Bible Criticism

John Shelby Spong, best-selling author and popular proponent of a modern, scholarly, and authentic Christianity, argues that this last gospel to be written was misinterpreted by the framers of the fourth-century creeds to be a literal account of the life of Jesus when in fact it is a literary, interpretive retelling of the events in Jesus' life through the medium of fictional characters, from Nicodemus and Lazarus to the "Beloved Disciple."

The Zondervan Biblical and Theological Lectures series provides a unique audio learning experience. Unlike a traditional audiobook's direct narration of a book's text, Ruth: Audio Lectures includes high quality live-recordings of college-level lectures that cover the important points from each...

Conventional wisdom has it that the origins of the horror genre are found in the nineteenth century, in works like Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In this paradigm-shaking new book, Bible scholar and cultural historian Brandon Grafius argues that the Bible is, among other things, the world's first work of horror literature. The tropes and themes that we find in slasher movies, body horror, folk horror, and zombie apocalypses were kickstarted by the Bible. Before Godzilla, there were the monsters arising from the sea in the book of Daniel.

Bart Ehrman, in his New York Times bestseller, Misquoting Jesus, claims that the New Testament cannot wholly be trusted. Cutting and probing with the tools of text criticism, Ehrman suggests that many of its episodes are nothing but legend, fabricated by those who copied or collated its pages in...

In this Christian Encounter Series biography, author Robert West explores the life of Saint Francis, a man who lived entirely devoted to God. Francis of Assisi has inspired the church for centuries. Francis took the gospel literally, following all that Jesus said and did without limit, and his...

In his twenties, Fydor Dostoevsky, son of a Moscow doctor, graduate of a military academy, and rising star of Russian literature, found himself standing in front of a firing squad, accused of subversive activities against the Russian Tsar. Then the drums rolled, signaling that instead he was to...

Christian Encounters, a series of biographies from Thomas Nelson Publishers, highlights important lives from all ages and areas of the Church. Some are familiar faces. Others are unexpected guests. But all, through their relationships, struggles, prayers, and desires, uniquely illuminate our...

Read by the author. Aimee Byrd peels back the church's underlying and pervasive theology of power to face the shame that lurks there and find the lasting hope of belonging in Christ. Some things happening in the church these days should provoke our anger. It's racked with scandals of fraud...

In Hear Ye the Word of the Lord, biblical scholar D. Brent Sandy explores how oral communication shaped the ways that biblical writers received God's message—and even more importantly, how the ancient and modern faithful receive it through hearing.

In The Bible Jesus Read, award-winning author Philip Yancey combines scholarship and insight to bring new light to old material and stimulate new thought and further study. He explores the sometimes shocking and cryptic writings of the Old Testament to help readers know God better. Yancey serves...

The Zondervan Biblical and Theological Lectures series provides a unique audio learning experience. Unlike a traditional audiobook's direct narration of a book's text, Jonah: Audio Lectures includes high quality live-recordings of college-level lectures that cover the important points from each...

Ever wished there was a book about some of the weirdest and most disturbing stories in the Bible that was also hilarious to read? You've found it. It turns out, there's a lot of strange stuff in the Bible, and this book takes a tongue-in-cheek look at all of it. Approximately 80 percent of...