The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most familiar passages in the New Testament. In this concise and clearly-written introduction to and commentary on the Sermon, Charles Talbert pays particular attention to its role in character formation and ethical decision making.
After introductory chapters on reading the Sermon on the Mount, the book offers a section-by-section commentary. Talbert points out structural highlights, provides illuminating cross-references to Jewish and Greco-Roman literature, and concludes each section with a consideration of how it contributes to character formation and how it can be used with the rest of Scripture for ethical decision-making. The book is packed with insights that will be of great use to students as well as those who preach and teach the Sermon.

In this fresh commentary, the fourth of eighteen volumes in the Paideia series, a leading New Testament scholar examines cultural context and theological meaning in Matthew. Paideia commentaries explore how New Testament texts form Christian readers by
- Attending to the ancient narrative and rhetorical strategies the text employs
- Showing how the text shapes theological convictions and moral habits
- Commenting on the final, canonical form of each New Testament book
- Focusing on the cultural, literary, and theological settings of the text
- Making judicious use of maps, photos, and sidebars in a reader-friendly format

"Reading John" concentrates on the literary and theological distinctives of the Fourth Gospel and the Johannine Epistles. New Testament scholar Charles Talbert's unique commentary considers the entire scope of these works attributed to John, their literary settings and particularities, and their continuing theological importance to the Christian story. Thoughtful and engaging, Reading John is an essential book for students and ministers studying the New Testament and the Johannine writings.

Paul's letters to the Christians in Corinth portray a young church struggling to live out the demands of the gospel amid the life of a thoroughly urban setting. In "Reading Corinthians," biblical scholar Charles Talbert helps his reader to grasp what was at stake in the conversations between Paul and the Corinthians. What we find there is not only a word for the struggling faithful in Corinth, but an always truthful word for the church today.

Inside this issue:1. The Rehabilitation of an Exegetical Step-Child: 1 Peter in Recent Research, by John H. Elliott2. The Critical Exploration of 1 Peter, by Dennis Sylva3. Parenesis and Kerygma in 1 Peter, by Eduard Lohse, translated by John Steely4. 1 Peter, Its Situation and Strategy: A Discussion with David Balch, by John H. Elliott5. Hellenization / Acculturation in 1 Peter, by David Balch6. The Literary and Theological Function of 1 Peter 1:3-12, by David W. Kendall7. The Functional Christology of First Peter, by Earl Richard8. Once Again: The Plan of 1 Peter, by Charles H. Talbert

The primary focus of this book is to demonstrate how Hebrews represent, in view of its historical and religious context, human fidelity to God. In order to provide a fresh perspective on this issue Whitlark examines Hebrews understanding of fidelity from the perspective of its authorial audience. His conclusions have far reaching implications for understanding the soteriology of Hebrews, the authors and the auditors presumed experience of salvation in Jesus Christ, and how the message of the supremacy of Jesus Christ was heard in the context Hebrews presupposes.

In this concise and clearly written commentary, Charles H. Talbert brings to mainline Christians a fresh reading of the book of Revelation, demonstrating that it is not only accessible but relevant for the modern-day Christian. According to Talbert, the primary causes of the marginalized status of the book of Revelation by mainline Christians are threefold--the apparent inaccessibility of its meaning, the seeming impossibility of its pastoral application, and its demonstrated susceptibility to abuse. By asking basic questions such as Who wrote this document? To whom? From where? and For what purpose? Talbert ably demonstrates that the book of Revelation was written to help the early Christians avoid assimilation into the larger pagan culture. Talbert also gives full attention to the literature of the Greco-Roman, early Christian, and early Jewish worlds as he examines the more mystical components of the narrative.

From the various biblical explanations of suffering, this volume chooses to focus on one: suffering sometimes possesses an educational value. It explores the differing versions of this view in Paul, James, 1 Peter, Hebrews, and Luke-Acts, and sets these Christian perspectives against the backdrop of similar explanations in Jewish and Greco-Roman cultures.

From the various biblical explanations of suffering, this volume chooses to focus on one: suffering sometimes possesses an educational value. It explores the differing versions of this view in Paul, James, 1 Peter, Hebrews, and Luke-Acts, and sets these Christian perspectives against the backdrop of similar explanations in Jewish and Greco-Roman cultures.

Innovative excursion into New Testament teaching on the earthly life of faith What does it mean to -get saved-? Is conversion a gift of God's grace but the post-conversion Christian life in our own hands? Is the covenant relationship sustained by a sense of personal gratitude for God's past gift of conversion -- or is post-conversion faithfulness itself an ongoing gift from God? In this book Charles H. Talbert and Jason A. Whitlark, together with Andrew E. Arterbury, Clifford A. Barbarick, Scott J. Hafemann, and Michael W. Martin, address such questions about God's role in the Christian's life. Through careful, consistent exegesis of relevant New Testament texts, they show that -getting saved- involves both God's forgiveness and God's enablement to obey -- or -new covenant piety- -- from initial conversion to eschatological salvation.