But the further he studied the Bible, the more he found himself confronted by questions that could neither be answered within the rigid framework of his religious instruction or accepted among the conservative evangelical community.Rejecting the increasingly complicated intellectual games used by conservative Christians to “protect” the Bible, Enns was conflicted. Is this what God really requires? How could God’s plan for divine inspiration mean ignoring what is really written in the Bible? These questions eventually cost Enns his job—but they also opened a new spiritual path for him to follow.The Bible Tells Me So chronicles Enns’s spiritual odyssey, how he came to see beyond restrictive doctrine and learned to embrace God’s Word as it is actually written. As he explores questions progressive evangelical readers of Scripture commonly face yet fear voicing, Enns reveals that they are the very questions that God wants us to consider—the essence of our spiritual study.

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    Are these seemingly vindictive prayers acceptable in the mouths of Christians? How is a pastor supposed to preach these texts?James E. Adams wants us to embrace God's Word in its entirety, and that means examining the parts that make us uncomfortable. In short, helpful chapters, Adams answers a number of questions: Are these psalms from God? Who is the speaker in the psalms? May we pray these psalms today? It turns out that the Prince of Peace has much to teach us about war, and even the imprecatory psalms may be prayed with the merciful goal of conversion.Twenty-fifth anniversary edition—includes a new epilogue and additional chapter.

    The nature of first-century letters, back-ground sources, and a word-study method all help show students with some knowledge of Greek how to trace Paul's reasoning through difficult texts.

    It defines God's essence and describes how He relates to us. The Forgotten Trinity is a concise, understandable explanation of what the Trinity is and why it matters. It refutes cultic distortions of God. It shows how a grasp of this significant teaching leads to renewed worship and deeper understanding of what it means to be a Christian. And amid today's emphasis on the renewing work of the Holy Spirit, The Forgotten Trinity is a balanced look at all three persons of the Trinity.

    This reader shows how to navigate such trials as we study for and then engage in Christian ministry. It includes wisdom from voices past: Augustine; Martin Luther; C. H. Spurgeon; B. B. Warfield; Dietrich Bonhoeffer and C.S. Lewis. Several modern authors also show how to navigate various aspects of theological study successfully: D. A. Carson (Biblical Studies); Carl Trueman (Church History); Gerald Bray (Systematic Theology); Dennis Hollinger (Christian Ethics); and John Woodhouse (Seminary life). The book shows how we can move from being 'lost among words' as we study of theology, to being 'lost for words' in praise of God.

    James E. Dolezal’s All That Is in God provides an exposition of the historic Christian position while engaging with these contemporary deviations. His convincing critique of the newer position he styles “theistic mutualism” is philosophically robust, systematically nuanced, and biblically based. It demonstrates the need to maintain the traditional viewpoint, particularly on divine simplicity, and spotlights the unfortunate implications for other important Christian doctrines—such as divine eternality and the Trinity—if it were to be abandoned. Arguing carefully and cogently that “all that is in God is God Himself,” the work is sure to stimulate debate on the issue in years to come.

    Jenson at Princeton University in the spring of 2008. Based on a series of twenty-three course lectures, it offers a concise and accessible overview of Christian theology while retaining the atmosphere of Jenson's classroom. Much as does Jenson's Systematic Theology, A Theology in Outline treats a standard sequence of doctrines in Christian theology--God, Trinity, creation, humanity, sin, salvation, church, among others. However, its organizing principle and leitmotiv are less traditional. Reflecting his recent interest in theological interpretation of scripture, Jenson frames the whole of Christian theology as a response to the question posed to the prophet Ezekiel: "Son of man, can these bones live?" For Jenson, to ask this question is to ask whether Christian theology itself is a pile of dead bones. Can the story that God lives with his people be told today? From first to last the chapters of this book proceed under the impelling pressure of this question. They thus comprise a single sequence of illustrative conversations for the purpose of introducing beginners to Christian theology.

