Many biographies of Christ's life have been published through the years, but most have lasted only a short time. This volume, first printed in 1980, continues to be in demand. "The Life of Jesus Christ" is known in every English-speaking country and has been translated into many foreign languages. The reasons for its continued success are not hard to find. The details of Christ's life are presented in a clear and flowing style and are molded into an easily comprehended whole. Doctrinally sound, vivid in detail, as authentic as study and research can make it, this work will long hold the place it won when first written by this noted Scottish theologian.

Marian scholar Fr. Rene Laurentin studies the Infancy Narratives presented in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke with the perceptiveness and deep spiritual penetration which characterize his work. He restores the veracity of the Infancy Gospels to us with new life and brilliance.

A trial lawyer by trade, a Christian by heart-author Mark Lanier has trained in biblical languages and devoted his life to studying and living the Bible. Facing daily the tension between the demands of his career and the desire for a godly life, Lanier recognizes the importance and challenge of finding daily time to spend in God's Word. His meditations on the Gospels reveal the need for daily devotion from the teachings of Jesus. In Jesus for Living, Lanier shares a year's worth of meditations centered around the church calendar. Unlike his other devotionals, these are meant to be read according to the rhythms of the liturgical seasons-Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, and Ordinary Time. Lanier reflects on the actions and teachings of Jesus, offering insight on how our lives might imitate Jesus, and concludes each reading with a prayer of encouragement.

In Acts 15-28: A Handbook on the Greek Text, Martin Culy, Mikeal Parsons, and Josiah Hall provide a foundational examination of the Greek text of Acts. The analysis is distinguished by the detailed yet comprehensive attention paid to the text. The authors' exposition is a convenient pedagogical and reference tool that explains the form and syntax of the biblical text, offers guidance for deciding between competing semantic analyses, engages important text-critical debates, and addresses questions relating to the Greek text that are frequently overlooked or ignored by standard commentaries. Beyond serving as a succinct and accessible analytic key, Acts also reflects the most up-to-date advances in scholarship on Greek grammar and linguistics. This handbook proves itself an indispensable tool for anyone committed to a deep reading of the biblical text. This revised and expanded handbook on the Greek text of Acts, unlike its predecessor, includes comments on the grammar and syntax of every word in the text and incorporates insights from the Editio Critica Maior, now the standard critical Greek text for the Acts of the Apostles.

What did the first Christians say about Jesus? The good news about Jesus spread like wildfire through the Roman Empire in the decades between his death and the writing of the first gospels-but how? What exactly did the first Christians say about Jesus? In From Good News to Gospels David Wenham delves into the Gospels, Acts, and the writings of Paul to uncover evidence of a strong and substantial oral tradition in the early church. With implications for the historicity of the New Testament, the Synoptic problem, the composition of the gospels, and other topics of vital concern, From Good News to Gospels will inform, engage, and challenge readers, inspiring them to better understand and appreciate the earliest gospel message.

The title 'the Son of Man' evokes the different aspects of the whole Christ: the humanity and divinity of Christ, his earthly ministry, his sacramental presence, and the eschatological consummation of his work. It is also a term of relationship, suggestive of both the relations constitutive of the life of the Holy Trinity, and also of the way that our knowing and loving the Son of Man is always an invitation to communion - with the Triune God, as the Body of Christ, and for the life of the world. Contributors to this collection explore some of the many registers of the mystery of Christ, both historically and thematically. Contributors include some of today's leading theological thinkers, including N.T. Wright, Rowan Williams, Lydia Schumacher, Kallistos Ware and Oliver O'Donovan. With poetic reflections from Malcolm Guite. Chapters include: "Son of Man and the New Creation" (N.T. Wright), "The Son of Man in the Gospel of John" (John Behr), "Sound and Silence in Augustine's Christological Exegesis" (Carol Harrison), "According to the Flesh?: The Problem of Knowing Christ in Chalcedonian Perspective" (Ian Mcfarland), "Christ and the Moral Life" (Oliver O'Donovan), "Christ and the Poetic Imagination" (Malcolm Guite)

In Isaiah 9:6, a divine utterance is given to us using four royal titles--Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. Names for the Messiah ponders each title and how the people understood it then, how Jesus did or did not fulfill the title, and how Christians interpret Jesus as representative of that title. Christians have claimed from the beginning that Jesus was the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament. In this study, best-selling author Walter Brueggemann tackles the questions: "What were these expectations?" and "Did Jesus fulfill them?"

