This series is designed for those who know biblical languages. It is written primarily for the pastor and Bible teacher, not for the scholar. That is, the aim is not to review and offer a critique of every possible interpretation that has ever been given to a passage, but to exegete each passage of Scripture succinctly in its grammatical and historical context. Each passage is interpreted in the light of its biblical setting, with a view to grammatical detail, literary context, flow of biblical argument, and historical setting. While the focus will not be on application, it is expected that the authors will offer suggestions as to the direction in which application can flow.

Riots. Intolerance. Accusations. Scandal. Beatings. Plots. Arrests. Executions. Murder...And out of that, the Church was born. Pastor John MacArthur will take you through the story of the earliest Christian movement to show how-even in the midst of persecution and opposition-the early believers were able to rely on God's spirit for direction and divine authority to preach the gospel to all nations. The book of Acts is a carefully-recorded history of the explosive spread of the gospel and the rapid growth of the church after Christ's ascension. In one of the most tumultuous, violent and dramatic books in the entire Bible, Acts starts with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, without which the young church could never have survived the unleashing of rage and prejudice towards these radical followers of The Way. Throughout Acts, God shows His infinite power regardless of the circumstances, just as He continues to do today. -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.

The Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ are central events in our salvation. Yet few Christians have a good grasp of the first-century historical and religious context in which the Crucifixion took place, nor of its true significance for the people of that time-and hence for our time as well.

Biblical scholar and attorney Dr. Constantinou puts modern readers in the center of the events of Christ's Passion, bringing the best of modern scholarship to bear while keeping her interpretation faithful in every particular to the Orthodox Tradition.

The Eldest Brother and New Testament Christology explores the origin of cultural representations of Jesus as an eldest brother. Through ethnographic surveys, author Harald Aarbakke shows that the role of the eldest brother in different African societies is often accompanied by additional roles, among them mediator, protector, and leader. Aarbakke also searches for an exegetical basis for this understanding of Jesus, and argues that an eldest brother Christology can be substantiated by the cultural and literary context of certain New Testament texts (Matthew 25:31-46 and 28:10, Mark 3:31-35, John 20:17, Romans 8:28-30, Colossians 1:15-20, and Hebrews 2:10-18).

'STUNNING PHOTOS THAT BRING THE GOSPELS TO MODERN LIFE.' Mail on Sunday - Peter Stanford The New Testament Experience: The Gospels for the Modern World is specifically designed to reach a visual generation and bring them a fresh insight into the Gospels and the relevance of the Word of God to their lives today. Using the ESV translation and photography to bring the key characters and stories of each Gospel to life, this modern and immersive Bible aims to create a beautiful and engaging resource for the believer and for the local church leader. It is a tool to equip the youth of the Church and new Christians with the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. The New Testament Experience works with a broad international team of photographers and creatives, depicting the gospels in the modern world. Each gospel is set in a different city: Matthew in London; Mark in New York City; Luke in Sydney; John in Bogota. There are also 7 articles to teach key themes found in the gospels, these include: The Life of Jesus, The Gospels, Grace, The Holy Spirit, The Church, Prayer and The Bible. At the start and end of each gospel there are sections bringing pertinent insights and context to the key themes. This book utilises the method employed by Jesus himself to engage with and teach the people that followed him - the method of storytelling. Inspired by teaching through parables, The New Testament Experience works with the scriptures as a basis for the visual representation of the stories found in the gospels but for a 21st century audience. Key Features - Images brings the key characters and story of each Gospel to life in a modern context. - The spirit and narrative of the Bible is visually captured as scriptures are presented in a modern, readable and relevant way. - The reader is encouraged to visualise and remember stories and key scriptures that will inspire and shape their thinking of Jesus. - Full colour images and 8.75 point type face for easy reading Benefits - An ideal introduction to the bible for New Christians - A compelling resource for parents and youth leaders buying for teens and young adults. - Short features dispersed throughout the Bible.

Dieses Lehrbuch entfaltet das Denken des Paulus vor dem Hintergrund seines Lebens. Der erste Hauptteil behandelt das Leben und die Briefe, im zweiten Hauptteil folgt eine thematisch strukturierte Darstellung der zentralen Themen des paulinischen Denkens, das so gleichermassen in seiner historischen Genese und in seiner Systemqualitat erfasst wird. In Aufnahme der neueren wissenssoziologischen und geschichtstheoretischen Diskussion wird die paulinische Theologie als eine Sinnbildung verstanden, die sich durch hohe Anschlussfahigkeit auszeichnet. Trotz zahlreicher denkerischer Probleme und widriger historischer Umstande gelingt es Paulus, sein durch einen messianischen Universalismus gekennzeichnetes Denken in die bereits bestehenden Sinnwelten der hellenistischen Kultur zu installieren. Dabei zeigt sich, wie stark Paulus auch in den Kategorien dieser Kultur dachte und wie er in der Lage war, in seinen Gemeinden eine neue kognitive und emotionale Identitat zu schaffen. Seit geraumer Zeit ist dies wieder eine neue, umfassende Gesamtdarstellung von Person und Theologie des Apostels Paulus."

