Reconciling Christians offers 40 biblically-based meditations, with questions for reflection, for use at weekly gatherings (6 weeks) or for everyday devotion during Lent.

John Henry Newman is recognized as one of the greatest Christian thinkers of the modern age. He was also a man of prayer and deep spirituality. A. N. Wilson's wide-ranging anthology of Newman's prayers, poems and meditations will appeal to all those who are fascinated by this inspirational man. The readings cover the general themes of faith, prayer, the contemplation of Christ, discipleship, the meaning of holiness, and the hope of heaven. In an engaging Introduction, Wilson brings fresh insight to Newman's life and thought. This carefully arranged anthology will provide comfort and sustenance to all those who cherish Newman's writings and to those who are keen to discover one of our best loved spiritual writers for the first time.

This book is a study of the text and language of the earliest Latin versions of the four Gospels. In it the author seeks to cast new light on their origins, translation techniques, and value as a source for vulgar Latin.

In the history of nineteenth-century religious thought, William Robertson Smith occupies an ambiguous position. More than any other writer, he stimulated the theories of religion later advanced by Frazer, Durkheim, and Freud. Smith himself was not an original scholar, but was rather "clever at presenting other men's theories" within new and sometimes hostile contexts. Smith was an important contributor to two of the most serious challenges to Christian orthodoxy of the last century, the "Higher Criticism" of the Bible and the comparative study of religion, and was also the victim of the last successful heresy trial in Great Britain. Yet he was an utterly devout Protestant, whose views on Biblical criticism (for which he was damned) are now considered as true as his views on totemism and sacrifice (for which he was praised) are now considered false. Despite Smith's enormous significance for the history of religious ideas, he has been written about relatively little, and most of what we know about his life and work comes from a source almost a century old. Originally published in 1882, The Prophets of Israel is a collection of eight lectures, including "Israel and Jehovah;" "Jehovah and the Gods of the Nations," "Amos and the House of Jehu," "Hosea and the Fall of Ephraim," "The Kingdom of Judah and the Beginnings of Isaiah's Work," "The Earlier Prophesies of Isaiah," "Isaiah and Micah in the Reign of Hezekiah," and "The Deliverance from Assyria."A new introduction by Robert Alun Jones discusses Smith's early life, the heresy trial, Smith's early view of prophecy, and the classic text itself. The book will be of interest to students and teachers of religious studies, and general readers interested in Robertson Smith.

In this study, Irene Backus examines the fate of the Apocalypse at the hands of early Protestants in three centres of the Reformation: Geneva, Zurich, and Wittenberg. To do so, Backus systematically investigates sources and methods on the most important reformed and Lutheran commentaries of the Apocalypse from 1528-1584.

'The followers of Jesus are to be different,' writes John Stott, 'different from both the nominal church and the secular world, different from both the religious and the irreligious. The Sermon on the Mount is the most complete delineation anywhere in the New Testament of the Christian counter-culture. Here is a Christian value-system, ethical, standard, religious devotion, attitude to money, ambition, lifestyle and network of relationships - all of which are totally at variance with those in the non-Christian world. And this Christian counter-culture is the life of the Kingdom of God, a fully human life indeed but lived out under the divine rule.' In his careful exposition of the Sermon on the Mount, John Stott accurately expounds the biblical text and relates it to life today. Above all, the author says, he wants to let Christ speak this sermon again, this time to the modern world.

The Pelagian controversy - whether man is saved through predestination or by his own free will - has proved one of the most enduring and fiercely contended issues of the Christian church, and has secured Pelagius a lasting place within its history. Few of Pelagius' writings, however, have been preserved, and until recently none was available in English translation. This volume presents Pelagius' commentary on Paul's Letter to the Romans for the first time in English. The commentary, one of thirteen on the Pauline Epistles, dates from the time when Pelagius was active in Rome, before he became embroiled in controversy. But already there are adumbrations of the later debate and signs of different currents of thought in Italy and beyond. In his introduction Theodore de Bruyn discusses the context in which Pelagius wrote the commentary and the issues which shaped his interpretation of Romans. He also takes up questions about the edition of the commentary. The translation is annotated with references to Pelagius' contemporaries. A new recension of Pelagius' text of Romans is presented in an appendix.

Essays by the veteran archaeologist Magen Broshi covering various aspects of both the material and spiritual life of ancient Palestine in the biblical and post-biblical periods. This volume of essays by Magen Broshi, formerly Curator of the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Archaeological Museum in Jerusalem and a veteran archaeologist, covers various aspects of both the material and spiritual life of ancient Palestine in the biblical and post-biblical period. Among the topics addressed in this entertaining and illuminating book are wine and food consumption, studies of population, the ancient city of Jerusalem, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the use and abuse of archaeology in historical and biblical research. This volume is designed for scholars and for any non-specialists with a keen interest in ancient life in the Holy Land.

