From Fear to Faith: Studies in the Book of Habakkuk


D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones - 1955
    

Moses and the Burning Bush


R.C. Sproul - 2012
    Sproul examines the biblical account of Moses' life-altering encounter with the Holy God. Through ten lectures, he explains the meaning behind God's appearance in the burning bush as well as the importance of His words to Moses. Furthermore, Dr. Sproul demonstrates how the coming of Jesus Christ is foreshadowed in this meeting between God and Moses on holy ground. Audio CD. Ten 23-minute lectures.LecturesThe Invisible Hand of GodThe Burning BushA Consuming FireThe Angel of the LordHoly GroundI AM: The Name of GodI AM: The Being of GodI AM: The Aseity of GodA Divine MissionA Shadow of Christ

Introducing Theological Interpretation of Scripture: Recovering a Christian Practice


Daniel J. Treier - 2008
    This approach seeks to bridge the gap between biblical studies and theology, which grew wide with the ascendancy of critical approaches to Scripture. Introducing Theological Interpretation of Scripture is the first clear, systematic introduction to this movement for students. The book surveys the movement's history, themes, advocates, and positions and seeks to bring coherence to its various elements. Author Daniel Treier also explores what he sees as the greatest challenges the movement will have to address as it moves into the future. This helpful book is appropriate for pastors and lay readers interested in biblical interpretation.

The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values


Sam Harris - 2010
    In the aftermath, Harris discovered that most people - from religious fundamentalists to non-believing scientists - agree on one point: science has nothing to say on the subject of human values. Indeed, our failure to address questions of meaning and morality through science has now become the most common justification for religious faith. It is also the primary reason why so many secularists and religious moderates feel obligated to "respect" the hardened superstitions of their more devout neighbors.In this explosive new book, Sam Harris tears down the wall between scientific facts and human values, arguing that most people are simply mistaken about the relationship between morality and the rest of human knowledge. Harris urges us to think about morality in terms of human and animal well-being, viewing the experiences of conscious creatures as peaks and valleys on a "moral landscape." Because there are definite facts to be known about where we fall on this landscape, Harris foresees a time when science will no longer limit itself to merely describing what people do in the name of "morality"; in principle, science should be able to tell us what we ought to do to live the best lives possible.Bringing a fresh perspective to age-old questions of right and wrong and good and evil, Harris demonstrates that we already know enough about the human brain and its relationship to events in the world to say that there are right and wrong answers to the most pressing questions of human life. Because such answers exist, moral relativism is simply false - and comes at increasing cost to humanity. And the intrusions of religion into the sphere of human values can be finally repelled: for just as there is no such thing as Christian physics or Muslim algebra, there can be no Christian or Muslim morality.Using his expertise in philosophy and neuroscience, along with his experience on the front lines of our "culture wars," Harris delivers a game-changing book about the future of science and about the real basis of human cooperation.

Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith


Ann Spangler - 2009
    Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg paint powerful scenes from Jesus’ ministry, immersing you in the prayers, feasts, history, culture, and customs that shaped Jesus and those who followed him.You will hear the parables as they must have sounded to first-century Jews, powerful and surprising. You will join the conversations that were already going on among the rabbis of his day. You will watch with new understanding as the events of his life unfold. And you will emerge with new excitement about the roots of your own Christian faith. Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus will change the way you read Scripture and deepen your understanding of the life of Jesus. It will also help you to adapt the rich prayers and customs you learn about to your own life, in ways that both respect and enrich your Christian faith. By looking at the Jewishness of Jesus, Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg take you on a captivating journey into the heart of Judaism, one that is both balanced and insightful, helping you to better understand and appreciate your own faith.

