So resounding is its message that echoes of the Exodus are heard throughout the Old and New Testaments and the present. Exodus names and terms permeate our biblical and liturgical vocabularies: Pharaoh, Moses, Aaron, burning bush, I AM," plagues, Passover, manna, Ten Commandments, forty days and forty nights, Ark of the Covenant. The Exodus experience, indeed, is central to both Jewish and Christian traditions. Exodus is, as Mark Smith reminds us, not only an ancient text but also "today's story, calling readers to work against oppression and to participate in a covenant relationship with one another and God." With Smith as their experienced guide, readers are able to march through this basic book of the Bible with textual difficulties solved and stacked up like a wall to their right and left, just as the Israelites "marched on dry land through the midst of the sea with the water like a wall to their right and to their left" (14:29). Undoubtedly, when finished, readers will be closer to the Promised Land than when they started.

"Mark S. Smith is Skirbal Professor of Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at New York University. He has served as visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. Smith was elected vice president of the Catholic Biblical Association in 2009.""

In a world where No one tells me what to do and I am my own authority, the Ten Commandments quickly find their way to the trash heap. For most of us, the words surrounding law--rule, restriction, regulation, requirement, code, commandment, covenant, must, ought, shall, will--are simply not our favorite words to hear. They are parental words, court words, conflict words. We use them only when we have to; otherwise, we willingly hold them at a distance. But the Old Testament people of God had a different take on law. They took their copy of the law their God had given them, clutched it to their chests, and danced with it. They observed it daily in their relationships and required their young to memorize it. And when a copy of the law had grown ragged and old, they had a special ceremony to retire it. They buried it with all the dignity of a beloved grandparent's body. In Dancing with the Law, author Dan Boone challenges us to, like the ancient people of God, look at law as a sacred gift that points the way to the life God intended. Through his earnest exploration of the Ten Commandments, he offers us a new perspective on law--one that makes us dance with freedom, liberty, and the gift of life.

Sixty superlative sermons on familiar Old Testament texts. Many Christian preachers today largely neglect the Old Testament in their sermons, focusing instead on the Gospel accounts of Jesus' teachings and activities. As Fleming Rutledge points out, however, when the New Testament is disconnected from the context of the Old Testament, it is like a house with no foundation, a plant with no roots, or a pump with no well. In this powerful collection of sixty sermons on the Old Testament, Rutledge expounds on a number of familiar Old Testament passages featuring Abraham, Samuel, David, Elijah, Job, Jonah, and many other larger-than-life figures. Applying these texts to contemporary life and Christian theology, she highlights the ways in which their multivocal messages can be heard in all their diversity while still proclaiming univocally, -Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.-

Synopsis: Like the book of Romans in the New Testament, the book of Deuteronomy provides the most systematic and sustained presentation of theology in the Old Testament. And like the Gospel of John, it represents mature theological reflection on God's great acts of salvation, in this case associated with the exodus of Israel from Egypt. Unfortunately, for many Christians, Deuteronomy is a dead book, either because its contents are unknown or because its message is misunderstood. The essays in this collection arise from a larger project driven by a passion to recover for Christians the life-giving message of the Old Testament in general and the gospel according to Moses in particular. The "meditations" cover a wide range of topics, from explorations into the meaning of specific texts to considerations of the ethical and homiletical relevance of the book for Christians today. Endorsements: "Dan Block is a world-class scholar and dynamic Bible teacher who has a passion for helping the church understand the Old Testament. In this volume, which is the fruit of decades of careful study in the book of Deuteronomy, Dr. Block brings clarity to crucial issues in biblical interpretation and reveals the grace of God in the law of Moses." --Philip G. Ryken President, Wheaton College "Daniel Block makes a persuasive case for the critical importance of the book of Deuteronomy. It culminates the Pentateuch and throws a long shadow of influence on the rest of the Old Testament. One must understand Deuteronomy to understand the Old Testament. Through his erudition and his love for the word of God, Block powerfully unpacks this crucial book. His passion is contagious and his insight will transform how you read Deuteronomy." --Tremper Longman III Robert H. Gundry Professor of Old Testament Westmont College "Block writes with energy, passion, and clarity. He is at home both in teasing out linguistic details and in delineating large theological landscapes. Known as a first-rate teacher, Block's research is thorough, his arguments compelling (e.g., the Shema' text), and his graphs and tables helpful. This good menu of articles on worship, leadership, mission, the Decalogue, etc., is flavored with spicy ANE input, with challenging applications, and above all with scholarly acumen and spiritual fervor." --Elmer A. Martens President Emeritus and Professor of Old Testament Emeritus Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary Author Biography: Daniel I. Block is the Gunther H. Knoedler Professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois. He is the author of The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24 (1997), The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 25-48 (1998), Judges and Ruth (1999), and Deuteronomy (NIVAC, forthcoming).

The Homicidal, Obsessive and Delusional Women of the Old Testament is a "Behind the Music" depiction of three women: Leah, first wife of Jacob, Michal, first wife of David and Athaliah, stepdaughter of Jezebel. The book examines the tragedy of their lives and offers valuable life lessons to be learned from them.

