It is also ideally suited to serve as a supplemental text to more conventional textbooks that discuss each Gospel systematically. Most textbooks tend to introduce students to historical-critical concerns but may be less adequate for showing how the Gospel narratives, read as Scripture within the canonical framework of the entire New Testament and the whole Bible, yield material for theological reflection and moral edification. Pennington neither dismisses nor duplicates the results of current historical-critical work on the Gospels as historical sources. Rather, he offers critically aware and hermeneutically intelligent instruction in reading the Gospels in order to hear their witness to Christ in a way that supports Christian application and proclamation.

    And if we are honest, we don’t usually think of fear as a good thing. So why does the Bible call us to fear the Lord? In this book, Michael Reeves explains that the fear of God is not a gloomy fear marked by anxiety but a heartfelt and happy enjoyment of God as Creator and Redeemer. As we learn more about the surprising good news of the fear of the Lord, we will discover the vital role we play in displaying to the world the awesomeness of our God.

    Boyd adds another counterintuitive and provocative thesis to his corpus. While conservative scholars and pastors have struggled for years to show that the Bible is without errors, Boyd considers this a fool's errand. Instead, he says, we should embrace the mistakes and contradictions in Scripture, for they show that God chose to use fallible humans to communicate timeless truths. Just as God ultimately came to save humanity in the form of a human, God chose to impart truth through the imperfect medium of human writing. Instead of the Bible's imperfections being a reason to attack its veracity, these "problems" actually support the trustworthiness of Christian Scripture. Inspired Imperfection is required reading for anyone who's questioned the Bible because of its contradictions.

    "The goal of writing a Pauline theology," he writes, "is to unearth Paul's worldview and to present it to contemporaries. Our task is not merely to reproduce Paul's thinking on various topics but to rightly estimate what is most important in his thinking and to set forth the inner connections between the various themes." Like most writers of a Pauline theology, Schreiner discerns something at the heart and soul of Paul's theology. As Schreiner puts it, "The passion of Paul's life, the center and foundation and capstone of his vision, and the animating motive of his mission was the supremacy of God in and through the Lord Jesus Christ." Schreiner has stitched this theme into the fabric of his book, and the result is a Pauline theology that is not only informative, but spiritually uplifting, as well. Here is a Pauline theology eminently suited to the needs of theological students and preachers.

    But to the disciples who first heard these words from Jesus, the prayer was a thunderbolt, a radical new way to pray that changed them and the course of history.Far from a safe series of comforting words, the Lord’s Prayer makes extraordinary claims, topples every earthly power, and announces God’s reign over all things in heaven and on earth. In this groundbreaking new book, R. Albert Mohler Jr. recaptures the urgency and transformational nature of the prayer, revealing once again its remarkable, world-upending power. Step by step, phrase by phrase, The Prayer that Turns the World Upside Down explains what these words mean and how we are to pray them.The Lord’s Prayer is the most powerful prayer in the Bible, taught by Jesus to those closest to him. We desperately need to relearn its power and practice. The Prayer that Turns the World Upside Down shows us how.

    Most Christians would have no hesitancy in affirming the concept that God has a kingdom, with its angelic hosts. Unfortunately, many Christians are unaware that Satan also has a kingdom, represented by a host of demons. With earth as the battlefield, these two kingdoms wage war with one another for our minds and souls. As Christians, we need to understand the nature of this war and how Satan's kingdom operates. Legendary author and Bible teacher Derek Prince examines the concept of spiritual warfare as an unmistakable aspect of Christian living. Thanks to this crucial teaching, you will...Discover why spiritual warfare exists; Understand how Satan's kingdom operates; Learn the six weapons of spiritual warfare; Implement strategies that will bind Satan's schemes; Tap into the overcoming power of the Holy Spirit. Satan has already declared war on God's kingdom. As citizens of God's kingdom, we have no choice; we are already at war. Therefore, it is vital that we be prepared in order to overcome the enemy's plans, push back the darkness, and proclaim victory for our God!

    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.

    Billions of dollars are spent each year trying to retain or restore health. It is a basic desire of all mankind. Anyone who likes sickness must be mentally sick! Yet, religion has told us that God is the one who wants us sick. It even tries to make us believe that sickness is a blessing. That's just not true. God wants you well. Healing is in Christ's Atonement. Jesus died for our health just as much as He died for the forgiveness of our sins. This has to be the foundation of our faith for healing. Many Scriptures relate the healing of our bodies and the forgiveness of our sins in the same verse. Jesus went about healing all who were oppressed of the devil and told us to do the same. Jesus hasn't changed, it's the people who represent Him who have changed. What about Paul's thorn in the flesh? It is commonly believed that the apostle Paul had a sickness for which he besought the Lord for healing three times, and the Lord wouldn't heal him. From that assumption, people teach that God sometimes wants us sick. In this book, Andrew reveals what Paul's thorn in the flesh was, and it wasn't sickness. If it is God's will to heal everyone, then why isn't everyone healed? It's not because of God. And it's not just because we don't have enough faith. We do have the faith to be healed. Jesus said the problem is our unbelief - unbelief cancels out faith. Instead of trying to get more faith or bigger faith, we just need a pure faith that isn't negated by unbelief. There are laws that govern the spiritual world just as there are laws that govern the physical realm. Electricity has been around since the beginning of the world, but mankind didn't benefit from electricity until recently, not because it didn't work, but because of our ignorance of the laws of electricity. Likewise, God's healing is here and available. It's only our ignorance of the laws which control the flow of God's power that keeps us from benefiting from it.

