Criticism is designed to be a starting point for understanding the vast array of methods, approaches and technical terms employed in this field. Updates in this edition also include an expanded dictionary of terms, phrases, names, and frequently used abbreviations and a bibliography that includes the most up-to-date date publications.
The Handbook of Biblical Criticism is a valuable introductory textbook, a handy, reliable guide for pastors, laypersons, and for scholars whose expertise lies in other fields.
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Encounters With Jesus
$29.00Add to cartIntroduction: Jesus Encountered
Lifestyle As The First Message
The Historical Reliability Of The Gospels
The Necessity Of Research Into The Historical Jesus
1. Jesus On His Landscape: Mental Maps And Real Territories
2. Jesus On Foot: Movement
3. Jesus Face To Face: Encounters
4. Jesus At Table: Eating Together
5. Jesus Leaves Home And Is Made At Home With Others
6. Jesus And His Body
7. Jesus And Emotion: Feelings And Desires
Conclusion: The Concrete Reality Of A Radical Life
IndexAdditional Info
What was there in Jesus’ person, behavior, and words that prompted not only much enthusiasm but also much hostility? This compelling portrait of the man Jesus of Nazareth by two pioneers of the anthropological study of early Christianity answers this vital question. They bring the fruit of years of scholarship to bear on a radical figure in Roman Galilee and on his encounters with others and the movement those encounters inspired. They give close attention to the everyday realities that shaped those encounters: the facts of travel, common meals, domestic space, and the interactions of bodies. The result is a refreshing new look at the man who proved so significant-and so controversial-in Western culture. -
Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes
$45.00Add to cartPrelude: Prophetic Homily Style And Its Interpretation
Essay 1: The Cross And Christian Unity (1 Corinthians 1:10-4:16)
Essay 2: Sex: Men And Women In The Human Family (1 Corinthians 4:17-7:40)
Essay 3: Christian And Pagan: Freedom And Responsibility (1 Corinthians 8:1-11:1)
Essay 4: Worship: Men And Women In The Church (1 Corinthians 11:2-14:40)
Essay 5: Resurrection: Faith, Christ And Victory (1 Corinthians 15:1-58)Additional Info
In this groundbreaking study of Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians, Kenneth Bailey examines the canonical letter through Paul’s Jewish sociocultural and rhetorical background and through the Mediterranean context of its Corinthian recipients.Examine 1 Corinthians within its social, cultural and rhetorical construction
Proposes a new conception of the structure and nature of Paul’s argument
Provides an excellent resource for New Testament students and scholars -
Parallel Lives Of Jesus
$38.00Add to cartIn this highly readable introduction to the Gospels, Edward Adams demonstrates how the four canonical Gospels function separately-as unique accounts of Jesus’ life-and as narrative renditions of a shared story: the Fourfold Gospel. Building on the premise that the Gospels are ancient biographies or “lives of Jesus,” Adams examines parallel Gospel passages, highlighting the similarities and differences between them. He begins by approaching the four Gospels generally, then looks at each of them individually, and finally considers six key Gospel passages to further explore the unity and plurality of the Gospels in a more focused way. Adams’s lucid prose helps to make this text ideal for beginning students of the Gospels.
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Acts Of The Risen Lord Jesus
$28.00Add to cartSeries Preface
Author’s Preface
AbbreviationsIntroduction
Reassurance Concerning God’s Purposes: The Purpose(s) Of The Book Of Acts
Excursus: Assumptions Concerning Authorship, Audience, And Interpreting Acts1. Living ‘between The Times’: The Kingdom Of God
2. The Hope Of Israel: The Resurrection And The Arrival Of The Last Days
3. Israel And The Gentiles: The Kingdom And God’s Promises Of Restoration
4. The Promise Of The Father: The Gift Of The Holy Spirit
5. The End Of An Era: The Temple System And Its Leaders
6. The End Of An Era: The Law Is No Longer The Direct Authority For God’s People
7. Concluding SummaryBibliography
Index Of Authors
Index Of Scripture References
Index Of Ancient SourcesAdditional Info
When the book of Acts is mentioned, a cluster of issues spring to mind, including speaking in tongues and baptism with the Holy Spirit, church government and practice, and missionary methods and strategies. At the popular level, Acts is more often mined for answers to contemporary debates than heard for its natural inflections.Instead of using Acts as a prooftext, this New Studies in Biblical Theology volume brings a biblical-theological framework to the account to expose Luke’s major themes as they relate to the book as a whole. With this framework in place, Alan Thompson argues that Acts is an account of the ‘continuing story’ of God’s saving purposes. Consequently we find that Luke wants to be read in light of the Old Testament promises and the continuing reign of Christ in the inaugurated kingdom.
Read in this way as a snapshot of God’s dynamic, unfolding kingdom, the book of Acts begins to regain the deep relevance it had in the first century.
Addressing key issues in biblical theology, the works comprising New Studies in Biblical Theology are creative attempts to help Christians better understand their Bibles. The NSBT series is edited by D. A. Carson, aiming to simultaneously instruct and to edify, to interact with current scholarship and to point the way ahead.
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Created In Christ Jesus For Good Works
$39.99Add to cartThe relationship between the so-called ‘theological’ (Eph 1 – 3) and ‘paraenetic’ (Eph 4-6) sections of Ephesians has been a matter of extensive scholarly discussion. Central to the debate is the question whether the ethical material found in Ephesians 4-6 is an integral part of the theological statements in Ephesians 1-3, or whether it is merely an appendage with its own self-contained theology. This study undertakes a fresh investigation into the relationship between the ‘theological’ and ‘paraenetic’ sections of Ephesians. It demonstrates the intrinsic integration of both parts of the letter by examining the soteriological pattern of Ephesians, and how salvation entails the moral social transformation of believers; this, in turn, renders meaningless the category-distinction between ‘theology’ and ‘ethics’.
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Biblical History And Israels Past
$49.99Add to cartAlthough scholars have for centuries primarily been interested in using the study of ancient Israel to explain, illuminate, and clarify the biblical story, Megan Bishop Moore and Brad E. Kelle describe how scholars today seek more and more to tell the story of the past on its own terms, drawing from both biblical and extrabiblical sources to illuminate ancient Israel and its neighbors without privileging the biblical perspective. Biblical History and Israel’s Past provides a comprehensive survey of how study of the Old Testament and the history of Israel has changed since the middle of the twentieth century. Moore and Kelle discuss significant trends in scholarship, trace the development of ideas since the 1970s, and summarize major scholars, viewpoints, issues, and developments.
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Biblical Theology Of The Old And New Testaments
$44.00Add to cartThis monumental work is the first comprehensive biblical theology to appear in many years and is the culmination of Brevard Child’s lifelong commitment to constructing a biblical theology that surmounts objections to the discipline raised over the past generation.
