Religion Bible

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 cross-cultural 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.

The Old Testament is a fierce battleground for atheists and Christian apologists, with each side accusing the other of taking challenging and troubling passages out of context. In this handbook, Joshua Bowen not only provides the background to the Old Testament and the ancient Near East, but engages with hotly contested topics like slavery, failed prophecy, and the authorship of debated Old Testament books.

An Advent devotional for Christmas that will stir hope and inspire worship. As dawn broke on that first Christmas morning, the sun rose on a new era: God's king had come to Earth to bring about his kingdom. Join Sinclair Ferguson as he opens up the first two chapters of Matthew's Gospel in these daily devotions for Advent. Each day’s reflection is full of insight and application, and will help you to arrive at Christmas Day awed by God's redeeming grace and refreshed by the hope of God’s promised king.

Archaeologist Dr. Titus Kennedy has investigated firsthand the discoveries connected to Jesus’ birth, ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection. He has visited and excavated where Jesus walked and examined the artifacts connected to Jesus’ life. Here, he presents a comprehensive overview of the research and findings that illuminate the historicity of Christ as presented in the Bible. As you listen, you’ll be able to decide for yourself whether the evidence confirms the existence of Jesus and determine whether the Gospels are worthy of being approached not as legends but as history.

All Christians and sinners should understand that the whole plan is complete. They should understand that the whole of Christ—his character, his work, his atoning death, and his ever-living intercession—belongs to each and every person and simply needs to be accepted. There is a full ocean of it.

The Revised Geneva Translation (based on Shakespeare's favorite Bible translation) was borne of an actor’s need to memorize and speak Scripture out loud with specific meanings and inflections.

The Bible as we know it today is best understood as a process, one that begins in the tenth century BCE. In this revelatory account, a world-renowned scholar of Hebrew scripture joins a foremost authority on the New Testament to write a new biography of the Book of Books, reconstructing Jewish and Christian scriptural histories, as well as the underappreciated contest between them, from which the Bible arose. The Making of the Bible is the most comprehensive history yet told of the world's best-known literature, revealing its buried lessons and secrets.

Best-selling author and national radio host Dr. Andrew Farley is known to challenge legalistic and lifeless interpretations with his discerning take on controversial scriptures. In Twisted Scripture, Andrew skewers sacred cows and shatters destructive lies, bringing the undiluted truth about God's love and grace in a colorful and conversational look at the most controversial passages in the New Testament.

What does it mean to be human? This timeless question proves critical as we seek to understand our purpose, identity, and significance. Amidst the many voices clamoring to shape our understanding of humanity, the Bible reveals important truths related to our human identity and vocation that are critical to the flourishing of all of creation. Carmen Joy Imes seeks to recover the theologically rich message of the creation narratives starting in the book of Genesis as they illuminate what it means to be human.

God Is Disappointed in You is for people who would like to read the Bible...if it would just cut to the chase. Stripped of its arcane language and interminable passages, every book of the Bible is condensed down to its core message, in no more than a few pages each. Written by Mark Russell with cartoons by New Yorker cartoonist Shannon Wheeler, God Is Disappointed in You is a frequently hilarious, often shocking, but always accurate retelling of the Bible, including the parts selectively left out by Sunday School teachers.

Easy to Read Bible Summary for Teens and Adults is a Bible summary that covers all of the major stories and themes of the Bible from the first words in the book of Genesis to the last words in the book of Revelation. It is designed in clear and simple language that is easy to understand. It is intended for a person who always wanted to get a general understanding of the entire Bible, but for whatever reason, never read all of it.

The Apostolic Fathers are the Christian writers from the first and second centuries who are thought to have been disciples of the Apostles or to have been so directly influenced by the Apostles that their writings are considered echoes of genuine Apostolic teaching. Their writings form a link of tradition that binds these writings to those of the New Testament. Chief among the apostolic fathers are the three first-century Bishops: St. Clement of Rome, St. Ignatius of Antioch, and St. Polycarp of Smyrna, who were disciples of St. Peter and St. John.

Selective use of scripture - by preachers and politicians alike - has been employed to justify violence, racism, misogyny, homophobia...the list goes on. Still, we believe the Bible has something important to say. How can we read it in a contemplative and intelligent way? In What Do We Do with the Bible?, Richard Rohr answers just this question. He offers a methodology of hermeneutics (interpretation) that creates a foundation for a hopeful and cosmic vision - incarnation from beginning to end of time. (He explores this vision further in The Universal Christ).

The Bible is a piercing drama, a tale of prophets and wandering spirits, heroic mothers and flashing swords, cosmic mountains, and a dry, shadowy Sheol. It is a true story that defines the nature and purpose of reality, and its claims are astonishing. But few modern listeners experience the Bible that way. In this groundbreaking audiobook, celebrated storyteller Blaine Eldredge draws upon years of research to illuminate the story of the Bible through the lives of six kingly characters.

The foundation of Hebrew and Jewish religion, thought, law, and society is the Torah - the parchment scroll containing the text of the Five Books of Moses that is located in every synagogue. This accessible guide explains the Torah in clear language, even to those who were not raised in the Jewish religious tradition. Christians who want to know more about the Jewish roots of Christianity need to understand the Torah, as do followers of Islamic tradition and those interested in the roots of Abrahamic faiths.

Unlike modern versions that dilute meaning or alter the text, this edition conveys the holiness, depth, and precision of the original, ensuring every word is rendered with the utmost reverence. It draws upon centuries of Torah scholarship, offering clarity without compromise.

Why does a 2,000-year-old book still matter? Why should it? The answer is found in The Message: REMIX New Testament, today's Bible in contemporary language for tomorrow's leaders. The Message has had a profound impact on millions of people worldwide, including some of the best-known artists in contemporary Christian music today. The Message: REMIX is read by artists whose lives have been impacted by The Message.

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ—but they are perhaps best understood as four separate versions of the same story, showing complex origins, intricate interweavings, and often inherent contradictions. Faithfully pointing listeners back to the original Greek, this translation from renowned scholar and acclaimed translator Sarah Ruden is the first to reconsider the Gospels as books to be read and understood on their own terms.

Following the Sermon on the Mount, this follow-up to The Good and Beautiful God guides us to look behind character flaws and to replace our false beliefs with Jesus' narratives about life in the kingdom of God.

How is the follower of Jesus to understand the words of the Old Testament? How are those words relevant to the New Covenant he is establishing? What might the words of the Lord’s Prayer have conveyed to his initial followers, and why is that historical information essential to the prayer two millennia later? In Sermon on the Mount, Dr. Amy-Jill Levine takes a detailed and colorful overview of Matthew 5-7, collectively known as Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount.