"The Victorious Christ" is the perfect guide for nonspecialists in search of a reliable and interesting exploration of the book of Revelation. The reader is invited to approach the text in a logical and nonthreatening fashion. After acquainting the reader with the book of Revelation and the basic questions, C. Freeman Sleeper deals with matters such as imagery and symbolism and the use of these images in other texts from the same period. He goes on to address the difficult issues of interpretation and the implications of Revelation for Christian living today.

Sleeper's lucid exposition of James restores this often neglected work to its rightful place in the Christian canon. Carefully charting the verbal structures and argument of the letter, he demonstrates that it is a coherent piece of moral teaching intended to encourage the development of Christian character, not just a collection of disparate maxims. As he guides the reader through the letter's basic themes, Sleeper is attentive to its echoes in the Old Testament, hellenistic-Jewish wisdom literature, and sayings of Jesus (Q), as well as to its affinities with other Christian writings. Moreover, he shows that the author's understanding of God and of human nature provides a significant theological foundation for practical wisdom about the Christian moral life.

The Bible helps to shape our understanding of Christian responsibility. However, different church bodies and individuals who claim scripture as an authority on ethics often reach different conclusions about moral life. In this book, C. Freeman Sleeper describes how the Bible can be used as a guide to moral life. He shows how various church bodies use the Bible to speak to specific contemporary ethical issues and deals directly with the question of the authority of the Bible by taking up the teaching of four basic styles of moral reflection--law, prophecy, apocalypse, and wisdom. Sleeper reviews the way that church bodies developed and used social policy and draws a distinction between the way churches speak to their own constituency and the way they speak to the world. He considers in detail the ethics of nuclear war and abortion. Practical exercises are also provided throughout the book.