Pastor John MacArthur will take you through the book of Hebrews, passage by passage, so that you can better understand the author's message, the cultural context, and the perfect sufficiency of Christ. The early Jewish believers had come from a background of legalism and works. When God came to earth in human flesh as the New Covenant, these believers discovered the freedom they could have in Jesus and the relationship they could enjoy with Him. Yet in the midst of persecution and rejection, they were often tempted to hold on to the former symbols, rituals, and traditions grounded in the requirements of the Old Covenant. The unknown author of Hebrews sought to address this problem by contrasting the Old and New Covenants, brilliantly showing that Christ is higher than any Old Testament character, priest, ritual, or sacrifice. Because of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, He is the perfect sacrifice and our own High Priest. And He has given all believers unfettered access to God! -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.

This book honors the extraordinary contribution of Elizabeth Struthers Malbon to biblical studies. In the opening chapter, Werner Kelber places Malbon's work within the larger context of critical reflection, from antiquity to the modern era, on the role and function of discourse. Kelber locates Malbon's approach squarely within the framework of modernity and concludes that her "supremely creative achievement has been the employment of modern, narrative critical tools with a view toward uncovering the fecundity of the gospel of Mark." Drawing from and conversing with Professor Malbon's extensive publications, each of the five sections engages a theme from her works, focusing particularly on the Gospel of Mark. This tribute includes meaning as narrative, issues in methodology, studies in characterization, narrative readings of specific texts, and aesthetic and political readings. Contributors include: Werner H. Kelber; R. Alan Culpepper; Kelly R. Iverson; Mikeal C. Parsons; David Barr; David J.A. Clines; Robert C. Tannehill; J. Cheryl Exum; Heidi Hornik and Richard Walsh.

Mary Magdalene is a larger figure than any text, larger than the Bible or the Church; she has taken on a life of her own. She has been portrayed as a penitent whore, a wealthy woman, Christ's wife, an adulteress, a symbol of the frailty of women and an object of veneration. And, to this day, she remains a potent and mysterious figure. In the manner of a quest, this book follows Mary Magdalene through the centuries, explores how she has been reinterpreted for every age, and examines what she herself reveals about woman and man and the divine. It seeks the real Mary Magdalene in the New Testament and in the Gnostic gospels where she is extolled as the chief disciple of Christ. It investigates how and why the Church recast her as a fallen woman, it traces her story through the Renaissance when she became a goddess of beauty and love, and it looks at Mary Magdalene as the feminist icon she has become today.

Bart Ehrman-the New York Times bestselling author of Misquoting Jesus and a recognized authority on the early Christian Church-and Zlatko Plese here offer a groundbreaking edition of the Apocryphal Gospels, one that breathes new life into the non-canonical texts that were once nearly lost to history. In The Other Gospels, Ehrman and Plese present a rare compilation of over 40 ancient gospel texts and textual fragments that do not appear in the New Testament. This essential collection contains Gospels describing Jesus's infancy, ministry, Passion, and resurrection, as well as the most controversial manuscript discoveries of modern times, including the most significant Gospel discovered in the 20th century-the Gospel of Thomas-and the most recently discovered Gospel, the Gospel of Judas Iscariot. Each translation begins with a thoughtful examination of key historical, literary, and textual issues that places each Gospel in its proper context. The end result is a resource that enables anyone interested in Christianity or the early Church to understand-better than ever before-the deeper meanings of these apocryphal Gospels. The Other Gospels is much more than an annotated guide to the Gospels. Through its authoritative use of engaging, accurate translations, it provides an unprecedented look at early Christianity and the New Testament. This is an indispensable volume for any reader interested in church history, antiquity, or the Christian faith.

The Bilingual New Testament, English-Italian is derived from the 1901 English American Standard and Italian 1927 Riveduta Bible translations. Printed in 10-point text on white paper for easy reading, verses are paired in classical Biblical English and Italian so you can follow both translations sentence by sentence.

Example verses:

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life."

