The Gospel of Thomas sheds new light on the origins of Christianity and portrays Jesus as a wisdom-loving sage. This collection of aphoristic sayings portrays the kingdom of God as a present fact about the world, rather than a future promise or future threat.

Through facing-page commentary this edition focuses on the meaning of the sayings as those teachings were preserved by an ancient source outside of the canonical New Testament, and brings to life the challenging and intriguing figure of Jesus in a new light. Now readers can approach this important spiritual text with no previous background knowledge in Christian history or thought.

Rather than being content with atomistic approaches to a text, recent scholarship has increasingly seen the value of tracing motifs and their variations as they run through biblical books, and even across book boundaries. Williamson takes up the important but inadequately explored messianic theme, tracing its development and variations through the canonical Isaiah. He sets this unifying thematic study against a counterpoint of redactional analysis, which exploits and builds on his previous work in The Book Called Isaiah: Deutero-Isaiah's Role in Composition and Redaction (1994). The current work was composed to serve as the source material for the 1997 Didsbury Lectures at the DEGREESNazarene Theological College near Manchester, England. In his introductory chapter, Williamson sets the foundation of his theme against the broader backdrop of the king, which moves from the minor tones of the human, Davidic king in the earlier chapters of Isaiah to the major key of the divine king later in the book. He goes against much recent scholarship in holding that the former derive most probably from before the exile. The second variation concerns Immanuel, looking in detail at chapters 6-9. He presents and critiques Buddes' century-old hypothesis that Isaiah 6-8 were an Isaianic Memoir which originally opened the book. Rather than taking the call narratives of other prophets as a comparison, Williamson finds closer parallels between the calls of Isaiah and of Micaiah (1 Kgs 22) and the literary shape of Amos 7-8. He sees the chief interest in the Immanuel figure being in fulfilling the role of righteous rule within the Davidic dynasty, rather than in identifying any specific individual. The third variation, the "Servant" is drawn from Deutero-Isaiah. There the original Davidic relationship with God is transferred to the nation of Israel. She will be God's witness and mediator to the world. As a Christian, Williamson brings up the interpretation that Jesus is the servant according to the NT. He defends his view by stating that "Jesus fulfills, but does not thereby exhaust, the prophecy" (p. 53). The theme of justice and righteousness in association with the servant ties his role to that of the king in the first section.

Four thousand years ago, amid tragic suffering and death, Job asked the question of the ages: "If a man dies, will he live again?" Since the dawn of history, the subject of death and the afterlife has been the great question of human existence. It's a subject that everyone wonders about. What lies behind the veil of death? Is there really life after death? Is there a place called hell? This small yet power-packed book answers, in a very straightforward, reader-friendly format, all the most-asked questions ordinary people have about death, near-death experiences, cremation, purgatory, hell, heaven, and our future bodies. You'll be amazed at what awaits us beyond the grave.
Is There Sex in Heaven?
It's a fair question And so are the rest. Go ahead...flip to the table of contents. Discover another one, two, or fifty-four others that are guaranteed to intrigue you. Questions like: "Do those in heaven know what's happening on earth? "and "Will I see my pets in heaven?"
Because even if you'd rather avoid the topic, death will not avoid you. So fire away Ask the tough questions, and get the dead-on answers you need. Straightforward and easy to read, "55 Answers to Questions About Life After Death" satisfies that nagging, curious voice whispering from the corner of your mind.
Story Behind the Book
"Three key experiences in my life have come together to make this book a reality. First, as the pastor of a local church for thirteen years, I have had the privilege of visiting people who are facing imminent death, conducting funerals, and ministering to grieving families. During these times people often have probing questions about life after death. Second, due to my interest and writing in the area of Bible prophecy, I am frequently asked questions about the afterlife at conferences and via e-mail. Third, all kinds of books, TV shows, and groups out there today are fostering unbiblical views of life after death. Knowing that this is a subject of universal interest and great confusion, I have a passionate desire to create a user-friendly, clear, straightforward resource to answer all the key questions that people everywhere are asking about life's greatest mystery."

What's the Big Deal About Sex?
Birds do it. Bees do it. And when you turn on the television, log on to the Internet, or watch a movie, you can't help but notice that everyone else seems to be doing it too. Our culture has embraced the message that sex is just a basic bodily function, as irresistible and harmless as satisfying your hunger and thirst. But is it? Or have we bought into a lie that is rapidly corroding our souls and our society?
When it comes to sexuality, you can't ignore the Manufacturer's directions and escape unharmed. That's why everyone-teen or adult, single or married-needs to know "The Truth About Sex."
This compelling, interactive study provides an antidote to the world's subtle yet insidiously dangerous lies. You'll learn...
-why God created sex in the first place
-what happens when you don't follow His design
-why virginity matters
-what consequences follow sex outside of marriage
-how to find healing if you've been harmed because you or someone else violated God's instructions
With this knowledge comes the power to stand firm, resisting the pull of temptation. Whatever your past-whether you've remained sexually pure or endured the pain of misusing God's precious gift-you'll find your eyes opened and your life transformed as you discover for yourself "The Truth About Sex,"
"
Includes a companion study guide for personal use or group discussion."

