He is risen indeed! Here are the best reasons why it's true! Culture is doing its best to convince the world there is nothing special about Jesus. And many Christians never get beyond a Sunday school understanding of their own faith. As a result, Christianity's most important historical fact--the resurrection--is often the most misunderstood, relegated to Easter and funeral services, creating a powerless Christianity. In Body of Proof, acclaimed apologist and scholar Dr. Jeremiah Johnston sets out to show why Jesus' victory over death is central to a believer's faith. Straightforward, accessible, and practical, this book examines the latest archaeological and textual findings and presents seven tangible, fresh reasons to believe Jesus really rose from the dead--and why it matters today as the foundation of our hope in the face of suffering and grief. When you fully understand the implications of the resurrection, you will begin to understand the power of Christ in you. This changes everything. "A creative masterpiece of persuasive evidence for the pivotal event of human history."--LEE STROBEL, New York Times bestselling author and founding director of the Lee Strobel Center at Colorado Christian University "Body of Proof is a book every pastor should teach and every believer should read."--DR. JACK GRAHAM, senior pastor, Prestonwood Baptist Church

It's easy to think that emotional pain and feelings of hopelessness are modern issues. But two thousand years ago, Jesus ministered to people who were also longing for peace and happiness. His answer? God's peace--his Shalom, a word so important that it's translated seventy different ways in the Bible. This often-overlooked aspect of the Christian life is the foundation for deep, meaningful happiness. In this uplifting book, Jeremiah Johnston provides a biblical perspective on living a life of Shalom. Johnston reveals: * the peace Jesus offers vs. the peace the world promises but can't deliver * how to apply God's peace to our current situation and combat anxiety, fear, and hopelessness * how to protect this perfect peace in our lives when troubles try to steal it This book is also helpful for lay leaders, pastors, and everyone else who recognizes the church's incredible opportunity today to help individuals and families dealing with anxiety and depression.

Is God dying? Some people think so--and more want it so. They say Christian beliefs and our way of life aren't relevant anymore. But what critics, and even many churchgoers, don't realize is the life-changing importance of Christianity. Showing how the world would be a dark place without Christianity, Unimaginable guides you through the halls of history to see how Jesus's teachings dramatically changed our world and continue to be the most powerful force for good today. Learn how Christianity has stood against slavery, racism, eugenics, and injustices toward women and children why freedom as a universal value and modern education and legal systems owe much to Christianity how Christians throughout the ages have demonstrated the value of human life by sacrificially caring for the sick, marginalized, and dying how people of faith are extending God's kingdom through charities, mental health initiatives, and other ways. This provocative and enlightening book is sure to encourage believers and equip them to respond to doubters.

Scribes and Their Remains begins with an introductory essay by Stanley Porter which addresses the principal theme of the book: the text as artifact. The rest of the volume is then split into two major sections. In the first, five studies appear on the theme of 'Scribes, Letters, and Literacy.' In the first of these Craig A. Evans offers a lengthy piece that argues that the archaeological, artifactual, and historical evidence suggests that New Testament autographs and first copies may well have remained in circulation for one century or more, having the effect of stabilizing the text. Other pieces in the section address literacy, orality and paleography of early Christian papyri. In the second section there are five pieces on 'Writing, Reading, and Abbreviating Christian Scripture.' These range across numerous topics, including an examination of the stauros (cross) as a nomen sacrum.

Scribes and Their Remains begins with an introductory essay by Stanley Porter which addresses the principal theme of the book: the text as artifact. The rest of the volume is then split into two major sections. In the first, five studies appear on the theme of 'Scribes, Letters, and Literacy.' In the first of these Craig A. Evans offers a lengthy piece that argues that the archaeological, artifactual, and historical evidence suggests that New Testament autographs and first copies may well have remained in circulation for one century or more, having the effect of stabilizing the text. Other pieces in the section address literacy, orality and paleography of early Christian papyri. In the second section there are five pieces on 'Writing, Reading, and Abbreviating Christian Scripture.' These range across numerous topics, including an examination of the stauros (cross) as a nomen sacrum.