Childs rejects any approaches that overstress either the continuity or discontinuity between the Old and New Testaments. He refuses to follow the common pattern in Christian thought of identifying biblical theology with the New Testament’s interest in the Old. Rather, Childs maps out an approach that reflects on the whole Christian Bible with its two very different voices, each of which retains continuing integrity and is heard on its own terms.
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Invention Of The Biblical Scholar
$26.00Add to cartAcknowledgments
Preface: The Irreducible Strangeness Of The Biblical Scholar1. Theory And Methodolatry
2. The Invention Of The Biblical Scholar
3. Onwards Towards The PastIndex
Additional Info
What is a “biblical scholar”? Stephen D. Moore and Yvonne Sherwood provide a thoroughly defamiliarizing and frequently entertaining re-description of this peculiar academic species and its odd disciplinary habitat. The modern-and -biblical scholar, they argue, is a product of the Enlightenment. Even when a biblical scholar imagines that she is doing something else entirely (something confessional, theoretical, literary, or even postmodern), she is sustaining Enlightened modernity and its effects. This study poses questions for scholars across the humanities concerned with the question of the religious and the secular. It also poses pressing questions for scholars and students of biblical interpretation: What other forms might biblical criticism have taken? What untried forms might biblical criticism yet take? -
Riddles Of The Fourth Gospel
$29.00Add to cartPaul Anderson, a leading scholar of the Fourth Gospel, provides an introductory textbook, crafted for a semester course, which leads students through literary, historical, and theological aspects of the Fourth Gospel’s most vexing puzzles. Traditional, historical-critical, and literary-critical approaches are deftly introduced and their limitations evaluated; questions of the Gospel’s authorship, composition, relationship to the Synoptics, and origins in particular historical experiences are succinctly addressed; and distinctive Johannine perspectives on Jesus, the church, and the world are discussed.
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Contours Of Old Testament Theology
$39.00Add to cartIn this masterwork, one of America’s leading biblical scholars takes a fresh look at the theology of the Old Testament. Anderson cuts his own path and provides us with creative new insights on all the major sections of the Old Testament. He illuminates the nuances of the various covenants and theological shifts in a highly readable style. His conversation partners include the formative contributors from both the Christian community (Eichrodt, von Rad, Childs) and the Jewish community (Heschel, Herberg, Levenson) while interacting with the most recent developments in the field, especially Walter Brueggemann’s Theology of the Old Testament.
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Bible In Politics (Revised)
$35.00Add to cartThis second edition of Bauckham’s wonderful work is essential reading for understanding the relationship between the Bible and politics. The enduring value of The Bible in Politics is that it teaches the reader how to read the Bible politically and to gain an understanding of the social relevance of the Bible that is more disciplined, more informed, more imaginative, and more politically fruitful than many interpreters–past and present–have achieved.
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Introduction To The Old Testament As Scripture
$44.00Add to cartPreface
AbbreviationsPART ONE: THE OLD TESTAMENT: INTRODUCTION
The Discipline Of Old Testament Introduction
The Problem Of The Canon
Canon And Criticism
Text And CanonPART TWO: THE PENTATEUCH
Introduction To The Pentateuch
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
DeuteronomyPART THREE: THE FORMER PROPHETS
Introduction To The Forms Prophets
Joshua
Judges
Samuel
KingsPART FOUR: THE LATTER PROPHETS
Introduction To The Latter Prophets
Isaiah
Jeremiah
EzekielThe Book Of The Twelve
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
MalachiPART FIVE: THE WRITINGS
Introduction To The Writings
The Psalms
Job
Proverbs
Ruth
Song Of Songs
Ecclesiastes
Lamentations
Esther
Daniel
Ezra And Nehemiah
ChroniclesPART SIX: CONCLUSION
The Hebrew Scriptures And The Christian Bible
Index Of Authors
Additional Info
This Introduction attempts to offer a different model for the discipline from that currently represented. It seeks to describe the form and function of the Hebrew Bible in its role as sacred scripture for Israel. It argues the case that the biblical literature has not been correctly understood or interpreted because its role as religious literature has not been correctly assessed. -
How Can The Petrine Ministry Be A Service To The Unity Of The Universal Chu
$43.99Add to cartThe Petrine ministry has been at the center of the modern ecumenical discussion because it deals directly with the question of the unity of the church. The International Bridgettine Centre in Farfa, Sabina, has seriously undertaken a study of the theological, historical, and dogmatic issues that underlie the issues of Christian unity dealing with the role of unity as exercised by the Pope. This work represents part of the work in which the Centre has been engaged during these past ten years.
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Wrestling The Word
$30.00Add to cartThis book for introductory Old Testament classes offers an appealing illustration of how faith and academic study can work together, motivating and equipping Christian believers to turn to the Old Testament as a profound resource for their daily negotiations of faith, identity, and culture. Throughout, Sharp focuses on the basic fundamentals that are a necessary part of every student’s education.
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Images Of Salvation In The New Testament
$38.00Add to cartWhat does salvation in the New Testament look like? “The New Testament does not develop a systematic doctrine of salvation,” writes Brenda Colijn. “Instead, it presents us with a variety of pictures taken from different perspectives. From one angle, the human predicament is rebellion against God. Salvation looks like living under God’s universal reign. From another angle, the human predicament is bondage to both internal and external forces. Salvation looks like freedom from those forces. From yet a third angle, the human predicament looks like alienation from God, from other people, from creation and even from one’s own best self. Salvation looks like the restoration of those relationships.” Colijn, who holds degrees in English literature as well as theology, embraces a critical-realist methodology that incorporates New Testament theology, literary criticism and theological interpretation. She advocates listening to the individual authors of Scripture in their own social-cultural and historical settings, while looking for how the texts work both individually and collectively at a literary level. Students of the New Testament and of theology will both find their vision broadened and their understanding deepened by this rich, informative study. As the author seeks to understand their implications for people of faith, she uncovers how New Testament images provide the building blocks of the master story of redemption.
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Searching For Jesus
$33.99Add to cartSEARCHING FOR JESUS
IS EVERYTHING YOU THOUGHT YOU KNEW ABOUT HIM
IS EVERYTHING THAT YOU DON’T KNOW ABOUT HIM
AND IS EVERTYTHING YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT HIMThis book is not about how Jesus Christ fulfilled scripture prophesies, or how many miracles he performed, or an explanation of his parables. But rather it is about his physical presence throughout the Holy Bible [from Genesis to Revelation], and how he interacted with the people and their life stories. It is designed with intertwining scriptures and commentary to highlight his presence. The proof of this study will be your conclusion of the whole matter. My prayers are with you as you launch out into the deep.Rev. ABRAHAM HOWARD JR.
P.S. THIS BOOK WILL TAKE YOU WHERE ONLY A FEW HAVE VENTURED TO GO.
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Revelation Of Jesus Christ In The Old Testament
$32.99Add to cartChrist: The Angel of God.
