Christianity Today Book Award of Merit-Popular Theology The Gospel Coaltion Award of Distinction-Popular Theology Every generation faces the temptation to wander from orthodoxy-to seek out the jolt that comes with false teaching, and to drift with cultural currents. And so every generation must be awakened again to the thrill of orthodoxy, and experience the astonishment that comes from stumbling afresh upon the electrifying paradoxes at the heart of the Christian faith. In The Thrill of Orthodoxy, Trevin Wax turns the tables on those who believe Christian teaching is narrow and outdated. Returning to the church's creeds, he explains what orthodoxy is and why we can have proper confidence in it, and lays out common ways we can stray from it. By showing how heresies are always actually narrower than orthodoxy-taking one aspect of the truth and wielding it as a weapon against others-Wax beckons us away from the broad road that ultimately proves bland and boring, and toward the straight and narrow path, where true adventure can be found.

The groundbreaking "Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible" ("DTIB") introduced readers to key names, theories, and concepts in the field of biblical interpretation. It has been well received by pastors and students, won book awards from "Christianity Today "and the Catholic Press Association, and was named the ECPA 2006 Christian Book of the Year. "Theological Interpretation of the Old Testament "features key articles from "DTIB," providing readers with a book-by-book theological reading of the Old Testament. The articles are authored by leading scholars, including Daniel I. Block, Tremper Longman III, J. Gordon McConville, Walter Moberly, Richard Schultz, and Gordon J. Wenham. This handy and affordable text will work particularly well for students in Old Testament/Bible survey courses, pastors, and lay readers.

Explores the intersection of theology and the life of the church

Theological interpretation of the Bible is key to the health and vitality as well as the belief and practice of the church. Just how it is done has been the subject of much discussion and debate over the centuries. In "Reading Scripture with the Church, " four leading biblical scholars make the case for theological interpretation. Each author is given the opportunity to interact with the other three, and all four interact with premodern, modern, and postmodern approaches to biblical interpretation. This is an important book for pastors, teachers, and other serious students of the Bible who will be motivated to embrace the task of interpreting the Bible with greater energy, caution, and precision.

Many pastors today see themselves primarily as counselors, leaders, and motivators. Yet this often comes at the expense of the fundamental reality of the pastorate as a theological office. The most important role is to be a theologian mediating God to the people. The church needs pastors who can contextualize biblical wisdom in Christian living to help their congregations think theologically about all aspects of their lives, such as work, end-of-life decisions, political involvement, and entertainment choices. Drawing on the Bible, key figures from church history, and Christian theology, this book offers a clarion call for pastors to serve as public theologians in their congregations and communities. It is designed to be engaging reading for busy pastors and includes pastoral reflections on the theological task from twelve working pastors, including Kevin DeYoung and Cornelius Plantinga.

The inerrancy of the Bible--the belief that the Bible is without error--is often a contentious topic among mainstream Christianity. Like other titles in the Counterpoints collection, this volume gives those interested in theology the tools they need to draw informed conclusions on debated issues by showcasing the range of positions in a way that helps readers understand the perspectives--especially where and why they diverge. Each essay in Five Views on Biblical Inerrancy considers: The present context, viability, and relevance for the contemporary evangelical Christian witness. Whether and to what extent Scripture teaches its own inerrancy. The position's assumed or implied understandings of the nature of Scripture, God, and truth. Three difficult biblical texts: one that concerns intra-canonical contradictions, one that raises questions of theological plurality, and one that concerns historical authenticity. Five Views on Biblical Inerrancy serves not only as a single-volume resource for surveying the current debate, but also as a catalyst both for understanding and advancing the conversation further. Contributors include Al Mohler, Kevin Vanhoozer, Michael Bird, Peter Enns, and John Franke.