In Biblical Theology, Ben Witherington, III, examines the theology of the Old and New Testaments as a totality. Going beyond an account of carefully crafted Old and New Testament theologies, he demonstrates the ideas that make the Bible a sacred book with a unified theology. Witherington brings a distinctive methodology to this study. Taking a constructive approach, he first examines the foundations of the writers' symbolic universe - what they thought and presupposed about God - and how they revealed those thoughts through the narratives of the Old and New Testaments. He also shows how the historical contexts and intellectual worlds of the Old and New Testaments conditioned their narratives, and, in the process, created a large coherent Biblical world view, one that progressively reveals the character and action of God. Thus, the Yahweh of the Old Testament, the Son in the Gospels, and the Father, Son, and Spirit in the New Testament writings are viewed as persons who are part of the singular divine identity. Witherington's progressive revelation approach allows each part of the canon to be read in its original context and with its original meaning.

The hypothesis that the Gospel of Mark was heavily influenced by Pauline theology and/or epistles was widespread in the nineteenth century, but fell out of favour for much of the twentieth century. In the last twenty years or so, however, this view has begun to attract renewed support, especially in English language scholarship. This major and important collection of essays by an international team of scholars seeks to move the discussion forward in a number of significant ways- tracing the history of the hypothesis from the nineteenth century to the modern day, searching for historical connections between these two early Christians, analysing and comparing the theology and christology of the Pauline epistles and the Gospel of Mark, and assessing their reception in later Christian texts. This major volume will be welcomed by those who are interested in the possible influence of the apostle to the Gentiles on the earliest Gospel.

Ferdinand Christian Baur (1792-1860) has been described as "the greatest and at the same time the most controversial theologian in German Protestant theology since Schleiermacher." The controversy was epitomized by a nineteenth-century British critic who wrote that his theory "makes of Christianity a thing of purely natural origin, calls in question the authenticity of all but a few of the New Testament books, and makes the whole collection contain not a harmonious system of divine truth, but a confused mass of merely human and contradictory opinions as to the nature of the Christian religion." The contributors to this volume, however, regard Baur as an epoch-making New Testament scholar whose methods and conclusions, though superseded, have been mostly affirmed during the century and a half since his death. This collection focuses on the history of early Christianity, although as a historian of the church and theology Baur covered the entire field up to own time. He combined the most exacting historical research with a theological interpretation of history influenced by Kant, Schelling, and Hegel. The first three chapters discuss Baur's relation to Strauss, Moehler, and Hegel. Then a central core of chapters considers his historical and exegetical perspectives (Judaism and Hellenism, Gnosticism, New Testament introduction and theology, the Pauline epistles, the Synoptic Gospels, John, the critique of miracle, and the combination of absoluteness and relativity). The final chapters view his influence by analyzing the reception of Baur in Britain, Baur and Harnack, and Baur and practical theology. This work offers a multi-faceted picture of his thinking, which will stimulate contemporary discussion.

John and Philosophy: A New Reading of the Fourth Gospel offers a Stoic reading of the Fourth Gospel, especially its cosmology, epistemology, and ethics. It works through the gospel in narrative sequence providing a 'philosophical narrative reading'. In each section of the gospel Troels Engberg-Pedersen raises discusses philosophical questions. He compares John with Paul (in philosophy) and Mark (in narrative) to offer a new reading of the transmitted text of the Fourth Gospel. Of these two profiles, the narrative one is strongly influenced by the literary critical paradigm. Moreover, by attending carefully to a number of narratological features, one may come to see that the transmitted text in fact hangs together much more coherently than scholarship has been willing to see. The other profile is specifically philosophical. Scholarship has been well aware that the Fourth Gospel has what one might call a philosophical dimension. Engberg-Pedersen shows that throughout the Gospel contemporary Stoicism, works better to illuminate the text. This pertains to the basic cosmology (and cosmogony) that is reflected in the text, to the epistemology that underlies a central theme in it regarding different types of belief in Jesus, to the ethics that is introduced fairly late in the text when Jesus describes how the disciples should live once he has himself gone away from them, and more.

The vision of the millennium in the Book of Revelation is not intended to offer comfort to Christians in a time of persecution, but to serve as a warning to them not to be too ready to participate in the life of their pagan environment, for such participation is not possible without contact with the cult ofpagan gods. However, he whois contaminated by thepagan cult will not be part of the a oeResurrectiona and the a oeThousand Year Reigna but at the Last Judgement will suffer the a oeSecond Deatha in the a oepit of fire and sulphura .