    Mouw has long stood at the forefront of the "Christ and culture" debate. In When the Kings Come Marching In -- here revised and updated -- Mouw explores the religious transformation of culture as it is powerfully pictured in Isaiah 60. In Isaiah 60 the prophet envisions the future transformation of the city of Jerusalem, a portrayal of the Holy City that bears important similarities to John's vision of the future in Revelation 21 and 22. Mouw examines these and other key passages of the Bible, showing how they provide a proper pattern for cultural involvement in the present. Mouw identifies and discusses four main features of the Holy City: (1) "the wealth of the nations" is gathered into the city; (2) the "kings of the earth" march into the city; (3) people from many nations are drawn to the city; and (4) light pervades the city. In drawing out the implications of these striking features, Mouw treats a number of relevant cultural issues, including Christian attitudes toward the processes and products of commerce, technology, and art; the nature of political authority; race relations; and the scope of the redemptive ministry of Jesus Christ. The volume culminates in an invaluable discussion of how Christians should live in the modern world. Mouw argues that believers must go beyond a narrow understanding of the individual "pilgrim's progress" to a view of the Christian pilgrimage wherein believers work together toward solving the difficult political, social, and economic problems of our day.

    In the process, however, these have led to sampling Scripture rather than reading deeply. According to author Glenn R. Paauw, the text has become divorced from the Bible's literary and historical context, leading to misinterpretation and a narrow, individualistic and escapist view of salvation. Rather than being a culture-shaping force, the Bible has become a database of quick and easy answers to life's troubling questions. But these deficiencies can be corrected by engaging in what the author calls big readings. In these pages Paauw introduces us to seven new (to us) understandings of the Bible as steps on the path to recovering one deeply engaged Bible. With each new Bible presented, deficiencies in how we currently interact with the Bible are explored, followed by recommendations for a new practice. The Bible's transformative power is recovered when we remove the chains Christians have applied to it over the centuries. The Bible does not need to be saved because of any defect in itself, but because we have distorted and misread it. Saving the Bible from Ourselves provides students of the Bible a new paradigm for reading and living the Bible well.

    This practical handbook offers help. Graeme Goldsworthy teaches the basics of preaching the whole Bible in a consistently Christ-centered way.Goldsworthy first examines the Bible, biblical theology, and preaching and shows how they relate in the preparation of Christ-centered sermons. He then applies the biblical-theological method to the various types of literature found in the Bible, drawing out their contributions to expository preaching focused on the person and work of Christ.Clear, complete, and immediately applicable, this volume will become a fundamental text for teachers, pastors, and students preparing for ministry.

    You catch your child posting something inappropriate on the Internet. Someone in your small group is depressed. A relative was just diagnosed with an incurable disease. When those you know and love experience trouble, you don't want to hand out pat answers or religious platitudes. Instead, you want to offer real hope and help from God's Word. You know it's true, but how does an ancient book, written thousands of years ago, connect with our twenty-first century problems? In CrossTalk: Where Life and Scripture Meet, Michael R. Emlet gives you the tools to connect the Bible to your life and to the lives of your family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers. You will learn to understand people and God's Word in ways that promote gospel-centered, rich conversations that help you and those you know grow in love for God and others. This book will make the whole Bible come alive to you. Instead of platitudes, you can offer a cup of living water to those who are struggling in this broken world.

    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.

    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

    Though there is currently a large body of material on the theological interpretation of Scripture, most of it is highly specific and extremely technical. J. Todd Billings here provides a straightforward entryway for students and pastors to understand why theological interpretation matters and how it can be done. / A solid, constructive theological work, The Word of God for the People of God presents a distinctive Trinitarian, participatory approach toward reading Scripture as the church. Billings's accessible yet substantial argument for a theological hermeneutic is rooted in a historic vision of the practice of scriptural interpretation even as it engages a wide range of contemporary issues and includes several exegetical examples that apply to concrete Christian ministry situations.