Written to help readers get, find, and keep the work they love, "JESUS, Career Counselor "weaves

together practical self-help concepts, intriguing stories, relevant statistics, and Bible scriptures.

Divided into four sections centered on the four natural giftings or personalities of people, this book

explores twelve dreams that God has for each individual--including rise, risk, roar, renew, regenerate,

rejoice, relate, and more. It then instructs readers in how to realize each one of these dreams, no

matter their natural inclination.

As individual personalities of Fire, Earth, Water, and Wind are explored, the book explains how

the "Fire" of excitement translates to Leadership Skills, how the "Earth" of grounding translates into

Good Habits and Character Development, how the "Water" of life-giving becomes Relationship Skills,

and how the "Wind" of release becomes the Creativity and Innovation, which are in high demand in

every industry in the world today.

Readers will learn how to discover their four greatest talents and create their personal Talent Shield,

which will help them choose a meaningful career based on their Life's Mission Statement.

Each chapter serves as a free-standing career guidepost, and includes Career Exercises, pertinent

Word Definitions, Career Choices for individual gifting, Self-Quizzes, and Reader Study Guides.

INSCRIBED UPON THE CROSS WHEN JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED were the latin words "Jesus Nazarenus Rex Iudeorum." Pontius Pilate was the author of that famous inscription. Latin was Pontius Pilate's mother tongue. Authorities competent to translate and pass upon the correct translation into English agree that is "Jesus the Nazarene Ruler of the Judeans." There is no disagreement among them of that. THE WORD "JEW" did not occur anywhere in the English Language until the 18th Century. Jesus referred to himself as a Judean. The modern day "Jews" were historically Khazars or Chazars, a Mongolian Nordic tribe who roamed northern Europe.

In A Relevant Way to Read, Margaret G. Sim draws on her in-depth knowledge of New Testament Greek to forge a new exegesis of the Gospels and Paul's letters. Locating her studies in the linguistic concept of relevance theory, which contends that all our utterances are laden with crucial yet invisible context, Sim embarks on a journey through some of the New Testament's most troubling verses. Here she recovers some of that lost information with a meticulous analysis that should enlighten both the experienced biblical scholar and the novice. Whether discussing Paul's masterful use of irony to shame the Corinthians, or introducing the ground-breaking ideas behind relevance theory into a whole new field of study, Margaret G. Sim demonstrates her vast learning and experience while putting her complex subject into plain words for the developing student.

For centuries, we thought we knew what happened during Jesus last days. Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday are not only observed by Christians around the world, but are also recognized in calendars and by non-practitioners as commemorating events in the final week of Jesus life. But apparent inconsistencies in the Gospel accounts of this period have continued to puzzle Bible scholars and fuel skeptics. In The Mystery of the Last Supper, Colin Humphreys uses science to reveal the truth about Jesus final days. Reconciling conflicting biblical accounts with scientific evidence, Humphreys proves that the Gospels, correctly interpreted, are in remarkable agreement. He reveals the exact date of the Last Supper in a groundbreaking new timeline of Holy Week.
Colin Humphreys is director of research at the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy at the University of Cambridge. He is the author of The Miracles of Exodus (2003). He was awarded a knighthood in 2010 for services to Science."

• What if Thousands of years before Christianity Pagans had also worshipped a Son of God?
• What if this Pagan saviour was also born of a virgin on the 25th of December before three Shepherds, turned water into wine, died and resurrected at Easter, and offered his body and blood as a Holy Communion?
• What if these Pagan myths had been rewritten as the gospel of Jesus Christ?
• What if there were absolutely no evidence for the existence of an historical Jesus?
• What if the earliest Christians knew that the Jesus story was a myth?
• What if the truth has been kept from us by the greatest cover-up in history?

Drawing on the cutting edge of modern scholarship, this astonishing book will change everything you ever thought you ever thought you knew about Christianity.

'Book of the Year'
FIONA PITT-KEIGHLEY, 'Daily Telegraph'

Since they were first written in 1745, "Visits to the Most Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin Mary" has been translated into many languages and read worldwide. This classic translation of St. Alphonsus Liguori's Visits, a faithful rendition from the original Italian into the American idiom, has now been reprinted in a new larger edition. This new printing offers exactly the same text as the previous edition, but in a larger, more readable, more durable format. It includes St. Alphonsus Liguori's introductory and concluding prayer, spiritual communion, and his reflection/meditation for each of 31 visits to the Most Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The German theologian David Friedrich Strauss (1808 1874) published his highly controversial The Life of Jesus in three volumes between 1835 and 1836. This translation by George Eliot is based on the fourth German edition (1840). Strauss applied strict historical method to the gospel narratives and caused scandal across the Protestant world by concluding that all miraculous elements were mythical and ahistorical. Strauss introduces Volume 1 with a survey of 'de-mythology' in Western thought. He applies modern historical and scientific criticism to the annunciation and birth narratives; the Davidic descent and genealogies of Jesus; Jesus' visit to the temple; Jesus' baptism and temptation and his relationship with John the Baptist. The volume ends with a chapter on chronology and locality in the life of Jesus. This is a key text of nineteenth-century theology that pioneered the application of historical and scientific methods to the study of religious texts.