Giovanni 3:16 "Poiche Iddio ha tanto amato il mondo, che ha dato il suo unigenito Figliuolo, affinche chiunque crede in lui non perisca, ma abbia vita eterna."

Matthew 28:18-20 "18. And Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. 19. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: 20. teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."

Matteo 28:18-20 "18. E Gesu, accostatosi, parlo loro, dicendo: Ogni potesta m'e stata data in cielo e sulla terra. 19. Andate dunque, ammaestrate tutti i popoli, battezzandoli nel nome del Padre e del Figliuolo e dello Spirito Santo, 20. insegnando loro d'osservar tutte quante le cose che v'ho comandate. Ed ecco, io sono con voi tutti i giorni, sino alla fine dell'eta presente."

Note that the texts have been edited to allow pairing of verses which can result in some verse numbers that differ from other Bibles.

Contents Matthew - Matteo Mark - Marco Luke - Luca John - Giovanni Acts - Atti degli Apostoli Romans - Romani I Corinthians - I Corinzi II Corinthians - II Corinzi Galatians - Galati Ephesians - Efesini Philippians - Filippesi Colossians - Colossesi I Thessalonians - I Tessalonicesi II Thessalonians - II Tessalonicesi I Timothy - I Timoteo II Timothy - II Timoteo Titus - Tito Philemon - Filemone Hebrews - Ebrei James - Giacomo I Peter - I Pietro II Peter - II Pietro I John - I Giovanni II John - II Giovanni III John - III Giovanni Jude - Giuda Revelation - Apocalisse

In this lively introduction, J. Nelson Kraybill shows how the book of Revelation was understood by its original readers and what it means for Christians today. Kraybill places Revelation in its first-century context, opening a window into the political, economic, and social realities of the early church. His fresh interpretation highlights Revelation's liturgical structure and directs readers' attentions to twenty-first-century issues of empire, worship, and allegiance, showing how John's apocalypse is relevant to the spiritual life of believers today. The book includes maps, timelines, photos, a glossary, discussion questions, and stories of modern Christians who live out John's vision of a New Jerusalem.

In this landmark study of the literary relationship between the gospel of John and the synoptic gospels, Gary Greenberg presents compelling evidence for the existence of a written pre-canonical Alpha gospel that contained almost all of the main episodes in the adult life of Jesus (excluding major speeches, such as discourses, parables, and "I Am" sayings) and which became the written source for the core biography of Jesus in Mark, Luke, John, and Matthew. While Mark used the Alpha gospel with only slight variations, John had profound theological disagreements with it, objecting to its theological message about how to obtain eternal life, the depiction of Jesus, and other matters. This induced him to rewrite the Alpha gospel so that it conformed to his own very different theological agenda. Consequently, John's gospel functions as a thorough theological critique of Mark, but the changes he introduced made it difficult to see how he and Mark worked from the same written source. By using John's theological concerns as a filter for reading and understanding what objections John would have with Mark's Jesus stories, The Case for a Proto-Gospel reverse-engineers the editorial path taken by John and reconstructs the content of the Alpha gospel. Finally, the author discusses the relationship of the other two synoptic gospels to the Alpha gospel, asserting that Luke also knew the Alpha gospel but used Mark as his primary source, and that while Matthew did not know the Alpha gospel, his use of Mark as a primary source ensured that his core biography of Jesus also derived from this earlier source.

Sin was an extremely important and serious concern for the earliest Christians and the authors of the New Testament writings. Early Christians came to see the life and ministry of Jesus as challenging presumptions about the meanings of sin and faithfulness. This book provides a comprehensive treatment of different understandings of sin in early Christianity. Jeffrey S. Siker describes how the earliest Christian voices represented in the New Testament writings understood "sin" not only as a theological abstraction, but also as a real reflection upon human thought and behavior that violated right relationships with both other human beings and with God. Siker explores language about sin in relation to the Jewish and Greco-Roman contextual worlds of the New Testament writings, and examines the development and change of these worlds in relation to the modern concept of sin.