This convenient text utilizes material from the award-winning "Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible" ("DTIB") to introduce students to the Bible and theological interpretation through a comprehensive book-by-book survey of the New Testament. The articles, authored by respected scholars, make unique contributions to the study of theological interpretation of Scripture.
"Theological Interpretation of the New Testament "provides a history of interpretation and covers major theological ideas for each book of the New Testament. Contributors include David E. Garland, Robert H. Gundry, I. Howard Marshall, Francesca Aran Murphy, Max Turner, and N. T. Wright. Students of the New Testament, pastors, and lay readers will appreciate this affordable volume. It will also serve as an excellent supplementary text in New Testament/Bible survey courses.

Learn to identify, evaluate, and refine your approach to forming theological conclusions based on the biblical text. The Bible has long served as the standard for Christian practice, yet believers still disagree on how biblical passages should be interpreted and applied. Only when readers fully understand the constructs that inform their process of moving from Scripture to theology--and those of others--can Christians fully evaluate teachings that claim to be "biblical." In this book--part of the Counterpoints series--scholars who affirm an inspired Bible, relevant and authoritative for every era, present models they consider most faithful to Scripture Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.: Principlizing Model Daniel M. Doriani: Redemptive-Historical Model Kevin J. Vanhoozer: Drama-of-Redemption Model William J. Webb: Redemptive-Movement Model Each position receives critiques from the proponents of the other views. Moreover, due to the far-reaching implications this topic holds for biblical studies, theology, and church teaching, this book includes three additional reflections by Christopher J. H. Wright, Mark L. Strauss, and Al Wolters on the theological and practical interpretation of biblical texts. The Counterpoints series presents a comparison and critique of scholarly views on topics important to Christians that are both fair-minded and respectful of the biblical text. Each volume is a one-stop reference that allows readers to evaluate the different positions on a specific issue and form their own, educated opinion.

Everyday theology is the reflective and practical task of living each day as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. In other words, theology is not just for Sundays, and it's not just for professional theologians. "Everyday Theology "teaches all Christians how to get the theological lay of the land. It enables them to become more conscious of the culture they inhabit every day so that they can understand how it affects them and how they can affect it. If theology is the ministry of the Word to the world, everyday theologians need to know something about that world, and "Everyday Theology "shows them how to understand their culture make an impact on it. Engaging and full of fresh young voices, this book is the first in the new Cultural Exegesis series.

The foundation of discipleship is sound, scriptural doctrine. The value of sound doctrine is often misunderstood by the modern church. While it can be dry and dull, when it flows from the story of Scripture, it can be full of life and love. This kind of doctrine, steeped in Scripture, is critical for disciple-making. And it's often overlooked by modern pastors. In Hearers and Doers, Kevin Vanhoozer makes the case that pastors, as pastor-theologians, ought to interpret Scripture theologically to articulate doctrine and help cultivate disciples. scriptural doctrine is vital to the life of the church, and local pastor-theologians should be the ones delivering it to their communities. With arresting prose and striking metaphors, Vanhoozer addresses the most pressing problems in the modern church with one answer: teach sound, scriptural doctrine to make disciples.

Christianity Today Book Award Winner A Jesus Creed Church History Book of the Year In recent years, notable scholars have argued that the Protestant Reformation unleashed interpretive anarchy on the church. Is it time to consider the Reformation to be a 500-year experiment gone wrong? World-renowned evangelical theologian Kevin Vanhoozer thinks not. While he sees recent critiques as legitimate, he argues that retrieving the Reformation's core principles offers an answer to critics of Protestant biblical interpretation. Vanhoozer explores how a proper reappropriation of the five solas--sola gratia (grace alone), sola fide (faith alone), sola scriptura (Scripture alone), solus Christus (in Christ alone), and sola Deo gloria (for the glory of God alone)--offers the tools to constrain biblical interpretation and establish interpretive authority. He offers a positive assessment of the Reformation, showing how a retrieval of "mere Protestant Christianity" has the potential to reform contemporary Christian belief and practice. This provocative response and statement from a top theologian is accessibly written for pastors and church leaders.

Does it make a difference that the God Christians claim to worship has revealed himself as triune-the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Does this fundamental truth of biblical authority have an effect on a believer's personal fellowship with God?

