Acclaimed sociologist Christian Smith argues that this approach is misguided and unable to live up to its own claims. If evangelical biblicism worked as its proponents say it should, there would not be the vast variety of interpretive differences that biblicists themselves reach when they actually read and interpret the Bible. Smith describes the assumptions, beliefs, and practices of evangelical biblicism and sets it in historical, sociological, and philosophical context. He explains why it is an impossible approach to the Bible as an authority and provides constructive alternative approaches to help evangelicals be more honest and faithful in reading the Bible. Far from challenging the inspiration and authority of Scripture, Smith critiques a particular rendering of it, encouraging evangelicals to seek a more responsible, coherent, and defensible approach to biblical authority.

    He is senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, TX and founder of The Urban Alternative, a ministry which promotes a kingdom agenda philosophy designed to enable people to live all of life underneath the comprehensive rule of God.   The Tony Evans Bible Commentary includes an introduction to each Bible book followed by passage-by-passage exposition of the entire Bible by Dr. Tony Evans. In addition, there is a special front matter section with introductory resources. The insights in this commentary will help explain God’s Word in a fresh way. Applying these truths will empower readers to have transformed lives that then transfer the values of the kingdom of God to others.   The Tony Evans Bible Commentary features the highly readable, highly reliable text of the Christian Standard Bible® (CSB). The CSB stays as literal as possible to the Bible's original meaning without sacrificing clarity, making it easier to engage with Scripture's life-changing message and to share it with others.

    Elizabeth Clare Prophet examines the controversy surrounding this book and sheds new light on Enoch's forbidden mysteries. She demonstrates that Jesus and the apostles studied the Book of Enoch and tells why Church Fathers suppressed its teaching that angels could incarnate in human bodies. Fallen Angels and the Origins of Evil takes you back to the primordial drama of Good and Evil, when the first hint of corruption entered a pristine world--earth. Contains Richard Laurence's translation of the Book of Enoch, all the other Enoch texts (including the Book of the Secrets of Enoch) and biblical parallels.

     "Clear, profound and practical--you do not want to miss this book."--Dr. Scott Hahn, author of The Lamb's Supper and The Fourth CupJesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist shines fresh light on the Last Supper by looking at it through Jewish eyes. Using his in-depth knowledge of the Bible and ancient Judaism, Dr. Brant Pitre answers questions such as: What was the Passover like at the time of Jesus? What were the Jewish hopes for the Messiah? What was Jesus' purpose in instituting the Eucharist during the feast of Passover? And, most important of all, what did Jesus mean when he said, "This is my body... This is my blood"?To answer these questions, Pitre explores ancient Jewish beliefs about the Passover of the Messiah, the miraculous Manna from heaven, and the mysterious Bread of the Presence. As he shows, these three keys--the Passover, the Manna, and the Bread of the Presence--have the power to unlock the original meaning of the Eucharistic words of Jesus. Along the way, Pitre also explains how Jesus united the Last Supper to his death on Good Friday and his Resurrection on Easter Sunday.Inspiring and informative, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist is a groundbreaking work that is sure to illuminate one of the greatest mysteries of the Christian faith: the mystery of Jesus' presence in "the breaking of the bread."

    The land, cultures, battles, feast days, heroes, and villains of Scripture come alive through spectacular color-filled articles and images of meticulous clarity and detail.Special features include: * Four-color guide to all the books of the Bible* 119 articles by an international team of experts* Over 500 color photographs* 68 maps, 30 charts* Complete 'Rapid Fact-Finder' reference section

    . . perhaps Jesus was comatose. Or perhaps his body was stolen. Or maybe the women arrived at the wrong tomb . . . they were grieving, after all; it would have been an honest mistake. There are any number of explanations. Dr. William Lane Craig uses well-documented historical facts to explore the evidence that surrounds the days following Jesus’ crucifixion. Without assuming “the Bible says so,” Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? presents positive religious, cultural, and historical evidence for the reality of the resurrection while breaking down the six most common hypotheses used to explain the unusual events that unfolded from the moment Christ breathed his last. Thoroughly researched, yet deftly digestible, Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? belongs in the library of any apologist, skeptic, or seeker.

