Powerful kings claimed to be gods, building massive pyramids to achieve immortality. Out of this mass of misunderstandings, one man emerged. The man we know today as Abraham not only claimed that one true Creator existed but also staked his entire life on this belief. Why, thousands of years later, are we still discussing the faith of this desert nomad? One of America's most popular Bible teachers, Pastor Chuck Swindoll, answers that question and many more in this compelling and insightful biography that will inspire your own faith.

    From the manger in Bethlehem to the cross in Jerusalem, Yancey presents a complex character who generates questions as well as answers; a disturbing and exhilarating Jesus who wants to radically transform your life and stretch your faith.The Jesus I Never Knew uncovers a Jesus who is brilliant, creative, challenging, fearless, compassionate, unpredictable, and ultimately satisfying. ’No one who meets Jesus ever stays the same’, says Yancey. ‘Jesus has rocked my own preconceptions and has made me ask hard questions about why those of us who bear his name don t do a better job of following him.’

    One Sunday morning in Jerusalem Jesus's admirers choke the streets celebrating his arrival, and five days later they are in a frenzy crying out for his blood.This book addresses this inexplicable reversal and faces the question: if the current image of Jesus is accurate, if he was a model of tolerance and inclusivity; an other-worldly Savior; a Jewish revolutionary intent on defending the poor against the powerful, how do we explain this mass defection?What is it about Jesus that made His family think Him insane, His followers want to arrest Him and His friends and neighbors attempt to kill Him? And why, after 2,000 years, does His name still provoke such controversy and hostility? Perhaps there is something about this man that we do not know.

    Friedman is a fascinating, intellectual, yet highly readable analysis and investigation into the authorship of the Old Testament. The author of Commentary on the Torah, Friedman delves deeply into the history of the Bible in a scholarly work that is as exciting and surprising as a good detective novel. Who Wrote the Bible? is enlightening, riveting, an important contribution to religious literature, and as the Los Angeles Times aptly observed in its rave review, “There is no other book like this one.”

    With this innovative guide, readers can enrich their study with fascinating insights into the Bible and the world in which it was written.The Baker Illustrated Bible Handbook offers the most up-to-date evangelical biblical scholarship in a format that is readable and easy to understand. This book-by-book guide brings the Bible to life with more than 1,100 full-color pages packed with illustrations, maps, and photos, and 112 in-depth articles on a wide range of topics important to students of the Bible. Readers will discover how each part of the Bible fits into and informs every other part, giving them a cohesive understanding of God's Word.No reference collection will be complete without this incredible new handbook to the Bible.

    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

    In The Jesus Diet: How the Holy Spirit Coached Me to a 50-Pound Weight Loss, Author/Poet Robin Merrill shares her weight loss experiences through 30 Bible devotions designed to inspire others to join her on her journey toward improved spiritual, and physical, health.

    The opposite is the case: Faith helps us see, and that means not shrinking from the ambiguities and the difficulties that provoke our most profound questions.In our embrace of questioning, we must learn to question well. In our uncertainty, we must not give up the task of walking worthy of the calling that Christ has placed upon us. For we have not yet reached the end of our exploring.This book is written to aid you in faithfully questioning your foundations.

    A Doubter’s Guide to the Bible is a concise account of the whole biblical narrative and the lifestyle it inspires, representing a unique and engaging framework for those observing Christianity from the outside, especially those who think there are good reasons not to believe.In this book, Dickson provides a readable and winsome Bible primer summarizing the main themes in scripture, and addresses tough questions such as “How can we read the creation account in Genesis in light of modern science? “ and, “how do we approach Old Testament law when it appears inconsistent and irrelevant?”By presenting the whole of the Bible as an account of God’s promise to restore humanity to Himself, and humanity to one another and to creation, Dickson allows believers and skeptics alike to gain insight into why the Bible has been a compelling, life-changing, and magnetic force throughout the ages.

