Writing in an accessible and anecdotal style, Tom Wright opens up to us the wisdom of the letters of James, Peter, John and Judah (Jude). A vital resource for every church and every Christian, these letters are full of clear practical advice for Christians. Written for those new to the faith, they warn of the dangers and difficulties a young Christian community would face both within and without, while revelling in the delight of budding faith, hope and life. Today, these letters are just as relevant as they were two thousand years ago. They continue to help Christians to live with genuine faith in a complex modern age.

Originally published in 1927, this book presents a detailed analysis of the Epistle of James and its relationship with Judaic Christianity. Information is provided on the formal qualities of the text and its importance in terms of the history of Christianity. Detailed notes are incorporated throughout. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in biblical criticism and the Epistle of James.

Originally published in 1917, this book applies Jewish approaches to Scripture to New Testament texts in order to balance the teaching of Jesus with that of Pharasaic Judaism. Abrahams heavily references C. G. Montefiore's two-volume commentary on the Synoptic Gospels, and delves deeply into the historical background to many of the key stories and events of the Gospels, such as ancient divorce and the importance of fasting. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the Jewish context of the Gospels.

Originally published in 1924 as a sequel to the 1917 book of the same name, this text continues to analyse New Testament teaching using the tools of Pharisaic Judaism. Abrahams delves deeply into the historical background to many of the key stories and events of the Gospels, such as whitewashed tombs and rabbinic conceptions of prayer. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the Jewish context of the Gospels.

Edwin A. Abbott (1838 1926) was a British headmaster and theological scholar best known as the author of Flatland, an 1884 novella which was influential in the development of science fiction. Originally published in 1913, this book forms section 1 of a 5 volume work by Abbott on the four canonical gospels and the relationship between them. Taken together, the five volumes constitute part 10 of the Diatessarica, a series dealing with the gospels and their interpretation. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in biblical criticism and theology."

Edwin A. Abbott (1838 1926) was a British headmaster and theological scholar best known as the author of Flatland, an 1884 novella which was influential in the development of science fiction. Originally published in 1914, this book forms section 2 of a 5 volume work by Abbott on the four canonical gospels and the relationship between them. Taken together, the five volumes constitute part 10 of the Diatessarica, a series dealing with the gospels and their interpretation. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in biblical criticism and theology."

Edwin A. Abbott (1838 1926) was a British headmaster and theological scholar best known as the author of Flatland, an 1884 novella which was influential in the development of science fiction. Originally published in 1915, this book forms section 3 of a 5 volume work by Abbott on the four canonical gospels and the relationship between them. Taken together, the five volumes constitute part 10 of the Diatessarica, a series dealing with the gospels and their interpretation. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in biblical criticism and theology."

Edwin A. Abbott (1838 1926) was a British headmaster and theological scholar best known as the author of Flatland, an 1884 novella which was influential in the development of science fiction. Originally published in 1916, this book forms section 4 of a 5 volume work by Abbott on the four canonical gospels and the relationship between them. Taken together, the five volumes constitute part 10 of the Diatessarica, a series dealing with the gospels and their interpretation. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in biblical criticism and theology."

Edwin A. Abbott (1838 1926) was a British headmaster and theological scholar best known as the author of Flatland, an 1884 novella which was influential in the development of science fiction. Originally published in 1917, this book forms the final section of a 5 volume work by Abbott on the four canonical gospels and the relationship between them. Taken together, the five volumes constitute part 10 of the Diatessarica, a series dealing with the gospels and their interpretation. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in biblical criticism and theology."

Originally published in 1912, this book provides an extensive review of Gospel theology and Christology through the lens of the pseudepigraphical Psalms or Odes of Solomon. Abbott compares the language of the Gospels and other early Christian writings with the Psalms, and provides a translation of them, with alternative readings, at the back of the book. This richly detailed book will be of value to anyone with an interest in Christian readings of Jewish writings.

Originally published in 1910, this book attempts to reconstruct the original order of the Gospel of John, which many theologians still claim has suffered from interpolation and other forms of disruption. Lewis demonstrates that, with a few alterations, the Gospel can be made more fluid in terms of its narrative, which may consequently shift the intelligibility of certain theological points and parables. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the construction of the Gospels.