For over one hundred years International Critical Commentaries have had a special place among works on the Bible. They bring together all the relevant aids to exegesis - linguistic, textual, archaeological, historical, literary, and theological - to help the reader understand the meaning of the books of the Old and New Testaments. The new commentaries continue this tradition. All new evidence now available is incorporated and new methods of study are applied. The authors are of the highest international standing. No attempt has been made to secure a uniform theological or critical approach to the biblical text: contributors have been invited for their scholarly distinction, not for their adherence to any one school of thought. >

’n Reenboog deur my trane is ’n bron van ryke troos en bemoediging vir enigeen wat treur oor die verlies van ’n geliefde en wat genesing soek vir hulle verskeurde harte. Dit bied 31 dagstukkies, gebede en inspirerende aanhalings wat God se vertroosting in onstuimige tyde met die leser deel, asook ’n lys van beloftes uit die Bybel vir spesifieke behoeftes in tye van nood.

In this provocative book, the author argues that American Christianity, especially evangelicalism, has been corrupted by the dominance of consumerism in modern life. The church's mostly uncritical adoption of this secular condition has resulted in an idolatrous morphing of the message of Christ into just another brand. With Brand Jesus, Wigg Stevenson names the growing concern felt by many Christians at the commodification of their faith.

Using Paul's letter to the Romans as a starting point, Wigg Stevenson 'reads' the letter to today's church, speaking to our consumerist situation through the parallels with Paul's Rome. Though rooted unapologetically in a love for the church, Brand Jesus does not shy away from provocative claims about the melding of Christian faith and consumer ideals; the rise of market-driven theology; the blurring boundaries between the law and religion; and other topics. Wigg Stevenson describes the current situation of both church and society and issues a challenge to it: When faith is a product for consumption, how can the church be faithful to Christ as living Lord, instead of as Brand Jesus?

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In this concise study, John Perry enables the reader to see that the Transfiguration story does not recount an actual event, but was created to teach an important "symbolic" lesson abou thte Risen Jesus. To that end, he explains: (1) the conflict within the early church that called the story into being; (2) the nature ofmidrash and the role that it played in the formation of the story. Perry then considers why Mark, the writer of the first Gospel, decided to modify the Transfiguration story known to him and use it in his Gospel. Finally, answers are provided for 12 questiosn frequently prompted by contemporary readings of this story. These answers shed considerable light on the way the early church went about the task of preserving and interpreting the sacred history of Jesus.

The narrative of Holy Week is powerful and painful, and because we know how the story ends it's easy to gloss over the difficult details, and stay in the comfort zone of our understanding. Stephen Cottrell brings home, vividly and poignantly, the physical reality of the passion story. This is a book to stimulate thought, provoke discussion and create space for contemplation. 'In order to understand the cross you need to stand under it . . . with the imagination as well as the mind . . . This book aims to help in that process . . . But however you use it - on your own or with others - I hope you will receive some small appreciation of just how much the cross weighs, and maybe even pick it up yourself.' From the Introduction

For God alone my soul in silence waits.... In these reflections on Psalm 62 Margaret Guenther provides the foundation for a time of reflection and retreat without ever leaving home. The book s first chapter introduces us to ways of making a retreat wherever we are, at a place apart or in the midst of our daily lives. Guenther then offers eight meditations on Psalm 62, with its themes of waiting on God s presence with patience, trust, and expectation. She explores the images the psalm evokes of longing, silence, waiting, safety, enemies, and God as a rock and refuge. As in all her books, Guenther finds new ways to explore these ancient themes with the wit and practicality of an accomplished storyteller. These eight meditations can be read consecutively over the course of a single day or weekend, or spaced over time with periods of reflection in between. Each meditation ends with ideas for further prayer and pondering. My Soul in Silence Waits is one of our series of Cowley Cloister Books: smaller format, gift edition books designed for meditative and devotional reading.

This is the first English translation of the Venerable Bede's commentary on the book of Genesis. Dealing as it does with the biblical account of the creation of the world and of mankind, and of mankind's fall from grace and exile into the life of time, On Genesis offers essential insights into Bede's fundamental assumptions as a theologian, historian, and scientific cosmologist. Bede's role in laying the foundations of the modern world cannot be overemphasised. From his quantitative approach to questions of science to his introduction of the Anno Domini system of dating and his text-critical methods of biblical analysis, he anticipated and influenced modern ways of thinking. Bede regarded the opening chapters of Genesis as the foundation narrative of the world. From it Bede derived the theoretical basis for his scientific treatises and his notion of the English as a chosen people of God, which informs the Ecclesiastical History. This translation and introduction attempts to make Bede's commentary accessible to anyone with an interest in his work.

