The Passion Translation is a modern, easy-to-read Bible translation that unlocks the passion of God's heart and expresses his fiery love-merging emotion and life-changing truth. This translation will evoke an overwhelming response in every reader, unfolding the deep mysteries of the Scriptures. If you are hungry for God, The Passion Translation will help you encounter his heart and know him more intimately. Fall in love with God all over again.

Radio messages from J. Vernon McGee delighted and enthralled listeners for years with simple, straightforward language and clear understanding of the Scripture. Now enjoy his personable, yet scholarly, style in a 60-volume set of commentaries that takes you from Genesis to Revelation with new understanding and insight. Each volume includes introductory sections, detailed outlines and a thorough, paragraph-by-paragraph discussion of the text. A great choice for pastors - and even better choice for the average Bible reader and student! Very affordable in a size that can go anywhere, it's available as a complete 60-volume series, in Old Testament or New Testament sets, or individually.

A translation of many of the forbidden books of the Bible banned by the Council of Nicene, including the Gospels of the Infancy of Jesus, translated and published by William Wake, Archbishop of Canterbury 1716-1737. Less than a century before, William Tyndale had been executed by the church for daring to translate the Bible into English. Wake believed that many, if not most, of these passages were historically accurate, even those showing the young Jesus in a less than sympathetic light. The Fascination of Lost Scripture continues to be of great interest to Bible Scholars and Lay People.

In this third edition of Mark as Story, Rhoads, Dewey, and Michie take their treatment of the Gospel of Mark to new levels. While retaining their clear and thorough analysis of Mark as a narrative, they now place their study of Mark in the context of orality. The new preface explains the role of Mark in a predominantly oral culture. Throughout the study, they refer to the author as composer, the narrator as performer, the Gospel as oral composition, and the audience as gathered communities. The conclusion hypothesizes a performance scenario of Mark in Palestine shortly after the Roman-Judean War of 66 to 70 CE. The new edition also highlights the dimensions of Mark that stand in contrast to imperial worldviews and values. The authors argue that the performance of Mark itself was a means to draw audiences into a non-imperial world based on mutual service rather than hierarchical domination. In so doing, they shift the Gospels center of gravity from the end of the story to the beginning, configuring it not as "a passion narrative with an extended introduction" but as "the arrival of the rule of God with an extended denouement." Performing Mark: The appendices for students at the end of the book that offer exercises to interpret the narrative of Mark now also include "Exercises for Learning and Telling Episodes" from the Gospel of Mark by heart as part of the learning process.

This insightful study explores the significance of the interactions between Jesus and 'marginal' women recounted in the "Gospel of Matthew". Employing social-scientific models and carefully using comparative data, "Love" examines the various aspects of this marginality, identifying the attempts of Matthew's Gospel to promote Jesus' vision of a new surrogate family of God that challenges the traditional structures of the household.

As part of the Christian canon of scripture, the New Testament is one of the most influential works in history. Its impact can be seen in many different fields, but without an awareness of the historical, cultural, social, and intellectual context of early Christianity, it can be difficult for modern-day readers to fully understand what the first-century authors were trying to say and how the first readers of the New Testament would have understood these ideas. The Routledge Guidebook to the New Testament offers an academic introduction to the New Testament examining: The social and historical context in which the New Testament was written The primary text, supporting students in close analysis from a range of consensus positions The contemporary reception and ongoing influence of the New Testament With further reading suggestions, this guidebook is essential reading for all students of religion and philosophy, and all those wishing to engage with this important work.

This book investigates the use of the Greek term "proskuneo" with Jesus as the object in the New Testament writings. Ray M. Lozano unpicks this interesting term and examines its capacity to express various degrees of reverence directed toward a superior: from a respectful greeting of an elder, to homage paid to a king, to cultic worship paid to a god. Lozano then looks at the term in reference to Jesus in the New Testament writings, and carefully considers whether Jesus is portrayed as receiving such reverence in a relatively weak sense, as a merely human figure, or in a relatively strong sense, as a divine figure. Lozano highlights how scholars are divided over this issue and provides a fresh, thorough examination of the New Testament material (Mark, Matthew, Luke-Acts, John, Hebrews, and Revelation) and, in so doing shows, that each of these New Testament writings, in their own unique ways, presents Jesus as a divine figure-uniquely and closely linked to the God of Israel in making him an object of "proskuneo."