Christ: The Battle Bow
Christ: A Goodly CedarSince the time that I accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour in 1976, I have heard it said that He was the focus of the Bible. I have never doubted that. I have heard it said that Jesus Christ was the subject of each book of the Bible, including the Old Testament. I struggled with that, not because it was untrue, but because no one in my theological circle submitted proof that it was true. This book is proof that Jesus Christ can be found in each book of the Old Testament. Therefore, Jesus Christ is available to become the subject of any book of the Bible if we take this approach to the Scriptures.
What is the benefit of this approach? The Lord Jesus Christ becomes more precious to our souls as we encounter the varied facets of His Person. That should be enough, but now we can gain new insights into the Godhead and the inspired Word of God. This approach provides a fresh reason to study the Bible and a new direction in sermon and lesson preparation. Personal and family devotions are given new life in Christ. A fresh breeze blows across the pages of the Old Testament.
The book is arranged for ease of use. Section One contains all the designations of Christ arranged alphabetically. Section Two contains all the physical aspects of Christ arranged alphabetically. Section Three is arranged by the mentions of Christ in each book of the Old Testament.
Do you have your Bible? Do you have this book? Begin your journey seeking for “…the unsearchable riches of Christ.”
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Sexuality In The New Testament
$30.00Add to cartLoader looks at hotly contested New Testament passages on sexuality and offers a fair and balanced treatment of what scholars say about them. He also offers an analysis of why interpreters say what they say, and demonstrates how texts may be interpreted specifically to support a preformed opinion.
Written in straightforward, non-technical language, this classroom text is also ideal for Bible study groups.
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Studying The New Testament
$26.00Add to cartIntroduction
Dictionaries
Commentaries
Websites
1. Jesus And His Social Worlds
2. Paul And His Letters
3. The Gospels
4. Catholic And Apocalyptic Writings
Glossary IndexAdditional Info
This book offers an introduction to the literature of the New Testament, demonstrating how these writings can be approached and critically studied in an academic setting. Bruce Chilton and Deirdre J. Good, two respected New Testament scholars, provide a narrative of the historical context and social world of the books of the New Testament, a chronological survey of the Gospels and letters, and the remaining writings (Apocrypha, Apocalyptic) with their special focus on the emerging church. Together with textboxes, exercises, questions, further readings, maps, timeline, and glossary, this brief introduction surveys and employs leading methods of study and equips students with the general literacy needed for successful and serious study of New Testament writings. -
God In Translation
$43.99Add to cartGod in Translation offers a substantial, extraordinarily broad survey of ancient attitudes toward deities, from the Late Bronze Age through ancient Israel and into the New Testament.
Looking closely at relevant biblical texts and at their cultural contexts, Mark S. Smith demonstrates that the biblical attitude toward deities of other cultures is not uniformly negative, as is commonly supposed. He traces the historical development of Israel’s “one-god worldview,” linking it to the rise of the surrounding Mesopotamian empires. Smith’s study also produces evidence undermining a common modern assumption among historians of religion – that polytheism is tolerant while monotheism is prone to intolerance and violence.
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Hard Sayings Of The Bible
$40.00Add to cartPublisher’s Preface
How To Use This Book
Abbreviations
General Introduction
1. How Do We Know Who Wrote The Bible?
2. Can We Believe In Bible Miracles?
3. Why Does God Seem So Angry In The Old Testament & Loving In The New?
4. Why Don’t Bible Genealogies Always Match Up?
5. Aren’t Many Old Testament Numbers Wrong?
6. Do The Dates Of The Old Testament Kings Fit Secular History?
7. Does Archaeology Support Bible History?
8. When The Prophets Say, “The Word Of The Lord Came To Me,” What Do They Mean?
9. Are Old Testament Prophecies Really Accurate?
10. Why Doesn’t The New Testament Always Quote The Old Testament Accurately?
11. Are The New Testament Accounts Of Demons True?
12. Why Are There Four Different Gospels?
Old Testament New Testament Subject Index
Scripture Index
Who Wrote What
About The AuthorsAdditional Info
Are you grappling with a difficult verse in the Bible? And are you looking for a short, easy-to-read answer that really makes sense without explaining away the verse? Hard Sayings of the Bible is the handy reference book you need. Here you will find explanations of over five hundred of the most troubling verses to test the minds and hearts of Bible readers. Four seasoned scholars, all with a notable gift for communicating with people in the pew, take you behind the scenes to find succinct solutions to a wide variety of Bible difficulties, ranging from discrepancies about numbers to questions about God’s justice. Historical, cultural and linguistic backgrounds shed light on these passages and not only help explain what they meant in biblical times but also show how they are relevant today. Now carefully cross-referenced with over one hundred new verses explained, as well as a dozen new introductory articles on chronology, miracles, archaeology, prophecy and more, Hard Sayings of the Bible offers the combined resources of five previous volumes that have over 250,000 copies in print. If you find yourself tied up in scriptural knots, here’s the book that will help you cut through them. -
Living Paul : An Introduction To The Apostles Life And Thought
$26.00Add to cartAnthony Thiselton is an unabashed admirer of Paul, a student of his letters and a devotee of his gospel. Over a range of issues, Thiselton cleans the lens and sharpens the focus to give us snapshots of Paul’s life, mission and thought. Whatever your level of knowledge and experience of Paul, you will find The Living Paul informative and interesting, nuanced and inspiring.
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2 Testaments One Bible (Expanded)
$40.00Add to cartDavid L. Baker outlines the problem of the relationship between the Testaments, surveys the relevant history of interpretation, critically examines four main approaches and considers four key themes. This new edition has been thoroughly revised, updated and expanded.
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Lyrics Of Lament
$26.00Add to cartIn a world torn by division, violence, and deprivation, there are to be found largely forgotten laments, by singers, poets, and musicians across cultural and religious traditions, composers who have helped process suffering, justice, and healing. This volume surveys historic and contemporary examples and practices of lament from around the world, from the Abrahamic faiths, scriptures (Hebrew Bible, New Testament, Qur’an), liturgies, and from popular music.
Offering hope for humanity, constructive lament singers creatively tap into the Transcendent, voice commonly held values, and empower individuals, communities, nations, and the world to move to a higher plain, to places of justice, reconciliation, unity, joy, and peace.
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Messiah : Developments In Earliest Judaism And Christianity
$45.00Add to cartHow did the Jews from 250 B.C.E. to 200 C.E. conceive and express their beliefs in the coming of God’s Messiah? Why did the Jews closely associated with Jesus of Nazareth claim within ten years of his crucifixion in 30 C.E. that he indeed was the promised Messiah? An international team of prominent Jewish and Christian scholars discuss these and related questions in this volume that stems from the First Princeton Symposium on Judaism and Christian Origins.
