Is there a Doctor in the House?: An Insider’s Story and Advice on becoming a Bible Scholar


Ben Witherington III - 2011
    Is There a Doctor in the House? demonstrates what it takes to be a responsible Bible teacher, a well-published Bible scholar, or even a good student of the Bible: exacting knowledge of biblical languages and the languages in which most Bible scholarship is done; a love for history and archaeology; a sensitivity for literature and literary genres; and an understanding of theology, ethics, and ancient religions and philosophies. In one sense, every Bible scholar has to be a general practitioner—the foundation of biblical scholarship must be both broad and well built. Through the course of this book, Witherington invites would-be Bible experts to pursue excellence for the sake of the Bible’s world-altering message. From students considering a Ph.D. to lay Bible teachers, Is There a Doctor in the House? promises to be an informative, engaging, and often humorous resource.

Suddenly Jewish: Jews Raised as Gentiles Discover Their Jewish Roots


Barbara Kessel - 2000
    One man as he was studying for the priesthood. Madeleine Albright famously learned from the Washington Post when she was named Secretary of State. "What is it like to find out you are not who you thought you were?" asks Barbara Kessel in this compelling volume, based on interviews with over 160 people who were raised as non-Jews only to learn at some point in their lives that they are of Jewish descent. With humor, candor, and deep emotion, Kessel's subjects discuss the emotional upheaval of refashioning their self-image and, for many, coming to terms with deliberate deception on the part of parents and family. Responses to the discovery of a Jewish heritage ranged from outright rejection to wholehearted embrace. For many, Kessel reports, the discovery of Jewish roots confirmed long-held suspicions or even, more mysteriously, conformed to a long-felt attraction toward Judaism. For some crypto-Jews in the southwest United States (descendants of Jews who fled the Spanish Inquisition), the only clues to their heritage are certain practices and traditions handed down through the generations, whose significance may be long since lost. In Poland and other parts of eastern Europe, many Jews who were adopted as infants to save them from the Holocaust are now learning of their heritage through the deathbed confessions of their adoptive parents. The varied responses of these disparate people to a similar experience, presented in their own words, offer compelling insights into the nature of self-knowledge. Whether they had always suspected or were taken by surprise, Kessel's respondents report that confirmation of their Jewish heritage affected their sense of self and of their place in the world in profound ways. Fascinating, poignant, and often very funny, Suddenly Jewish speaks to crucial issues of identity, selfhood, and spiritual community.

Salem Witch Trials: A History from Beginning to End


Hourly History - 2021
    During the bitter winter of 1692/93, a group of Puritan young women in the colonial town of Salem, Massachusetts, accused more than two hundred of their neighbors and fellow townspeople of using witchcraft to injure and torment them. This was an incredibly serious allegation that led to sensational court proceedings and ended with the execution of nineteen people. Since then, it has been the subject of many works of literature and other entertainment. Uncover this dark story which is still shrouded in mystery to this day.Discover a plethora of topics such asThe Puritans of the MayflowerThe Accusations BeginMass Hysteria in SalemThe First ExecutionsCorey’s Death by PressingThe Legacy of Witchcraft in SalemAnd much more!

The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia: From Abraham to Zabar’s and Everything in Between


Stephanie Butnick - 2019
    Readers will refresh their knowledge of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, the artistry of Barbra Streisand, the significance of the Oslo Accords, the meaning of words like balaboosta,balagan, bashert, and bageling. Understand all the major and minor holidays. Learn how the Jews invented Hollywood. Remind themselves why they need to read Hannah Arendt, watch Seinfeld, listen to Leonard Cohen. Even discover the secret of happiness (see “Latkes”). Includes hundreds of photos, charts, infographics, and illustrations. It’s a lot.

The Story of the Jews: Finding the Words, 1000 BCE – 1492 CE


Simon Schama - 2013
    It spans the millennia and the continents - from India to Andalusia and from the bazaars of Cairo to the streets of Oxford. It takes you to unimagined places: to a Jewish kingdom in the mountains of southern Arabia; a Syrian synagogue glowing with radiant wall paintings; the palm groves of the Jewish dead in the Roman catacombs. And its voices ring loud and clear, from the severities and ecstasies of the Bible writers to the love poems of wine bibbers in a garden in Muslim Spain.And a great story unfolds. Not - as often imagined - of a culture apart, but of a Jewish world immersed in and imprinted by the peoples among whom they have dwelled, from the Egyptians to the Greeks, from the Arabs to the Christians. Which makes the story of the Jews everyone's story, too.