The German theologian David Friedrich Strauss (1808 1874) first published his highly controversial The Life of Jesus in three volumes between 1835 and 1836. This translation, by George Eliot, is based on the fourth German edition (1840). In this work Strauss applied strict historical methods to the New Testament gospel narratives and caused scandal across the Protestant world by concluding that all miraculous elements in the life of Jesus were mythical and ahistorical. In volume 2 Strauss applies modern historical criticism to 'de-mythologize' the idea of Jesus as Messiah; the narratives about the disciples; the discourses in the Synoptic gospels and the Fourth Gospel; the non-miraculous events; and the miracles' narratives. This is a key text of nineteenth-century theology that pioneered the application of historical and scientific methods to the study of religions and religious texts. It is essential reading for any student of the New Testament.

The German theologian David Friedrich Strauss (1808 1874) published his highly controversial The Life of Jesus in three volumes between 1835 and 1836. This translation, by George Eliot, is based on the fourth German edition (1840). In this work Strauss applied strict historical method to the New Testament gospel narratives and caused scandal across the Protestant world by concluding that all miraculous elements were mythical and ahistorical. Volume 3 applies modern historical criticism to 'de-mythologize' the narratives of the transfiguration, Jesus' final journey into Jerusalem, the passion, the death, and the resurrection; and investigates the historicity of Jesus' enemies. The volume concludes with an essay entitled 'The Dogmatic Import of the Life of Jesus'. This is a key text of nineteenth-century theology that pioneered the application of historical and scientific methods to the study of religious texts. It is essential reading for any student of the New Testament.

How has Christ been seen for the last two millennia? From the Christ of the Gospels to the Isa of Islam, this book explores the way Jesus Christ has been viewed, described, promoted, opposed and written about. What did the word 'Christ' mean in the first century, and how did it resonate with the politics and religion of the time? And beyond that, how was Jesus seen in the New Testament, and then onto the time of the Desert Fathers? What of the heretical Christs - and who decided, and why? And from the 2nd century onwards, people started to draw and to paint images of Christ - how did this change and develop? The book then traces the history of Christ through the militant leader of the Crusaders, via the multi-faceted Christ of the Middle Ages, and the opposing views of Him thrown up by the Reformation and the wars that followed. Finally, the authors consider the Christ of the technological age and the age of total war, before looking also at the Christ of Liberation Theology, Marxism, the Developing world, the Dalits, other faiths, and the Post-modern Christ of the 21st century.

Jurgen Moltmann's The Crucified God is one of the most influential theological books of the twentieth century and a classic to be found on every reading list on Christian doctrine. Arguably the most powerful of Moltmann's books. The Crucified God is a seminal work on the crucifixion and its significance. The book takes death, despair and dreadfulness, the dark side of the human condition, with total seriousness and relates these to a liberating hope of redemption through divine agony and suffering. Influential for many years, especially with political and liberation theologians, but also much more widely, the book represents a concentrated blast of hard-edged doctrinal reflection and will continue to inspire upcoming generations who take seriously the life-changing notion that 'God was in Christ.' Reissued with a new foreword by the author himself.

Professor C. H. Dodd's four English broadcast talks upon the enduring significance of Advent are contained in this little book, uniform with his other broadcast brochure, 'About the Gospels'. The author's movingly simple, reasonable presentation, his acceptance of the problems, and his gift of interpreting his theme inspiringly and broadly, must make many new friends.

The Shroud of Turin is the most important and studied relic in the world. The many scientific studies on the relic until today have failed to provide conclusive answers about the identity of the enveloped man and the dynamics regarding the image impressed therein. This book not only addresses these issues in a scientific and objective manner but also leads the reader through new search paths. In the second edition, besides including some of the most recent findings on the Shroud, the authors follow the many tips and comments received from readers. The Shroud's dating by means of alternative methods has not been free from controversies, some of which have even implied the non-authenticity of the Shroud's samples tested. So the authors duly expand Chapter 7 to include the proof of the origin of the samples used in the recent scientific research and also address the provenance and the path of the original sample. Furthermore, a new section contains a personal interview with the authors that is the result of the interesting and praiseworthy work of a Bavarian high school student. Although there are many books on the subject, none contains such a formidable quantity of scientific news and reports. Unique in its genre, this book is a powerful tool for those who want to study the Turin Shroud deeply.