The book focuses on the historical and theological importance of the presence or absence of the term “Messiah” and messianic ideas in the Hebrew Scriptures, the New Testament, Philo, the Apocrypha, the Pseudepigrapha, Josephus, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. It clarifies the key issues to be discussed, illustrates the appropriate methodology shared by international experts, and concentrates on the perplexing questions regarding messianic beliefs in Judaism and Christianity before the close of the New Testament and the editing of the Mishnah.
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Mountains Before The Temple
$29.99Add to cartMountains before the Temple~ explores Jewish, Christian, and Muslim roadblocks that stand in the way of rebuilding the Temple, how to remove them and ensure the safety of Israel at the same time.
Mountains before the Temple rethinks old prejudices in a posttribulational challenge to Christians to be partners with God.
Seeking to hasten the Day of Christ, Mountains before the Temple explores these themes:
~Asaph predicts two destructions of the Temple, and a third attempt
~Where the Temple should be built~Literalist vs. Spiritualizing views on the future Temple
~The relevance of the missing tribes of Israel~How the predicted Name of the Messiah makes a difference
~Why the New Covenant revealed in the Old Covenant changes everything~How Christians play a role in returning the Messiah
~ Why the Feast of Tabernacles is the feast of the Millennium~ How finding David’s descendant makes all the difference to Israel
~Where Jewish philosopher Maimonides and Zechariah meet on the Temple~ Israel builds the Temple anticipating the Messiah’s coming
~ The Messiah’s part in building a Temple and reconsecrating the new one~Shockingly: Christian interest in preserving the Dome of the Rock
~God’s surprising plans for two former Muslim nations~Christian, Jewish, and Muslim theologies that hinder the Temple
~The symbol of the Holy Spirit in both Old and New Testaments -
Historical Jesus : Five Views
$35.00Add to cartThe Historical Jesus: Five Views provides a venue for readers to sit in on a virtual seminar on the historical Jesus. Beginning with a scene-setting historical introduction by the editors, prominent figures in the Jesus quest set forth their views and respond to their fellow scholars. For both the classroom and personal study, this is a book that fascinates, probes and engages.
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Gospel Of John In Cultural And Rhetorical Perspective
$45.99Add to cartJohn’s Gospel has been studied and evaluated and interpreted constantly by theologians throughout the ages. Can anything more possibly be said? Jerome Neyrey says it can, indeed, by interpreting it in two fresh ways – by means of ancient rhetoric and by viewing it in its cultural context.
In order to find patterns and concepts that have a bearing on how to read John Neyrey examines the rhetoric of praise and blame described in the ancient encomium, the Greek commonplace on “noble death,” rules for rhetorical conclusions, and Jewish background materials. He then uses materials from cultural anthropology, such as the effects of limited good and envy, secrecy, and brokerage. Even innocent topics such as “time” and “space” have much to say about interpreting the figure of Jesus.
In viewing John through these two lenses, The Gospel of John in Cultural and Rhetorical Perspective brings the book into clear focus as a truly “maverick gospel.”
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Beyond The Qumran Community
$29.99Add to cartWith the full publication of the Dead Sea Scrolls, fresh analysis of the evidence presented can be – and indeed, should be – made. Beyond the Qumran Community does just that, reaching a surprising conclusion: the sect described in the Dead Sea Scrolls developed later than has usually been supposed and was never confined to the site of Qumran.
John J. Collins here aims to deconstruct “the Qumran community” and show that the sectarian documents actually come from a text spread throughout the land. He first examines the Community Rule or Yahad. Rather than confirming the general assumption that this rulebook relates to a monastic-style community living at the site of Qumran, Collins finds instead that the Essene accounts themselves emphasize that they had settlements in every city. He also considers the Teacher of Righteousness, a pivotal figure in the Essene movement, discovering that he was probably active in the first century bce rather than in the Maccabean era. After examining the available evidence, Collins concludes that it is, in fact, overwhelmingly likely that the site of Qumran housed merely a single settlement of this widespread movement.
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Hebrew Gospel And The Development Of The Synoptic Tradition
$39.99Add to cartThis book offers a new explanation of the development of the first three gospels based on a careful examination of both patristic testimony and internal evidence among the books themselves.
James Edwards posits a number of fascinating theories in his coherent hypothesis of the origins of these gospels. He argues that the original language of the Hebrew Gospel was Hebrew, rather than Aramaic. He further discusses why the Hebrew Gospel is no longer extant, including the role anti-Judaism played in its demise and neglect in Christian scholarship. Perhaps his most controversial assertion, however, comes on the heels of his thorough review of the origin of and scholarly evidence for the “Q” hypothesis proposed by Schleiermacher: Edwards concludes that “Q” is no longer necessary- or even scholarly defensible. Instead the canonical Greek Matthew concludes the synoptic tradition and Mark and Luke draw directly from it.
Each chapter in this book plows new ground and challenges assumptions in the New Testament guild that have long been held but that lack solid evidence. Edwards has written a groundbreaking book that will force scholars to reconsider the way they conceive of the formation of the synoptic tradition.
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Priestly Vision Of Genesis 1
$29.00Add to cartFor many readers, Genesis 1-2 is simply the biblical account of creation. But ancient Israel could speak of creation in different ways, and the cultures of the ancient near east provided an even richer repertoire of creation myths. Mark S. Smith explores the nuances of what would become the premiere creation account in the Hebrew Bible and the serene priestly theology that informed it. That vision of an ordered cosmos, Smith argues, is evidence of the emergence of a mystical theology among priests in post-exilic Israel, and the placement of Genesis 1-2 at the beginning of Israel’s great epic is their sustained critique of the theology of divine conflict that saturated ancient near eastern creation myths. Smith’s treatment of Genesis 1 provides rich historical and theological insights into the biblical presentation of creation and the Creator.
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Handbook On The Prophets (Reprinted)
$45.00Add to cart“A welcome addition to the books on the Hebrew prophets. It will help readers find their way through the complexities of the writings themselves and also through the thickets of varying interpretations.”–John N. Oswalt, Wesley Biblical Seminary
The prophetic books of the Bible contain some of the most difficult passages in the entire Old Testament and can prove especially confusing for those new to this corpus. Handbook on the Prophets offers a thorough and insightful introduction for the beginning student of the Old Testament prophetic literature. Robert Chisholm guides students through the important and often complex writings of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the Minor Prophets. Rather than attempting to provide a detailed verse-by-verse commentary, the handbook focuses on the prevailing themes and central messages of the prophetic books.
Chisholm begins each chapter with a brief analysis of the social and historical setting of the book under discussion. As he works through each of the writings, Chisholm describes the structure, content, and important concepts found therein. Without becoming mired in overly technical issues or academic jargon, Chisholm considers critical issues whenever they are important for the interpretation of a particular passage. In general, however, he focuses more broadly on the theological themes that characterize the work as a whole. In each case, he considers how the message of the prophets would have been heard in their respective historical communities and the prophets’ continuing importance for contemporary study.
