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.

The metaphor of the cosmos as the Body of Christ offers an opportunity to escape the aporias of standard Body of Christ imagery, which has often proved anthropocentric, exclusivist, triumphalist and/or sexist in the analyses of classical theologies. The body motif in particular contains starting points for current body discourses of gender-sensitive and ecological theologies, especially in their mutual overlaps. This book offers a critical evaluation of the prospects and boundaries of an updated metaphor of the Body of Christ, especially in its cosmic dimension. The first part of the book addresses the complex tradition in which the universal dimension of cosmological Christologies is located, including the thinking of the Apostles Paul and John, Origen, Cusanus, Teilhard de Chardin, McFague, and Panikkar. In the second part of the book, representatives of various innovative concepts will contribute to the anthology. This is a wide-ranging study of the implications of a new cosmic Body of Christ. As such, it will be of interest to academics working in Religion and Gender, Religion and the Environment, Theology and Christology.

This is a detailed study on the uses of the Old Testament in "Luke-Acts", focusing on the theme of the Gentile mission as it relates to the Old Testament.Scholarship on the uses of the Old Testament in "Luke-Acts" has tended to focus upon the role played by the Old Testament in the development of the author's Christology. James Meek, however, draws out the theme of the Gentile mission in Acts as it relates to the Old Testament, and gives particular attention to four texts: 13:47 ("Isaiah" 49:6); 15:16-18 ("Amos" 9:11-12); 2:17-21 ("Joel" 3:1-5 MT); 3:25 ("Genesis" 22:18). The quotations in "Acts" 13 and 15 receive greater attention because they explicitly address the issue of the Gentile mission (the two earlier texts anticipate it) and because of particular interpretive questions raised by these texts.Meek argues that while there are similarities in the quotations in "Acts" with the Old Greek form of the cited texts, the argument never depends on distinctive readings of the Old Greek. He therefore rejects claims that the author's use of Old Testament texts is dependent entirely on the Old Greek. He also maintains that all four quotations are used in a manner consistent with their sense in their original contexts, contrary to the common assertion that the New Testament commonly cites Old Testament texts without regard for original sense or context. His third principal argument is that these Old Testament quotations function as 'proof from prophecy,' contrary to the argument of some. In particular, they are cited to demonstrate the legitimacy of the Gentile mission as conducted by the early church and of the Gentiles' place among the people of God, showing these ideas to be central to the author's purpose.Formerly the "Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement", a book series that explores the many aspects of New Testament study including historical perspectives, social-scientific and literary theory, and theological, cultural and contextual approaches. "The Early Christianity in Context" series, a part of JSNTS, examines the birth and development of early Christianity up to the end of the third century CE. The series places Christianity in its social, cultural, political and economic context. "European Seminar on Christian Origins" and "Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus Supplement" are also part of JSNTS.

In this book, Catherine Sider Hamilton introduces a new lens through which to view the death of Jesus in Matthew. Using the concept of 'innocent blood', she situates the death of Jesus within a paradigm of purity and pollution, one that was central in the Hebrew Scriptures and early Judaism from the Second Temple to the rabbis. Hamilton traces the theme of innocent blood in Matthew's narrative in relation to two Jewish traditions of interpretation, one (in Second Temple literature) reflecting on the story of Cain and Abel; the other (chiefly in rabbinic literature) on the blood of Zechariah. 'Innocent blood' yields a vision that resists the dichotomies (intra muros vs extra muros, rejection vs redemption) that have characterized the debate, a vision in which both judgment and redemption - an end of exile - may be true. 'Innocent blood' offers a new approach not only to the meaning of Jesus' death in Matthew but also to the vexed question of the Gospel's attitude toward contemporary Judaism.

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.

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.

Christianity has revealed the secret that psychologists have long sought—the “inward soul,” the re-created spirit, the focus of God’s great redemptive work on earth.

The four Gospels give us a wonderful picture of the lonely man of Galilee, the humble Messiah who ends His earthly walk on Calvary. But Paul’s Epistles give us the risen triumphant One, the conqueror of death, sin, and Satan. He provides the revelation of what happened on the cross and in the tomb, and how that affects who and what we are in Christ today.

Legendary Bible teacher E. W. Kenyon delves deeply into Paul’s teaching to give us a living picture of the entire substitutionary work of Christ, which made possible the new creation, a new race of men and women who can stand in God’s presence without a sense of guilt, condemnation, or inferiority.

