The new Scholars Version translation captures the full spirit and vitality of the original texts. This gospel picture of early traditions and Christian origins gives the reader a fresh and exciting glimpse into the world of Jesus and his followers. Informative and highly-readable introductions, essays, notes, and annotations make this work a remarkably comprehensive one-volume library of all gospel texts.

    Many of the Hebrew scriptures were still evolving when they were translated into Greek, and these Greek translations, alongwith several new Greek writings, became Holy Scripture in the early Church.Yet, gradually the Septuagint lost its place at the heart of Western Christianity. At the end of the fourth century, one of antiquity's brightest minds rejected the Septuagint in favor of the Bible of the rabbis. After Jerome, the Septuagint never regained the position it once had. Timothy MichaelLaw recounts the story of the Septuagint's origins, its relationship to the Hebrew Bible, and the adoption and abandonment of the first Christian Old Testament.

    An introductory chapter surveys the political, religious, and social world of the Gospels, methods of approaching early Christian texts, the genre of the Gospels, and the religious character of these writing. Included also are comments on the Gospels that are not found in the New Testament. Special features, including illustrations and more than two dozen special topics, enhance this convenient volume.

     Drawn from the Hebrew Bible it forms the basis of all Christian denominations, whether Protestant, Catholic or Orthodox, they all refer to the Old Testament in some form. Alfred Edersheim, in this fascinating study, uncovers the Old Testament, removing layers of mystery, allowing readers to more fully engage with the text. He analyzes the books, chapter-by-chapter, thus providing a chronological history of the Jewish people. This work is split into seven volumes to make it manageable for the reader to understand each major period that is covered in the Old Testament. Volume One covers The World Before the Flood, and The History of the Patriarchs, Volume Two: The Exodus and The Wanderings in the Wilderness, Volume Three: Israel In Canaan Under Joshua And The Judges, Volume Four: The History of Israel under Samuel, Saul, and David, Volume Five: Birth of Solomon to Reign of Ahab, Volume Six: The Reign of Ahab to the Decline of the Two Kingdoms, and Volume Seven: From the Decline of the Two Kingdoms to the Assyrian and Babylonian Captivity. Edersheim, at the outset of the book, stated his objective: “I have endeavored to write in a a form so popular and easily intelligible as to be of use to the Sunday-school teacher, the advanced scholar, and the Bible-class; progressing gradually, in the course of this and the next volume, from the more simple to the more detailed.” He certainly achieves this aim in this magnificent study that is worthy of being read by all. Alfred Edersheim (1825-89) was a Vienna-born biblical scholar who converted from Judaism to Christianity. A veteran minister and missionary to the Jews of Romania, Edersheim left an enduring and priceless legacy to followers of Christ. Among his most widely read works are The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services, and Bible History Old Testament.

    They have held a fascination over academics, religious leaders, and the lay public alike for the last forty-five years. From 1952, when a team of scholars was appointed and Cave 4 at Qumran was discovered - from which the materials in this book are drawn - they have been under the control of an elite and secretive clique. However, in the autumn of 1991, this monopoly was effectively broken when the Huntington Library in California announced it would allow public access to its collection of Dead Sea Scrolls photographs. This was soon followed by the publication of a Facsimile Edition by the Biblical Archaeology Society in Washington D.C. Robert Eisenman was integrally involved in both events, and with Michael Wise had been working behind the scenes on the unpublished photographs for some time. Their discovery of a tiny Scroll fragment of six lines referring to the execution of or by a Messianic Leader plunged them into a long-running debate. Scholars previously controlling access to the Scrolls had been publically contending that there was nothing interesting in the remaining unpublished Scrolls and nothing throwing further light on Christianity's rise in Palestine. The conclusions of Professor Eisenman and Professor Wise gainsay and challenge these views. The present work is the result. For the first time the public will be able to see the most interesting and exciting texts from the unpublished corpus and judge for itself. Providing precise English translations and complete transcriptions into modern Hebrew characters, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered makes generally available in a clear and accessible style fifty of the best texts. Accompanied by incisive and readable commentaries aimed at both lay person and scholar alike, these texts provide exciting and ground-breaking insights into Messianism, an alternative p

    Part of a five-volume project on the theological questions surrounding the origins of Christianity, this book offers a reappraisal of literary, historical and theological readings of the New Testament, arguing for a form of "critical realism" that facilitates different readings of the text.Provides a historical, theological and literary study of first-century Judaism and Christianity, offering a preliminary discussion of the meaning of the word ‘god’ within those cultures.