In addition to those who are new to the prophets, seminarians and students of advanced biblical studies will find this volume enlightening and helpful as they forge their way through the prophetic books. Handbook on the Prophets will also be a valuable resource for pastors and teachers to refer to in their teaching and exposition of this portion of Scripture. The value of the handbook is further enhanced by the extensive bibliographies that are provided for continued study.
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Are You The One Who Is To Come
$28.00Add to cart“Jesus understood himself as designated by God as the Messiah of Israel.” This thesis may strike many historical-Jesus scholars as dangerously bold. But through careful study of the Gospels, Second Temple literature, and other period texts, scholar Michael Bird makes a persuasive argument that Jesus saw himself as performing the role attributed to the messiah in the Scriptures of Israel and believed that Israel’s restoration hinged on the outcome of his ministry.
Bird begins by exploring messianic expectations in the Old Testament and in Second Temple Judaism, finding in them an evolving messianism that provides historical context for Jesus’ life and teaching. Next, he examines the prevailing contention that the messianic claim originated not with Jesus himself but in the preaching of the early church. Bird argues that such contentions lack cogency and often skew the evidence. Examining the Gospels and related literature, he then shows that what Jesus said and did demonstrates that he believed he was Israel’s messiah. His career was “performatively messianic” in a way that shows continuity in eschatological terms between Israel and the church.
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Nelsons New Testament Survey
$29.99Add to cartEach book of the New Testament is introduced and investigated with scholarship and biblical faithfulness. Includes all the information usually found in a Bible handbook – author, date, historical background, purpose, outline – but it goes much further.
The authors provide an exposition of every passage in the New Testament, written in contemporary, understandable language. Sidebars and inserts offer other valuable reference material such as lists of the parables of Jesus, the miracles of Jesus, and key theological principles.
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Judaism The First Phase
$34.99Add to cartMost studies of how early Judaism related to the non-Jewish world and how it was perceived by others start no earlier than the Hellenistic period. Joseph Blenkinsopp argues that we must go further back, to the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and its temple and the liquidation of the political and religious infrastructure – monarchy, priesthood, scribalism, prophecy – which had sustained the Judean state for centuries.
Moving beyond the ideologically driven approaches of scholars over the past two centuries, he explores such pragmatic issues as the emergence of a distinctive group identity in the aftermath of the fall of the Judean state, the degree of continuity-discontinuity between national identity before the exile and competition among distinct group for legitimacy after it, and the historical realities behind the idea of a “restoration” in a fundamentally different world, with neither monarchy nor statehood and a much-diminished temple.
Judaism, the First Phase is a fresh – and potentially stunning – look at Jewish origins, tracing the legacy of Ezra and Nehemiah. Ideal for scholars and students.
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Dead Sea Scrolls On Sexuality
$45.99Add to cartWilliam Loader here investigates the Dead Sea Scrolls, mining every document of potential relevance for understanding ancient attitudes towards sexuality, aside from the biblical writings – and there are many such documents. They include the Temple Scroll, 4QMMT, the Damascus Document, and a number of legal, liturgical, wisdom, and exegetical documents. These texts treat a wide range of matters pertaining to sexuality, from ritual and cultic concerns to visions of human community and family in future expectation. Far from the common view that the writers of the Scrolls held a low view of sexuality and marriage, Loader concludes that most of these sources reflect an affirmative stance towards sex and marriage within a framework of clear boundaries marking out where sex did and did not belong.
The Dead Sea Scrolls on Sexuality offers the first comprehensive treatment of this subject and comprises both detailed exegetical discussion of each work and a synthetic analysis of themes. The attention to detail displayed and the helpful summaries included make this book an indispensable resource for both scholar and general reader.
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Disturbing Divine Behavior
$29.00Add to cartHow should we understand biblical texts where God is depicted as acting irrationally, violently, or destructively? If we distance ourselves from disturbing portrayals of God, how should we understand the authority of Scripture? How does the often wrathful God portrayed in the Old Testament relate to the God of love proclaimed in the New Testament? Is that contrast even accurate?
Disturbing Divine Behavior addresses these perennially vexing questions for the student of the Bible. Eric A. Seibert calls for an engaged and discerning reading of the Old Testament that distinguishes the particular literary and theological goals achieved through narrative characterizations of God from the rich understanding of the divine to which the Old Testament as a whole points. Providing illuminating reflections on theological reading as well, this book will be a welcome resource for any readers who puzzle over disturbing representations of God in the Bible.
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Heaven And Earth In The Gospel Of Matthew
$46.00Add to cartThe theme of heaven and earth is a much-overlooked aspect of the Gospel of Matthew. In this work, rising scholar Jonathan Pennington articulates a fresh perspective on this key interpretive issue. He challenges both the scholarly consensus on the kingdom of heaven in Matthew and a popular dispensationalist understanding, overturning some long-held assumptions in New Testament scholarship.
Pennington argues that rather than being a reverent way of referring to God as is typically assumed, “heaven” in Matthew is part of a highly developed discourse of heaven and earth language. He explains that Matthew’s way of using heaven language serves one overriding theological purpose: to highlight the tension that currently exists between heaven and earth or God and humanity, while looking forward to its eschatological resolution. Now available in paperback, this volume will appeal to students of the New Testament, including those interested in its theological and pastoral applications.
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Covenant Economics : A Biblical Vision Of Justice For All
$39.00Add to cartThe Bible deals with all aspects of life indivisibly. In the last generation biblical scholars broadened the usual focus on religious issues with more attention to the “social world” of biblical texts. Much less attention was given to economic issues reflected in the Bible. And biblical scholars did not make the limited amount of research on economic issues in the Bible generally accessible to educated readers, clergy and lay. This book does just that, allowing pastors, students, and interested laity to form an understanding about the economics of the Bible and its clarion call for economic justice for all, an issue that is sure to resonate during today’s trying economic times. Questions for discussion and suggestions for further reading are included in this volume-a work that will spark lively conversation.
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Unsettling God : The Heart Of The Hebrew Bible
$27.00Add to cartIn the pages of the Hebrew Bible, ancient Israel gave witness to its encounter with a profound and uncontrollable reality experienced through relationship. This book, drawn from the heart of foremost Old Testament theologian Walter Brueggemann’s Theology of the Old Testament, distills a career’s worth of insights into the core message of the Hebrew Bible. God is described there, Brueggemann observes, as engaging four “partners”-Israel, the nations, creation, and the human being-in the divine purpose. This volume presents Brueggemann at his most engaging, offering profound insights tailored especially for the beginning student of the Hebrew Bible.
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Early Judaism : Texts And Documents On Faith And Piety
$34.00Add to cartJewish writings from the period of Second Temple present a rich and potentially overwhelming variety of first-hand materials. George W. E. Nickelsburg and Michael E. Stone, experts on this formative period, have updated their classic sourcebook on Jewish beliefs and practices to take into account current thinking about the sources and to include new documents, including texts from Qumran not available in the first edition, in a brilliantly organized synthesis.
