What terms did early Christians use for outsiders? How did they refer to non-members? In this book-length investigation of these questions, Paul Trebilco explores the outsider designations that the early Christians used in the New Testament. He examines a range of terms, including unbelievers, 'outsiders', sinners, Gentiles, Jews, among others. Drawing on insights from social identity theory, sociolinguistics, and the sociology of deviance, he investigates the usage and development of these terms across the New Testament, and also examines how these outsider designations function in boundary construction across several texts. Trebilco's analysis leads to new conclusions about the identity and character of the early Christian movement, the range of relations between early Christians and outsiders, and the theology of particular New Testament authors.

The Max Lucado Life Lessons series continues to be one of the bestselling study guide series on the market today. This updated edition of the popular New Testament and Old Testament series will offer readers a complete selection of studies by Max Lucado. Intriguing questions, inspirational storytelling, and profound reflections will bring God's Word to life for both individuals and small-group members. Each session now includes a key passage of Scripture from both the NIV (formerly NCV) and the NKJV, and the guides have been updated to include content from Max's recent releases (2007-2016).

This book explores Christian origins by examining a key New Testament epistle, Paul's letter to the Galatian churches, seen by Christians as the charter of Christian liberty from the inherited Jewish law. The New Testament in Muslim Eyes provides a close textual commentary on perhaps the earliest declaration of Paul's apostleship and of his undying commitment to the risen Christ. It notes the subtleties of the Greek original against the backdrop of an exciting glimpse of Quranic Arabic parallels and differences. It asks: Does Paul qualify as a prophet of Allah (God)? The thoughts of Paul are assessed by examining his claims against the background of Islam's rival views of Abraham and his legacy. The Arabic Quran framed and inspired the life of the Arab Apostle, Muhammad, who was sent, according to Islam, to all humanity, Jewish and Gentile alike. Pauline themes are set in dialectical tension with the claims of the Quran. Akhtar compares and contrasts the two rival faiths with regard to: the resources of human nature, the salvation of the sinner, and the status of the works of the law. Both Christians and Muslims concur on the need for God's grace, an essential condition of success in the life of faith. The core Pauline Christian doctrine of justification by faith alone is scrutinised and assessed from a variety of non-Christian, especially Islamic, stances. Providing an Islamic view of Christian origins, this book helps to build bridges between the two religions. It will be a valuable resource to students and scholars of Biblical Studies, Islamic Studies, and the Philosophy of Religion.

New Testament with Psalms & Proverbs, Extremely Durable Synthetic Pages, 100% Worry Free, Stain Resistant, Ultra Clear Text, Ideal for Tote Bag or Backpack, Dry Highlight, Write and Underline, No Bleed Thru

The durability of the Waterproof Bible gives you the freedom to take God's Word with you anywhere - boating, traveling, camping... with worry free confidence that your Bible will withstand the test of time.

Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! 2 Peter 3:18 See Your Savior Through New Eyes No human has changed the world more than Jesus, as demonstrated by the many great statements written about him through the ages. In It's All About Jesus, bestselling author Randy Alcorn has compiled some of the most powerful and inspiring words ever said about the Son of God-words that will inspire, instruct, and encourage you to love, trust, and follow him. You'll find yourself spiritually enriched as you read these profound and heartfelt observations about Jesus' character, life, names, and more by well-known Bible scholars, teachers, and writers such as Augustine, Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon, Joni Eareckson Tada, Francis Chan, and Trillia Newbell. It's All About Jesus will... give you a richer appreciation for who Jesus is and what he has done for you help you discover what it means to seek Jesus above all else increase your motivation to know Christ more intimately Grow closer than ever to the Savior as you reflect on these insights that are all about Jesus.

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.

