Many have asked thequestion "Can I findmeaning in life" This isbecause we as humanbeings need to feel thatour lives count forsomething that they aresignificant. It is linked toour selfesteem. To feel unimportant is to feelinadequate and this is a difficult burden to bear.Enjoying a meaningful life is therefore a preciousthing and something that is worthwhilesearching for. However if our existence isultimately meaningless if there's no God to obeyand no immortality to enjoy then our individualactions become utterly futile. This book is apersonal apologetic that is thoughtprovoking forboth Christians and nonChristians.

Erudite and authoritative, Paul's Message and Ministry in Covenant Perspective is the fruit of twenty-five years of scholarship about the theology and life of the apostle Paul, now made available for the first time to a wider audience. Confronting the questions raised by the history of Pauline thought since F.C. Baur, Scott J. Hafemann's essays focus on how Paul's self-understanding shaped everything, from his message to the driving force behind his ministry, and his consequent call to suffer for the sake of his churches. Hafemann's work reveals that Paul's views of redemption, of his own redemptive mission, and of the life of the redeemed all derived from a central point: his eschatological conviction that the purpose of the new covenant established by Jesus was to prepare the way for when Christ returns on Judgement Day.

`Biblical theology' attempts to embrace the message of the Bible holistically and to describe this wholeness using biblical categories. These essays focus on selected central themes and their development across the canon, and demonstrate the essential unity of the Bible.

Second Corinthians has long been recognized as one of the most difficult texts for understanding Paul's apostolic self-conception, his view of the law in relationship to the gospel, and his distinctively "Christian" use of the Old Testament. In this work, Scott Hafemann offers a detailed exegetical and "traditionsgeschichtliche" study of Paul's argument in 2 Corinthians 3 against the backdrop of the call of Moses and the prophets on the one hand, and in view of the "Second Giving of the Law" from Exodus 32" 34 and the ensuing history of Israel on the other. Against this backdrop, Hafemann proposes that Paul understood himself to have been called "like Moses, "albeit with a ministry"unlike that of Moses" because of the distinctive new covenant context of his apostolic ministry. The author puts forth the provocative thesis that within this redemptive-historical context the letter/Spirit contrast is not to be seen as a contrast between the law and the gospel "per se," but between the law itself with and without the power of the Spirit, the former of which is essential to Paul's gospel ministry. Hafemann argues that Paul supported this position on the basis of a careful and contextual interpretation of Exodus 32" 34, Jeremiah 31, and the canonical history of Israel, which remained true to their original intention. In conclusion, the significance of Paul's argument from Scripture in 2 Corinthians 3 for understanding Paul's view of the Law, the relationship between Israel and the Church, and his OT hermeneutic is outlined. This work breaks new ground in offering a thorough study of the contours of Paul's thought concerning the nature and defense of his apostolic ministry in view of theministry of Moses, the Sinai covenant, and the history of Israel. It also interacts extensively with the secondary literature in the field.

Ever since Brevard Childs's 1970 declaration of the crisis in biblical theology, the discipline has faced rumors of its imminent demise. But the patient refuses to die. The doctors continue to argue over how to proceed with treatment and even over whether treatment is worth pursuing, but the patient hangs on. The turn of the millennium appears to be a good time for a fresh assessment of the discipline, where it has been, the status of various questions within it and its future prospects. Scott Hafemann pulls together a crack team of practitioners, scholars from the disciplines of both Old and New Testament studies, to give us a status report. After an introductory essay by Hafemann looking back on recent history, John H. Sailhammer (Southeastern Baptist), Brian G. Toews (Philadelphia College of the Bible), William J. Dumbrell (Presbyterian Theological Centre, Australia), Stephen G. Dempster (Atlantic Baptist), Richard Schults (Wheaton College), Gerald H. Wilson (Asuza Pacific) and M. Jay Wells chart the current state of Old Testament questions. James M. Scott (Trinity Western), Andreas J. Kostenberger (Southeaster Baptist), G. K. Beale (Wheaton College) and Peter Stuhlmacher (Tubingen) examine the state of New Testament studies. Questions surrounding the unity of the Bible are explored by Christopher R. Seitz (St. Andrew's, Scotland), Nicholas Perrin (Westminster Abbey), Stephen E. Fowl (Loyola-Baltimore), Daniel Pl Fuller (Fuller Theological Seminary) and Ted M. Dornan (Taylor University). The prognosis for biblical theology is then suggested by Paul R. House (Wheaton College) and Graeme Goldsworthy (Moore Theological College, Australia).