What do Christians mean when they call Jesus "son of God"? In this study of the phrase "son of God" as applied to Jesus of Nazareth, Christopher Bryan examines the testimony of various New Testament witnesses who used this expression to speak of him, and asks where they got it, what they meant by it, and how it might have been understood. In Bryan's view, any attempt to address these questions stands self-condemned if it does not point to both the words and works of Jesus himself in the memory of early Christians, and the Torah of Israel as then understood, centering on Israel's Scriptures. Of course Paul and his fellow believers did not proclaim Jesus in a vacuum. They proclaimed Jesus in the Roman Empire during the decades following the death of Augustus. With regard to the meaning of the phrase "son of God," what becomes clear, Bryan argues, is that whereas "Lord" (another expression frequently used in the New Testament for Jesus of Nazareth) reflects believers' sense of Jesus' relationship to them, "son of God" reflects their sense of his relationship to God. It is a title that reflects their consciousness of Jesus' holiness-that is, his "set-apartness," his consecration, and even his divinity. Readers of Son of God will gain a well-rounded understanding of classic and recent research in Christology and the New Testament, as well as an in-depth, historically situated view of the evidence that paints a clearer picture of what New Testament witnesses meant when they called Jesus "son of God."

The Blackwell Companion to Jesus features a comprehensive collection of essays that explore the diverse ways in which Jesus has been imagined or portrayed from the beginnings of Christianity to the present day. * Considers portrayals of Jesus in the New Testament and beyond, Jesus in non-Christian religions, philosophical and historic perspectives, modern manifestations, and representations in Christian art, novels, and film * Comprehensive scope of coverage distinguishes this work from similar offerings * Examines both Christian and non-Christian perspectives on Jesus, including those from ethnic and sexual groups, as well as from other faiths * Offers rich and rewarding insights which will shape our understanding of this influential figure and his enduring legacy

The Carolingian 'Renaissance' of the late eighth and ninth centuries, in what is now France, western Germany and northern Italy, transformed medieval European culture. At the same time it engendered a need to ensure that clergy, monks and laity embraced orthodox Christian doctrine. This book offers a fresh perspective on the period by examining transformations in a major current of thought as revealed through literature and artistic imagery: the doctrine of the Passion and the crucified Christ. The evidence of a range of literary sources is surveyed - liturgical texts, poetry, hagiography, letters, homilies, exegetical and moral tractates - but special attention is given to writings from the discussions and debates concerning artistic images, Adoptionism, predestination and the Eucharist.

The Christian religion figures prominently in the vast output, both discursive and imaginative, of Miguel de Unamuno. Unamuno studied nineteenth-century biblical scholarship closely, especially that of the Liberal Protestant school, but its influence did not dictate his direction. Without fully accepting the traditional Roman Catholic interpretation of the New Testament, what position vis-a-vis Jesus of Nazareth did Unamuno occupy himself? How did he see this figure from the Palestine of two thousand years ago, which has been so influential in western culture? What role does the Nazarene play in Unamuno’s work? What does the presence of Jesus tell us about the Basque writer’s idiosyncratic and combative religious views that drew the opprobrium of the Spanish Church hierarchy? This study focuses on the figure of Jesus of Nazareth as he appears in Unamuno’s writings – including The Tragic Sense of Life, The Christ of Velázquez, The Agony of Christianity, and San Manuel Bueno, mártir.

The events that took place in Jesus' final week of life - Palm Sunday, the Last Supper, the trial, Jesus' death and his resurrection - are foundational to our Christian lives and to our salvation. Focusing on these events day by day brings new understanding to who Jesus is and how he loves us. This LifeBuilder Bible Study in the new revised format features questions for starting group discussions and for meeting God in personal reflection, as well as a "Now or Later" section in each study.

Devotion to the Five Wounds of Jesus has long been one of the most popular forms of Catholic spirituality. David Williams traces the roots of this devotion in Holy Scripture: the words of the prophets foretell the suffering Christ, while the New Testament witnesses to the victorious scars borne by the risen Lord. The Sacred Wounds of Jesus remained a persistent theme in the writings of the Desert Fathers and Doctors of the Church, a theme that was to be more fully developed in the devotional practice of the mediaeval period and on into modern times. Detailing the several forms devotion to the Five Wounds has taken (both mediaeval and modern) - in art, liturgy and poetry - David Williams recalls those holy people favoured by visons of the suffering Lord, as well as those who themselves came to bear the stigmata of Christ. He outlines the history of devotion to the specific wound in the Side - later seen as the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and describes the 'gift of tears' given to some from their reflection upon the Passion of their Master. David Williams is the author of The Cistercians on the Early Middle Ages and The Welsh Cistercians, both published by Gracewing.