A sequel to Word of Mouth by Janet Lees The purpose of the gospel is to change things and the change it offers is from death to life. Many people will be familiar with the gospel in written form but not everyone uses written versions of the gospel all of the time. Alongside the written Bible, ordinary people often use oral or remembered versions. This book is about the why, how, when, where and what of remembering the gospel. Altogether it presents a companion to remembering the One - Jesus, the Life Giver - whose gospel it is. Tell Me the Stories of Jesus is based on work done with many groups of different sizes and ages and cultures. The examples are set out here to encourage other groups to 'just go for it': remember and by remembering share life and build community. This companion to the remembered gospel aims to encourage and support those who want to work with this process with ordinary people in any place. Janet Lees, a speech therapist and an ordained minister of the United Reformed Church, has been developing the remembered Bible method for over 15 years, with ordinary people of all ages and abilities in Yorkshire and around the UK.

Winner of Christianity Today's 2011 award for best book in spiritualityThough bringing people to new birth in Christ through evangelism is essential, says Eugene Peterson, isn't growth in Christ equally essential? Yet the American church by and large does not treat Christian maturity and character formation with much urgency.In Practice Resurrection Peterson brings the voice of Scripture -- especially Paul's letter to the Ephesians -- and the voice of the contemporary Christian congregation together to unpack the crucial truth of what it means to fully grow up to the "stature of Christ."

Christianity Today 2013 Book Award Winner Winner of The Foundation for Pentecostal Scholarship's 2012 Award of Excellence 2011 Book of the Year, Christianbook.com's Academic Blog Most modern prejudice against biblical miracle reports depends on David Hume's argument that uniform human experience precluded miracles. Yet current research shows that human experience is far from uniform. In fact, hundreds of millions of people today claim to have experienced miracles. New Testament scholar Craig Keener argues that it is time to rethink Hume's argument in light of the contemporary evidence available to us. This wide-ranging and meticulously researched two-volume study presents the most thorough current defense of the credibility of the miracle reports in the Gospels and Acts. Drawing on claims from a range of global cultures and taking a multidisciplinary approach to the topic, Keener suggests that many miracle accounts throughout history and from contemporary times are best explained as genuine divine acts, lending credence to the biblical miracle reports.

To enclaves of young converts tucked away in the mountains of Asia Minor, Paul wrote what is perhaps the oldest document in the New Testament - the letter to the Galatians. What problems were they facing? Among a variety of religious authorities espousing different teachings, how were they to know who was right? How were men and women to be put right with God? How could Christians in the midst of a pagan culture live lives truly pleasing to God? 'Only one way -' answered Paul, 'through Jesus Christ.' His answer holds true for us as well. The details of our struggle have changed since Paul's day, but the principles he sets forth are as timeless as the Lord he exalts.

The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Apocrypha addresses issues and themes that arise in the study of early Christian apocryphal literature. It discusses key texts including the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary, the Gospel of Peter, letters attributed to Paul, Peter, and Jesus, and acts and apocalypses written about or attributed to different apostles. Part One consists of authoritative surveys of the main branches of apocryphal literature (gospels, acts, epistles, apocalypses, and related literature) and Part Two considers key issues that they raise. These include their contribution to our understanding of developing theological understandings of Jesus, the apostles and other important figures such as Mary. It also addresses the value of these texts as potential sources for knowledge of the historical Jesus, and for debates about Jewish-Christian relations, the practice of Christian worship, and developing understandings of asceticism, gender and sexuality, etc. The volume also considers questions such as which ancient readers read early Christian apocrypha, their place in Christian spirituality, and their place in contemporary popular culture and contemporary theological discourse.

David C. Parker is one of the world's foremost specialists in the study of the New Testament text and of Greek and Latin manuscripts. In addition to editions, monographs and more popular writings, he has published many articles on different aspects of textual criticism. This volume brings together twentyfive of them in a revised and updated version.The collection is divided into three topics. The first deals with manuscript studies. As well as three very different studies of Codex Bezae, there are articles and reports on individual manuscripts and classes of manuscripts and reports on visits to libraries. The second section has the theme of textual criticism. It includes broader studies dealing with the theory of the discipline and more detailed discussions of particular problems, including translations into Latin, techniques for grouping Greek manuscripts, and the comparison of modern editions. The third section contains papers in which Parker has discussed the often overlooked relationship between textual criticism and theology. These studies explore particular textual problems and their wider significance, and cover topics as varied as "Jesus and Textual Criticism", "Calvin's Biblical Text" and "The Early Tradition of Jesus' Sayings on Divorce".

With an uninterrupted printing history since it was first published in 1939, this classic interpretation of the book of Revelation has served as a solid resource and source of inspiration for generations. Using sound principles of interpretation, William Hendriksen unfolds the mysteries of the apocalypse gradually, always with the purpose of showing that "we are more than conquerors through Christ." Both beginning and advanced students of the Scriptures will find here the inspiration to face a restless and confusing world with a joyful, confident spirit, secure in the knowledge that God reigns and is coming again soon. This edition features a newly designed interior layout.