The New Perspective on Paul: An Introduction


Kent L. Yinger - 2010
    Endorsements: "The New Perspective on Paul has, sadly, been more controversial than illuminative of a neglected dimension of Paul's teaching on justification by faith. Professor Yinger most helpfully explains both aspects. . . . [T]his is as good an Introduction to the New Perspective and the related Pauline teaching as you will find." --James D. G. Dunn author of The New Perspective on Paul: Collected Essays "Kent Yinger has made a complex and often emotive debate about Paul and Justification accessible to a wider audience. This book isn't beating any drum, it's not an apology for the 'New Perspective' thing, nor is it a declaration of war on any party. Rather, this is a map of the key terrain, a list of who is who in the zoo of debate, and a flashlight on several dark alleys of contested interpretations. At the same time, Yinger gives us some good and sensible commentary along the way. If you're lost in the maelstrom of theological polemics and Pauline interpretation, this book is one of the ways to help you get your bearings." --Michael F. Bird Lecturer in Theology and Bible Crossway College, Brisbane, Australia "For those who want to know what all the fuss is about and whether and how it matters, this is just the book. Kent Yinger, while thoroughly conversant with the huge amount of discussion generated by the New Perspective on Paul, has the gift of making the key issues accessible to others. Here is a readable, succinct, clear, accurate, and fair-minded introduction to the ongoing debate. For both the academy and the church Yinger provides a much needed perspective on the New Perspective. --Andrew Lincoln Portland Professor of New Testament University of Gloucestershire "Kent Yinger set out to write a book that offers a fair-minded, easy-to-read explanation of the so-called New Perspective on Paul (NPP), which neither critiques nor defends it. His aim was to navigate between the faddish innovations of some biblical scholars and the deeper insights that come from a better understanding of Scripture. He sought to answer four basic questions regarding NPP: (1) What is it? (2) Where did it come from? (3) What are the potential dangers? and (4) What good is it? After reading this book, I have only one thing to say to Dr. Yinger: Bull's eye!" --Charles J. Conniry Jr. Vice President and Dean George Fox Seminary/George Fox University Author Biography: Kent L. Yinger is Professor of New Testament at George Fox Evangelical Seminary (George Fox University) in Portland Oregon. He is the author of Paul, Judaism, and Judgment According to Deeds (1999).

Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe


Brian Greene - 2020
    Someday, we know, we will all die. And, we know, so too will the universe itself.Until the End of Time is Brian Greene's breathtaking new exploration of the cosmos and our quest to understand it. Greene takes us on a journey across time, from our most refined understanding of the universe's beginning, to the closest science can take us to the very end. He explores how life and mind emerged from the initial chaos, and how our minds, in coming to understand their own impermanence, seek in different ways to give meaning to experience: in story, myth, religion, creative expression, science, the quest for truth, and our longing for the timeless, or eternal. Through a series of nested stories that explain distinct but interwoven layers of reality-from the quantum mechanics to consciousness to black holes-Greene provides us with a clearer sense of how we came to be, a finer picture of where we are now, and a firmer understanding of where we are headed.Yet all this understanding, which arose with the emergence of life, will dissolve with its conclusion. Which leaves us with one realization: during our brief moment in the sun, we are tasked with the charge of finding our own meaning.Let us embark.

Taking Theology to Youth Ministry


Andrew Root - 2012
    Her narrative, along with Root’s insights, help you uncover the action of God as it pertains to your own youth ministry, and encourage you to discover how you can participate in that action. As you join this theological journey, you’ll find yourself exploring how theology can and should influence the way you do youth ministry.

In the Beginning


Henri Blocher - 1979
    It will not call off the Quest for its origins." The opening chapters of Genesis -- important at any time -- have been the focal point of controversy for more than a century. Few topics have been so hotly debated by theologians, philosophers and scientists alike. Henri Blocher argues that our primary task is to discover what these key chapters of the Bible originally meant. Only then will we be able to unravel the knotty issues surrounding human origins. Taking into account a vast array of scholarship, Blocher provides a detailed study of creation week, the image of God, the significance of male and female, the garden covenant, the Fall, the curse and the promise of redemption. He also offers significanct theological insights into the creation-evolution debate.