This book is a controversial new biography of the apostle Paul that argues for his inclusion in the pantheon of key figures of classical antiquity, along with the likes of Socrates, Alexander the Great, Cleopatra and Augustus. It first provides a critical reassessment of the apostle's life in its historical context that focuses on Paul's discourse of authority, which was both representative of its Roman context and provocative to his rivals within Roman society. It then considers the legend that developed around Paul as the history of his life was elaborated and embellished by later interpreters, creating legends that characterized the apostle variously as a model citizen, an imperial hero, a sexual role model, an object of derision and someone to quote from. It is precisely this rewriting of Paul's history into legend that makes the apostle a key transformative figure of classical antiquity.

This collection of major essays by the distinguished Finnish New Testament scholar will prove an invaluable sourcebook for students of this much-debated complex of problems.

The Commentary on Revelation is Bede's first venture into Biblical exegesis -- an ambitious choice for a young monastic scholar in a newly Christianized land. Its subject matter - the climax of the great story of creation and redemption, of history and of time itself - adds to the Commentary's intrinsic importance, for these themes lie at the heart of Bede's concerns and of his achievement as a historian, exegete, scholar, and preacher. But Bede was also a man of his age. When he penned the Commentary around 703, speculation and anxiety about the end of the world was in the air. According to conventional chronology, almost 6000 years had passed since creation. If for God 'one day... is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day' (2 Peter 3:8), the world was destined to last six millennia, corresponding to the six days of creation. The end, then, was close. Bede vigorously opposed the temptation to calculate the time of the end. The Commentary argues that Revelation is not a literal prophecy, but a symbolic reflection on the perennial struggle of the Church in this world. At the same time, the young Bede is starting to shape his own account of how the end-times would unfold. This translation, prefaced by a substantial Introduction, will be of interest to students of medieval religious and cultural history, of Anglo-Saxon England, and of the history of Biblical exegesis in the Middle Ages.

This textbook on how to read the Gospels well can stand on its own as a guide to reading this New Testament genre as Scripture. It is also ideally suited to serve as a supplemental text to more conventional textbooks that discuss each Gospel systematically. Most textbooks tend to introduce students to historical-critical concerns but may be less adequate for showing how the Gospel narratives, read as Scripture within the canonical framework of the entire New Testament and the whole Bible, yield material for theological reflection and moral edification.
Pennington neither dismisses nor duplicates the results of current historical-critical work on the Gospels as historical sources. Rather, he offers critically aware and hermeneutically intelligent instruction in reading the Gospels in order to hear their witness to Christ in a way that supports Christian application and proclamation.

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.

The Book of Revelation is the last book in the canon of the New Testament, and its only apocalyptic document, though there are short apocalyptic passages in various places in the gospels and the epistles. This second of two volumes on Revelation offers a systematic and thorough interpretation of the latter chapters of the book. Revelation brings together the worlds of heaven, earth and hell in a final confrontation between the forces of good and evil. Its characters and images are both real and symbolic, spiritual and material, and it is frequently difficult to know the difference between them, Revelation's cryptic nature has ensure that it would always be a source of controversy. This commentary focuses on the theological content, gleaning the best from both the classical and modern commentary traditions and showing the doctrinal development of Scriptural truths. Scholarship on the book of Revelation has nonetheless not only endured, but even captured the imagination of generations of Bible students, both professionals and laypeople alike. Through its focus on the message of the book through scholarly analysis, this ITC reconnects to the ecclesial tradition of biblical commentary as an effort in ressourcement, though not slavish repetition.

Jews have sometimes been reluctant to claim Jesus as one of their own; Christians have often been reluctant to acknowledge the degree to which Jesus' message and mission were at home amidst, and shaped by, the Judaism(s) of the Second Temple Period. In The Jewish Teachers of Jesus, James, and Jude David deSilva introduces readers to the ancient Jewish writings known as the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha and examines their formative impact on the teachings and mission of Jesus and his half-brothers, James and Jude. Knowledge of this literature, deSilva argues, helps to bridge the perceived gap between Jesus and Judaism when Judaism is understood only in terms of the Hebrew Bible (or ''Old Testament''), and not as a living, growing body of faith and practice. Where our understanding of early Judaism is limited to the religion reflected in the Hebrew Bible, Jesus will appear more as an outsider speaking ''against'' Judaism and introducing more that is novel. Where our understanding of early Judaism is also informed by the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, Jesus and his half-brothers appear more fully at home within Judaism, and giving us a more precise understanding of what is essential, as well as distinctive, in their proclamation. This comparative study engages several critical issues. How can we recover the voices of Jesus, James, and Jude from the material purporting to preserve their speech? How can we assess a particular text's influence on Jews in early first-century Palestine? How can we be sufficiently sensitive to the meanings and nuances in both the text presumed to influence and the text presumed to be influenced so as not to distort the meaning of either? The result is a portrait of Jesus that is fully at home in Roman Judea and Galilee, and perhaps an explanation for why these extra-biblical Jewish texts continued to be preserved in Christian circles.

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'.