    This apocryphal book of the Bible has been considered by some to be the original beginning to the Bible and is referenced in both the Book of Joshua and the Second Book of Samuel. Is not this written in the Book of Jasher?-Joshua, X. 13. Behold it is written in the Book of Jasher.-II. Samuel, I. 18

    His insights into the human condition are possibly the most profound to come from the Holocaust In Messengers of G-d, Wiesel takes classic characters using classic midrash and make them utterly modern. This book might be a surprise to those familiar with Wiesel only through his Holocaust texts, but it should also be a pleasant surprise. From Adam to Yitchak to Job, Biblical characters are infused with a universality largely forgotten by modern commentators. While this is essentially a Jewish book, it should be enjoyable to anyone who's wanted to study either Classic or Biblical texts. (Amazon customer)

    As a member of the Skverers, one of the most insular Hasidic sects in the US, he knows little about the outside world—only that it is to be shunned. His marriage at eighteen is arranged and several children soon follow. Deen's first transgression—turning on the radio—is small, but his curiosity leads him to the library, and later the Internet. Soon he begins a feverish inquiry into the tenets of his religious beliefs, until, several years later, his faith unravels entirely. Now a heretic, he fears being discovered and ostracized from the only world he knows. His relationship with his family at stake, he is forced into a life of deception, and begins a long struggle to hold on to those he loves most: his five children. In All Who Go Do Not Return, Deen bravely traces his harrowing loss of faith, while offering an illuminating look at a highly secretive world.

    Offers a translation of and commentary on the first five books of the Hebrew Bible...Title: .The Five Books of Moses..Author: .Fox, Everett (EDT)/ Schwebel (ILT)/ Fox, Everett..Publisher: .Random House Inc..Publication Date: .2000/02/01..Number of Pages: .1024..Binding Type: .PAPERBACK..Library of Congress: .BL 00007461

    Questions about the factuality of its colorful stories of heroes, villains, and kings, for example, have led many critics to see the entire Hebrew Bible as little more than pious fiction. In this fascinating book, noted ancient historian K. A. Kitchen takes strong issue with today's "revisionist" critics and offers a firm foundation for the historicity of the biblical texts. In a detailed, comprehensive, and entertaining manner, Kitchen draws on an unprecedented range of historical data from the ancient Near East -- the Bible's own world -- and uses it to soundly reassess both the biblical record and the critics who condemn it. Working back from the latest periods (for which hard evidence is readily available) to the remotest times, Kitchen systematically shows up the many failures of favored arguments against the Bible and marshals pertinent permanent evidence from antiquity's inscriptions and artifacts to demonstrate the basic honesty of the Old Testament writers.  Enhanced with numerous tables, figures, and maps, On the Reliability of the Old Testament is a must-read for anyone interested in the question of biblical truth.

    Paul shaped Christianity as we know it today. Historians know almost nothing about the two decades following the crucifixion of Jesus, when his followers regrouped and began to spread his message. During this time Paul joined the movement and began to preach to the gentiles. Using the oldest Christian documents that we have—the letters of Paul—as well as other early Chris­tian sources, historian and scholar James Tabor reconstructs the origins of Christianity. Tabor shows how Paul separated himself from Peter and James to introduce his own version of Christianity, which would continue to develop independently of the message that Jesus, James, and Peter preached. Paul and Jesus illuminates the fascinating period of history when Christianity was born out of Judaism.

    Now And God Said provides readers with an authoritative account of significant mistranslations and shows how new translation methods can give readers their first glimpse into what the Bible really means.And God Said uncovers the often inaccurate or misleading English translations of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament that quotes from it. Sometimes the familiar English is just misleading. Other times the mistakes are more substantial. But the errors are widespread. This book tackles such issues as what's wrong with the Ten Commandments (starting with the word "commandments"), the correct description of the "virgin" birth, and the surprisingly modern message in the Song of Solomon, as well as many other unexpected but thought-provoking revelations.Acclaimed translator Dr. Joel M. Hoffman sheds light on the original intention of the text and the newly developed means that readers can use to get closer to it. In And God Said his fresh approach has united the topics of religion, language, and linguistics to offer the first modern understanding since the Bible was written.

    In this profound and considered work, he offers a radical new way to look at the gospels today as he shows just how deeply Jewish the Christian Gospels are and how much they reflect the Jewish scriptures, history, and patterns of worship. Pulling back the layers of a long-standing Gentile ignorance, he reveals how the church’s literal reading of the Bible is so far removed from these original Jewish authors’ intent that it is an act of heresy.Using the Gospel of Matthew as a guide, Spong explores the Bible’s literary and liturgical roots—its grounding in Jewish culture, symbols, icons, and storytelling tradition—to explain how the events of Jesus’ life, including the virgin birth, the miracles, the details of the passion story, and the resurrection and ascension, would have been understood by both the Jewish authors of the various gospels and by the Jewish audiences for which they were originally written. Spong makes clear that it was only after the church became fully Gentile that readers of the Gospels took these stories to be factual, distorting their original meaning.In Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy, Spong illuminates the gospels as never before and provides a better blueprint for the future than where the church’s leaden and heretical reading of the story of Jesus has led us—one that allows the faithful to live inside the Christian story in the modern world.

    Combining quality scholarship and sacred spiritual instruction, Living Judaism is a thought-provoking reference and guide for those already steeped in Jewish life, and a comprehensive introduction for those exploring the richness and grandeur of Judaism.