    He explores the impact of information sciences on our understanding of ancient texts...including microcodes, macrocodes, and metacodes...as well as the highly controversial "equidistant letter sequences" discovered in the Bible. You will be able to use this exciting information to discover the hidden messages yourself because many of them do not require a computer to decipher.Enhance your study with a Cosmic Codes Workbook (paper version) or as a Download. (this is to be used in conjunction with the audio/multimedia materials as an aid to study)

    Complete with maps of journeys and explanations of the acts and epistles, this book includes: The journeys of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses, and the law from Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel and Kings, including David and Goliath, Gideon and Samson, and King Solomon. The captives, the women, the poets, the prophets and more through the Old Testament. The story of Jesus as told in the four Gospels. The acts of the Apostles as they spread the word of the new church; the letters from Peter, Paul, James, John and Jude on a variety of topics, and John's apocalyptic Revelation; The Apocrypha including Maccabees 1 and 2 along with other books included for other practices. An all-new reference glossary featuring names and places with descriptions and cross-references to their discussion in the Bible.

    Many hold to premillennialism: that Christ's return will be followed by 1,000 years before the final judgement, a belief popularised in the popular Left Behind novels. However, premillennialism is not the only option for Christians. In this important new book, Sam Storms provides a biblical rationale for amillennialism; the belief that 1,000 years mentioned in the book of Revelation is symbolic with the emphasis being the King and his Kingdom.

    Leading us chapter by chapter through its most important stories--from the Creation and the Tree of Knowledge through the Exodus from Egypt and the journey to the Promised Land--James Kugel shows how a group of anonymous, ancient interpreters radically transformed the Bible and made it into the book that has come down to us today.Was the snake in the Garden of Eden the devil, or the Garden itself "paradise"? Did Abraham discover monotheism, and was his son Isaac a willing martyr? Not until the ancient interpreters set to work. Poring over every little detail in the Bible's stories, prophecies, and laws, they let their own theological and imaginative inclinations radically transform the Bible's very nature. Their sometimes surprising interpretations soon became the generally accepted meaning. These interpretations, and not the mere words of the text, became the Bible in the time of Jesus and Paul or the rabbis of the Talmud.Drawing on such sources as the Dead Sea Scrolls, ancient Jewish apocrypha, Hellenistic writings, long-lost retellings of Bible stories, and prayers and sermons of the early church and synagogue, Kugel reconstructs the theory and methods of interpretation at the time when the Bible was becoming the bedrock of Judaism and Christianity. Here, for the first time, we can witness all the major transformations of the text and recreate the development of the Bible "As It Was" at the start of the Common era--the Bible as we know it.

    Here, acclaimed scholar Stephen Greenblatt explores it with profound appreciation for its cultural and psychological power as literature. From the birth of the Hebrew Bible to the awe-inspiring contributions of Augustine, Dürer, and Milton in bringing Adam and Eve to vivid life, Greenblatt unpacks the story’s many interpretations and consequences over time. Rich allegory, vicious misogyny, deep moral insight, narrow literalism, and some of the greatest triumphs of art and literature: all can be counted as children of our “first” parents.

    Comparing the key events of the Old Testament with the latest findings in physics, biochemistry, and paleontology, a physicist and theologian shows that science and the Bible can be reconciled to resolve the age-old debates about God.

    Hengel examines the way in which the most vile death of the cross was regarded in the Greek-speaking world and particularly in Roman-occupied Palestine.His conclusions bring out more starkly than ever the offensiveness of the Christian message: Jesus not only died an unspeakably cruel death, he underwent the most contemptible abasement that could be imagined. So repugnant was the gruesome reality, that a natural tendency prevails to blunt, remove, or deomesticate its scandalous impact. Yet any discussion of a theology of the cross must be preceded by adequate comprehension of both the nature and extent of this scandal.

    This work contains the 26 visions of Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), who was the first of the great German mystics, as well as a poet and a prophet, a physician and a political moralist.

    What she discovered changed her—and it will change you too.Drawing on the best in recent scholarship and using her well-honed literary expertise, Evans examines some of our favorite Bible stories and possible interpretations, retelling them through memoir, original poetry, short stories, soliloquies, and even a short screenplay. Undaunted by the Bible’s most difficult passages, Evans wrestles through the process of doubting, imagining, and debating Scripture’s mysteries. The Bible, she discovers, is not a static work but is a living, breathing, captivating, and confounding book that is able to equip us to join God’s loving and redemptive work in the world.