Theology Study

For years, Christians have argued, debated, and fought one another while "speaking the truth in love," yet we are no closer to the grace-filled life Jesus modeled. Biblical scholar and popular podcast host of The Bible for Normal People, Jared Byas casts a new vision for the Christian life that's built not on certainty, but on the risk of love.

Too many discipleship books are written for clean, perfect people who know all the right Sunday school answers. The Imperfect Disciple is for the rest of us - people who screw up, people who are weary, people who are wondering if it's safe to say what they're really thinking. For the believer who is tired of quasi-spiritual lifehacks being passed off as true, down-and-dirty discipleship, here is a discipleship book that isn't afraid to be honest about the mess we call real life.

The church is filled with people asking, "Is this it? Is this all the Christian life is supposed to be?" They long to experience more of God's presence - they just don't know how to get there. Some have been burned by "charismania." Others are fearful of it. Is there a way to experience the Spirit - without the weirdness? Author and pastor Alan Kraft provides a biblical pathway into the exhilaration of an everyday experience with the Holy Spirit, showing how normal it can be to hear God's voice, know his love, and walk in his power.

Healing the Gospel challenges the assumption that the Christian understanding of justice is rooted in a demand for violent punishment, and instead offers a radically different understanding of the gospel based on God's restorative justice. Connecting our own experiences of faith with the New Testament narrative, author Derek Flood shows us an understanding of the cross that not only reveals God's heart of grace, but also models our own way of Christ-like love.

That God loves us is the most profound truth in the universe. Experiencing this love has the potential to answer every question, solve every problem, and satisfy the deepest yearnings of the heart. So why are many people who believe this still unable to fully utilize the power of God's love in their personal lives? In this probing book, Dr. David Jeremiah reveals that not fully understanding and appreciating every critical dimension of God's love can lead to missed opportunities to experience His love.

Many Christians struggle to find the balance between ignoring the end times completely and seeing the antichrist in every headline. But Jesus's prophetic teaching was not meant for scholars only. Jesus preached a radical message that "the kingdom of God is at hand."

The premise of my Revelation decoder book, End Times Major Clues from Minor Prophets, is that the LORD has awakened His chosen warriors, and we are right now in the epic Battle of Armageddon, fighting the battle of good versus evil. After we defeat our enemies, we will enjoy 1,000 years of peace on Earth. That truth is not just found in the book of the Revelation. That wonderful truth is found all throughout God’s Word. That truth is just exactly what we need to know to have the courage and stamina to keep fighting until the war is over and our enemies are gone!

Why You Think the Way You Do traces the development of the worldviews that underpin the Western world. Professor and historian Glenn S. Sunshine demonstrates the decisive impact that the growth of Christianity had in transforming the outlook of pagan Roman culture into one that—based on biblical concepts of humanity and its relationship with God—established virtually all the positive aspects of Western civilization.

The Insistence of God presents the provocative idea that God does not exist, God insists, while God's existence is a human responsibility, which may or may not happen. For John D. Caputo, God's existence is haunted by "perhaps," which does not signify indecisiveness but an openness to risk, to the unforeseeable. Perhaps constitutes a theology of what is to come and what we cannot see coming. Responding to current critics of continental philosophy, Caputo explores the materiality of perhaps and the promise of the world.

At the very heart of God’s plan for the world stands an extraordinary city. Beginning with the garden of Eden in Genesis and ending with the New Jerusalem in Revelation, the biblical story reveals how God has been working throughout history to establish a city filled with his glorious presence. Tracing the development of the theme of city in both testaments, T. Desmond Alexander draws on his experience as a biblical scholar to show us God’s purpose throughout Scripture to dwell with his redeemed people in a future extraordinary city on a transformed earth.

“And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.” (Revelation 17:18) Which city is this that reigns over all the kings of the earth? Rome? New York? Mecca? There are over 90 characteristics given in the book of Revelation about the city of Mystery Babylon, and none of these three cities meets all of the criteria. But there is one city that does...or should I say will. The Bible tells us exactly which city will be the capital city of the Antichrist in the last days. That city is Jerusalem.

Did you know that the global church is only a few years away from fulfilling Jesus’ command to “make disciples of every nation”? And that Jesus explicitly tied his return to the completion of that task? In And Then the End Will Come, Douglas Cobb, founder of the Finishing Fund, provides a front-line account of the effort to finish Jesus’ great commission in our lifetime. He also explores nine other Biblical clues that Jesus is coming soon.

World-renowned Jesus scholar Marcus J. Borg shows how we can live passionately as Christians in today's world by practicing the vital elements of Christian faith. For the millions of people who have turned away from many traditional beliefs about God, Jesus, and the Bible, but still long for a relevant, nourishing faith, Borg shows why the Christian life can remain a transforming relationship with God. Emphasizing the critical role of daily practice in living the Christian life, he explores how prayer, worship, Sabbath, pilgrimage, and more can be experienced as authentically life-giving practices.

Jack Miles's book is a provocative and revisionary look at the life of Jesus, in which many of the most well-worn truths about Christ are recontextualized and revisited. It does not look for the historical Jesus, but takes the Gospels as the sole source about his life.

In 2007, two Israeli news publications, Israel Today and News First Class, reported that the most famous rabbi in Israel's modern history, 108-year-old Yitzhak Kaduri, had left a cryptic death note revealing the name of the long-awaited Messiah. Within a year after the rabbi's death, the note was reported to have been verified as authentic by some of Kaduri's closest followers and then placed on Kaduri's own website (Kaduri.net).

What did Jesus - the original Jesus - say about the pressing issues of his and our day? He didn't mention homosexuality but did call for the poor and marginalized to be protected and championed; he never spoke of abortion but did criticize the wealthy and complacent; he didn't side with the rulers and wealthy but did condemn those who judged and exploited others and turned their eyes away from those in need and from the cry for justice. This was Jesus the rebel, Christ the radical, who turned the world upside down and demanded that his followers do the same.

Interest in the end times is increasing, and there are some critical questions every student of end-time prophecy must come to terms with. How should scripture be understood when it speaks of the Antichrist: Literally or allegorically? And if the Antichrist and his persecution are literal events, will the church have to undergo this terrible time of persecution, or will she be removed before the time of great tribulation begins? Theological thinkers across America today are hotly debating these burning questions, yet the Bible could not be more clear as to the answers.

In this Audio Bible Study, Twelve Women of the Bible, Lysa TerKuerst, Elisa Morgan, Jeanne Stevens, and others look at the spiritual lessons learned from 12 biblical women and their implications in life today.

On November 22, 1963, three great men died within a few hours of each other: C. S. Lewis, John F. Kennedy, and Aldous Huxley. All three believed, in different ways, that death is not the end of human life. Suppose they were right, and suppose they met after death. How might the conversation go? Peter Kreeft imagines their discussion as a part of The Great Conversation that has been going on for centuries. Does human life have meaning? Is it possible to know about life after death? What if one could prove that Jesus was God?

Many Christians are under the impression that God's grace and his favor are two different things - that while his grace may be a gift, his favor is something we must earn. This misunderstanding has led to destructive teachings about "prosperity" and blessings, and ultimately to lives that feel unfulfilled and inadequate. Pastor Greg Gilbert puts favor back in its rightful place, as God's gift through Jesus Christ. He shows how the favor that Jesus earned through his perfect life and sacrificial death becomes ours the moment we believe.