Among the classics of ancient Greek and Jewish literature, the story of Luke-Acts has few rivals. Yet we moderns miss much of the meaning of Luke's two-part drama because we read it like any other text and not as it would have been "heard" by ancient listeners -- in public performance by a skilled storyteller.

"The Way according to Luke" unlocks the big picture of Jesus' mission by attending to the repetition, patterns, and other clues of oral narrative. In this single volume Paul Borgman lays out a holistic view of the organic unity between Luke and Acts while demonstrating that the meaning of Luke-Acts is uniquely embedded in its narrative. Borgman's distinctive work makes available both the satisfying pleasure of reading the Bible as great literature and the rewarding insight gained from receiving Scripture as it was originally delivered.

These studies continue a tradition of scholarship that flourished around the turn of the century when new editions of ancient philosophical sources were published. Professor Malherbe, however, widens the scope to include other philosophical traditions. He recognizes and identifies the influences of Platonists, Peripatetics, Cynics, Stoics, Epicureans, and Pythagoreans. These popular philosophers aimed at moral reform; they shared both in their substance and in the techniques employed. Yet, they need to be distinguished in order to discern their influence, if any, on Paul.

The Know Your Bible series is written by knowledgeable scholars who avoid using unnecessary technical terms or an abundance of footnotes. The books are written at a high school reading level and address lay adults and beginning students. Scripture texts are from the two most commonly used Bibles in the Spanish-speaking world: the Reina-Valera Revisada and the Version Popular (Good News).

Knowing the historical and cultural background of the Bible is crucial to properly understanding and interpreting it. But the passing of 2,000 years often prevents today's reader from fully understanding the significance of various actions and teachings of Jesus in the Gospels. For example, the radical nature of Jesus's healings on the Sabbath may go unnoticed without an awareness of first-century Jewish teaching on what was and was not permissible.
Pastors and other serious Bible students may not have access to important early writings that would provide this background, nor the time to wade through volumes of source material to find relevant tidbits. This unique reference work gathers into one handy volume the key extrabiblical texts that provide the necessary background for passages in the Gospels, along with introductory comments by the editors.

An experienced and respected teacher of homiletics offers seven practical steps (and attendant missteps to avoid) for all preachers who seek to improve their homiletic style and content.

This is a collection of recent articles by one of the bestselling Old Testament professors in the U.S. Collins wrote the Fortress Press volume Introduction to the Hebrew Bible with CD-ROM (2004). An engaging writer, Collins explores a diversity of topics, from the role of the Bible in culture to major themes within the Bible: messianism, revelation, natural theology, and so on.

For over a century the ten-volume Dictionary of the Bible has been the definitive reference. "It is a Dictionary of the Old and New Testaments, together with the Old Testament Apocrypha, according to the Authorized and Revised English Versions, and with constant reference to the original tongues. ... Articles have been written on the names of all Persons and Places, on the Antiquities and Archaeology of the Bible, on its Ethnology, Geology, and Natural History, on Biblical Theology and Ethic, and even on the obsolete or archaic words occurring in the English Versions." James Hastings (1852-1922) was a distinguished scholar and pastor. He was founder and editor of the Expository Times and is also well known for editing the Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, the Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels, and the Dictionary of the Apostolic Church.

It's not exactly how one would expect God to occupy himself. Lord of space and time, newly resurrected from the dead, and what is he doing? Sitting quietly by the lakeside, cooking up breakfast and waiting for the disciples to drop by. The Gospels are full of odd quirks that most people never notice because the stories are so familiar. But Conrad Gempf notices. He uses his knowledge of Jesus' life and times to light up the meditations in this book. The forty short encounters in this book focus on Jesus as a teacher, Jesus as a miracle worker, on Jesus' radical spirituality and on his death and resurrection. Seasoning its unique insights with humor, Mealtime Habits of the Messiah both satisfies the hungry soul and piques the reader's appetite for prayer. "Gempf's well-balanced approach ...will put fuel in the tanks of all our journeys toward wholeness and purpose." - Rob Lacey, from the foreword "Conrad's book is a delight. It's like its subject, Jesus: alive, fun, engaging, warm, and occasionally wonderfully dangerous." - Jeff Lucas "An Inspiring and startling portrait of Jesus which will nourish your spirit and feed your soul." - Steve Chalke

This six-session short-term study from Jim Moore is organized around the general theme of parables of life. Each chapter will focus on a particular parable, and will feature Dr. Moore telling readers what Jesus was saying through the parable, both to listeners of his day and to us today in our own lives.
Parables studied are:
The Laborers in God's Vineyard
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector
The Weeds Among the Wheat
The Ten Pounds
Dives and Lazarus
The Unmerciful Servant