In this book, Sabine R. Huebner explores the world of the protagonists of the New Testament and the early Christians using the rich papyrological evidence from Roman Egypt. This gives us unparalleled insights into the everyday lives of the non-elite population in an area quite similar to neighboring Judaea-Palestine. What were the daily concerns and difficulties experienced by a carpenter's family or by a shepherd looking after his flocks? How did the average man or woman experience a Roman census? What obstacles did women living in a patriarchal society face in private, in public, and in the early Church? Given the flight of Jesus' family into Egypt, how mobile were the lower classes, what was their understanding of geography, and what costs and dangers were associated with travel? This volume gives a better understanding of the structural, social, and cultural conditions under which figures from the New Testament lived.

In this volume, William C. Mattison, III demonstrates that virtue ethics provides a helpful key for unlocking the moral wisdom of the Sermon on the Mount. Showing how familiar texts such as the Beatitudes and Petitions of the Lord's Prayer are more richly understood, and can even be aligned with the theological and cardinal virtues, he also locates in the Sermon classic topics in morality, such as the nature of happiness, intentionality, the intelligibility of human action, and the development of virtue. Yet far from merely placing the teaching of Aristotle in the mouth of Jesus, he demonstrates how the Sermon presents an account of happiness and virtue transformed in the light of Christian faith. The happiness portrayed is that of the Kingdom of heaven, and the habits needed to participate in it in the next life, but even initially in this one, are possible only by God's grace through Jesus Christ, and lived in the community that is the Church.

Allan McNicol examines the 'Conversion of the Nations' in the book of Revelation together with the author's vision for final redemption. Allan McNicol examines the longstanding tension between the author of Revelation 's description of the destruction of unrepentant nations early in the book in contrast with their final experience of salvation in Rev 21.24-26. McNicol examines how the author of Revelation interprets and refashions both scripture and the myths of the age in order to lay out his vision of redemption - leading to his ultimate conclusion that human political power (Rome) will crumble before the influence of the crucified Jesus. Through careful attention to references to the 'pilgrimage to the Gentiles' in prophetic literature, McNicol is able to draw valuable conclusions as to how the core tension examined may be resolved. This exegesis is in turn able show how the author of Revelation's alternative voice to Rome's power emerged among a small minority community in the Eastern Roman Empire and gained plausibility. This voice not only could articulate a construct of its own vindication (thus empowering its own converts) but it also construed a new destiny for the nations themselves separate and apart from Rome.

The New Testament launches with an eyewitness account of the events of Jesus' life from Matthew, a former tax collector who experienced a radical conversion and became one of Jesus' own disciples. John MacArthur will take you through the book of Matthew, passage by passage, so that you can better understand everything from the cultural context to the implications of the coming of King Jesus. Matthew's unique view interweaves his strong Jewish knowledge of the expected Messiah with his personal recollections of the flesh-and-blood Savior. In the process, he reveals the qualifications that prove Jesus was the promised Messiah: His miraculous birth. His response to the test of His kingliness His inauguration His miracles. His teachings and public ministry. Every detail of the book of Matthew confirms Jesus' deity and proves He is the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of the world. -ABOUT THE SERIES- The MacArthur Bible Study series is designed to help you study the Word of God with guidance from widely respected pastor and author John MacArthur. Each guide provides intriguing examinations of the whole of Scripture by examining its parts and incorporates: Extensive, but straight-forward commentary on the text. Detailed observations on overriding themes, timelines, history, and context. Word and phrase studies to help you unlock the broader meaning and apply it to your life. Probing, interactive questions with plenty of space to write down your response and thoughts.