The Gospels record that Jesus purported to forgive sins. What significance would such a claim have had for his contemporaries and what would the implications have been for his identity as a first-century popular prophet? Tobias Hagerland answers these questions and more as he investigates the forgiveness of sins in the mission of the historical Jesus. The Gospels are interpreted within the context of first-century Judaism as part of a broader reconstruction of Jesus' career as a healer and prophet, and rhetorical criticism is introduced as a tool for explaining how the gospel tradition about Jesus and forgiveness developed. Hagerland combines detailed exegesis and rigorous methodology with a holistic view of the historical Jesus, evaluating recent scholarship about first-century Jewish prophets and utilizing previously neglected textual evidence to present a thorough investigation of the theology of forgiveness in early Judaism and primitive Christianity."

Originally published in 1905 for use in schools, this book contains the Revised Version text of the Gospel of St John with critical annotations by Arthur Carr, then vicar of Addington in Surrey. Carr's introduction explains many of the Gospel's characteristics and provides a brief analysis. This volume will be of value to anyone with an interest in Christianity or the history of education.

Originally published in 1903 for use in schools, this book contains the Revised Version text of the Gospel of St Mark with critical annotations by Sir A. F. Hort, then assistant master at Harrow School, and Mary Dyson Hort. Hort's introduction supplies a history of gospel and an overview of their historical setting. This volume will be of value to anyone with an interest in Christianity or the history of education.

First published in 1923, and originally delivered as a series of lectures to divinity students in Dublin, this book measures the other biblical epistles against the teachings of St Paul. McNeile also explains Paul's effect on Christianity as taught by Christ, and the use to which the early Church put Paul's teachings. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the Bible's historical setting and the history of Christianity.

Though considered one of the most important informants about Judaism in the first century CE, the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus's testimony is often overlooked or downplayed. Jonathan Klawans's Josephus and the Theologies of Ancient Judaism reexamines Josephus's descriptions of sectarian disagreements concerning determinism and free will, the afterlife, and scriptural authority. In each case, Josephus's testimony is analyzed in light of his works' general concerns as well as relevant biblical, rabbinic, and Dead Sea texts. Many scholars today argue that ancient Jewish sectarian disputes revolved primarily or even exclusively around matters of ritual law, such as calendar, cultic practices, or priestly succession. Josephus, however, indicates that the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes disagreed about matters of theology, such as afterlife and determinism. Similarly, many scholars today argue that ancient Judaism was thrust into a theological crisis in the wake of the destruction of the second temple in 70 CE, yet Josephus's works indicate that Jews were readily able to make sense of the catastrophe in light of biblical precedents and contemporary beliefs. Without denying the importance of Jewish law-and recognizing Josephus's embellishments and exaggerations-Josephus and the Theologies of Ancient Judaism calls for a renewed focus on Josephus's testimony, and models an approach to ancient Judaism that gives theological questions a deserved place alongside matters of legal concern. Ancient Jewish theology was indeed significant, diverse, and sufficiently robust to respond to the crisis of its day.

When Dr. David Jeremiah prepares a sermon or teaching, at the forefront of his mind
is helping people understand what the Bible says, what it meant to the people at the
time it was written, and what is means to us today. The Jeremiah Bible Study Series
captures Dr. Jeremiah's forty years of teaching employing this approach and will lead
readers through each book of the New Testament, one chapter at a time. Along the
way, readers will gain insights into the text, identify the key stories and themes, and
be challenged to correctly apply the truths and meanings they find to their own lives.

Sections in each lesson include:

• Getting Started: An opening question to introduce readers to the lesson
• Setting the Stage: A short reflection to explain the context of the study
• Exploring the Text: The Scripture reading for the lesson with related study questions
• Reviewing the Story: Questions to help readers identify key points in the Scripture reading
• Applying the Message: Questions to help readers apply the key ideas to their lives
• Reflecting on the Meaning: A closing reflection on the key teachings in the lesson
• Each of the Bible studies in this series will help readers understand what the Bible says-particularly in its original context-and how to apply its teachings to their lives.

The Middle Ages spanned the period between two watersheds in the history of the biblical text: Jerome's Latin translation c.405 and Gutenberg's first printed version in 1455. The Bible was arguably the most influential book during this time, affecting spiritual and intellectual life, popular devotion, theology, political structures, art, and architecture. In an account that is sensitive to the religiously diverse world of the Middle Ages, Frans van Liere offers here an accessible introduction to the study of the Bible in this period. Discussion of the material evidence - the Bible as book - complements an in-depth examination of concepts such as lay literacy and book culture. This introduction includes a thorough treatment of the principles of medieval hermeneutics, and a discussion of the formation of the Latin bible text and its canon. It will be a useful starting point for all those engaged in medieval and biblical studies.

