. . Superb" --Booklist, starred review).In The Face of Water, Sarah Ruden brilliantly and elegantly explains and celebrates the Bible's writings. Singling out the most famous passages, such as the Genesis creation story, the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, and the Beatitudes, Ruden reexamines and retranslates from the Hebrew and Greek what has been obscured and misunderstood over time.Making clear that she is not a Biblical scholar, cleric, theologian, or philosopher, Ruden--a Quaker--speaks plainly in this illuminating and inspiring book. She writes that while the Bible has always mattered profoundly, it is a book that in modern translations often lacks vitality, and she sets out here to make it less a thing of paper and glue and ink and more a live and loving text.Ruden writes of the early evolution, literary beauty, and transcendent ideals of the Hebrew Bible and the Greek New Testament, exploring how the Jews came to establish the greatest, most enduring book on earth as their regional strategic weakness found a paradoxical moral and spiritual strength through their writings, and how the Christians inherited and adapted this remarkable literary tradition. She writes as well about the crucial purposes of translation, not only for availability of texts but also for accountability in public life and as a reflection of society's current concerns.She shows that it is the original texts that most clearly reveal our cherished values (both religious and secular), unlike the standard English translations of the Bible that mask even the yearning for freedom from slavery. The word "redemption" translated from Hebrew and Greek, meaning mercy for the exploited and oppressed, is more abstract than its original meaning--to buy a person back from captivity or slavery or some other distress. The Face of Water is as much a book about poetry, music, drama, raw humor, and passion as it is about the idealism of the Bible. Ruden's book gives us an unprecedented, nuanced understanding of what this extraordinary document was for its earliest readers and what it can still be for us today

    It is true that without some care in your interpretation, you can make the Bible say almost anything. Dig Deeper is written out of the conviction that there is a right way to understand the Bible and a wrong way, and the authors show us how to read it correctly.Dig Deeper offers sixteen tools readers can use to get to the bottom of any Bible passage and discover its intended meaning. Examples show how each tool helps readers discover something exciting and relevant in a passage, and the Dig deeper exercises offer the opportunity to practice using the tools. The book's brevity and easy-to-read format make it ideal for Christians who want to get the most out of their Bible.

    Ample notes accompany each page, providing fresh insights by renowned Bible teachers Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch, as well as time-tested interpretations from the Fathers of the Church. These helpful study notes make explicit what John often assumes. They provide rich historical, cultural, or theological information pertinent to the Gospel.The Ignatius Study Bible also includes Topical Essays, Word Studies and Charts. Each page also includes an easy-to-use Cross-Reference Section. Study Questions are provided for each chapter of the Gospel that can deepen your personal study of God s Holy Word. There is also an introductory essay covering questions of authorship, date, destination, structure and themes and an outline of the Gospel of John and several maps.

    I'm sure it will be ...

    An investigation of the New Testament canon and how it fits into redemptive history.

    T. France's new commentary on Matthew focuses on exegesis of Matthew's text as it stands rather than on the prehistory of the material or details of Synoptic comparison. It is concerned throughout with what Matthew himself meant to convey about Jesus and how he set about doing so. Another major concern of this work is to locate the story Matthew tells within the cultural and historical context of first-century Palestine. Amid the wide array of Matthew commentaries available today, France's world-class stature, his clear focus on Matthew and Jesus, his careful methodology, and his user-friendly style promise to make this volume an enduring standard for years to come. R. T. France is Hon. Research Fellow in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Wales, Bangor.

    This brilliant scholarly treatise succeeds in bringing to our consciousness women who played an important role in the origins of Christianity.

    In Know How We Got Our Bible, scholars Ryan Reeves and Charles Hill trace the history of the Bible from its beginnings to the present day, highlighting key figures and demonstrating overall the reliability of Scripture.Reeves and Hill begin with the writing of the Bible's books (including authorship and dating), move into the formation of the Old and New Testaments (including early transmission and the development of the canon), and conclude with several chapters on Bible translation from the Latin Vulgate to the ongoing work of translation around the world today.Written simply and focused on the overarching story of how the Bible came to us today, Know How We Got Our Bible is an excellent introduction for formal students and lay learners alike. Each chapter includes reflection questions and recommended readings for further learning.

    This book explores how Christianity began by tracing its earliest texts, including the Gospel of Thomas, rediscovered in Egypt in 1945.When her infant son was diagnosed with fatal pulmonary hypertension, Pagels' spiritual and intellectual quest took on a new urgency, leading her to explore historical and archaeological sources and to investigate what Jesus and his teachings meant to his followers before the invention of Christianity. The discovery of the Gospel of Thomas, along with more than 50 other early Christian texts, some unknown since antiquity, offers clues. She compares such sources as Thomas' gospel (which claims to give Jesus' secret teaching and finds its closest affinities with kabbalah) with the canon to show how Christian leaders chose to include some gospels and exclude others from the collection many call the New Testament. To stabilize the emerging church in times of persecution, church fathers constructed the canon, creed and hierarchy - and, in the process, suppressed many of its spiritual resources.Drawing on new scholarship - her own and that of an international group of scholars - that has come to light since the 1979 publication of The Gnostic Gospels, she shows that what matters about Christianity involves much more than any one set of beliefs. Traditions embodied in Judaism and Christianity can powerfully affect us in heart, mind and spirit, inspire visions of a new society based on practising justice and love, even heal and transform us.Provocative and moving, Beyond Belief, the most personal of her books to date, shows how the impulse to seek god overflows the narrow banks of a single tradition. She writes, "What I have come to love in the wealth and diversity of our religious traditions - and the communities that sustain them - is that they offer the testimony of innumerable people to spiritual discovery, encouraging us, in Jesus' words, to 'seek, and you shall find.'"CONTENTSFrom the feast of Agape to the Nicene CreedGospels in conflict: John and Thomas God's word or human words?The canon of truth and the triumph of JohnConstantine and the Catholic Church AcknowledgementsNotesIndex

    Contributors include: Craig Blomberg with the historical-critical/grammatical approach, Richard Gaffin with the redemptive-historical approach, Scott Spencer with the literary/postmodern approach, Robert Wall with the canonical approach and Merold Westphal with the philosophical/theological approach.

    Phillips’ rendering of Holy Scripture into contemporary English is accessible and powerful to a modern audience. Easy to read and remarkable in its passionate depictions of Jesus and the Apostles, this book is a classic work of Christian literature perfect for anyone looking to supplement their understanding of the Bible and enrich their spiritual life.

    Hard-Hitting Insults for Every OccasionIncluding      •  Insulting Someone’s Intelligence      •  Insulting Someone’s Sexual Prowess      •  Insults for the Office      •  Insults on Game Day     •  Insults throughout History     •  Insults from around the WorldPlus insulting gestures, backhanded compliments, comebacks, all the things you should never say about someone's mama, and much more!

    Canon Revisited distinguishes itself by placing a substantial focus on the theology of canon as the context within which the historical evidence is evaluated and assessed. In effect, this work successfully unites both the theology and the historical development of the canon, ultimately serving as a practical defense for the authority of the New Testament books.

    The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology 3rd edition published in the year 2001 was published by Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. View 1192 more books by Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. The author of this book is Bruce J. Malina . This is the Paperback version of the title "The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology 3rd edition ". The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology 3rd edition is currently Available with us.