This French work presents an exegetic and theological interpretation of Qoheleth's speech on riches (Ecclesiastes 5:9-6:6). The detailed exegetic analysis distinguishes the existential meaning from the anthropological and theological meaning, and develops a rhetorical figure of wisdom which is characterised by two aspects - either the denial of God or the reference to God. Using a parallel to the Book of Job, the intertextuality of the discourse of wisdom becomes clear. To the extent that the critical literary and the hermeneutic approach foregrounds the text in its final form, it points directly to the internal tension of the text, which is marked by contrasts, and questions the conditions of the process of composition. This approach also provides a new access to Qoheleth's provocative thinking.

Good and evil, clean and unclean, rich and poor, self and other. The nature and function of such binary oppositions have long intrigued scholars in such fields as philosophy, linguistics, classics, and anthropology. From the opening chapters of Genesis, in which God separates day from night, and Adam and Eve partake of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, dyadic pairs proliferate throughout the Hebrew Bible. In this groundbreaking work melding critical exegesis and contemporary theory, Saul M. Olyan considers the prevalence of polarities in biblical discourse and expounds their significance for the social and religious institutions of ancient Israel. Extant biblical narrative and legal texts reveal a set of socially constructed and culturally privileged binary oppositions, Olyan argues, which instigate and perpetuate hierarchical social relations in ritual settings such as the sanctuary.

Focusing on four binary pairs--holy/common, Israelite/alien, clean/unclean, and whole/blemished--Olyan shows how these privileged oppositions were used to restrict access to cultic spaces, such as the temple or the Passover table. These ritual sites, therefore, became the primary contexts for creating and recreating unequal social relations. Olyan also uncovers a pattern of challenge to the established hierarchies by nonprivileged groups. Converging with contemporary issues of power, marginalization, and privileging, Olyan's painstaking yet lucid study abounds with implications for anthropology, classics, critical theory, and feminist studies.

Spirit-filled believers will find new resources for understanding the Bible and applying biblical themes to their day-to-day lives in these interactive study guides.

Written from a Pentecostal/Charismatic viewpoint, these interactive studies introduce believers to the books of the Bible and offer a thorough and balanced understanding of key themes of the Bible.

By studying the themes of the books, as well as the books themselves, these interactive studies offer groups and individuals a Spirit-filled perspective of the Bible's message for today.

This new, innovative translation of the New Testament opens the closed doors of preconception and allows the reader to view these important Greek writings in an entirely different light. Based on a radical and startling premise, The Unvarnished New Testament asks "Why not present the New Testament simply as it appears in the original Greek?"

Oskar Skarsaune gives us a new look into the development of the early church and its practice by showing us the evidence of interaction between the early Christians and rabbinic Judaism. He offers numerous fascinating episodes and glimpses into this untold story.

In contrast to the romantic aesthetic of originality, this analysis of the texts of "Genesis 26" and its co-texts proceeds from an aesthetic of valuing repetitions and "doubling". After presenting the concept of interpretation based on a reception aesthetic, the study reconstructs the process of reading "Genesis 12:10-20", "Genesis 20" and "Genesis 26", considering not only Christian secondary literature, but also making extensive use of Jewish exegeses.

Newly rebound edition of a famous Bible History used in Catholic schools for years.

Covers the most important events events narrated in the Bible. With 80 beautiful drawings of biblical events and suitable for sixth through eighth grades.

New full color cover!

This study presents comprehensive documentation relating to the Sahidic, Bohairic, Achmimic and Dialect V translations of the Epistle of St. James and the two Epistles of St. Peter from the Greek New Testament.

An interpretation of Leviticus 20, updated for publication. In addition to classical methods of exegesis, it also uses other approaches, particularly those from cultural anthropology. The study first clarifies the scholarly prerequisites for an interpretation of the text, working on the assumption that Leviticus 17-26 is an integral part of the Priestly Source ("P" text). The text itself is examined in both its synchronic and diachronic aspects and identified as a reader and sermon which reflects internal Jewish conflicts in the post-exile community. The whole of the formulaic content of the death sentences contained in Leviticus 20 is analysed thoroughly and discussed against the background of the thesis of "social death" (H.-P. Hasenfratz). Within the text complex of Leviticus 11-22, Leviticus 20 is concerned with irreversible impurity, which leads to exclusion from Israel, and the concluding interpretation of Israel as a people sacred to YHWH. The study closes with a theology of Leviticus 20 and a preview of the history of capital punishment in later Judaism.