Puritan theologian John Owen recognized the great need for every believer to understand the triune God. Communion with the Triune God revisits the truth presented by John Owen and challenges all believers to truly recognize and appreciate the ministry that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit have in their lives. This work of John Owen encourages Christians to enjoy true communion with each person of the triune God.

Is there a meaning in the Bible, or is meaning rather a matter of who is reading or of how one reads? Does Christian doctrine have anything to contribute to debates about interpretation, literary theory, and post modernity? These are questions of crucial importance for contemporary biblical studies and theology alike. Kevin Vanhoozer contends that the postmodern crisis in hermeneutics--- incredulity towards meaning, a deep set skepticism concerning the possibility of correct interpretation---is fundamentally a crisis in theology provoked by an inadequate view of God and by the announcement of God s death. Part 1 examines the ways in which deconstruction and radical reader response criticism undo the traditional concepts of author, text, and reading. Dr. Vanhoozer engages critically with the work of Derrida, Rorty, and Fish, among others, and demonstrates the detrimental influence of the postmodern suspicion of hermeneutics on biblical studies. In Part 2, Dr. Vanhoozer defends the concept of the author and the possibility of literary knowledge by drawing on the resources of Christian doctrine and by viewing meaning in terms of communicative action. He argues that there is a meaning in the text, that it can be known with relative adequacy, and that readers have a responsibility to do so by cultivating interpretive virtues. Successive chapters build on Trinitarian theology and speech act philosophy in order to treat the metaphysics, methodology, and morals of interpretation. From a Christian perspective, meaning and interpretation are ultimately grounded in God s own communicative action in creation, in the canon, and preeminently in Christ. Prominent features in Part 2 include a new account of the author s intention and of the literal sense, the reclaiming of the distinction between meaning and significance in terms of Word and Spirit, and the image of the reader as a disciple martyr, whose vocation is to witness to something other than oneself. Is There a Meaning in This Text? guides the student toward greater confidence in the authority, clarity, and relevance of Scripture, and a well reasoned expectation to understand accurately the message of the Bible. Is There a Meaning in This Text? is a comprehensive and creative analysis of current debates over biblical hermeneutics that draws on interdisciplinary resources, all coordinated by Christian theology. It makes a significant contribution to biblical interpretation that will be of interest to readers in a number of fields. The intention of the book is to revitalize and enlarge the concept of author oriented interpretation and to restore confidence that readers of the Bible can reach understanding. The result is a major challenge to the central assumptions of postmodern biblical scholarship and a constructive alternative proposal---an Augustinian hermeneutic---that reinvigorates the notion of biblical authority and finds a new exegetical practice that recognizes the importance of both the reader s situation and the literal sense."

In this volume, highly esteemed scholar Kevin Vanhoozer introduces readers to a way of thinking about Christian theology that takes the work he began in the groundbreaking 2005 book, "The Drama of Doctrine," to its next level. Vanhoozer argues that theology is not merely a set of cognitive beliefs, but is also something we "do" that involves speech and action alike. He uses a theatrical model to explain the ways in which doctrine shapes Christian understanding and forms disciples. The church, Vanhoozer posits, is the preeminent theater where the gospel is "performed," with doctrine directing this performance. Doctrines are not simply truths to be stored, shelved, and stacked, but indications and directions to be followed, practiced, and enacted. In "performing" doctrine, Christians are shaped into active disciples of Jesus Christ. He goes on to examine the state of the church in today's world and explores how disciples can do or perform doctrine. Written in an accessible and engaging style, "Faith Speaking Understanding" sets forth a compelling vision of what the church is and what it should be doing, and demonstrates the importance of Christian doctrine for this mission.

Disciples who want to follow Christ in all situations need doctrinal direction as they walk onto the social stage in the great theater of the world. The Christian faith is about acknowledging, and participating in, the great thing God is doing in our world: making all things new in Christ through the Holy Spirit. Doctrine ministers understanding: of God, of the drama of redemption, of the church as a company of faithful players, and of individual actors, all of whom have important roles to play. In an age where things fall apart and centers fail to hold, doctrine centers us in Jesus Christ, in whom all things hold together.