The Chalcedonian Definition of 451 never completely resolved one of the critical issues at the heart of Christianity: the unity of the 'person' of Christ. In this eagerly-awaited volume - the result of deep and sustained reflection - distinguished theologian Bruce Lindley McCormack examines the reasons for this philosophical and theological failure. His book serves as a critical history that traces modern attempts at resolution of this problem, from the nineteenth-century Lutheran emphasis on Kenoticism (or the 'self-emptying' of the Son in order to be receptive to the will of the Father) to post-Barthian efforts that evade the issue by collapsing the second person of the Trinity into the human Jesus - thereby rejecting altogether the logic of the classical 'two-natures' Christology. McCormack shows how New Testament Christologies both limit and authorize ontological reflection, and in so doing offers a distinctively Reformed version of Kenoticism. Proposing a new and bold divine ontology, with a convincing basis in Christology, he persuasively argues that the unity of the 'person' is in fact guaranteed by the Son's act of taking into his 'being' the lived existence of Jesus.

Exam board: Edexcel Level: A-level Subject: Religious Studies First teaching: September 2016 First exams: Summer 2017 Build, reinforce and assess students' knowledge throughout their course; tailored to the 2016 Edexcel A level specification and brought to you by the leading Religious Studies publisher, this guide combines clear content coverage with practice questions and sample answers. Written by teachers with extensive examining experience, this guide: - Helps students identify what they need to know with a concise summary of the topics examined at AS and A-level - Consolidates understanding through assessment tips - Offers opportunities for students to improve their exam technique by consulting sample student answers and commentary for each question type - Builds understanding through accessible explanations of key definitions and thinkers

The interest that the Epistle to the Hebrews arouses today is testimony to its enduring message, with its focus on what Jesus Christ did and continues to do for his people. McKelvey provides new insight on Hebrews by demonstrating that two of its chief images, pioneer and priest, function not just independently, but in tandem. Christ is not pioneer without also being priest, and his priesthood is only properly understood in terms of the pioneer figure. This double analogy conveys the meaning of the Christian faith, because only one who is both pioneer and priest can provide the church with the help it needs. Pioneer and Priest will appeal to those who want to know more about Hebrews as well as those who believe that the emerging church must follow Christ 'outside the camp'.

This book compares our contemporary preoccupation with ownership and consumption with the role of property and possessions in the biblical world, contending that Christian theology provides a valuable entry point to discussing the issue of private property-a neoliberal tool with the capacity to shape the world in which we live by exercising control over the planet's resources. Babie and Trainor draw on the teaching on property and possessions of Jesus of Nazareth. They demonstrate how subsequent members of the Jesus movement-the writers of early collection of Jesus sayings (called 'Q'), and the gospels of Mark and Luke-reformulated Jesus' teaching for different contexts that was radical and challenging for their own day. Their view of wealth and possessions continues today to be as relevant as ever. By placing the insights of the Galilean Jesus and the early Jesus movement into conversation with contemporary views on private property and consumer culture, the authors develop legal, philosophical and theological insights, what they describe as 'seven theses', into how our desire for ethical living fares in the neoliberal marketplace.

Magnificent insight into the miracles surrounding the crucifixion of Christ. Why was there a tremendous earthquake? What was the meaning of the three hours of thick darkness? Why was the temple veil torn in two? Why did graves open, and corpses come to life, and Christ's graveclothes remain undisturbed following His resurrection? Dan Schaeffer has skillfully updated William Nicholson's 1927 classic for today's seeking audience.

In Revelation for Everyone, bestselling author and theologian Tom Wright helps us understand the complex book of Revelation in a fresh new way. Many regard Revelation as the hardest book in the New Testament. It is full of strange, lurid, and sometimes bizarre and violent imagery. As a result, people who are quite at home in the Gospels, Acts and Paul's letters find themselves tiptoeing around Revelation with a sense that they don't really belong there. But they do! Revelation for Everyone offers one of the clearest and sharpest visions of God's ultimate purpose for the whole creation. Here we see how the powerful forces of evil can be and are being overthrown through the victory of Jesus the Messiah, which continues to inspire and strengthen his followers today. The For Everyone commentary series by Tom Wright can be used on its own or alongside his New Testament for Everyone guides. They commentaries by Tom Wright are designed to help you understand the Bible from a new perspective under the guidance of one of the world's leading New Testament scholars without requiring an in-depth understanding of theology.