Included are chapters on Jewish sects and parties, the Temple and worship in it, ideals of piety and conduct, expectations concerning deliverance, judgment, and vindication, different conceptions of the agents of God’s activity, and the figure of Lady Wisdom in relationship to Israel.
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Revelation Of John
$30.00Add to cartAs the only book of its kind in the New Testament, Revelation can be difficult to understand, and for readers without specialized training, the historical-critical approach used in many commentaries can provide more complication than illumination. Here James Resseguie applies the easily understandable tools introduced in his primer on narrative criticism to this challenging book. He shows how Revelation uses such features as rhetoric, setting, character, point of view, plot, symbolism, style, and repertoire to construct its meaning. This literary approach draws out the theological and homiletical message of the book and highlights its major unifying themes: the need to listen well, an overwhelmingly God-centered perspective, and the exodus to a new promised land. Here is a valuable aid for pastor and serious lay reader alike.
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From Moab To Bethlehem
$34.99Add to cartFrom Moab to Bethlehem…Journey to the King is an in-depth study of the biblical book of Ruth. Full of deep insights by author Cynthia Shomaker, it traces the footsteps of Naomi and Ruth and takes the reader on an inspiring journey from doubt, despair and defeat to triumphant faith and satisfying fulfillment. First taught to a small Bible study group, the 44 lessons in From Moab to Bethlehem address issues every person deals with, among them: the temptation to trust in earthly things, failed expectations, responding to loss, disillusionment and despair, past sins and other debilitating conditions, self-doubts and insecurities and false saviors. Along the way, it constantly points the reader to Jesus, the King, the true Savior and Redeemer, who much like Boaz, Ruth’s kinsman-redeemer, is not only able to redeem fully, but to provide “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.” This inspirational book challenges us to dare to leave our “Moabs” behind, venture by faith onto the pathway to Bethlehem, the “House of Bread,” and find there in Christ everything we’ll ever need. Terry Beh- editor
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1 Tittle Shall In No Wise Pass
$32.00Add to cartDr. Kulus book is a thorough examination and refutation of the false premise by many scholars that the vowels were not inspired or present in the Hebrew text from the beginning. Every library, pastor, teacher, missionary, and evangelist should have this VERY important work in his library.
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Thy Kingdom Come
$29.49Add to cartThy Kingdom Come is a panoramic overview of the present reign of Jesus Christ at the right hand of God the Father and of the future consummation of that reign. It presents three authoritative apostolic New Testament guidelines for the interpretation of the Old Testament prophecies. It fairly examines the three main positions on the millennium and offers scriptural conclusions that incorporate elements of truth from all three. Detailed expositions of the 110th Psalm and the book of Revelation are based on the apostolic guidelines.
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Through His Eyes
$26.00Add to cartEve, Sarah, Deborah, Mary, the woman at the well…; women have played pivotal roles in redemptive history. Their case studies reveal God’s perspective on women, then and now. Few biblical teachings have been as misunderstood and muddled by those inside and outside the church as its instruction concerning women. Through His Eyes answers the question “What does God think about women, and how does he treat them?” by walking readers through several biblical case studies. Through His Eyes begins with Eve and a series of Old Testament examples that demonstrate the respect God gives to women and their significant place in salvation history. In the New Testament we see how God blessed Mary by calling her to be the mother of our Savior and how beautifully Jesus treated women. Here is a happy exposition of the dignity and glory the Lord showers on women. The author encourages women to delight in their creation and calling, and he challenges men to honor women as does the Lord himself.
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Early Narrative Christology
$44.00Add to cartDespite the striking frequency with which the Greek word for kyrios (Lord) occurs in Luke’s Gospel, this study is the first comprehensive analysis of Luke’s use of this word. Rowe offers a careful exegetical discussion of all the passages in the Gospel that use kyrios for Jesus in order to trace the complex and deliberate development in Luke’s narrative of Jesus’s identity as Lord. Detailed attention to Luke’s artistry and use of Mark demonstrates that Luke has a nuanced and sophisticated christology. For Rowe, Luke’s use of kyrios for Jesus not only after the resurrection but throughout shows Jesus’s close association with the God of Israel. This book, now available in paperback, was first published in hardcover by Walter de Gruyter.
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Introduction To The Prophets
$40.99Add to cartIntroduction to the Prophets is a helpful guide to reading the prophetic books of the Christian canon, discussing the Major and Minor Prophets in their canonical order. It is intended to introduce modern readers to the ancient books. Paul Redditt assumes little or no prior knowledge of the prophets on the part of the reader. For example, when he introduces technical terms, he takes care to define them and includes a glossary for complete reference. Each chapter discusses The place of each book in the canon The literary setting of each book Their structure, integrity, and authorship The main genre(s) in each Special features of each book Basic emphasis of each book Problems – theological, literary, or historical – raised Redditt eschews review questions at the end of the chapters, instead offering questions for further reflection. Introduction to the Prophets also includes three chapters discussing the nature of prophecy, methods developed by scholars to use in studying the Bible, the rise of the “Book of Twelve,” and the approach taken to them here. This book is helpful and thorough, perfect as a text or for anyone hoping to delve deeper into the prophets.
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At Home In A Strange Land
$28.00Add to cartThe Old Testament is a problem for many Christians. Some find it puzzling, or even offensive; others seem to glibly misuse it for their own ends. There are few resources aimed at enabling ordinary Christians to understand the OT and use it in their lives as followers of Jesus.
In this book At Home in a Strange Land: Using the Old Testament in Christian Ethics, Andrew Sloane seeks to address this need. He outlines some of the problems that ordinary Christians face in reading the Old Testament as part of Christian Scripture and provides a framework for interpreting the Old Testament and using it in Christian ethics. He identifies some of the key biblical texts of both the Old Testament and the New Testament that both inform Christian ethics and challenge us to live as God’s people. Using the paradigm of learning to travel in unfamiliar places, Sloane seeks to equip the reader with tools for understanding many of the puzzling and difficult passages found in the Old Testament. In sum, the book aims to “rehabilitate” the Old Testament for ordinary, even skeptical, 21st century Christians.
While many of the issues have been covered elsewhere, there is very little that seeks to bring together questions of interpretation and “ethical application” in one book aimed at lay people. The book would also be valuable in a college course on Christian ethics.