In this book, Katherine M. Hockey explores the function of emotions in the New Testament by examining the role of emotions in 1 Peter. Moving beyond outdated, modern rationalistic views of emotions as irrational, bodily feelings, she presents a theoretically and historically informed cognitive approach to emotions in the New Testament. Informed by Greco-Roman philosophical and rhetorical views of emotions along with modern emotion theory, she shows how the author of 1 Peter uses the logic of each emotion to value and position objects within the audience's worldview, including the self and the other. She also demonstrates how, cumulatively, the emotions of joy, distress, fear, hope, and shame are deployed to build an alternative view of reality. This new view of reality aims to shape the believers' understanding of the structure of their world, encourages a reassessment of their personal goals, and ultimately seeks to affect their identity and behaviour.

This is a new critical edition, with translation and commentary, of the Scholia in Apocalypsin, which were falsely attributed to Origen a century ago. They include extensive sections from Didymus the Blind's lost Commentary on the Apocalypse (fourth century) and therefore counter the current belief that Oecumenius' commentary (sixth century) was the most ancient. Professor Tzamalikos argues that their author was in fact Cassian the Sabaite, an erudite monk and abbot at the monastery of Sabas, the Great Laura, in Palestine. He was different from the alleged Latin author John Cassian, placed a century or so before the real Cassian. The Scholia attest to the tension between the imperial Christian orthodoxy of the sixth century and certain monastic circles, who drew freely on Hellenic ideas and on alleged 'heretics'. They show that, during that period, Hellenism was a vigorous force inspiring not only pagan intellectuals, but also influential Christian quarters.

This book addresses two crucial, related questions in current research on the Epistle to the Hebrews: when and where did Jesus offer himself? And what role does Jesus' death play both in Hebrews' soteriology as a whole, and specifically in Jesus' high-priestly self-offering? The work argues that the cross is not when and where Jesus offers himself, but it is what he offers. After his resurrection, appointment to high priesthood, and ascent to heaven, Jesus offers himself to God in the inner sanctum of the heavenly tabernacle, and what he offers to God is the soteriological achievement enacted in his death. Hebrews figures blood, in both the Levitical cult and the Christ-event, as a medium of exchange, a life given for life owed. Represented as blood, Christ's death is both means of access and material offered: what he achieved in his death is what he offered to God in heaven.

How did the author of the Gospel of Luke intend it to be read? In The Spiral Gospel, Rob James shows that the assumptions many modern readers bring to the text - that it claims to be historically factual, or merely regurgitates existing stories - are not those of antiquity. Building on the central insight that it was written for a community who would have used it as their pre-eminent text, James argues convincingly for a continuous, cyclical reading of Luke's narrative. The evidence for this view, and also its consequences, can be seen in the gospel's intratextuality. Context is given at the end of the gospel that informs the beginning, and there are countless other intratextual elements throughout the text that are most readily noticeable on a second or subsequent reading. This deliberate, creative interweaving on the author's part opens up new levels of appreciation and faith for those who read in the way Luke's first audience received his work.

Radio messages from J. Vernon McGee delighted and enthralled listeners for years with simple, straightforward language and clear understanding of the Scripture. Now enjoy his personable, yet scholarly, style in a 60-volume set of commentaries that takes you from Genesis to Revelation with new understanding and insight. Each volume includes introductory sections, detailed outlines and a thorough, paragraph-by-paragraph discussion of the text. A great choice for pastors - and even better choice for the average Bible reader and student! Very affordable in a size that can go anywhere, it's available as a complete 60-volume series, in Old Testament or New Testament sets, or individually.

It is widely accepted by New Testament scholars that the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles probably originated as two parts of one work by a single author. In spite of this, the books have been assigned to very different genres: Luke is traditionally viewed as a biography of Jesus, and Acts as a history of the early church. Comparing in detail the structure and content of Acts with the formal features of history, novel, epic and biography, Sean A. Adams challenges this division. Applying both ancient and modern genre theory, he argues that the best genre parallel for the Acts of the Apostles is in fact collected biography. Offering a nuanced and sophisticated understanding of genre theory, along with an insightful argument regarding the composition and purpose of Acts, this book will be of interest to those studying the New Testament, Acts, genre theory and ancient literature.