Mark Forman explores the extent to which Paul's concept of inheritance' in Romans, and its associated imagery, logic and arguments, served to evoke socio-political expectations that were different to those which prevailed in contemporary Roman imperial discourse. Forman explores how Paul deploys the idea of inheritance in Romans and analyses the sources which inform and overlap with this concept. Coins, literature and architecture are all examined in order to understand the purpose, hopes and expectations of first-century society. This book contributes to recent studies covering Paul and politics by arguing that Paul's concept of inheritance subverts and challenges first-century Roman ideologies."

Repentance and conversion are key topics in New Testament interpretation and in Christian life. However, the study of conversion in early Christianity has been plagued by psychological assumptions alien to the world of the New Testament. Leading New Testament scholar Joel Green believes that careful attention to the narrative of Luke-Acts calls for significant rethinking about the nature of Christian conversion. Drawing on the cognitive sciences and examining key evidence in Luke-Acts, this book emphasizes the embodied nature of human life as it explores the life transformation signaled by the message of conversion, offering a new reading of a key aspect of New Testament theology.

How can we, in our times, understand the biblical concept that human beings have been created in the image of an invisible God? This is a perennial but increasingly pressing question that lies at the heart of theological anthropology. Humanity in God's Image: An Interdisciplinary Exploration clarifies the meaning of this concept, traces different Jewish and Christian interpretations of being created in God's image, and reconsiders the significance of the imago Dei in a post-Holocaust context. As normative, counter-factual notions, human dignity and the imago Dei challenge us to see more. Claudia Welz offers an interdisciplinary exploration of theological and ethical 'visions' of the invisible. By analysing poetry and art, Welz exemplifies human self-understanding in the interface between the visual and the linguistic. The content of the imago Dei cannot be defined apart from the image carrier: an embodied creature. Compared to verbal, visual, and mental images, how does this creature as a 'living image' refer to God-like a metaphor, a mimetic mirror, or an elusive trace? Combining hermeneutical and phenomenological perspectives with philosophy of religion and philosophy of language, semiotics, art history, and literary studies, Welz regards the imago Dei as a complex sign that is at once iconic, indexical, and symbolical-pointing beyond itself.

T. M. Lemos traces changes in the marriage customs of ancient Palestine over the course of several hundred years. The most important of these changes was a shift in emphasis from bridewealth to dowry, the latter of which clearly predominated in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Whereas previous scholarship has often attributed these shifts to the influence of foreign groups, Lemos connects them instead with a transformation that occurred in Palestine's social structure during the very same period. In the early Iron Age, Israel was a kinship-based society with a subsistence economy, but as the centuries passed it became increasingly complex and developed marked divisions between rich and poor. At the same time, the importance of its kinship groups waned greatly. Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach that draws heavily on anthropological research, cultural theory, archaeological evidence, and historical-critical methods, Lemos posits that shifts in marriage customs were directly related to these wider social changes.

The place of the Law and its relationship to religious observance and faith is a contested topic in the study of both the Old and New Testament. In Law and Religion, members of the Erhardt Seminar group provide an insight into the debate, probing key topics and offering new contributions to the subject. Their essays are grouped into three sections, focussing in turn on the Law's place in Israelite religion, in the Jesus tradition, and in Paul and the Apostolic tradition. Thus, the foundation of the connection between law and religion in ancient Israel is explored, along with the decisive influence of the Deuteronomic reform and the radical new understanding now emerging of the later development in Judaism of the New Testament Period. So, also, the contemporary challenge to the conventional picture of Jesus and the Law is addressed, the attitude of Paul is shown in new light, and post-Pauline developments are examined. Readers will find in this symposium a refreshing breadth of opinion on a debate that spans the gamut of disciplines within Biblical studies.

Originally published in 1889, this book presents chapters 11.28 to 13.25 of the Harklean version of the Epistle to the Hebrews. The text also contains an introduction and comprehensive notes. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the books of the New Testament and biblical criticism.

To some, the Song of Songs is a simple love story of a man and a maiden. But for those with enlightened hearts, it becomes the key that unlocks the treasure chest of divine love. The Sacred Journey is an allegorical journey and a verse by verse commentary on the Song of Songs to lead every reader to discover God's fiery heart of love. Also included is The Passion Translation's Song of Songs: Divine Romance.