Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of the Bible. Robin Parry takes the reader on a guided tour of the biblical cosmos with the goal of opening up the Bible in its ancient world. He then goes further and shows how this very ancient biblical way of seeing the world is still revelatory and can speak God's word afresh into our own modern worlds.

If worship is God centered, and God is the Trinity, then worship should be Trinity centered. 'Worshipping Trinity' explores the meaning and implications of that simple claim. Written for church leaders, worship leaders, and songwriters, as well as for those interested in theology, this volume explains why the Trinity matters so much and explores practical ways our worship can be made more Trinitarian. This second edition is fully updated and expanded.

Synopsis: If worship is God centered, and God is the Trinity, then worship should be Trinity centered. Worshipping Trinity explores the meaning and implications of that simple claim. Written for church leaders, worship leaders, and songwriters, as well as for those interested in theology, this volume explains why the Trinity matters so much and explores practical ways our worship can be made more Trinitarian. This second edition is fully updated and expanded. Endorsement: "The book has become a classic--and rightly so. There is nothing else like it. It brings first-rate theology and astute practical wisdom to the very heart of the church's life. And the second edition is even better than the first " --Jeremy Begbie, Duke Divinity School "Robin Parry is a fine theologian who writes accessibly and engagingly. I hope this second edition will be very widely read. It has the capacity to enable the renewal of the life and worship of the church." --John Inge, Bishop of Worcester, UK Praise for the First Edition: "This is an extremely helpful book " --Matt Redman, songwriter and worship leader "Robin Parry has given us a terrific resource with which we can see a clearer picture of the God we worship." --Keith Getty, hymn writer "Robin Parry calls us higher up and further in through this well-written, clear, and important book." --Brian McLaren, pastor and author "Not merely theologically profound, but lucid, accessible, and profoundly relevant." --Alan J. Torrance, University of St. Andrews, UK "This is a most important book." --Graham Cray, Bishop of Maidstone, UK "I found my own spirit was stirred by simply reading the excellent central chapters. . . . This is a book well worth reading and one I wholeheartedly recommend." --Terry Virgo, New Frontiers, UK "Bloody good " --Andrew G. Walker, King's College, UK "I cannot recommend this work highly enough. Pastors, worship leaders, and mature Christians must read this and practice the sort of Trinitarian worship Parry recommends." --Myk Habets, Carey Baptist College, New Zealand Author Biography: Robin Parry is an editor for Wipf and Stock Publishers. He is also author of Old Testament Story and Christian Ethics and the coeditor of Great Is Thy Faithfulness? Reading Lamentations as Sacred Scripture.

Synopsis: Lamentations is a book that has never had a place of honor at the table of Christian spirituality. This is an unfortunate state of affairs because its challenging poetry has much to offer. This volume explores the how the biblical book of Lamentations may be engaged afresh so that it can function as Holy Scripture for the ekklesia. Four main chapters consider issues in hermeneutics, exegesis, the use of Lamentations in worship, and pastoral reflections. These chapters have been supplemented by seventeen reception history studies written by an international team of Jewish and Christian scholars. These studies introduce a wide range of interpretations and uses of the book of Lamentations from throughout the history of Judaism and Christianity. They include examinations of the use of Lamentations in Isaiah 40-55, the Targum, Rashi, and contemporary Jewish thought, the Patristic period, Calvin, Jewish and Christian worship, music, Rembrandt, and psychological and feminist interpretation. Appendices include new English translations of LXX Lamentations and Targum Lamentations. Endorsements: "The question mark in this title points to the fact that sadness, loss, and grief are now the order of the day in Western culture. For that reason the book of Lamentations now draws great attention and energy among us. This book, with its long historical sweep of interpretations and its broad ecumenical reach in rereading Lamentations, is sure to become a point of reference for our continuing response to the question. The question of the title requires endless, continuing engagement among us. These pages provide guides and models for continuing answering." -Walter Brueggemann Columbia Theological Seminary "The essays in Great is Thy Faithfulness? focus upon one question: How is Lamentations a word of God? Responses are deep, rich, and many. They draw from interpretations, contemporary and ancient, Jewish and Christian, and from the arts, pastoral care, and liturgical usage. They reveal how Lamentations has been and can be embraced by believers. For pastors and classrooms, this book promises to stir up conversation, questions, and faith." -Kathleen M. O'Connor Columbia Theological Seminary Editor Biographies: Robin A. Parry is an Editor at Wipf and Stock Publishers. He is the author of a commentary on Lamentations in the Two Horizons series. Heath A. Thomas is Assistant Professor of Old Testament & Hebrew at Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. He is author of Poetry & Theology in Lamentations: The Aesthetics of an Open Text (Sheffield Phoenix Press, forthcoming).

Foreword by Gabriel Fackre

Will God one day save all people through Christ's atoning work? That is the question at the heart of the debate in this volume -- a debate sure to challenge readers, whatever their current perspective.

Featuring evangelical writers of exceptional insight and sensitivity, "Universal Salvation?" offers a conversation worth everyone's attention. The volume opens with a rigorous three-part defense of Christian universalism by philosopher Thomas Talbott, who argues that Scripture teaches the ultimate salvation of all people, including those in hell. Gabriel Fackre in his foreword calls Talbott's work the most thoughtfully wrought argument for universalism to date from within the contemporary evangelical community. The rest of the book gathers incisive responses to Talbott by Christian scholars from different disciplines, who evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of Talbott's arguments, take his thought in new directions, or explain why they think he is mistaken. Talbott then responds to his critics.

The aim of this volume is not to persuade people that universalism is true but to open up a fairer debate on a controversial subject of continuing importance to theologians and nontheologians alike. By exploring universal salvation from biblical, philosophical, theological, and historical perspectives, the book helps readers think through the issues more carefully than has been possible with resources previously available.

Traditional scholarly commentaries aspire to open up biblical texts in the light of their ancient social and cultural contexts. In this commentary Robin Parry seeks to take the insights of such works seriously yet also move far beyond them by considering Lamentations within ever-expanding canonical and contemporary contexts. How do the words of Lamentations resonate when read in the context of Jeremiah? Or in the contexts of Isaiah 40-55, the New Testament, the history of Christian anti-Semitism, or the suffering of victims today? The question at the heart of this unusual engagement with the text is -How can Lamentations function as Christian scripture?- Parry argues that the key to answering this question is to follow the ancient liturgical tradition of the church and to see the text in the light of the death and resurrection of Israel's Messiah -- Jesus. According to Parry, Lamentations is Israel's Holy Saturday literature -- the cries of those caught between the death of Jerusalem and its resurrection. In this context Christians are able to make connections between this anguished Israelite poetry, the sufferings of Jesus, and the sufferings of the world. These biblical-theological links have the potential to open up fresh and imaginative theological, doxological, and pastoral encounters with a sadly neglected biblical book.