"This is a book on theological hermeneutics. It is a plea for being hermeneutical about theology and for being theological about hermeneutics. It is an argument for treating the questions of God, Scripture and hermeneutics as one problem. This one problem defines what I call 'first theology'" (from the preface). In twelve chapters, Kevin Vanhoozer explores various dimensions of doing first theology and illuminates not only how we can talk about God but how we can begin with the Word of God and act on the basis of that Word. Blazing a pathway for recovering the unity of biblical studies and theological reflection, he addresses the challenges presented by the contemporary so-called postmodern situation, especially deconstructionism. Not only does a way of doing God-centred biblical interpretation come to light through Vanhoozer's explorations, but the triune identity of a God who is communicative, loving and sovereign also comes into focus. This is a book for students, pastors and teachers who have an interest in the nature of God, the nature of Scripture, the nature of theology, and the nature of hermeneutics and how they are all necessarily interrelated to the glory of God.

For the pastor or serious layperson, the realm of biblical interpretation can be a confusing maze of personalities, communities, methods, and theories. This maze can often result in obscuring the main goal of interpreting Scripture: hearing and knowing God better.
The "Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible" is a groundbreaking reference tool that introduces readers to key names, theories, and concepts in the field of biblical interpretation. It discusses these approaches and evaluates their helpfulness in enabling Christians to hear what God is saying to the church through Scripture. The contributors come from a variety of backgrounds, and the dictionary covers a broad range of topics with both clarity and depth.

At the heart of Christianity lies a series of vividly striking events that together make up the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel - God's self-giving in Jesus Christ for humanity - is intrinsically dramatic, a matter of speech acts and deed words. Why is it, then, that Christian doctrine so often appears strikingly dull by way of contrast? And what happens to doctrine when those inside the church and without become suspicious of claims to know like God, or of truth claims in general? The Drama of Doctrine argues that there is no more urgent task in the church than to reflect on and engage in living truthfully with others before God. Doctrine serves the church as an aid to truthful living, and is a vital aspect of the church's public witness in and to the world. Several recent proposals, post liberal and Radical Orthodox among others, advocate a cultural-linguistic turn, reconceiving theology in terms of church practices, and in the process making ecclesiology into a virtual first theology. At the same time, other theologians have stressed the importance of performing the Scriptures. Combining these two emphases - theology as church practice and interpretation as performance - Va

The love of God is arguably the most central doctrine of the Christian faith, and yet, remarkably, the subject of God's love has not received the attention it deserves. In Nothing Greater, Nothing Better an international team of distinguished theologians and biblical scholars admirably fills this need, offering clear and inspiring discussion of the nature of God's love and its implications for the Christian life. Kevin J. Vanhoozer begins the book by outlining the proper theological context of and main issues involved in meaningful talk about God's love today. Gary D. Badcock revisits the distinction between agape and eros, crafting a fresh understanding of these terms in relation to God's loving act in Christ. Geoffrey Grogan reviews the biblical evidence that ought to guide our thinking about God's love. Lewis Ayres examines Augustine's view of God's love as expressed in his commentary on 1 John and in his profound work on the Trinity. Trevor Hart examines the perils of using human language to speak of God, including attempts to fully grasp the concept of God's love. Alan J. Torrance looks for insight in the great Johannine assertion "God is love." Tony Lane queries the possibility of thinking about God's wrath and God's love together. Paul Helm asks whether God can love the world, turning, provocatively, to natural theology for an answer. David Fergusson takes up the vital eschatological concern: will the love of God ultimately triumph? The book closes with a sermon on Hosea 11 by Roy Clements that moves reflection on God's love from dogmatics to doxology. Though exploring the subject of God's love from many angles, these chapters are united in their understanding that it is not human love per se, but rather the love of the man Jesus -- representative both of God and of an authentic humanity -- that is the ultimate criterion for thinking about the love of God. Readers will find this volume both thought-provoking and spiritually uplifting.