"The Torah doesn't speak of Jesus at all!" "This verse has absolutely nothing to do with your Jesus. It's not even a messianic prophecy." "As for the real messianic prophecies, Jesus fulfilled none of them." Using the Hebrew Bible, rabbinic texts, and the New Testament, Michael Brown provides thorough answers to nearly forty objections regarding Jesus as the Messiah. This third installment of Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus looks specifically at questions raised about messianic prophecies in Isaiah, Daniel, Psalms, Haggai, and Zechariah. It's an invaluable resource for seekers and for anyone wanting to point students of the Torah to Jesus. "Michael Brown has established himself as the foremost messianic apologist in the world. This volume deals with that most vital and controversial area of messianic prophecy objections: Is Jesus really the promised Messiah? All three volumes exhibit Dr. Brown's unique contributions to Jewish missions: biblical accuracy, Jewish sensitivity, and personal compassion." Dr. Barry R. Leventhal, academic dean and professor, Southern Evangelical Seminary "Brown's answers to objections are carefully thought out, honest, and well researched. His work provides a useful model on how to do apologetics for all who are interested in articulating and defending the Christian faith." Craig Keener, professor of New Testament, Eastern Seminary "Michael Brown's thinking is incisive and to the point. His ability to explain so that anyone can understand is amazing." Moishe Rosen, founder, Jews for Jesus

This bold, fresh look at the historical Jesus and the Jewish roots of Christianity challenges both Jews and Christians to re-examine their understanding of Jesus' commitment to his Jewish faith. Instead of emphasizing the differences between the two religions, this groundbreaking text explains how the concepts of vicarious atonement, mediation, incarnation, and Trinity are actually rooted in classical Judaism. Using the cutting edge of scholarly research, Rabbi Zaslow dispels the myths of disparity between Christianity and Judaism without diluting the unique features of each faith. Jesus: First Century Rabbi is a breath of fresh air for Christians and Jews who want to strengthen and deepen their own faith traditions.

Walk With Jesus During His Last Week on Earth

On March 29, AD 33, Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem and boldly predicted that he would soon be put to death--executed on a cross, like a common criminal. So began the most important week of the most important person who ever lived.

Nearly 2,000 years later, the events that took place during Jesus's last days still reverberate through the ages. Designed as a day-by-day guide to Passion Week, The Final Days of Jesus leads us to reexamine and meditate on the history-making, earth-shaking significance of Jesus's arrest, trial, crucifixion, and empty tomb.

Combining a chronological arrangement of the Gospel accounts with insightful commentary, charts, and maps, this book will help you better understand what actually happened all those years ago--and why it matters today.

God Visible: Patristic Christology Reconsidered considers the early development and reception of what is today the most widely professed Christian conception of Christ. The development of this doctrine admits of wide variations in expression, understanding, and interpretation that are as striking in authors of the first millennium as they are among modern writers. The seven early ecumenical councils and their dogmatic formulations were crucial facilitators in defining the shape of this study. Focusing primarily on the declaration of the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451, Brian E. Daley argues that previous assessments that Christ was one Person in two natures - the Divine of the same substance as the Father and the human of the same substance as us - can sometimes be excessively narrow, even distorting our understanding of Christ's person. Daley urges us to look beyond the Chalcedonian formula alone, and to consider what some major Church Fathers - from Irenaeus to John Damascene - say about the person of Christ.

The God of the universe knows your name. He has walked your streets. Jesus. Perhaps you’ve heard about him, studied him, or prayed to him. But do you know him? This is the question Max poses to the reader.