Brooke illuminates the first-century world shared by the Qumran community and the writers of the New Testament. The Dead Sea Scrolls have provided Old Testament scholars with an enormous wealth of data for textual criticism as well as theology. But, as Brooke skillfully demonstrates, New Testament scholars can use the Scrolls to learn more about the linguistic, historical, religious, and social contexts of Palestine in the first century. A wide range of topics and themes is discussed, including Matthew's Beatitudes, the lost song of Miriam, Levi and the Levites, women's authority, and the use of scripture in the parable of the vineyard.

As a single man, you're in a war against sexual temptation.
But God has given you powerful ammunition.
"A comprehensive workbook for personal or group study!
You're bombarded by sexual images. You're constantly battling inner urges. You want to do right-in fact, you want to meet God's standard of avoiding any hint of sexual immorality. But accomplishing that goal is a challenge.
If you are a single man struggling to remain sexually pure, you are not alone. Now there's practical, hard-hitting help from the authors of the blockbuster Every Man series. "Every Single Man's Battle Workbook guides you-or your men's group-through an honest and clear exploration of God's Word. You'll undertake a personal journey into key Scriptures, wrestle with questions for reflection and examination, and discover the practical tools and Biblical strategies you need to live the pure life God is calling you to-- even while living in a sexually soaked culture.
Make a frontal assault on the temptation every single man faces. This workbook provides all the resources you need.

Unlike the negative but well-known precepts of the Old Testement--the Ten Commandments--the commands of Jesus are postitive and relatively overlooked, despite their superb relevance to the challenges people face today. In "Come, Follow Me: The Commandments of Jesus, " Anthony J. Gittins helps the reader hear Christ's message and live it in everyday life. Gittins explores some of the positive and specific things that Jesus would have the reader do to follow him.
144-page paperback

A brilliant new biography of Saint Paul, whose interpretations of the life and teachings of Jesus transformed a loosely organized, grassroots peasant movement into the structured religion we know today
Without Paul, there would be no Christianity. His letters to various churches scattered throughout the Roman Empire articulated, for the first time, the beliefs that make up the heart of Christian practice and faith. In this extraordinary biography, Bruce Chilton explains the changing images of Paul, from the early Church period when he was regarded as the premiere apostle who separated Christianity from Judaism to more recent liberal evaluations, which paint him as an antifeminist, homophobic figure more dedicated to doctrine than to spiritual freedom. By illuminating Paul's thoughts and contributions within the context of his time, Chilton restores him to his place as the founding architect of the Church and one of the most important figures in Western history.
"Rabbi Paul" is at once a compelling, highly readable biography and a window on how Jesus' message was transformed into a religion embraced by millions around the world. Drawing on Paul's own writings as well as historical and scholarly documents about his life and times, Chilton portrays an all-too-human saint who helped to create both the most beautiful and the most troublesome aspects of the Church. He shows that Paul sought to specify the correct approach to such central concerns as sexuality, obedience, faith, conscience, and spirit, to define religion as an institution, and to clarify the nature of the religious personality--issues that Christians still struggle with today.

For over a century the ten-volume Dictionary of the Bible has been the definitive reference. "It is a Dictionary of the Old and New Testaments, together with the Old Testament Apocrypha, according to the Authorized and Revised English Versions, and with constant reference to the original tongues. ... Articles have been written on the names of all Persons and Places, on the Antiquities and Archaeology of the Bible, on its Ethnology, Geology, and Natural History, on Biblical Theology and Ethic, and even on the obsolete or archaic words occurring in the English Versions." James Hastings (1852-1922) was a distinguished scholar and pastor. He was founder and editor of the Expository Times and is also well known for editing the Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, the Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels, and the Dictionary of the Apostolic Church.

For over a century the ten-volume Dictionary of the Bible has been the definitive reference. "It is a Dictionary of the Old and New Testaments, together with the Old Testament Apocrypha, according to the Authorized and Revised English Versions, and with constant reference to the original tongues. ... Articles have been written on the names of all Persons and Places, on the Antiquities and Archaeology of the Bible, on its Ethnology, Geology, and Natural History, on Biblical Theology and Ethic, and even on the obsolete or archaic words occurring in the English Versions." James Hastings (1852-1922) was a distinguished scholar and pastor. He was founder and editor of the Expository Times and is also well known for editing the Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, the Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels, and the Dictionary of the Apostolic Church.