The SCM Study Guide to "New Testament Interpretation" offers an up-to-date, accessible introduction to this fast-changing area of theological study. Aimed at level one students, it encourages interaction with the New Testament texts and provides pointers for further reading and learning.

It covers the main areas tackled in introductory New Testament courses, such as the contents and diversity of the New Testament, how the texts came to be written and collected, their relationship to Jesus of Nazareth, and the nature of the canon.

In particular, it introduces the main interpretative approaches used by scholars in an accessible way, avoiding unnecessary jargon, and helping the student apply them to specific New Testament passages, so is full of practical examples and accessible learning techniques for the beginner.

The SCM Studyguide to Biblical Hermeneutics offers entry-level undergraduates a framework for interpreting the Bible. The book goes beyond offering guidance on how to do exegesis, and is intended as a practical tool to help readers develop good interpretative strategies for themselves. As such it features pedagogical tools such as Try it Out boxes to assist students to develop a tested and thought-through overall interpretative strategy of their own. Market-tested to ensure a good coverage of the typical topics found on a standard level-one hermeneutics course, SCM Studyguide to Biblical Hermeneutics is designed as a practical and comprehensive companion to coursework, be that within a secular institution, a theological institution or within Church reading groups. The authors set out from the beginning to make clear that interpretation of the Bible is largely affected by the readers own situation and therefore, the text is designed to guide the reader through the myriad of accepted methods of interpretation, no matter what the readers own perspective or situation may be.

We live in an age of incredible medical technology, and with it, a great emphasis on health and well-being. We fully entrust the care of our bodies to the medical profession, often taking its solutions and judgments as gospel. But what role, if any, should our Christian faith play in all this?
In "Reclaiming the Body, " a physician and a theologian take a critical look at some of the assumptions we draw from the medical profession and explore what theology has to say about medicine, our bodies, our health, and the Body of Christ. The authors deal with such issues as suffering, caring for the sick, children and reproductive technologies, medicine and the poor, our obsession with physical perfection, and death and dying.

Klauck's is a uniquely well-informed and comprehensive guide to the world of religion in the Graeco-Roman environment of early Christianity. Drawing on the most up-to-date scholarship, his volume paints a carefully nuanced portrait of the Christians' religious context. Besides describing ordinary domestic and civic religion and popular belief (including astrology, divination and "magic"), there is extended discussion of mystery cults, ruler and emperor cults, the religious dimensions of philosophy, and Gnosticism. An authoritative work, Klauck's will become a new standard for reference and teaching.

In this groundbreaking book, Benezet Bujo, a leading voice in African Christian theology, offers an informed critique of Western ethics and lays the theoretical groundwork for a new African ethic. By skillfully drawing on themes from African life such as marriage, therapy, and art, Bujo exposes the shortcomings of the philosophical anthropology implicit in Western ethics, comparing Western theories of natural law, discourse ethics, and communitarianism with the African emphasis on community and remembrance. He then considers whether African ethics can account for central Western values such as autonomy, freedom, and individual identity. Finally, he considers how African ethics both challenges the Church and contributes to its richness, suggesting that an African palaver ethic can integrate the best features of communitarianism and discourse ethics. This timely contribution to African theology will be of special interest to students of religion, comparative and non-Western philosophy, anthropology, and African studies, as well as those intrigued by ongoing debates about universal ethical norms.

@lt;DIV@gt;This unique book surveys within the various literary genres the parallels between the Bible and the literature of the ancient Near East. Each section begins with a survey of the available ancient literature, continues with a discussion of the literature, and concludes with a discussion of cases of alleged borrowing. The genres covered are - cosmology - laws - historical literature - wisdom literature - apocalyptic literature - personal archives and epics - covenants and treaties - hymns, prayers, and incantations - prophetic literature@lt;/div@gt;

Denise and John Carmody introduce the concept of mysticism and its practice in each of the world's major religions. For each religion they provide a brief description of its history, doctrine, and major mystical figures, and compare its mystical dimension to those of other traditions.

Other Editions: Hardcover

This book addresses one of the most timely and urgent topics in archaeology and biblical studies -- the origins of early Israel. For centuries the Western tradition has traced its beginnings back to ancient Israel, but recently some historians and archaeologists have questioned the reality of Israel as it is described in biblical literature. In "Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From?" William Dever explores the continuing controversies regarding the true nature of ancient Israel and presents the archaeological evidence for assessing the accuracy of the well-known Bible stories.

Confronting the range of current scholarly interpretations seriously and dispassionately, Dever rejects both the revisionists who characterize biblical literature as "pious propaganda" and the conservatives who are afraid to even question its factuality. Attempting to break through this impasse, Dever draws on thirty years of archaeological fieldwork in the Near East, amassing a wide range of hard evidence for his own compelling view of the development of Israelite history.