Divided into six sections (Immanuel, Friend, Teacher, Miracle Worker, Lamb of God, Returning King) each containing multiple chapters, this book not only describes the person of Jesus but also eloquently dives into the heart of Jesus towards the reader.

By exploring Jesus’ life death and resurrection as well as specific details like how he interacted with his friends and his enemies, what he did with time alone, how he acted at a party, this compilation from Max Lucado, now with original never-before-read content from Max, gives readers the chance to become more familiar with the man at the center of the greatest story ever told.

By learning more about the person Jesus was and is, the reader will understand more clearly the person they were created to be. Max writes “Don’t settle for a cursory glance or a superficial understanding. Look long into the heart of Christ and you’ll see it. Grace and life. Forgiveness of sin. The defeat of death. This is the hope he gives. This is the hope we need.”

The interpretation of the phrase 'the testimony of Jesus' in the Book of Revelation has been the centre of much debate, with no clear consensus regarding its meaning. One of the most important but often neglected issues is whether or not the phrase can be read consistently across each instance of its occurrence. The opening lines of the Apocalypse clearly specify that 'the testimony of Jesus' is a moniker for the book of Revelation itself, indicating that the phrase is an internal self-reference to the book's own message. Nevertheless, most interpreters are reluctant to apply this interpretation to the phrase in other parts of the book, leading to varied and inconsistent interpretations of the phrase. Following the intratextual pattern of the apocalyptic books of Daniel and 1 Enoch we can see that it is entirely possible that 'the testimony of Jesus' is a reference to Revelation's own message, an interpretation which is then supported by Dixon's in-depth study of each of the passages in which the phrase occurs. The exploration of the rhetorical impact of interpreting the phrase in this way shows that 'the testimony of Jesus' is not just another title for John's writing, but is something that is given to and even characterizes those who hear the message of the Apocalypse.

This useful and practical book provides the college student, seminarian, church study group, and interested lay person with a much-needed introductory guide on the "how" (method) and the "what" (message) of Jesus' teachings. In this revised edition, Robert Stein updates his classic work, adds a new bibliography, and introduces use of the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, bringing this important text to a new generation of students.

Monty Python's Life of Brian film is known for its brilliant satirical humour. Less well known is that the film contains references to what was, at the time of its release, cutting edge biblical scholarship and life of Jesus research. This research, founded on the acceptance of the Historical Jesus as a Jew who needs to be understood within the context of his time, is implicitly referenced through the setting of the Brian character within a tumultuous social and political background. This collection is a compilation of essays from foremost scholars of the historical Jesus and the first century Judaea, and includes contributions from George Brooke, Richard Burridge, Paula Fredriksen, Steve Mason, Adele Reinhartz, Bart Ehrman, Amy-Jill Levine, James Crossley, Philip Davies, Joan Taylor, Bill Telford, Helen Bond, Guy Stiebel, David Tollerton, David Shepherd and Katie Turner. The collection opens up the Life of Brian to renewed investigation and, in so doing, uses the film to reflect on the historical Jesus and his times, revitalising the discussion of history and Life of Jesus research. The volume also features a preface from Terry Jones, who not only directed the film, but also played Brian's mum.

Christianity depends on the belief that the Jesus of history is identical with the Christ of faith, and that God in the person of Jesus intervened finally and decisively in human history. But is the historical Jesus the same as the Christian Saviour? And how did an obscure provincial religion based on the paradox of a crucified saviour conquer the Roman Empire and outlive it? INTRODUCING JESUS - A GRAPHIC GUIDE confronts the enigmas. It sets Jesus in the perspective of his time - within Judaism and its expectations of a Messiah, in the atmosphere of Greek philosophy and the Roman deification of emperors. It traces the development of Christianity from St. Paul and the Romanization of the Church, to modern liberation theology. This book is a lucid and exciting investigation that will appeal to all readers, whether Christian or not.