North Korea: A Bare Bones History


James Friend - 2015
    Kim Il Sung wasted little time before plunging the country into a futile war which cost more than two million people their lives. His son, Kim Jong Il, would wallow in obscene luxury as North Korea suffered one of the Twentieth Century’s most terrible famines. Kim Jong Un has only recently ascended to power. However, he has already ordered his own uncle’s execution by antiaircraft gun. The North Korean people are told that they are the most fortunate in the world. In reality they are the most oppressed. North Korea is a country where criticising the government, or even watching a foreign film, can lead to imprisonment and death.North Korea: A Bare Bones History tells the story of one of the world’s most enigmatic nations. It’s an extraordinary history of war, assassination, kidnapping, terrorism, and an attempt to decapitate a rival head of state.

The Gates of November


Chaim Potok - 1996
    . . A WONDERFUL STORY."--The Boston GlobeThe father is a high-ranking Communist officer, a Jew who survived Stalin's purges. The son is a "refusenik," who risked his life and happiness to protest everything his father held dear. Now, Chaim Potok, beloved author of the award-winning novels The Chosen and My Name is Asher Lev, unfolds the gripping true story of a father, a son, and a conflict that spans Soviet history. Drawing on taped interviews and his harrowing visits to Russia, Potok traces the public and privates lives of the Slepak family: Their passions and ideologies, their struggles to reconcile their identities as Russians and as Jews, their willingness to fight--and die--for diametrically opposed political beliefs."[A] vivid account . . . [Potok] brings a novelist's passion and eye for detail to a gripping story that possesses many of the elements of fiction--except that it's all too true."--San Francisco Chronicle

Hope for Today Bible


Joel Osteen - 2009
     • HOPENOTES -- brief inspirational insights on scripture and how they apply to your everyday living. • Hope for Today devotionals -- encouraging insights from Joel and Victoria that focus on the principles and promises of God. • Topical Scriptures -- a special section with verses to pray over during critical moments of your life. • The Blessing -- Joel and Victoria's prayer for you that both proclaims and claims the promises of the Bible. • This Is My Bible Pledge -- our declaration that His Word is full of divine truths and abundant promises for your future.

Death Before the Fall: Biblical Literalism and the Problem of Animal Suffering


Ronald E. Osborn - 2014
    He challenges one-dimensional reading of Scripture and shines a sobering light on the evangelical dogma responsible for advancing viewpoints long ago dismantled by science.Always acknowledging the traditionalist viewpoint, Osborn demonstrates with a wealth of exegetical and theological insight how orthodox Christianity can embrace evolutionary concepts without contradiction. Osborn forces us to ask hard questions, not only of the Bible and church tradition, but also and especially of ourselves.

The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever


Christopher HitchensGeorge Eliot - 2007
    Christopher Hitchens continues to make the case for a splendidly godless universe in this first-ever gathering of the influential voices--past and present--that have shaped his side of the current (and raging) God/no-god debate. With Hitchens as your erudite and witty guide, you'll be led through a wealth of philosophy, literature, and scientific inquiry, including generous portions of the words of Lucretius, Benedict de Spinoza, Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Mark Twain, George Eliot, Bertrand Russell, Emma Goldman, H. L. Mencken, Albert Einstein, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and many others well-known and lesser known. And they're all set in context and commented upon as only Christopher Hitchens political and literary journalist extraordinaire can.” (Los Angeles Times) Atheist? Believer? Uncertain? No matter: The Portable Atheist will speak to you and engage you every step of the way.

NIV First-Century Study Bible: Explore Scripture in Its Jewish and Early Christian Context


Kent Dobson - 2014
    The NIV First-Century Study Bible is designed to give you an overview of the cultures that influenced those living in Biblical times in order to help you engage the text with more understanding--even if you are not a full time scholar. The Jewish Contextual Bible allows you to understand God’s Word in its original cultural context, bringing Scripture to life by providing fresh understanding to familiar passages, beloved stories and all the Scripture in between. The Jewish Contextual Bible will introduce you to a world vastly different from your own, and as a result, you'll truly experience all the Bible has to say to you.

Truman Fires MacArthur: (ebook excerpt of Truman)


David McCullough - 2010
    An unpopular war. A military and diplomatic team in disarray. Those are the challenges President Obama has faced as he attempts to make a success of U.S involvement in Afghanistan. They are also the challenges President Truman surmounted in the winter of 1950 as he began managing a war in Korea that risked becoming bigger and more costly. It was the first significant armed conflict of the Cold War: United States troops under the command of General Douglas MacArthur came to the aid of the South Koreans after North Korea invaded. When Communist China entered the conflict on the side of the North Koreans, the crisis seemed on the verge of flaring into a world war. Truman was determined not to let that happen. MacArthur kept urging a widening of the war into China itself and ignoring his Commander in Chief. On April 11, 1951, after MacArthur had “shot his mouth off,” as one diplomat put it, one too many times, Truman fired him. The story of their showdown—one of the most dramatic in U.S. history between a Commander in Chief and his top soldier in the field—is captured in all its detail by David McCullough in his biography Truman, and presented here in a e-book called Truman Fires MacArthur (an excerpt of Truman, McCullough’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography), which was the headline carried in many newspapers around the country the next day. Truman Fires MacArthur will continue to ride the headlines. It will go on sale as an ebook just as the Rolling Stone profile that exposed General Stanley McChrystal’s insurrection and forced his resignation hits newsstands, and media coverage of the showdown continues to draw historical analogies between Truman and Obama.