Many Christians wrestle with biblical passages in which God commands the slaughter of the Canaanites-men, women, and children. The issue of the morality of the biblical God is one of the major challenges for faith today. How can such texts be Holy Scripture?In this bold and innovative book Douglas Earl grasps the bull by the horns and guides readers to new and unexpected ways of looking at the book of Joshua. Drawing on insights from the early church and from modern scholarship, Earl argues that we have mistakenly read Joshua as a straightforward historical account and have ended up with a genocidal God. In contrast, Earl offers a theological interpretation in which the mass killing of Canaanites is a deliberate use of myth to make important theological points that are still valid today. Christopher J. H. Wright then offers a thoughtful response to Earl's provocative views. The book closes with Earl's reply to Wright and readers are encouraged to continue the debate.

Severus of Antioch was the Patriarch of Antioch and a moderate Miaphysite. Sergius the Grammarian is a lesser-known figure, but the content of his letters demonstrates that he was a more extreme Miaphysite. The early 6th century correspondence between the two consists of a set of three letters apiece and an apology by Sergius. Made available in Syriac along with Torrance's translation, these letters are an important part of the working out of concerns associated with the Council of Chalecedon.

2011 Reprint of 1920 Seventh Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Levi H. Dowling (1844-1911), who originally published "The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ" under the sole name of Levi, was a Church of Christ pastor, a Civil War chaplain for the Union Army, a practitioner of homeopathic medicine, a New Thought lecturer, and a religious publisher. Levi maintained he had transcribed the text of the book from the Akashic records. In the later 20th century, it was adopted by New Age spiritual groups. The title is derived from the practice in astrology of naming time periods in terms of constellations and their dominant positions in the sky. In that system, the Age of Aquarius is approaching. The Aquarian Gospel makes the following claims, among others: The revelation of the Aquarian Gospel was prophesied 2000 years ago by Elihu, who conducted a school of the prophets in Zoan, Egypt. Jesus puts on the role of The Christ, but is not automatically Christ by nature. By making himself, through effort and prayer, a fit vessel, Jesus enabled The Christ to dwell within him. Christ is therefore used as a term for the perfect human being that Jesus exemplified, a human being that has been "Christened" (anointed) and therefore made holy. Jesus came to earth to show the way back to God via his lifestyle and teachings. He is the example we must model our own lives after, if we seek salvation. Reincarnation exists, and is the explanation for various seeming injustices. Reincarnation allows people to settle debts they have incurred in past lives. Humanity has forgotten God and is currently working its way back to fully remembering God. Time is separated into ages. These ages last approximately 2,000 years. We are now nearing the start of the Aquarian Age. All souls will eventually mature and become perfect, like Jesus, thus ending the cycle of reincarnation. No soul is ever abandoned by God.

"The purpose of this collection of Brueggemann's essays is to bring to the fore a much more extensive critical engagement on his part with the current discussion about the Old Testament, its character, its authority, its theology, and especially its God.... Readers of these essays who think they may have grasped what Brueggemann has to say about the theology of the Old Testament from reading his magnum opus will find that he is still thinking, still listening, and still helping us understand the scriptures of Israel and the church at an ever deeper level."

Though Christians believe themselves to be held in the care of the of the God of love and strength, yet they find that sufferings come their way. Moreover, whole communities, even whole nations, experience sufferings - all of which frequently raises the question, 'Where is the God of Justice?' This book explores this question.

Drawing on both pastoral and scholarly experience, John Holbert offers a fresh approach to the preaching of a familiar scripture.To be a Joban preacher, he says, is to draw on the pain and honesty inherent in the text. Holbert understands the preacher's task as interpreting the whole of the book of job, not just the narrative and the poetry.This integrative approach allows the book's entire theology to inform sermons. Included for illustration are an embodied sermon and a narrative sermon based on passages from Job.

2011 Reprint of 1944 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. In "What Religious Science Teaches," Ernest Holmes references the great spiritual texts of the world, from the Upanishads to the Kabala, showing us how we are the masters of our own fate. According to Holmes, shorn of dogmatism, freed from superstition, and always ready for greater illumination, Religious Science offers the student of life the best that the world has so far discovered. Holmes shows how the ideas of Religious Science have been treated by Taoism, Hindu scriptures, the Koran, the Talmud and other great teachings of the world.

With An Introduction And Appendices. Eight Lectures Preached Before The University Of Oxford In The Year 1889 On The Foundation Of The Late Rev. John Bampton, Canon Of Salisbury.

Walter Brueggemann has been one of the leading voices in Hebrew Bible interpretation for decades. His landmark works in Old Testament theology have inspired and informed a generation of students, scholars, and preachers. These chapters gather his recent addresses and essays, never published before, drawn from all three parts of the Hebrew Bible-Torah, prophets, and writings-and addressing the role of the Hebrew canon in the life of the church. Brueggemann turns his critical erudition to those practices-prophecy, lament, prayer, faithful imagination, and a holy economics-that alone may usher in a humane and peaceful future for our cities and our world, in defiance of the most ruthless aspects of capitalism, the arrogance of militarism, and the disciplines of the national security state.

Job is a brief yet complete guide to the Hebrew Scriptures' Book of Job. In an accessible way, Whitfield invites readers to ponder such questions as: What is God really like?, why should we worship God?, why do the righteous suffer?, will our relationship with God improve if we are critical of traditional religious beliefs?, and is the "quid pro quo" idea of the God-human relationship still alive and healthy?Insights: Bible Studies for Growing Faith is a fresh and timely Bible study series. In these short-term, thematically based resources, individuals and groups are invited to find meaning and direction for their lives by exploring the Scriptures in a way that is both thoughtful and thought-provoking.

Little known historical background and compelling humor combine to make this an unusual look at the role the Ten Commandments should play in the life of today's Christian. Reflection questions make it perfect for study groups and classes.