Many approaches for interpreting the Bible have been put forth in recent years. All have their strengths--and their weaknesses. The Act of Bible Reading combines the strengths of several of these approaches into one volume which will enrich our reading of the Bible. Gordon Fee and Elmer Dyck discuss history and canon, respectively, as contexts for interpretation, highlighting the importance of historical-grammatical interpretation within a canonical setting for understanding biblical texts. J. I. Packer explores the importance of theology, both as it informs and as it safeguards Bible reading. Craig M. Gay proffers key insights from sociology, especially the sociology of knowledge, as it cautions us to ask not only what the text says, but who says it says that and why should we believe what they are telling us it says. Facing the challenges of modern secular hermeneutics from Heidigger and Nietzsche to Derrida and Foucault, Loren Wilkinson counters the postmodern reaction against truth. James Houston argues that the aim of Bible reading must be godliness and not mere scholarship. And Eugene Peterson then responds to the collection of insights as a whole. For readers who want to take the next steps in understanding the Bible for themselves, here is here is a not-to-be-missed opportunity to benefit from the combined insight of a distinguished group of teachers.

Does God really matter for today's Christians? Craig Gay addresses this issue in his The Way of the (Modern) World: Or, Why It's Tempting to Live As If God Doesn't Exist. Gay takes a critical look at the modern world and exposes the foundational worldview of contemporary secular society and the ideas that undergird modern culture. Gay shows how, for Christians, one of the most seductive temptations fostered by these ideas is the temptation toward practical atheism-living as if God does not matter. Practical atheism has become so attractive that even some Christian churches have embraced it. In The Way of the (Modern) World Gay describes in detail the far-reaching consequences of practical atheism and what it will eventually mean for Christians. Yet Gay is not without hope for today's Christians. Arguing for the eviction of certain modern ideas from our churches, he shows that there is a biblically sound way to live in but not of the world.

Technology is not neutral. From the plow to the printing press, technology has always shaped human life and informed our understanding of what it means to be human. And advances in modern technology, from computers to smartphones, have yielded tremendous benefits. But do these developments actually encourage human flourishing? Craig Gay raises concerns about the theological implications of modern technologies and of philosophical movements such as transhumanism. In response, he turns to a classical affirmation of the Christian faith: Jesus Christ, the eternal Word of God, took on human flesh. By exploring the doctrine of the incarnation and what it means for our embodiment, Gay offers a course correction to the path of modern technology without asking us to unplug completely. Gay demonstrates that the doctrine of the incarnation is not neutral either. It presents an alternative vision for the future of humanity.

Foreword by Trevor Cairney MONEY - the world today revolves around it. Particularly in capitalist societies, money plays a central role. Given money's pride of place in modern life and given how often the Bible addresses money's use and abuse, the subject of money clearly deserves serious Christian reflection. Craig Gay offers just that in this short, incisive, balanced book. Considering the insights of several classical and contemporary social theorists, Gay shows the duplicity of a monetary ethos: capitalism is without question the most productive economic system ever devised, yet the market system also fosters a subtle nihilism that tends to empty the world of substance and meaning. Gay's study encourages readers to rediscover meanings and values that transcend "cash values" - higher values that can free us from the market economy's grip on our culture.

Dialogue, Catalogue & Monologue is about words and the attitudes that we take toward them. Its purpose is to encourage us to take the words we speak more seriously than we are perhaps in the habit of doing. We have become so used to the deceptive subtleties and half-truths that reach our eyes and ears that we have probably been tempted to lose our faith in words and to back away from the words of others. We may even have been tempted to break faith with our own words and to back away from the words that we speak. Craig Gay suggests that this is to back away from life itself, and that our common future hinges on the recovery of dialogue. Our recovery of dialogue, however, does not, in the end, depend simply upon our own efforts. Dialogue never has. If our words enable us to build up a common world, if they enable us to say "we," if it is given to them to bear any fruit at all in this world, this reflects the fact that we are graciously allowed to participate in the creative potency of the divine Word. After all, we were brought into being and are at every moment preserved in existence by words that God has spoken and continues to speak.