"Journeying through Acts" explores the literary and cultural aspects of Acts and offers a fresh reading of this dramatic volume.
Acts is unique in the New Testament canon in part because it is not a gospel or a Pauline letter. It presents a dynamic story of the spread of the Christian gospel from Jerusalem to Rome. The gospel was propelled by the earliest followers of the risen and ascended Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, who is arguably the chief protagonist in the narrative.
Spencer's reading offers a traveler's guide through the book of Acts. He charts narrative features--plot development, character building, and shifting points of view--and explores cultural scenarios that affect the events in Acts--honor/shame contests, patron-client relations, and purity-pollution boundaries. Within this literary-cultural framework, Spencer undertakes to map the temporal, spatial, and social settings of each segment of the Acts journey.
"Journeying through Acts" offers students, pastors, scholars, and lay readers a satisfying--although by no means exhaustive--understanding of the overall narrative of Acts in light of recent academic scholarship.

Ian E. Rock demonstrates that the Letter to the Romans may be seen as an attempt by a subordinate group to redress actual and potential issues of confrontation with the Empire and to offer hope, even in the face of death. Paul demonstrates that it is God's peace and not Rome's peace that is important; that loyalty to the exalted Jesus as Lord and to the kingdom of God - not Jupiter and Rome - leads to salvation; that grace flows from Jesus as Christ and Lord and not from the benefactions of the Emperor. If the resurrection of Jesus - the crucified criminal of the Roman Empire - demonstrates God's power over the universe and death, the very instrument of Roman control, then the Christ-believer is encouraged to face suffering and death in the hope of salvation through this power. Paul's theology emerges from, and is inextricably bound to, the politics of his day, the Scriptures of his people, and to the critical fact that the God who is One and Lord of all is still in charge of the world.

The book of Hebrews is a fascinating extended sermon which has nurtured and challenged the church for centuries. It stands in tension with our sensibilities but provides guidance for the church's life and for individual Christians. In this theological commentary, D. Stephen Long explores this captivating book. He finds Hebrews extremely relevant for today since it integrates doctrine, ethics, and politics while helping faithful Christians find their ways through troubled times. It invites us into a robust world beyond the assumptions of today's scientific worldviews. Hebrews also helps us understand how to read Scripture after the triumph of Jesus Christ. Long's expert theological guidance helps us understand Hebrews and hear its message for our contemporary world. The volumes in Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible from Westminster John Knox Press offer a fresh and invigorating approach to all the books of the Bible. Building on a wide range of sources from biblical studies, the history of theology, the church's liturgical and musical traditions, contemporary culture, and the Christian tradition, noted scholars focus less on traditional historical and literary angles in favor of a theologically focused commentary that considers the contemporary relevance of the texts. This series is an invaluable resource for those who want to probe beyond the backgrounds and words of biblical texts to their deep theological and ethical meanings for the church today.

In The World of 1 Corinthians Matthew Malcolm aims to broaden our understanding of Paul's letter to the church in Corinth by allowing us to see it in its wider context of Greek and Roman culture and literature. The book follows the text of 1 Corinthians in a fresh translation, with annotated citations and pictures throughout the text. The book will be used to complement conventional commentaries. Essential to the task of interpreting an ancient text is recognition of that text's historical origins. This book aims to help those who are separated from Paul and his Corinthian audience by 2,000 years toward an increased appreciation of their world.

The Gospel of John has been examined from many different perspectives, but a comprehensive treatment of the theme of worship in this Gospel has not yet appeared. John Paul Heil offers a contribution toward a remedy of this deficiency by analyzing the entire Gospel of John from the perspective of its various dimensions of worship. The aim is to illustrate that three different but complementary dimensions of worship - confessional, sacramental, and ethical - dominate this Gospel. Indeed, these different types of worship represent the ways one expresses and demonstrates the faith that includes having divine life eternal, which is the stated purpose for writing the signs Jesus did in this Gospel - "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that, believing, you may have life in his name" ( John 20:31).