Christian Book Award Finalist But God speaks through wombs, birthing prophetic utterances. . . . Enough of this unbelieving religion that masquerades as faith. Divine favor is placed on what we have disgraced. In God Speaks Through Wombs, Drew Jackson explores the first eight chapters of Luke's Gospel in a new poetic register. These are declarative poems, faithfully proclaiming the gospel story in all its liberative power. Here the gospel is the "fresh words / that speak of / things impossible." From the Magnificat ("That girl can sing! . . . She has a voice / That can shatter shackles") to the baptism of Christ ("I stepped in / Committing insurrection"), this collection helps us hear the hum of deliverance-against all hope-that's been in the gospel all along.

Alan Dershowitz is one of America's most famous litigation experts. In the Genesis of Justice he examines the Genesis narratives to bring to the reader an insight into the creation of the ten commandments and much of what is now law.

In the second book of Samuel, the prophet Nathan tells King David that God will give to him and his descendants a great and everlasting kingdom. In this study William Schniedewind looks at how this dynastic Promise has been understood and transmitted from the time of its first appearance at the inception of the Hebrew monarchy until the dawn of Christianity. He shows in detail how, over the centuries, the Promise grew in importance and prestige.

This study centers on the question: how do particular readers read a biblical passage? What factors govern each reading? DeLapp here attempts to set up a test case for observing how both socio-historical and textual factors play a part in how a person reads a biblical text. Using a reception-historical methodology, he surveys five Reformed authors and their readings of the David and Saul story (primarily 1 Sam 24 and 26). From this survey two interrelated phenomena emerge. First, all the authors find in David an ideal model for civic praxis-a "Davidic social imaginary" (Charles Taylor). Second, despite this primary agreement, the authors display two different reading trajectories when discussing David's relationship with Saul. Some read the story as showing a persecuted exile, who refuses to offer active resistance against a tyrannical monarch. Others read the story as exemplifying active defensive resistance against a tyrant. To account for this convergence and divergence in the readings, DeLapp argues for a two-fold conclusion. The authors are influenced both by their socio-historical contexts and by the shape of the biblical text itself. Given a Deuteronomic frame conducive to the social imaginary, the paradigmatic narratives of 1 Sam 24 and 26 offer a narrative gap never resolved. The story never makes explicit to the reader what David is doing in the wilderness in relation to King Saul. As a result, the authors fill in the "gap" in ways that accord with their own socio-historical experiences.

In foregrounding the themes of witnessing, 'seeing and hearing', and recognition, Luke urges readers to reflect on their own hearing (= reading) of his story, to become certain kinds of readers and to read in particular ways. So the need for a reader-oriented methodology in interpreting Luke-Acts is evident. But what is the best theory to deploy? Charting a path through the thickets of modern literary theory, Darr develops a new reader-oriented model, insisting that the original 'extratext' (the repertoire of literary and social conventions) of Luke-Acts-and not simply the text itself-should be taken into account in any critical evaluation of how this story works. To demonstrate this new hermeneutical model, Darr undertakes an extensive study of Lukan characterization, and especially his portrayal of Herod the Tetrarch.

The Bible was at the center of Jonathan Edwards' intellectual and ministerial life. As an eighteenth century theologian-pastor, the Scriptures were the focus of his work and the perspective through which he viewed his world. Edwards had a particular interest in the interpretation of the Apocalypse, devoting a notebook to the collection of observations and thoughts from his reading and reflection. This book examines Edwards' interpretation of Revelation 4-8 as seen in his working notebooks and theological treatises and sermons and then compares his views with some of his major contemporary biblical interpreters. Edwards employs a typological hermeneutical method, arguing that typology is the language God uses to communicate and this language can be learned both from explicit typology in Scripture as well as from the biblical author's implicit use of types. In the application of this typological hermeneutics, Edwards not only interprets all of Scripture Christologically, but also views the natural world and secular history as types of Christ.

How could the Apostle Paul maintain in his first letter to the Christians in Corinth that all their ancestors were baptized into Moses at the Red Sea / exodus event (10:2), and how could he tolerate some of them having themselves baptized again on behalf of the dead (15:29)? Answers to these puzzling questions can be found in early Jewish sources now located both in Greek and Hebrew, all here translated.