In his search for the actual circumstances of Israel's emergence in Canaan, Dever reevaluates the Exodus-Conquest traditions in the books of Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, and 1 & 2 Samuel in the light of well-documented archaeological evidence from the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age. Among this important evidence are some 300 small agricultural villages recently discovered in the heartland of what would later become the biblical nation of Israel. According to Dever, the authentic ancestors of the "Israelite peoples" were most likely Canaanites -- together with some pastoral nomadsand small groups of Semitic slaves escaping from Egypt -- who, through the long cultural and socioeconomic struggles recounted in the book of Judges, managed to forge a new agrarian, communitarian, and monotheistic society.

Written in an engaging, accessible style and featuring fifty photographs that help bring the archaeological record to life, this book provides an authoritative statement on the origins of ancient Israel and promises to reinvigorate discussion about the historicity of the biblical tradition.

Writing in the wake of a near-fatal stroke, eminent theologian Anthony C. Thiselton addresses a universally significant topic: death and what comes next. This distinctive study of "the last things" comprehensively explores questions about individual death, the intermediate state, the return of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, hell, the final state of the redeemed, and more. At once scholarly and pastoral, Thiselton's Life after Death offers biblically astute, historically informed, and intellectually sound answers -- making this book an invaluable resource for thinking Christians.

Archaeology still has many things to reveal about the life and world of Jesus of Nazareth. To touch a two-thousand-year-old pot held by a Jew who lived in a small village frequented by Jesus can bring us closer to understanding those who were touched by Jesus.

"Jesus and Archaeology" contains the revised and edited lectures that leading archaeologists and biblical scholars presented at a gathering in Jerusalem to celebrate the new millennium. Many contributors came directly from their excavations in places like Bethsaida, Capernaum, Nazareth, and Jerusalem to share their discoveries and insights, focusing on the question "In what ways do new archaeological discoveries clarify the world, life, and thought of Jesus from Nazareth?" Readers of "Jesus and Archaeology" will gain many new insights into the life and times of this fascinating Galilean Jew.

Contributors: Paul N. Anderson
Rami Arav
Dan Bahat
Richard A. Batey
Avraham Biran
Brian J. Capper
James H. Charlesworth
Bruce Chilton
James D. G. Dunn
J. K. Elliott
Esther Eshel
Craig A. Evans
Sean Freyne
Yizhar Hirschfeld
William Klassen
John S. Kloppenborg
Achim Lichtenberger
Frederic Manns
John Painter
Michele Piccirillo, O.F.M.
Bargil Pixner, O.S.B.
Emile Puech
John Reumann
Peter Richardson
Henry W. M. Rietz
Daniel R. Schwartz
Benedict Thomas Viviano, O.P.
Urban C. von Wahlde
John W. Welch
Jurgen Zangenberg
Joseph E. Zias

Long considered a classic for its rich portrait of the diversity and depth of Jewish observance, this account of the orgins and development of the Jewish holidays also provides a fascinating and useful guide to the rituals, customs, and ceremonies practiced by Jews throughout history in all parts of the world.

For centuries the Hebrew Bible has been the fountainhead of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Today, however, the entire biblical tradition, including its historical veracity, is being challenged. Leading this assault is a group of scholars described as the "minimalist" or "revisionist" school of biblical studies, which charges that the Hebrew Bible is largely pious fiction, that its writers and editors invented "ancient Israel" as a piece of late Jewish propaganda in the Hellenistic era.

In this fascinating book noted Syro-Palestinian archaeologist William G. Dever attacks the minimalist position head-on, showing how modern archaeology brilliantly illuminates both life in ancient Palestine and the sacred scriptures as we have them today. Assembling a wealth of archaeological evidence, Dever builds the clearest, most complete yet of the "real Israel that existed during the Iron Age of ancient Palestine (1200-600 B.C.).

Dever's exceptional reconstruction of this key period points up the minimalists' abuse of archaeology and reveals the weakness of their revisionist histories. Dever shows that ancient Israel, far from being an "invention, " is a reality to be "discovered. Equally important, his recovery of a reliable core history of ancient Israel provides a firm foundation from which to appreciate the aesthetic value and lofty moral aspirations of the Hebrew Bible.

The reader is taken on a journey from the earliest roots of Christianity to its near acceptance as religion of the Roman Empire. The reader is taken from the very first generation of Christians in Rome, a tiny group of Jews who acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah, down to the point when Christianity had triumphed over savage persecution and was on the verge of becoming the religion of the Roman Empire. Rome was by far the biggest city in the Roman world and this had a profound effect on the way Christianity developed there. It became separate from Judaism at a very early date. The Roman Christians were the first to suffer savage persecution at the hands of Nero. Rome saw the greatest theological movements of the second century thrashing out the core doctrines of the Christian faith. The emergence of the papacy and the building of the catacombs gave the Roman Church extraordinary influence and prestige in the third century, another time of cruel persecution. And it was in Rome that Constantine's patronage of the Christian faith was most evident as he built great basilicas and elevated the personal status of the Pope.