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    In today's Western world, plenty of shiny false gods still hold power--idols of prosperity, nationalism, and self-interest. Christians desperately need to name and expose these idols. We must retrieve the biblical emphasis on idolatry and apply it anew in our journey of following Jesus. In "Here Are Your Gods," Old Testament scholar Christopher J. H. Wright combines a biblical study of idolatry with practical discipleship. He calls readers to consider connections between Old Testament patterns and today's culture, especially recurring temptations to trust in political power. Now as much as ever, we need a biblically informed understanding of the many ways humans make gods for themselves, the danger of idols, and how God calls us to join him in the battle against idolatry as part of his ongoing mission to be known and worshiped by all peoples.

    Yet through the centuries it has been probed and dissected, weighed and examined, its text peeled back for its underlying history, its discourse analyzed and its words weighed. Could there be any stone in Sinai yet unturned? Surprisingly, there is. From a career of study, John Sailhamer sums up his perspective on the Pentateuch by first settling the hermeneutical question of where we should set our attention. Rather than focus on the history behind the text, Sailhamer is convinced that it is the text itself that should be our primary focus. Along the way he demonstrates that this was in fact the focus of many interpreters in the precritical era. Persuaded of the singular vision of the Pentateuch, Sailhamer searches out clues left by the author and the later editor of the Pentateuch that will disclose the meaning of this great work. By paying particular attention to the poetic seams in the text, he rediscovers a message that surprisingly brings us to the threshold of the New Testament gospel.

    This popular introduction to praying the rosary draws readers closer to Jesus and Mary by placing the mysteries-including the new mysteries of light-in the context of Scripture. The book addresses commonly asked questions about Mary and the rosary and provides the biblical background for all twenty mysteries. It also includes a scriptural rosary that offers ten Bible texts suitable for meditation on each mystery. An appendix offers the complete text of Pope John Paul II's Apostolic Letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae. A Servant Book.

    Here is straight talk from a man who has sought authentic New Testament community for more than fifty years and who has discovered it in the most unlikely places.

    This volume will be an immensely useful resource for all kinds of study of the New Testament."—Richard Bauckham, University of St. Andrews"Every scholar would profit by having a copy of this thorough and judicious work on his or her desk. The authors have collected for us an immense amount of material and insight in a relatively short space, and many of us will be grateful for their efforts. This commentary is a profound witness to the unity of the Testaments in the mystery of Christ."—Francis Martin, Sacred Heart Seminary"Finally a volume that surveys the use of the Old Testament in each book of the New Testament. Written by top-tier scholars with unsurpassed expertise in New Testament exegesis, these essays model sound engagement with Scripture that quotes Scripture. This excellent collection is a must-read for all who wish to understand how the New Testament writers understood and used their Bible. This long-awaited volume deserves to become a standard text that will hopefully launch a new stage of fresh work in biblical research."--Karen H. Jobes, Wheaton College"More than a generation ago, C. H. Dodd and a few other scholars began sowing the seeds of a new and fruitful approach to reading Scripture, by studying the New Testament writers' use of Old Testament texts. The present commentary thus represents the harvest of decades of research into the relationship between the Old and New Testaments. By carefully observing various factors, ranging from the textual to the theological, each contributor shows how the New Testament writers were not only careful readers of the Old Testament but also profound theologians themselves. The scholars on this superb team assembled by Beale and Carson distill many new and remarkable insights for exegesis and theology, all of which serve to demonstrate the explanatory power of this approach for the present and the future. This landmark volume should prove to be an invaluable resource for both the church and the academy--for pastors, teachers, and students alike, whether Protestant or Catholic--and for anyone wanting to go deeper into the heart of sacred Scripture. Indeed, Beale and Carson are to be thanked and congratulated for a momentous accomplishment."--Scott Hahn, Franciscan University of Steubenville"Finally we have a work that examines the use of the Old Testament in the New Testament and covers the entirety of the New Testament in a single volume. Pastors, students, and scholars will profit from the careful attention to both the Old and New Testament contexts in which the citations occur, and they will be enriched by the theological depth represented in this important book."--Thomas R. Schreiner, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary"Few areas of New Testament study are as often discussed as the New Testament's use of the Old. There has long been a need for a careful case-by-case treatment, since the use we see in the New Testament is so varied and diverse. This commentary meets that need admirably. It is thorough yet concise, clear yet detailed. All will be led into helpful reflection on this important area of study. Well done to the editors and authors of this useful and unique commentary."--Darrell L. Bock, Dallas Theological Seminary

    Because of the cultural distance between the biblical world and our contemporary setting, we often bring modern Western biases to the text. For example:When Western readers hear Paul exhorting women to "dress modestly," we automatically think in terms of sexual modesty. But most women in that culture would never wear racy clothing. The context suggests that Paul is likely more concerned about economic modesty--that Christian women not flaunt their wealth through expensive clothes, braided hair and gold jewelry.Some readers might assume that Moses married "below himself" because his wife was a dark-skinned Cushite. Actually, Hebrews were the slave race, not the Cushites, who were highly respected. Aaron and Miriam probably thought Moses was being presumptuous by marrying "above himselfWestern individualism leads us to assume that Mary and Joseph traveled alone to Bethlehem. What went without saying was that they were likely accompanied by a large entourage of extended family.Biblical scholars Brandon O'Brien and Randy Richards shed light on the ways that Western readers often misunderstand the cultural dynamics of the Bible. They identify nine key areas where modern Westerners have significantly different assumptions about what might be going on in a text. Drawing on their own crosscultural experience in global mission, O'Brien and Richards show how better self-awareness and understanding of cultural differences in language, time and social mores allow us to see the Bible in fresh and unexpected ways. Getting beyond our own cultural assumptions is increasingly important for being Christians in our interconnected and globalized world. Learn to read Scripture as a member of the global body of Christ.