The study examines the ancient Israelite sacrificial cult and the priestly genealogies of the Hebrew Bible from a cultural and historical religious perspective. The first section accesses the collective biography of the Zadokite-Aaronite lineages through genealogical analysis. The beginnings of their office as High Priests can be dated back to the 4th century BC. A multidimensional approach to the Levites can be demonstrated. The second section analyses the sacrificial rites (Ex 12 and Lev 1-7) and shows them to be cultural communication media. The statements and messages of Pesach and other rites are presented. An authorship hypothesis on the basis of cultural anthropological findings concludes this study which proposes a revaluation of the development of the priesthood in the era of the Second Temple.

In plain language and with ample illustration, Paul D. Wegner presents an overview of the history and methods, aims and results of textual criticism of the whole Bible--the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament. You will gain an appreciation for the vast work that has been accomplished in preserving the text of Scripture and find a renewed confidence in its reliability.

Which translation do I choose?

In an age when there is a wide choice of English Bible translations, the issues involved in Bible translating are steadily gaining interest. Consumers often wonder what separates one Bible version from another.

The contributors to this book argue that there are significant differences between literal translations and the alternatives. The task of those who employ an essentially literal Bible translation philosophy is to produce a translation that remains faithful to the original languages, preserving as much of the original form and meaning as possible while still communicating effectively and clearly in the receptors' languages.

Translating Truth advocates essentially literal Bible translation and in an attempt to foster an edifying dialogue concerning translation philosophy. It addresses what constitutes "good" translation, common myths about word-for-word translations, and the importance of preserving the authenticity of the Bible text. The essays in this book offer clear and enlightening insights into the foundational ideas of essentially literal Bible translation.

Penguin Academics compact but complete-and always at a reasonable price! For more than 60 years, instructors and their students have looked to Penguin trade paperbacks for state-of-the-art scholarship, accessibility, and fair prices. Longman, Penguin's sister company, aims to meet those same expectations with textbooks in our series, Penguin Academics. We've created the Penguin Academics series with ease of use in mind-the books are conveniently portable and highly readable, with engaging typefaces and interior designs. Concise yet thorough in their coverage of the basics, Penguin Academics titles are ideal for use either by themselves or in combination with other books. Related Penguin paperbacks can be found at the back of most Penguin Academic titles. In "Darwin and the Bible: The Cultural Confrontation, "authors Richard Robbins and Mark Cohen help readers understand the nature, history, and passions behind the debate between scientific and religious versions of creation and human origin. Rather than focusing solely on scientific backgrounds, the text's chosen readings provide historical, theological, social, and political backgrounds as well. The readings are divided into three sets:

• The first addresses how scientists and theologians have tried to resolve the apparent contradictions between Darwin and the Bible.
• The second examines the different historical and cultural settings that defined the parameters of the debate, as well as their implications for religion and science on a global scale.
• The third describes how the debate came to center on education and explores the impacts on both teachers and students.

The DK Illustrated Family Bible uses orginal texts selected from the New International Version, a Bible that is faithful to the orginal and written in accessible language. Key words, phrases, and concepts are fully explained in the illustrated side panels, and the relevant chapter and verse numbers are clearly marked. Superb, large scale artworks coney the drama of the Bible texts, bringing the main characters and places involved to life.

This now classic book is a significant corrective to several recent developments in the study of the historical Jesus. In contrast to depictions of Jesus as a wandering Cynic teacher, Geza Vermes offers a portrait based on evidence of charismatic activity in first-century Galilee. Vermes shows how the major New Testament titles of Jesus-prophet, Lord, Messiah, son of man, Son of God-can be understood in this historical context. The result is a description of Jesus that retains its power and its credibility.

An unlikely cast of characters reinterprets the first five books of the Bible, as divided into the 54 Torah portions that are traditionally read over the course of the year. Writers include: Damon Lindelof, creator of the television series Lost (on Abraham's binding of Issac); essayist Sloane Crosley on the Ten Plagues; novelist Aimee Bender on the Tower of Babel; and Joshua Foer on Esau's brotherly spat with Jacob. Other contributors include actor/director Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother); Go the F**k to Sleep's Adam Mansbach; Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Auburn; Sam Lipsyte; Rebecca Odes; Susan Dominus; A.J. Jacobs; and more.

From the attributes of God to charts of what the Bible says about prayer, forgiveness, and money, easily cover 27 Bible topics with this easy-to-use, reproducible book!

Enjoy having hundreds of fascinating facts at your fingertips and quickly find out what you need to know at a glance with dozens of helpful visual aids. Covers Christian living, Bible study advice, simple summaries of books of the Bible, and more! Plus, every page is reproducible―make up to 300 copies for your friends, small group members, and students.

Covers Key Bible Topics, Including: Who I Am in Christ, Attributes of God, Spiritual Gifts Test, One-Year Bible Reading Plan, 24 Ways to Explain the Gospel, Life of Moses and Joseph, Book of Acts and more!