As the value and importance of the non-canonical Jesus tradition continues to be recognized, there is an ever-increasing need for scholarly introductions to this tradition. This co-edited edition comprises the Greek critical editions, with full translations, of several key gospel fragments including P.Egerton 2, P. Oxy. 840, and P.Oxy. 1224. These fragments, preserved despite the widespread destruction of non-canonical manuscripts, are invaluable primary witnesses of ancient Christianity and the transmission of early Christian texts. Introductions to the fragments discuss dates, origins, interpretations, and the relationship of the texts to the canonical gospels. Detailed commentaries expand points of interest to facilitate further scholarly research on these texts in the future.

How much do you know about the end of the world? In The 50 Final Events in World History, beloved and respected pastor Robert J. Morgan takes readers on a journey through end-times prophecy, walking step-by-step through the end of the world to the dawn of the new kingdom of heaven. Heard of worldwide pandemics? Weapons of mass destruction flashing through the air? Global water and air contamination? The nation of Israel restored after 2,000 years, encircled by hostile nations and buffered by the nation of Jordan? Air evacuations with machines having two wings? Threats from Russia and Asia? Extremism in Turkey? Clamor for globalization? Hand implants for commerce and security? The gospel penetrating unreached places? Violent persecution? Cascading wickedness? The world falling apart? All of this is predicted in the book of Revelation. If you find yourself baffled and maybe even a little intimidated by end times and the book of Revelation, The 50 Final Events in World History will be a comprehensive yet easy-to-understand overview of the book of Revelation, resource you can turn to again and again, helpful tool that translates the events of Revelation both literally and sequentially, and guide to interpret present circumstances as well as future events. Revelation is the Bible's final words on the world's last days. The key is understanding its simple sequence of events-one after another, clearly laid out -the fifty final events in world history. This is information we need to know now since we might soon be on the doorstep of event #1.

Paul's use of in Rom 12.1 has long fascinated and puzzled interpreters. This study proposes a new explanation of Paul's reason language in Rom 12.1 based on a detailed investigation of ancient philosophical texts on the role of human beings in the cosmos, in which reason language and the idea of a vocation of human beings are closely connected. It argues that Paul here appeals to the idea of a human vocation in order to claim that Christ-followers are able to fulfil their human vocation by living in such a way that their lives produce signs of the new creation inaugurated in Christ. This case is made by establishing the central role of reason in ancient discourse on what it means to be human more broadly, and in particular in Epictetus, who provides the clearest parallel for Romans. These contextualisations allow for a fresh reading of Paul's argument in Romans, where the relevance of these traditions is shown, not least for how Rom 12.1-2 frames Rom 12-15. The study thus contributes to the recent scholarly trend of exploring Paul in ancient philosophical contexts and advances the discussion on the integration of Paul's "theology" and "ethics" within an ancient cultural encyclopedia.

F. F. Bruce commented on the first edition, "I am glad to give it my warm commendation. As an introduction to the criticism of the New Testament it has . . . no equal in English." Since Bruce's comments on the original edition thirty years ago, this clear and comprehensive introduction to New Testament textual criticism has remained a popular text for beginning and intermediate students. Diagrams, an appendix of Latin terms, supplementary readings, a bibliography, and an index make this revised edition an invaluable resource.

The title, Rediscovering Joy, derives from Galatians 4:15 (NLT). The Galatians had lost the joy of God's blessing because they had departed from the truths of the gospel. The Reformation - and the book - is an invitation to rediscover the joy of the gospel. Despite the common claim that the Reformation is either out-dated or divisive, its rediscovery of the apostolic message was a rediscovery of joy - a message that is as relevant today as it was 500 years ago and 2,000 years ago. The book has a strong focus on biblical exposition and pastoral application.