Gangsters' Wives (Underworld UK)


Tammy Cohen - 2010
    But what lies behind every bad man? Gangsters' Wives tells the side of the story you didn't know - what it's like to live with Britain's most lawless men, from the women who married them. Devoted mum-of-three Judy Marks was imprisoned alongside her husband, notorious drug smuggler Howard Marks; while Flanagan, the first ever Page Three girl, found herself splashed across the papers as the fiancée of legendary East End villain Reggie Kray. Jenny Pinto, wife of gangster Dave Courtney, has given the police keys to their house to stop them breaking down the front door. In ten funny, moving, searingly honest first-person accounts, Gangsters' Wives tells you all you ever wanted to know about the lives and loves of the women who are, quite literally, married to the mob.

What Every Christian Needs to Know about the Qur'an


James R. White - 2013
    Through fair, contextual use of the Qur'an as the primary source text, apologist James R. White presents Islamic beliefs about Christ, salvation, the Trinity, the afterlife, and other important topics. White shows how the sacred text of Islam differs from the teachings of the Bible in order to help Christians engage in open, honest discussions with Muslims.

Everyday Barbecue: At Home with America's Favorite Pitmaster


Myron Mixon - 2013
    Don’t mess it up.”  As the winningest man in barbecue, a New York Times bestselling cookbook author, and a judge on the hit show BBQ Pitmasters on Discovery’s Destination America, Myron Mixon knows more about smoking meat than any man alive. And now he’s on a mission to prove to home cooks everywhere that they can make great barbecue any day of the week—in the comfort of their own backyard or kitchen, no matter their skill level. Across the country at competitions and in his Pride & Joy Bar-B-Que restaurants, Mixon has proven that no other pitmaster’s food can touch his when he’s behind a smoker. But he doesn’t need fancy equipment to do it: He can cook delicious barbecue with any grill, smoker, or oven, even on the busiest weeknight, and you’ll be able to, too, with the nearly 150 recipes in Everyday Barbecue. Armed with Mixon’s advice and tips, you’ll discover that barbecue isn’t just for the Fourth of July and Labor Day; it’s for any day you feel like cooking it. So fire up your grill and get ready to cook incredible barbecue favorites such as Ribs the Easy Way, Myron’s Dr Pepper Can Chicken, and The King Rib sandwich and adventurous backyard fare like Pork Belly Sliders and Barbecue-Fried Baby Backs, plus leftover inspirations, delectable deserts, and even some drunken recipes!In Everyday Barbecue, you will find some seriously finger-lickin’ good barbecue recipes, including:  • The Essentials: Turning any backyard grill into a smoker—Brisket the Easy Way, Ribs the Easy Way, The Only Barbecue Sauce You Need• Burgers and Sandwiches: Classic Hickory Smoked Barbecue Burger, The King Rib, Barbecue Pork Belly Sliders, Brisket Cheesesteaks, Barbecued Veggie Sandwiches• Smoked and Grilled: Perfect Grilled Rib Eyes, Whole Roasted Turkey with Bourbon Gravy, Myron’s Dr Pepper Can Chicken• Barbecue-Fried: Yes, first you smoke it, then you fry it—Baby Backs, Chicken Lollipops, Cap’n Crunch Chicken Tenders• Swimmers: Finger-Lickin’ Barbecue Shrimp-and-Cheese Grits, Smoky Catfish Tacos• Drunken Recipes: Bourbon Brown Sugar Chicken, Whiskey Grilled Shrimp• Barbecue Brunch: Pitmaster’s Smoked Eggs Benedict with Pulled Pork Cakes, Backyard Bacon• Plus, Salads and Sides, delectable Desserts, and Leftover inspirations! Baby Back Mac and Cheese, Tinga-Style Barbecue Tacos, Chocolate Cake on the Grill, and Grilled Skillet Apple Pie   Loaded with nearly 150 recipes and mouthwatering photographs throughout, Everyday Barbecue serves up barbecue’s greatest hits (and more) in a fast, efficient way that you’ve never seen before.Praise for Everyday Barbecue   “Mixon does an admirable job of showing grillers, smokers, and barbecuers how they can turn labor and time-intensive grilling and barbecue projects into weekday meals with a minimum of fuss in this to-the-point collection of 150 smoke-centered recipes. . . . It’s his ingenious use of leftovers that will make readers take notice as he offers suggestions for mountains of leftover brisket, pulled pork, or chicken. This approach—rather than a multitude of variations on ribs, pulled pork and a bevy of sauces—sets the book apart and make it a keeper.”—Publishers Weekly