Heretic: One Scientist's Journey from Darwin to Design


Matti Leisola - 2018
    Just ask biotechnologist Matti Leisola. It all started when a student loaned the Finnish scientist a book criticizing evolutionary theory. Leisola reacted angrily, and set out to defend evolution, but found his efforts raised more questions than they answered. He soon morphed into a full-on Darwin skeptic, even as he was on his way to becoming a leading bio-engineer.Heretic is the story of Leisola's adventures making waves-and many friends and enemies-at major research labs and universities across Europe. Tracing his investigative path, the book draws on Leisola's expertise in molecular biology to show how the evidence points more strongly than ever to the original biotechnologist-a designing intelligence whose skill and reach dwarf those of even our finest bioengineers, and leave blind evolution in the dust.Endorsements "Award-winning Finnish biotechnologist Matti Leisola has written a fascinating account of what happens when a scientist follows the evidence wherever it leads. Leisola's account of how he succeeded should inspire up-and-coming scientists who face the same challenge." Biologist Jonathan Wells, PhD, author of Icons of Evolution and Zombie Science "Scientists, like all other intellectuals, have ideas about what constitutes and what does not constitute reality. However, they are often not aware-and sometimes not ready to admit-that such ideas represent the principles of their philosophy. Leisola and Witt's Heretic is a unique first-hand account of the life-long adventures of a scientist who dared to challenge philosophical principles of colleague scientists. In my opinion, the outcome shows that to many scientists their philosophy is dearer than their science." Biochemist and inventor Branko Kozulic, PhD "This book is an exciting story about how a scientist's relentless search for truth makes him a heretic in the eyes of a cultural community more concerned about prestige than principle." Tapio Puolimatka, PhD and EdD, University of Jyvaskyla, Finland "This book is a personal, strong, and motivated plea for intelligent design (ID) and 'swims against the current' of Darwinian evolution, now generally accepted in scientific circles and society. I personally do not endorse ID, but I am a good friend of the author, whom I also highly respect as a scientist active in academia and in the biotech industry over so many years. Heretic inspires readers to think critically and to open up a civilized discussion on neo-Darwinism versus ID. It covers the science and philosophical parts adequately; it is accessible to a large readership; and statements are underpinned by relevant research and literature data. Its value lies in the author's lifelong engagement and personal crusade to stimulate the public debate among scientists as well as laymen over Darwinism (chance/random mutation and natural selection) versus ID, a vision that Leisola strongly advocates." Dr. Erick J. Vandamme, Emeritus Professor of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Belgium "Matti Leisola has written the exciting story of almost the entire spectrum of aberrant motives, absurd fears, and unreasonable reactions to intelligent design (ID) by evolutionary scientists, clergymen, and church institutions alike, notably during his career as a scientist over the last some forty years. I would add a word on the fears of so many critics that accepting ID also means accepting the dogmata of some 1700 years of church history. ID is thoroughly neutral concerning such topics. So, the reader is invited to carefully check the historical and, what is more, the enormous wealth of scientific data Matti Leisola has presented in the present book: Test them carefully with an open mind and form your own independent opinion!" Dr. Wolf-Ekkehard Lonnig, geneticist, Cologne,

Somewhere More Holy: Stories from a Bewildered Father, Stumbling Husband, Reluctant Handyman, and Prodigal Son


Tony Woodlief - 2010
    When he and his wife lost their adored little girl, his trust in God turned to bitter anger. As he and his wife struggled to save their marriage and his faith, they discovered that home is more than just rooms and a roof. Home is a place where people are sometimes wounded or betrayed. Home is also where God is strong in the broken places. Woodlief takes readers through his house, room by room, showing that home is: • Where we cry out to God as we seek him in the small things • Where the sacred and the mundane meet • The place that makes us better than we could ever be on our own • More than the place where we eat and sleep…it is where we learn grace Woodlief’s heart-touching stories leavened with humor will appeal to a wide audience, especially those trying to reconcile the idea of a loving God in a broken world.