The first extended study of relics of the Holy Blood: portions of the blood of Christ's passion preserved supposedly from the time of the Crucifixion and displayed as objects of wonder and veneration in the churches of medieval Europe. Inspired by the discovery of new evidence relating to the relic deposited by King Henry III at Westminster in 1247, the study proceeds from the particular political and spiritual motives that inspired this gift to a wider consideration of blood relics, their distribution across western Europe, their place in Christian devotion, and the controversies to which they gave rise among theologians. In the process the author advances a new thesis on the role of the sacred in Plantagenet court life as well as exploring various intriguing byways of medieval religion.

This German language title presents a new interpretation of Luke's theology and ethics. The author demonstrates how Luke develops his theological agenda by contrasting the teaching of Jesus with that of John the Baptist. Boehlemann shows that the confrontation with the followers of John the Baptist runs through the whole of Luke's Gospel and through The Acts of the Apostles. By taking up and modifying the themes of John's preaching, Luke develops his own theology of liberation which distinguishes him from John's followers and with which he seeks to win them for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. John and his followers preached with threats of judgement while Jesus is depicted as a forgiving pastoral leader - the good shepherd. This new interpretation of the Lukan works reveals a narrative theology of great systematic consistency.

The follow-up to the author's highly successful The Things He Carried, this book takes the post-resurrection sayings of Jesus as starting-points and uses the same reflection format. The meaning and significance of the resurrection, how it was first communicated and how it is communicated to us today, are explored by piecing together these sayings of Jesus. However, the content may not quite be what we imagine. Following the resurrection, we would expect the triumphant 'I have risen from the dead'. Yet Jesus' statements are so different, so apparently innocuous, that they are often overlooked. The Christian faith stands or falls on the resurrection of Jesus; without it, says St Paul, we are to be most pitied. In this revelatory book of surprising reflections, Stephen Cottrell's retelling of the Easter story encourages us to slow down and hear it properly - perhaps for the very first time.

This book provides an exciting reinterpretation of the sayings and actions of Jesus. Setting him firmly in the context of first-century Judaism, it asks how important the city of Jerusalem and the theological traditions centred on it were to Jesus. At this time, Zion had become 'the symbol of the life, beliefs and hopes of all Jews'. Those Jews who expected the coming of a messianic Davidic king assumed that it would be from Zion that he would reign. Dr Tan examines how Jesus viewed the significance of Jerusalem in relation to his own vocation, and asks why he went there in what proved to be the last weeks of his life. Skillfully integrating what Jesus is recorded to have said with what he is recorded to have done, the author argues that, as a prophet, Jesus was attracted inevitably to the city of Zion. His message concerned the establishment of God's sovereignty on earth, and this in itself impelled him to go to the city to bring it under the divine rule. Jesus' actions in Jerusalem can also be interpreted as part of a common theme of the restoration of God's people for the fulfillment of their promised destiny. An understanding of the importance to Jesus of the Zion traditions, therefore, not only helps us to understand the unifying aim behind his ministry, but can also provide us with the key to the riddle of who Jesus thought he was.

One of the least well-researched aspects of the teaching of Jesus found in the gospels is the use of proverbs, or aphorisms. Whilst the parables of Jesus have drawn great interest and study, this other kind of saying has been relatively neglected, although it is equally if not more prominent in the gospel-tradition. The present study is an attempt to show how these proverbial or aphoristic sayings played an important role in the early formulation of the sayings of Jesus by the church. Small collections of aphoristic sayings can be detected in the sayings tradition known as 'Q'. These collections reveal markedly similar structures and concepts, which lead one to suspect that they have been compiled by a unique group which had a particular interest in 'wisdom'. These findings are then tested by analysing other aphoristic sayings outside the collections and by relating the results to other studies which have approached the question of 'wisdom' in the Jesus-tradition from other angles.

This study reconstructs the historical Pontius Pilate and looks at the way in which he is used as a literary character in the works of six first century authors: Philo, Josephus and the four evangelists. The first chapter provides an introduction to the history and formation of the imperial Roman province of Judaea. The following two chapters examine the references to Pilate in Philo and Josephus, looking at each author's biases before going on to assess the historicity of their accounts. The next four chapters look at the portrayal of Pilate in each gospel, asking how a first century reader would have interpreted his actions. Each chapter asks what this portrayal shows about the author's attitude towards the Roman state, and what kind of community found this useful. The conclusion distinguishes between the 'historical Pilate' and the different 'Pilate of interpretation' preserved in our first century literary sources.