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Story Of God
$29.99Add to cart1. How God’s Story Gets Told
2. The Beginning Of God’s Story : The Doctrine Of Creation
3. The Tragedy Of God’s Story : The Doctrine Of Sin
4. The Jewish People In God’s Story : The Doctrine Of Covenants
5. A New Twist In God’s Story : The Doctrine Of Christ
6. Living In God’s Story : The Doctrine Of The Church
7. The End Of God’s Story : The Doctrine Of Last ThingsAdditional Info
Since its publication in 1994, The Story of God has played an important role in implementing and advancing the study of narrative theology. One of the first books to formulate and examine Wesleyan theology using the Bible’s overarching story, it continues to serve as a popular text in colleges and universities and as a reliable resource for ministers and theologians.Unlike other books, which use a topical or systematic approach to understanding theology, The Story of God uses the flesh-and-blood stories of the Bible to help readers see the complete picture of God s love for the world and in doing so, gain a better understanding and appreciation for the Christian faith.
Updated and revised to include current language and ideologies, this new edition provides readers with an even more engaging and accessible introduction to Christian theology. Drawing from Scripture, everyday experience, and contemporary reflection, Michael Lodahl weaves together the stories and themes of the Bible to present a compelling picture of the grand story of God and the amazing love He has for His people.
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Memories Of Ancient Israel
$35.00Add to cartRecent years have seen an explosion of writing on the history of Israel, prompted largely by definitive archaeological surveys and attempts to write a genuine archaeological history of ancient Israel and Judah. The scholarly world has also witnessed an intense confrontation between so-called minimalists and maximalists over the correct approach to the historicity of the Bible. Memories of Ancient Israel looks at the issues at stake in doing biblical historythe ideologies involved, the changing role of archaeology, and the influence of cultural contexts, both ancient and modern. Davies suggests a different way of defining the problem of reliability and historicity by employing the theory of cultural memory. In doing so, he provides a better explanation of how ancient societies constructed their past but also a penetrating insight into the ideological underpinnings of today’s scholarly debates.
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Christ And Caesar
$27.99Add to cartThe slogan “Paul and the Empire” is much in vogue in New Testament scholarship today. But did Paul truly formulate his gospel in antithesis to the Roman imperial cult and ideology and seek to subvert the Empire? In Christ and Caesar Seyoon Kim first examines five epistles of Paul exegetically and shows how the dominant anti-imperial interpretation is actually difficult to sustain.
Next he examines the Lukan writings (Luke-Acts) to see how Luke talks about the encounters of Paul and other gospel preachers with Roman imperialism. Kim explores why it is that Luke makes no effort to present Christ’s redemption as materialized in terms of political liberation. Finally, Kim compares the exaltation Christologies of Luke, Revelation, Paul, and Hebrews and inquires about the hermeneutical possibility of developing a political Christology in our present-day context.
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Q The Earliest Gospel
$30.00Add to cartDid the lost gospel known as “Q” exist? What is its significance to modern Christianity? In this thought-provoking study, Kloppenborg contends that this “sayings gospel” predated the Synoptic accounts and focused not on Jesus’ salvific death but on his nature as a prophetic critic of unbelief and his vision for a just society.
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Challenging Prophetic Metaphor
$38.00Add to cartThe prophets of the Old Testament use a wide variety of metaphors to describe God and to portray how to understand people in relation to God. Some of these metaphors are familiar and soothing; others are unfamiliar and confusing. Still others portray God in ways that are difficult and uncomfortableGod as abusive husband, for instance, or as neglectful father. Julia OBrien searches the prophetic books for these metaphors, looking for ways that the different images intersect and build off each other. When confronted with disturbing metaphors, she deals with them unflinchingly, providing a sharp critique and evaluation of the interpretations of these metaphors for God. Giving particular attention to the possible uses of these metaphors in the church todayfor good or illOBrien listens to the fullness of the prophetic messages and points us toward new ways to read these theological metaphors for a just faith today.
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Adventure The Long Walk
$26.99Add to cartHave you found Christ yet? Your path has been opened without limits; this story shows you the way. Your path is no farther than the New Testament of the Bible, for Jesus has cleared the way for you. This venture will take you there, and as you read the Word, know this: you also have gone “afterchrist.”
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Dead Sea Scrolls And The Hasmonean State
$33.99Add to cartThe Dead Sea Scrolls and the Hasmonean State is the first book dedicated solely to the question of how we can learn political history from the Qumran scrolls. This English edition of Hanan Eshel’s 2004 Hebrew publication updates that earlier work with more recent scholarship, now also including English-language resources.
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Guide To The Dead Sea Scrolls And Related Literature (Expanded)
$32.99Add to cartMany scholars wishing to consult a specific text in the Dead Sea Scrolls encounter a very specific difficulty: finding where it has been published. The scrolls are found in many publications, especially in the 39 volumes of the series “Discoveries in the Judean Desert.” Here they are not published in any systematic way, but in the order in which they were ready for publication. Joseph Fitzmyer seeks to remedy that situation. His A Guide to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature starts by explaining the conventional system of abbreviations for the Scrolls. Then it helpfully lists specifically where readers can find each of the scrolls and fragmentary texts from the eleven caves of Qumran and all the related sites. Fitzmyer supplies information on tools of study helpful for scholars – concordances, dictionaries, translations, outlines of longer texts, and more – and briefly indications electronic resources for the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls. This winning guide makes navigating the sprawl of scrolls and information much more straightforward.
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Father Son And Spirit
$28.00Add to cartSeries Preface
Authors’ Preface
AbbreviationsIntroduction: John’s Gospel And The Church’s Doctrine Of The Trinity
Part I: Historical Context
Part II: Biblical Foundations
Part III: Theological ReflectionsConclusion
Bibliography
Index Of Authors
Index Of Scripture References
Index Of Ancient SourcesAdditional Info
From the patristic period until today, John’s Gospel has served as a major source for the church’s knowledge, doctrine and worship of the triune God. Among all New Testament documents the Fourth Gospel provides not only the most raw material for the doctrine of the Trinity, but also the most highly developed patterns of reflection on this material-particularly patterns that seek to account in some way for the distinct personhood and divinity of Father, Son and Spirit without compromising the unity of God.While there have been recent, fine studies on aspects of John’s doctrine of God, it is surprising that none summarizes and synthasizes what John has to say about God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In order to fill this gap, Kostenberger and Swain offer a fresh examination of John’s trinitarian vision in this New Studies in Biblical Theology volume.
Part One situates John’s trinitarian teaching within the context of Second Temple Jewish monotheism. Part Two examines the Gospel narrative in order to trace the characterization of God as Father, Son and Spirit, followed by a brief synthesis. Part Three deals more fully with major trinitarian themes in the Fourth Gospel, including its account of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and mission. A final chapter discusses the significance of John’s Gospel for the church’s doctrine of the Trinity, and a brief conclusion summarizes some practical implications.
Addressing key issues in biblical theology, the works comprising New Studies in Biblical Theology are creative attempts to help Christians better understand their Bibles. The NSBT series is edited by D. A. Carson, aiming to simultaneously instruct and to edify, to interact with current scholarship and to point the way ahead.