The Creationists: From Scientific Creationism to Intelligent Design


Ronald L. Numbers - 1992
    Ronald L. Numbers chronicles the astonishing resurgence of this belief since the 1960s, as well as the creationist movement's tangled religious roots in the theologies of late-nineteenth - and early twentieth century Baptists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Adventists, and other religious groups. Even more remarkable than Numbers's story of today's widespread rejection of the theory of evolution is the dramatic shift from acceptance of the earth's antiquity (even for William Jennings Bryan the biblical "days" of Genesis represented long geological ages) to the insistence of present-day scientific creationists that most fossils date back to Noah's flood and its aftermath, and that the earth itself is no more than ten thousand years old. The author focuses especially on the rise of this "flood geology, " popularized in 1961 by John Whitcomb and Henry Morris's book, The Genesis Flood, which defended the theory that creation took place in six literal days, and updated the old arguments purporting to prove that a geologically significant worldwide flood actually took place. Numbers gives particular attention to the development of creation research institutes and societies, and to those creationists - including the half of the founders of the Creation Research Society with doctorates in biology - who possessed, or claimed to possess, scientific credentials. On the basis of dozens of interviews and scores of little-known manuscript collections, Numbers delineates the competing scientific and biblicalinterpretations, and reports on the debates between creationists and evolutionists - in courthouses, legislative halls, and on school boards - over the boundaries between science and religion. He traces the evolution of scientific creationism up to our own time and shows how the creationist

Darwin's Cathedral: Evolution, Religion, and the Nature of Society


David Sloan Wilson - 2002
    Until now, they have been considered completely irreconcilable theories of origin and existence. David Sloan Wilson's Darwin's Cathedral takes the radical step of joining the two, in the process proposing an evolutionary theory of religion that shakes both evolutionary biology and social theory at their foundations.The key, argues Wilson, is to think of society as an organism, an old idea that has received new life based on recent developments in evolutionary biology. If society is an organism, can we then think of morality and religion as biologically and culturally evolved adaptations that enable human groups to function as single units rather than mere collections of individuals? Wilson brings a variety of evidence to bear on this question, from both the biological and social sciences. From Calvinism in sixteenth-century Geneva to Balinese water temples, from hunter-gatherer societies to urban America, Wilson demonstrates how religions have enabled people to achieve by collective action what they never could do alone. He also includes a chapter considering forgiveness from an evolutionary perspective and concludes by discussing how all social organizations, including science, could benefit by incorporating elements of religion.Religious believers often compare their communities to single organisms and even to insect colonies. Astoundingly, Wilson shows that they might be literally correct. Intended for any educated reader, Darwin's Cathedral will change forever the way we view the relations among evolution, religion, and human society.

The Essence of the Old Testament: A Survey


Ed Hindson - 2012
    Based on thirty years of scholarly research and classroom teaching, a team of biblical scholars from Liberty University provides a practical, readable, and insightful introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures in canonical order.This uniquely illustrated, full-color volume features book introductions, background studies, outlines, surveys, theological concepts, practical applications, study questions, and helpful Hebrew word studies for English readers.Editors Ed Hindson and Gary Yates draw from a lifetime of teaching to provide a well tested and proven Old Testament overview written at the collegiate level, yet appropriate for pastors, scholars, and laymen alike. They represent the finest evangelical scholarship along with a passion to open windows of spiritual and practical insight into the biblical text.This exciting new survey of the Scriptures highlights the key elements of the Hebrew literature of the Law, the Prophets, and the Poets of the Old Testament. The history, archaeology, and wisdom of the biblical world are revealed with an eye on the application of their moral principles, theological insights, and practical application to today’s world.

Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism


Aron Ra - 2016
    Those with a sympathetic ear often fail to critically examine these creationist claims, leading to an ill-informed public and, perhaps more troubling, ill-advised public policy. As Aron Ra makes clear, however, every single argument deployed by creationists in their attacks on evolution is founded on fundamental scientific, religious, and historical falsehoods–all of them. Among their most popular claims is that evolution is a religion, that there are no transitional species, that there are no beneficial mutations, and that supposedly sacred scripture is the infallible word of God. Yet, as the evidence and data plainly show, each of these claims is demonstrably and unequivocally false. There is simply no truth to creationism whatsoever, and the entire enterprise rests on a foundation of falsehoods. This book explains and exposes the worst of these lies, and should be read by all who honestly care about following the evidence no matter where it might lead in pursuit of the truth.