The first letter to the Corinthians is one of the most discussed biblical books in New Testament scholarship today. Despite this, there has been no consensus on its arrangement and central theme, in particular why the topic of the resurrection was left until the end of the letter, and what its theological significance would have been to the Corinthian church. Matthew R. Malcolm analyses this rhetoric of 'reversal', examines the unity of the epistle, and addresses key problems behind particular chapters. He argues that while Jewish and Greco-Roman resources contribute significantly to the overall arrangement of the letter, Paul writes as one whose identity and rhetorical resources of structure and imagery have been transformed by his preaching, or kerygma, of Christ. The study will be of interest to students of New Testament studies, Pauline theology and early Christianity.

This volume offers a comprehensive overview of one of the four New Testament gospels and brings a unique approach to the genre of Bible commentary. Featuring distinct Jewish and Christian voices in respectful conversation, Amy-Jill Levine and Ben Witherington, III methodologically break new ground in exploring why scholars disagree on questions of history (what actually happened, what is authorial invention, how do we address different versions of the same account), literature (what does this story tell us about Jesus and Peter, Mary Magdalene and Judas, among other characters), and theology (what can we say about resurrection and divine justice, or about Jesus as the Messiah). They show how Luke has been used to create both tragedy and hope, as well as to promote sexism, anti-semitism, and religious intolerance, thereby raising important questions regarding ethically responsible interpretation. This volume will be essential reading for theologians, clergy, and anyone interested in biblical studies and Jewish/Christian dialogue.

This volume presents in new English translations the scattered fragments and testimonies regarding Hermes Thrice Great that complete Brian Copenhaver's translation of the Hermetica (Cambridge, 1992). It contains the twenty-nine fragments from Stobaeus (including the famous Kore Kosmou), the Oxford and Vienna fragments (never before translated), an expanded selection of fragments from various authors (including Zosimus of Panopolis, Augustine, and Albert the Great), and testimonies about Hermes from thirty-eight authors (including Cicero, Pseudo-Manetho, the Emperor Julian, Al-Kindi, Michael Psellus, the Emerald Tablet, and Nicholas of Cusa). All translations are accompanied by introductions and notes which cite sources for further reading. These Hermetic texts will appeal to a broad array of readers interested in western esotericism including scholars of Egyptology, the New Testament, the classical world, Byzantium, medieval Islam, the Latin Middle Ages, and the Renaissance.

"The latest addition to the BECNT series is not narrowly exegetical but is intended to help preachers and general readers apprehend the message of 1-3 John for today. It offers a meticulously detailed study of the Greek text (including special attention to textual variants) that will provide students with ample information on every aspect of the argument of the letters. This commentary well maintains the standards that we have come to expect from this series."--I. Howard Marshall, University of Aberdeen

"By attempting to read 1-3 John in a fresh way, uncoerced by (though not uninformed by) scholarly tradition, Yarbrough offers a helpful and often different perspective on the Johannine Epistles. I find especially helpful his illuminating engagement with the history of interpretation, his careful attention to textual questions, and his quite insightful appeal to the language of the Greek version of the Old Testament (the background John and his audience shared)."--Craig S. Keener, Palmer Seminary

"Despite the author's modesty, there is no other commentary like it on these epistles; it relates the Johannine letters to aspects of Jesus's work or teaching and brings into play ancient texts as well as the latest scholarly research. Yarbrough also writes as a seasoned scholar with a pastor's heart and deep cross-cultural concerns. This rigorous yet very readable commentary is for students and pastors alike to guide their study and enhance their preaching."--Graham H. Twelftree, School of Divinity, Regent University

"Yarbrough's fine volume on the Letters of John is a refreshing and well-crafted commentary. I appreciate his informed discussions of the meanings and uses of Johannine terms, his overall canonical approach to these documents in his exegesis, and his concern to address the wider theological implications of the biblical text. This edifying and stimulating commentary encourages the reader to approach the text reverently and to respond positively to the word of God."--Peter T. O'Brien, Moore College, Sydney, Australia

"A model of evangelical scholarship. Yarbrough's thorough interaction with the literature, informative treatment of the biblical text, and clarity of articulation combine to make this commentary one that anyone interested in these New Testament writings will need to consult. This is a significant contribution to the Baker Exegetical Commentary series!"--Philip H. Towner, Nida Institute for Biblical Scholarship, American Bible Society