For almost 1,500 years, the New Testament manuscripts were copied by hand--and mistakes and intentional changes abound in the competing manuscript versions. Religious and biblical scholar Bart Ehrman makes the provocative case that many of our widely held beliefs concerning the divinity of Jesus, the Trinity, and the divine origins of the Bible itself are the results of both intentional and accidental alterations by scribes. In this compelling and fascinating book, Ehrman shows where and why changes were made in our earliest surviving manuscripts, explaining for the first time how the many variations of our cherished biblical stories came to be, and why only certain versions of the stories qualify for publication in the Bibles we read today. Ehrman frames his account with personal reflections on how his study of the Greek manuscripts made him abandon his once ultra-conservative views of the Bible.

A New Testament Bible to help you grow in the Spirit and access biblical truth for life's questions--on the go Small enough to fit in a pocket or handbag yet filled with helpful outlines and study notes, "The Christian Life New Testament" is a great way to keep God's Word close at hand. Whether exploring on your own or sharing with others, the tools in this valuable resource will give you confidence and understanding in what it means to be a follower of Christ.

Included throughout the Bible text are easy-to-understand outlines of the New Testament's major teachings, written by Porter Barrington, who has been an evangelistic pastor all of his adult life.

Features include:

• Presentation page
• Master outlines of key teachings
• Study notes
• In-text subject headings
• Decision record
• Certificate of Baptism
• Prayer list

Type Size 7

The New King James Version--more than 60 million copies sold in 30 years.

Thomas Nelson Bibles is giving back through the God's Word in Action program. Donating a portion of profits to World Vision and the James Fund, we are helping to eradicate poverty and preventable deaths among children. Learn more and discover what you can do at www.seegodswordinaction.com.

In this clear, practical, and relatively brief commentary, Anthony Thiselton brings to bear his intimate knowledge of Paul's theology, the ancient city of Corinth, and Paul's epistles to the church of that city. The commentary is not only critical and exegetical, but also has a focus on practical and pastoral reflection. 2 Corinthians is Paul's most passionate epistle. It shows him to be a man of very deep feeling, who sometimes has to be frank, even blunt, with those who seek to undermine his work. In this commentary, we see the inner turmoil of a devoted missionary pastor and apostle. We also have the opportunity to explore how power can be expressed through weakness by pastors and all Christians who follow a Christ crucified and risen.

More than 110 titles available! Over 10 million LifeBuilder Bible Studies sold! Features the popular inductive study approach Includes helpful notes for group leaders Convenient workbook format for groups or individuals Approach questions help get you thinking or start group discussion Application questions help you to act on what you have learned Field-tested by individuals and groups prior to publication

These two volumes of The New Testament and Greek Literature are the magnum opus of biblical scholar Dennis R. MacDonald, outlining the profound connections between the New Testament and classical Greek poetry. MacDonald argues that the Gospel writers borrowed from established literary sources to create stories about Jesus that readers of the day would find convincing. In The Gospels and Homer MacDonald leads readers through Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, highlighting models that the authors of the Gospel of Mark and Luke-Acts may have imitated for their portrayals of Jesus and his earliest followers such as Paul. The book applies mimesis criticism to show the popularity of the targets being imitated, the distinctiveness in the Gospels, and evidence that ancient readers recognized these similarities. Using side-by-side comparisons, the book provides English translations of Byzantine poetry that shows how Christian writers used lines from Homer to retell the life of Jesus. The potential imitations include adventures and shipwrecks, savages living in cages, meals for thousands, transfigurations, visits from the dead, blind seers, and more. MacDonald makes a compelling case that the Gospel writers successfully imitated the epics to provide their readers with heroes and an authoritative foundation for Christianity.

What did it mean to be a Christian in the Roman Empire? In one of the inaugural titles of Oxford's new Essentials in Biblical Studies series, Harry O. Maier considers the multilayered social contexts that shaped the authors and audiences of the New Testament. Beginning with the cosmos and the gods, Maier presents concentric realms of influence on the new religious movement of Christ-followers. The next is that of the empire itself and the sway the cult of the emperor held over believers of a single deity. Within the empire, early Christianity developed mostly in cities, the shape of which often influenced the form of belief. The family stood as the social unit in which daily expression of belief was most clearly on view and, finally, Maier examines the role of personal and individual adherence to the religion in the shaping of the Christian experience in the Roman world. In all of these various realms, concepts of sacrifice, belief, patronage, poverty, Jewishness, integration into city life, and the social constitution of identity are explored as important facets of early Christianity as a lived religion. Maier encourages readers to think of early Christianity not simply as an abstract and disconnected set of beliefs and practices, but as made up of a host of social interactions and pluralisms. Religion thus ceases to exist as a single identity, and acts instead as a sphere in which myriad identities co-exist.

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.