This work critically engages the hermeneutical methods used to analyse the New Testament writings, so that the lenses through which studies of the texts have been traditionally viewed can be revised. Jeremy Hultin contributes an article on the rhetorical use of the chosen citations by Jewish rabbis in their commentary on scripture, while Mark Gignilliat writes on the potential implications for viewing Old Testament Scripture in the manner of the early Church exegetes and theologians. With these two contributions providing a frame for the other chapters, the essays explore a range of topics including the significance of the number 42 in Matthew; the study of Wisdom in Matthew, the extent to which the four gospels are underlined by Hebrew material, if any; the use of Hebrew material in shaping New Testament writings; and the uses of Scripture in the letters of Paul and the letters to the Hebrews. Read separately, these articles provide fascinating insights and revisions to established ideas on intertextuality between the Old/Hebrew Bible and the New Testament writings. Taken together, the collection presents a solid argument for the fundamental revision of our current hermeneutical practice in Biblical Studies.

All four canonical gospels identify the resurrection of Jesus, yet none detail the exact moment of its happening. The absence of this narrative detail was hotly contested in the second century, when critics derided a resurrection account without credible witness. Thus, the discovery of the Akhmim fragment at the end of the 19th century, which purports to provide exactly that detail, is a huge and surprisingly under-utilised addition to Biblical scholarship of the Apocryphal gospels. Johnston examines both the impact of this discovery on the scholarship at the time, and argues for the dating of the fragment to the second century AD. He identifies shared characteristics with other documents from this period, including a rise in anti-semitic feeling, and developments in concepts of the afterlife, and makes a claim for this fragment being the text that aided the development of these movements. The Second Century was the key time in which the non-canonical Biblical texts were established. It was also the era in which theologies which would become 'orthodox' in the third century were penned and defined. The significance, then, of dating the Akhmim fragment to the second century AD is huge. This work will be of great use to scholars of Second Temple Judaism, and those with an interest in the creation of the ideas that surround scholarship of the Bible.

This work critically engages the hermeneutical methods used to analyse the New Testament writings, so that the lenses through which studies of the texts have been traditionally viewed can be revised. Jeremy Hultin contributes an article on the rhetorical use of the chosen citations by Jewish rabbis in their commentary on scripture, while Mark Gignilliat writes on the potential implications for viewing Old Testament Scripture in the manner of the early Church exegetes and theologians. With these two contributions providing a frame for the other chapters, the essays explore a range of topics including the significance of the number 42 in Matthew; the study of Wisdom in Matthew, the extent to which the four gospels are underlined by Hebrew material, if any; the use of Hebrew material in shaping New Testament writings; and the uses of Scripture in the letters of Paul and the letters to the Hebrews. Read separately, these articles provide fascinating insights and revisions to established ideas on intertextuality between the Old/Hebrew Bible and the New Testament writings. Taken together, the collection presents a solid argument for the fundamental revision of our current hermeneutical practice in Biblical Studies.

All four canonical gospels identify the resurrection of Jesus, yet none detail the exact moment of its happening. The absence of this narrative detail was hotly contested in the second century, when critics derided a resurrection account without credible witness. Thus, the discovery of the Akhmim fragment at the end of the 19th century, which purports to provide exactly that detail, is a huge and surprisingly under-utilised addition to Biblical scholarship of the Apocryphal gospels. Johnston examines both the impact of this discovery on the scholarship at the time, and argues for the dating of the fragment to the second century AD. He identifies shared characteristics with other documents from this period, including a rise in anti-semitic feeling, and developments in concepts of the afterlife, and makes a claim for this fragment being the text that aided the development of these movements. The Second Century was the key time in which the non-canonical Biblical texts were established. It was also the era in which theologies which would become 'orthodox' in the third century were penned and defined. The significance, then, of dating the Akhmim fragment to the second century AD is huge. This work will be of great use to scholars of Second Temple Judaism, and those with an interest in the creation of the ideas that surround scholarship of the Bible.