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Rewriting Scripture In Second Temple Times
$26.99Add to cartRewriting Scripture in Second Temple Times investigates the phenomenon of inner-scriptural exegesis in six of the major works found at Qumran: the pre-Samaritan Scripture texts; Reworked Pentateuch; the Temple Scroll; Jubilees; the Genesis Apocryphon; and Commentary on Genesis A. What these works show, contends Sidnie White Crawford, is that there was a spectrum of texts, beginning with the scriptural text, moving to a harmonized scriptural text, and then beyond, to entirely new compositions. All of these texts are the products of a particular understanding of the work of the scribe, which was to not merely copy, but to also interpret, update, and make relevant the Scripture for the contemporary Jewish community. This understanding led to texts that were “rewritten.” Interpretation took place within the texts, not separately from them. Propounding a new theory of how these texts cohere as a group, especially in her assertion that they can be identified with the Essenes and that the pre-Samaritan scriptural texts are a product of this interpretive school, Crawford offers an original and evocative work for anybody interested in the Second Temple period.
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Kings And Their Gods
$25.99Add to cartThe scenario that confronts us in First and Second Kings is one of turbulence. Daniel Berrigan minces no words in his assessment of this biblical era. Prophets, kings, and the gods they worship – all are found wanting. In seven chapters of The Kings and Their Gods he examines the complex terrain of these two biblical books, opening our eyes to the stories of these characters that we have not seen before. He further forces us to see that this dark time in biblical history is in many ways repeating itself today. The wars of these kings, he says, are our wars today, and we are fashioning our own gods to approve our misdeeds. These two books come to vivid life with the realization of their similarity to our own time. With these parallels, Berrigan incisively indicts us, not excluding himself in this judgment. However, he also points to the light that is possible from this darkness, enjoining us to speak and do the Word, making it alive in the world today. The Kings and Their Gods reveals Berrigan in stunning form. Here this modern-day prophet distills the wisdom of his life, his learning, and his remarkable experience. It is both a masterful biblical commentary and a clarion call to action. This is truly a midrash for our troubled times – both an indictment of the horror that is and an invitation to the great goodness that may be.
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Gospel Of Luke And The Acts Of The Apostles
$27.99Add to cartIntroduces literary, historical, and theological issues of Luke and Acts.
Biblical texts create worlds of meaning, and invite readers to enter them. When readers enter such textual worlds, which are often strange and complex, they are confronted with theological claims. With this in mind, the purpose of the Interpreting Biblical Texts series is to help serious readers in their experience of reading and interpreting by providing guides for their journeys into textual worlds. The controlling perspective is expressed in the operative word of the title–interpreting. The primary focus of the series is not so much on the world behind the texts or out of which the texts have arisen as on the worlds created by the texts in their engagement with readers.
In keeping with the goals of the series, this volume provides an introductory guide to readers of the New Testament books of Luke and Acts. It focuses on both the synchronic and diachronic dimensions of the literature in an effort to acquaint readers with literary, historical, and theological issues that will facilitate interpretation of these important books.
F. Scott Spencer is Professor of New Testament at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond.
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Kingdom Of Priests (Reprinted)
$45.00Add to cartFrom the origins and exodus to the restoration and new hope, Kingdom of Priests offers a comprehensive introduction to the history of Old Testament Israel. Merrill explores the history of ancient Israel not only from Old Testament texts but also from the literary and archeological sources of the ancient Near East. After selling more than 30,000 copies, the book has now been updated and revised. The second edition addresses and interacts with current debates in the history of ancient Israel, offering an up-to-date articulation of a conservative evangelical position on historical matters. The text is accented with nearly twenty maps and charts.
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Aspects Of The Atonement
$29.99Add to cartThe Christian understanding of the meaning of the death of Jesus Christ and its relationship to the salvation of sinful humanity is currently the subject of intense debate and criticism. In the first two chapters Howard Marshall discusses the nature of the human plight in relation to the judgment of God and then offers a nuanced defence of the doctrine of the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ for sinners. The third chapter examines the place of the resurrection of Christ as an integral part of the process whereby sinners are put in the right with God. In the final chapter, Marshall argues that in our communication of the gospel today the New Testament concept of reconciliation may be the most comprehensive and apt expression of the lasting significance of the death of Christ. The papers are expanded versions of the 2006 series of Chuen King Lectures given in the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
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Partial Rapture Theory Explained
$28.99Add to cartThe Rapture of the Bride of Christ is the next event scheduled inside the plan of God which was spoken into existence complete from beginning to end in a “moment” before time. With its occurrence the Church Age will come to its conclusion and the final chapter of the history of the world will begin with The Great Tribulation. All who have failed to heed the warnings clearly stated by the Word of God that would have pointed each to an escape of this gruesome period of history, will be engulfed by the horrors it will bring. Deceit, betrayal and perversion will be the norm. No one will be safe or can be trusted. Once entered, the only available exit will be through the passageway of physical death which will be so common as to not be a second thought on the mind of a twisted and bloodthirsty world.
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Paul Missionary Of Jesus
$28.99Add to cartWas Paul the “second founder” of Christianity, striking off in directions Jesus never envisaged and teaching lessons Christ never endorsed? In this study Paul Barnett sets out to establish that, current theories aside, the apostle was a true missionary of Jesus, authentically extending the Lord’s mission. Barnett argues that Paul’s own writings are supplemented by Luke’s contemporaneously written narrative of the Acts of the Apostles. He follows Paul on a decade of travels, examining the apostle in a historic context as well as revealed by Paul’s own writings. Along the way, Barnett addresses a number of questions, such as Why did Paul persecute Christians when his teacher, Gamaliel, was against it? Was Paul converted or “called”? Are the “new perspectives on Paul” true to the evidence? and Why was Romans so important as a statement of Paul’s “gospel”? Including several maps of Paul’s travels and five helpful appendixes, Paul, Missionary of Jesus is ideal for anyone interested in Pauline studies and for those seeking out the historical truth of Christianity. Paul, Missionary of Jesus is Volume 2 of a trilogy titled After Jesus, following volume 1, The Birth of Christianity: The First Twenty Years. Volume 3 (forthcoming) will be Finding the Historical Christ.
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Touching The Altar
$25.99Add to cartWhat does it mean to be in the presence of God’s holiness? How can it affect us whether we seek it out or stumble upon it? Can it truly change our very reality to encounter it? The essayists in this volume explore these questions at the heart of Christian worship, considering the oft-neglected Old Testament as essential to know what we’re about when we begin to worship. Following the movement of the Hebrew canon – beginning with the Pentateuch, moving through to the Psalms, then wisdom literature – the chapters each consider a separate aspect of worship, from theater to the Sabbath to sacred space, offering new inspiration. Evocative woodcut artwork by Margaret Adams Parker provides a striking backdrop to the text. Written primarily by Old Testament professors, Touching the Altar will make a stirring supplemental text for introductory or elective Old Testament courses. The engaging essays will also go far toward providing deeper worship for any Christian.