In recent years many books have been published in the area of Christology (who is Jesus in himself?) and soteriology (what did he do as Saviour?). A number of notable, ecumenical documents on Christian ministry have also appeared. But in all this literature there is surprisingly little reflection on the priesthood of Christ, from which derives all ministry, whether the priesthood of all the faithful or ministerial priesthood. This present work aims to fill that gap by examining, in the light of the Scriptures and the Christian tradition, what it means to call Christ our priest.
Beginning with a study of the biblical material, the book then moves to the witness to Christ's priesthood coming from the fathers of the Church, Thomas Aquinas, Luther and Calvin, the Council of Trent, the seventeenth-century 'French School', John Henry Newman, Tom Torrance and the Second Vatican Council. The two concluding chapters describe and define in twelve theses the key characteristics of Christ's priesthood and what sharing in that priesthood, through baptism and ordination, involves.

He came from the wrong social class, the wrong place and the wrong profession. He ate with the wrong people, championed the wrong causes and attracted the wrong kind of supporters. He even spoke with the wrong accent. In fact everything about Jesus of Nazareth was wrong. How could this odd-job man be God's Messiah?To the authorities he was a dangerous rebel; to the pious he was scandalously unorthodox. Even his family thought he was mad. But somehow this builder from 'up north' - this outrageous, unorthodox, rebellious teacher and miracle worker - changed the world. In this illuminating new biography, Nick Page strips away centuries of misrepresentation and myth to reveal the real personality portrayed in the gospels. Drawing on a wealth of historical and archaeological research, the result is a startling and vivid new portrait of Yeshua ben Yosef - Jesus of Nazareth. Challenging and thought-provoking, THE WRONG MESSIAH will change the way you view Jesus: the man who in so many ways seemed utterly wrong, but who history has proved triumphantly to be right.

Answers to critical questions regarding the study of the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith The conclusions of the quest for the historical Jesus, which casts the majority of Christ's life as a myth, are a stark contrast to the orthodox view of Christ as presented in the Bible. Pate demonstrates that a critical analysis of the gospel text along with historical and cultural methods of investigation actually point toward an orthodox view of Christ. This work argues that the canonical Gospels are the most trustworthy information we have about the gospel writers as well as the life and ministry of Jesus, including his death, visit to hades, resurrection, and ascension. Readers will be encouraged by the reliability of the Gospel writers, the reality of Jesus' humanity and deity, and the inferiority of the apocryphal gospels.

The Incarnation, God becoming human in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, is a central mystery of Christianity. This inspiring book examines the theology of the Incarnation, and traces the history of human thinking about it. Tom Ravetz goes on to discuss Rudolf Steiner's unique insights into the Incarnation and shows how the process of incarnation is reflected in each one of us, summed up in the well-known phrase from Galations "Not I, but Christ in me". This readable book explores the difference that the Incarnation can make in our own lives today.

What really happened during Jesus' final days? It was, historically speaking, nothing much; a death in Jerusalem, a routine execution at the edge of an empire. Yet that execution - and the events surrounding it - were to have a profound effect on the history of the world. The last week of Jesus' life on earth was probably the most important week in history. This book aims to reconstruct the events of those days. From Jesus' entry to Jerusalem on the Sunday, to his resurrection a week later; this book explores the claims and explode the myths. It looks seriously at the evidence of the gospel accounts, without ducking the controversies and contradictions. It focuses on the history rather than the spiritual and theological significance of events and uses archaeological research and detailed Biblical analysis to take the reader through THE LONGEST WEEK.

Adam and Eve were not the first man and woman on Earth, but they were certainly the first of a kind. When the Israelites made their exodus from Egypt, their spiritual leader was not Moses, but Miriam - a queen and high priestess of the pharaonic succession. Joseph, the father of Jesus, was not a humble carpenter, but a trained alchemical metallurgist of the highest order. These and other contentious facts are disclosed for the first time in this remarkable study of the original kings - the early Pendragons, the unique royal ancestors of King David and Jesus. Drawing on files and hitherto secret archives of the ancient Dragon Sovereignity, Genesis of the Grail Kings tells the ultimate story of earthly kingship from its early Mesopotamian foundation. It reveals why the Messianic bloodline was so important, and explains in detail the true heritage of the Holy Grail. The author draws comparisons throughout between the biblical scripture and the historical documents from which the Old Testament is derived, so that a very different and highly controversial picture emerges. Here are the documented records of the hermetic Phoenix, the Philosophers' Stone and the Tables of Testimony - records which give stunning insight into active longevity, the transmutation of gold and the anti-gravitational science of the pharaohs

