How did the movement founded by Jesus transform more in the first seventy-five years after his death than it has in the two thousand years since? This book tells the story of how the Christian movement, which began as relatively informal, rural, Hebrew and Aramaic speaking, and closely anchored to the Jewish synagogue, became primarily urban, Greek speaking, and gentile by the early second century, spreading through the Greco-Roman world with a mission agenda and church organization distinct from its roots in Jewish Galilee. It also shows how the early church's witness can encourage the church today.

This new Pillar volume offers exceptional commentary on Mark that clearly shows the second Gospel -- though it was a product of the earliest Christian community -- to be both relevant and sorely needed in today's church.

Written by a biblical scholar who has devoted thirty years to the study of the second Gospel, this commentary aims primarily to interpret the Gosepl of Mark according to its theological intentions and purposes, especially as they relate to the life and ministry of Jesus and the call to faith and discipleship. Unique features of James Edwards's approach include clear descriptions of key terms used by Mark and revealing discussion of the Gospel's literary features, including Marks use of the "sandwich" technique and of imagistic motifs and irony. Edwards also proposes a new paradigm for interpreting the difficult "Little Apocalypse" of chapter 13, and he argues for a new understanding of Mark's controversial ending.

In this timely book for believers, inquirers, and skeptics alike, James R. Edwards faces head-on the question of whether or not Jesus is indeed the sole savior of the world. After tracing the currents of modernity from the Enlightenment to the Jesus Seminar, Edwards contends that the assumptions of the most skeptical historical-Jesus scholars are no more intellectually defensible than the claims of faith. He then assembles extensive support to show that Jesus considered himself the unique and saving mission of God to the world.

Edwards devotes the second half of the book to discussing Jesus as savior in light of contemporary cultural currents, specifically addressing the thorny issues of religious pluralism, moral relativism, postmodernism, and the quest for world peace. Illustrated with real-life stories, "Is Jesus the Only Savior?" gives a fair hearing to twenty-first-century concerns while upholding historic Christian faith.

Martin Luther called Romans the clearest gospel of all. But centuries of interpretive tradition and dogma have muddied the waters. Edwards's careful exposition pays attention to literary detail and historical context to clarify the Epistle's significance for its original readers and for the church today. The NIBC format (section-by-section exposition of the NIV, all Greek transliterated, and separate textual and technical notes) make this commentary ideal for laypeople and pastors.

This book offers a new explanation of the development of the first three Gospels based on a careful examination of both patristic testimony to the Hebrew Gospel and internal evidence in the canonical Gospels themselves. James Edwards breaks new ground and challenges assumptions that have long been held in the New Testament guild but actually lack solid evidence.

In keeping with the Pillar New Testament Commentary's distinctive character, this volume by James R. Edwards on Luke gives special attention to the Third Gospel's vocabulary and historical setting, its narrative purpose and unique themes, and its theological significance for the church and believers today. Though Luke is often thought to have a primarily Gentile focus, Edwards counterbalances that perspective by citing numerous evidences of Luke's overarching interest in depicting Jesus as the fulfillment of God's providential work in the history of Israel, and he even considers the possibility that Luke himself was a Jew. In several excursuses Edwards discusses particular topics, including Luke's infancy narratives, the mission of Jesus as the way of salvation, and Luke's depiction of the universal scope of the gospel. While fully conversant with all the latest scholarship, Edwards writes in a lively, fluent style that will commend this commentary to ministers, students, scholars, and many other serious Bible readers.