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 New Testament Library offers authoritative commentary on every book and major aspect of the New Testament, as well as classic volumes of scholarship. The commentaries in this series provide fresh translations based on the best available ancient manuscripts, offer critical portrayals of the historical world in which the books were created, pay careful attention to their literary design, and present a theologically perceptive exposition of the text. The editorial board consists of C. Clifton Black and John T. Carroll. The first New Testament Library volume to focus on a Gospel, this commentary offers a careful reading of the book of Mark. Internationally respected interpreter M. Eugene Boring brings a lifetime of research into the Gospels and Jesus into this lively discussion of the first Gospel. Like all NTL volumes, this volume provides state-of-the-art biblical scholarship along with theological sensitivity.

This paradigm-shifting study is the first book-length investigation into the compositional dates of the New Testament to be published in over forty years. It argues that, with the notable exception of the undisputed Pauline Epistles, most New Testament texts were composed twenty to thirty years earlier than is typically supposed by contemporary biblical scholars. What emerges is a revised view of how quickly early Christians produced what became the seminal texts for their new movement.

Mark's Gospel has been seen as history, or as literature. The tensions between these two approaches point to what neither approach can articulate: the rich and ambiguous connections and disjuncture's between human experience itself and human retelling, remembering, and reliving of that experience. This energetic pulling and resistance between our ordered categories and the chaos of existence fuels Mark's gospel and arguably Christianity itself. With the aid of ritual theory this book seeks to explore that energy in Mark's passion narrative. In particular, Duran uses Catherine Bell's concept of 'ritualization', the process of ordinary actions taking on ritual meaning and form, to examine the ways in which the gospel draws from the chaos of Jesus' death and the wrong, upside-down order it signifies, a frightening kind of meaning and hope. Mark sets out to understand his world through the story he tells, to stake out some area of sense amid what he views as a chaotic universe. His effort to find or produce sense pushes against the very medium of language, going as far as language can into the boundary lands of ritual performance. In his effort to see and to present the apparently senseless movement of this crisis as meaningful, Mark is drawn into ritual, where unexplained and inexplicable actions do have meaning. Defining ritual as an effort to make order of experience without losing the turbulent truth of experience itself, Duran points out ways in which Mark's story engages in such an effort of ritualization.

In "Acts," part of the eighteen-volume Paideia commentary series, leading biblical scholar Mikeal Parsons gleans fresh theological insight into Acts by attending carefully to the cultural and educational context from which it emerges.

Paideia commentaries explore how New Testament texts form Christian readers by:
- Attending to the ancient narrative and rhetorical strategies the text employs
- Showing how the text shapes theological convictions and moral habits
- Commenting on the final, canonical form of each New Testament book
- Focusing on the cultural, literary, and theological settings of the text
- Making judicious use of maps, photos, and sidebars in a reader-friendly format

"Parsons presents a masterful exposition both of the myriad strategies whereby the author of Acts attempted to persuade his original audience and of the ways in which this ancient book continues to speak powerfully to Christian faith in our own day. Readers will find here a treasure trove of insights into Hellenistic rhetorical conventions and their usage in Acts."--John A. Darr, Boston College

"Parsons's commentary on Acts takes an overtly rhetorical approach to the text while not losing sight of its important theological implications. I commend him for focusing his commentary on the final form of the text as it was read by the first readers and recognizing the author as a theologian in his own right. Parsons also provides useful supplemental comments to aid those unfamiliar with the terminology of ancient rhetoric. A number of Parsons's assumptions and conclusions will no doubt prompt significant further discussion."--Stanley E. Porter, McMaster Divinity College

"Parsons deftlyshepherds the reader through Acts of the Apostles in this rich and illuminating commentary. This book will be an ideal companion for students navigating Acts for the first time and a helpful resource for seasoned Acts scholars."--William Sanger Campbell, The College of St. Scholastica

"Mikeal Parsons has been on the forefront of reading the Lukan writings with strategies that combine the best of ancient literary criticism with social-world analyses and socio-rhetorical expertise with biblical-theological acumen. His "Acts" Paideia commentary is his most recent integrative "tour de force"!"--David P. Moessner, University of Dubuque Theological Seminary and University of Pretoria