The New Order was the term the Japanese, German and Italian governments used for their expansive strategies and spheres of influence during the eve and course of the Second World War. Their attack against the status quo was initiated by Japan occupying Manchuria, preceding Hitler s rise to power. Subsequently, Italian aggression against Ethiopia shows that the first military adventures of the emerging New Order occurred outside Europe. A main issue in this account is the lack of coordination between the German and Japanese approaches toward the USSR. Consequently the Anti-Komintern-Pact, an overwhelmingly ideological cover-up, implied meager strategic significance. The Tripartite Treaty, on the contrary, provided Germany with some East European allies in its warfare against the USSR. In contrast to Germany and Japan, the Italian military performance was in all the stages of the Second World War so poor, that Mussolini s Fascism was downgraded to a humiliating position within the New Order. The author concludes that the common strategy came to naught due to different interests and mentalities. Fascist internationalism proved to be a sheer impossibility.

This book presents the explosive theory that Jesus Christ survived the crucifixion, travelled across what was then known as Asia, took up residence in Kashmir, India, married, had children and lived to the ripe old age of 120 years. Thirty illustrations include original-language documents (Sanskrit, Tibetan, Persian) -- with accompanying English translations -- that clearly record the sojourn of Jesus Christ all throughout Asia/India. The book studies five branches of humanity that are involved in an intense struggle over the identity of Jesus Christ, and compares their perspectives. Those branches are: revisionist Christian scholars, traditional Christianity, Eastern religions and philosophies, the world of Islam, and atheists, agnostics and secular humanists. Also examined are the philosophical issues surrounding the subject of a post-crucifixion life of Jesus. It offers an intense and fascinating comparison between Eastern religion and philosophy on the one hand, and Western Christianity on the other. This thorough examination is perhaps as engaging, if not more so, as the actual documents that detail the travels of Jesus to Kashmir after the crucifixion.

The Johannine literature has inspired the Church's christological creeds, prompted its Trinitarian formulations, and resourced its ecumenical and social movements. However, while confessional readers find in these texts a divine love for "the world," biblical scholars often detect a dangerous program of harsh polemics arrayed against "the other." In this frame, the Johannine writings are products of an anti-society with its own anti-language articulating a worldview that is anti-ecclesiastical, anti-hierarchical, and, more seriously, anti-Jewish and even anti-Semitic. In New Testament studies, the prefix "anti-" has become almost Johannine. In John and the Others, Andrew Byers challenges the "sectarian hermeneutic" that has shaped much of the interpretation of the Gospel and Letters of John. Rather than "anti-Jewish," we should understand John as opposed to the exclusionary positioning of ethnicity as a soteriological category. Neither is this stream of early Christianity antagonistic towards the wider Christian movement. The Fourth Evangelist openly situates his work in a crowded field of alternative narratives about Jesus without seeking to supplant prior works. Though John is often regarded as a "low-church" theologian, Byers shows that the episcopal ecclesiology of Ignatius of Antioch is compatible with Johannine theology. John does not locate revelation solely within the personal authority of each believer under the power of the Spirit, and so does not undercut hierarchical leadership. Byers demonstrates that the "Other Disciple" is actually a salutary resource for a contemporary world steeped in the negative discourse of othering. Though John's social vision entails othering, the negative "other" in John is ultimately cosmic evil, and his theological convictions are grounded in the most sweeping act of "de-othering" in history, when the divine Other "became flesh and dwelled among us." This early Christian tradition certainly erected boundaries, but all Johannine walls have a "Gate"-Jesus, the Lamb of God slain for the sin of the world that God loves.