This Companion volume offers a concise and engaging introduction to the New Testament. Including twenty-two especially-commissioned essays, written by an international team of scholars, it examines a range of topics related to the historical and religious contexts in which the contents of the Christian canon emerged. Providing an overview of the critical approaches and methods currently applied to the study of biblical texts, it also includes chapters on each of the writings in the New Testament. The volume serves as an excellent resource for students who have some familiarity with the New Testament and who wish to gain a deeper understanding of the state of academic discussion and debate. Readers will also gain a sense of the new research questions that are emerging from current scholarship.

Christians have always turned to the Sermon on the Mount for inspiration. In Life Can Begin Again, Helmut Thielicke, himself one of the great preachers of the twentieth century, comes to grips with what is often seen as a collection of lovely but impossible ideals. Thielicke makes it clear that the Sermon on the Mount can never be understood if, even for a moment, we forget the person of the Preacher of the Sermon. For without the person and work of Jesus Christ the marvellous words of the Beatitudes and the injunctions that follow them are the most radical and devastating distillation of God's claims that can be conceived - they leave us in utter hopeless dismay. Only through Christ can these words of the law become the glorious Gospel that promises a new life. Once again, as in his other best-selling works How the World Began and The Prayer that Spans the World, Thielicke brings profoundly biblical religion alive for modern readers.

Jesus before Pentecost studies the history of Jesus' ministry from William P. Atkinson's Pentecostal perspective. This perspective affects both his method and the book's content. In terms of method, Atkinson puts forward a strong argument for looking carefully at John's Gospel, as well as the synoptic gospels, as a reliable historical source for Jesus' life. In terms of content, his main areas of study follow key Pentecostal interests, summed up in the "foursquare" Pentecostal rubric of Jesus as Saviour, Healer, Baptiser in the Spirit, and Soon-Coming King. The picture that emerges offers fresh insights into Jesus' life: notably, the symbolic meaning Jesus invested in the feeding of the five thousand; the effect that Jesus' approach to healing the sick had on Him; the involvement of God's Spirit in His life and in the lives of those around Him; and, lastly, His enigmatic predictions of his future coming. Overall, the study is both academically rigorous and warmly engaging. It will appeal to anyone who is interested in Jesus, regardless of whether or not they are associated with the Pentecostal tradition.

With humour and simple illustrations, theology professor John Bergsma focuses on Matthew, Luke, Paul, and John, whose writings comprise about 90 percent of the New Testament. The gospel of Matthew, written for Jewish Christians, illuminates the life and teachings of Christ as the long-promised Messiah. In Luke's gospel, readers will delve into the infancy and Triduum narratives, as well as the Acts of the Apostles and the life of the early Church. This leads the reader to discover St. Paul and his first and arguably greatest theological treatise: Romans. Finally, "the beloved apostle" St. John draws us in to the unsurpassed beauty of the fourth gospel, as well as the most mysterious book of the New Testament: the book of Revelation. A concluding chapter offers suggestions for further study.

In Biblical Philosophy, Dru Johnson examines how the texts of Christian Scripture argue philosophically with ancient and modern readers alike. He demonstrates how biblical literature bears the distinct markers of a philosophical style in its use of literary and philosophical strategies to reason about the nature of reality and our place within it. Johnson questions traditional definitions of philosophy and compares the Hebraic style of philosophy with the intellectual projects of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Hellenism. Identifying the genetic features of the Hebraic philosophical style, Johnson traces its development from its hybridization in Hellenistic Judaism to its retrieval by the New Testament authors. He also shows how the Gospels and letters of Paul exhibit the same genetic markers, modes of argument, particular argument forms, and philosophical convictions that define the Hebraic style, while they engaged with Hellenistic rhetoric. His volume offers a model for thinking about philosophical styles in comparative philosophical discussions.