    The words, the miracles, and overarching message of the Messiah come alive in flowing and detailed chronology, set against the cultural, political, and religious setting of his day. You'll gain new understanding of why Jesus came, how he operated, and what he accomplished. Above all, you'll acquire a deeper appreciation for the love that guided his path, beginning in a manger in Bethlehem, leading through three and a half years of ministry that ended abruptly at the cross on Golgotha, and blazing forth in eternal triumph at the resurrection. Drawing liberally on the works of others who have written about Christ, such as Alfred Edersheim, J. W. Shepherd, W. Graham Scroggie, and Frederick Faraar, Dr. Pentecost reveals in his own writing a familiarity with the subject that comes from years of teaching. Yet he writes, not as one who knows all there is to know about Christ, but with the restraint of one who knows that Jesus is to be worshiped and adored as the great King, and that no book can do more than begin to tell all the wonders of his being and his love.

    Though Jesus was in truth his Savior, and even his Lord, Phillips felt challenged to understand more of the remarkable life lived two thousand years ago in Palestine. Then came a crisis in his spiritual pilgrimage when circumstances forced him to open the book of his life in a new way, and delve more deeply into the fundamental why of Jesus' life.Challenged to discover the New Testament imperative for his life, Phillips takes a fresh look at the Bible to find out what is the essence, the foundation, of spirituality. Boiled down. The raw reality of the gospel. No frills. No excess baggage. No trite little phrases learned in Sunday school or youth group.He discovers a key that gives validity to an entire life's purpose and perspective as a Christian for right now. Not in some grandiose, far-reaching way . . . but the link between belief and practice, between eternity and now, between Christianity as a world religion, and Christianity as a practical guidebook for going about the business of life in the trenches. For if ever a man walked in harmony between ultimate purpose and the next five minutes, that man was Jesus Christ. And that key to Jesus' life was obedience.

    One will learn communion's origin deepen his relationship with God and be challenged in discipleship.

    Everyone wants to be a good person, but few of us, twenty years into the new millennium, have any idea how to do that.In You’re a Miracle (and a Pain in the Ass), McHargue addresses these issues. We like to think we’re in control of our thoughts and decisions, he writes, but science has shown that a host of competing impulses, emotions, and environmental factors are at play in every action we undertake. Touching on his podcast listeners’ most pressing questions, from relationships and ethics to stress and mental health, and sharing some of the biggest triumphs and hardships from his own life, McHargue shows us how some of our qualities that seem most frustrating—including “negative” emotions like sadness, anger, and anxiety—are actually key to helping humans survive and thrive. In doing so, he invites us on a path of self-understanding and, ultimately, self-acceptance.You’re a Miracle (and a Pain in the Ass) is a guided tour through the mystery of human consciousness, showing readers how to live more at peace with themselves in a complex world.

    Yet comprehending the vast, often fractious, 2000 year story of his followers can be a bewildering task. Stephen Tomkins leads readers on an enjoyable and enlightening journey through the key stages of Christian development, covering the people, the movements, the controversies of the ever-expanding Church. His "Short History of Christianity" is a penetrating, energetic account sure to please a wide spectrum of those interested in the Christian story.

    The Didache Bible also includes numerous apologetical inserts to assist the reader in understanding the Church's teachings on current issues. After publishing the books of The Didache Series, Midwest Theological Forum set out to fill a need for a Catholic edition of Sacred Scripture with explanatory and apologetical commentaries based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The publication of the Didache Bible, based on these principles, fulfills the desire of Pope St. John Paul II as expressed in his Apostolic Constitution Fidei Depositum: "The Catechism of the Catholic Church . . . is a statement of the Church's faith and of catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition and the Church's Magisterium. I declare it to be a sure norm for teaching the faith" (no. IV). The Didache Bible is a valuable resource for students and those participating in Scripture studies. Ideal for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the Catholic faith and intended to be accessible by all Catholics in its level of scriptural scholarship. Available in the Ignatius Bible Edition (Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition) Features 27 full-color biblical maps, including the journeys of Jesus Christ More than 100 apologetical explanations that help to answer common questions about the faith Includes a comprehensive, 43-page glossary and a topical index