Bibles Books

Book SynopsisA reader on the 2,000-year-old debate about the meaning of the story of Adam and Eve.Trade Review[A] unique collection of texts on the theme of Adam and Eve from the perspective of gender relations.Ju;ly 2002 * Religious Studies Review *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsGeneral Introduction1. Hebrew Bible Accounts 2. Jewish Postbiblical Interpretations (200s BCE-200 CE)3. Rabbinic Interpretations (200-600s CE)4. Early Christian Interpretations (50-450 CE) New Testament (c. 50-150 CE) Extracanonical Sources Church Fathers5. Medieval Readings: Muslim, Jewish, and Christian (600-1500 CE) Islam The Qur'an (c. 610-632) Muslim Interpretations Judaism Midrashic Themes Christianity6. Interpretations from the Protestant Reformation (1517-1700 CE)7. Societal Applications in the United States (1800s CE) Antebellum Debates on Household Hierarchies Women Make the Case for Equality New Religious Movements on Gender Relations8. Twentieth Century Readings: The Debates Continue Hierarchical Interpretations Egalitarian InterpretationsAppendix: The Preadamite Theory and the Christian Identity Movement: Race and Genesis 1-3 at the Turn of the MillenniumIndex

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Book SynopsisExplores the religious beliefs and devotional practices of laypeople in medieval Europe and grapples with some of the most difficult issues in medieval history: the nature of popular devotion, the role of religion in civic life, religious attitudes and practices, and the relationship between the intersecting spheres of lay and clerical culture.Trade Review"The translation is on the whole elegant, capturing Vauchez's own luminous prose with considerable grace. . . . The Laity in the Middle Ages is an invaluable witness to the work of the scholar who has done so much to awaken us to complexities of the religious experience of the laity in the Middle Ages." -- The Catholic Historical Review

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Book SynopsisBoyle examines influential readings on the Bible as literature—notably Herder, Schleiermacher, Hegel and Levinas—and then applies them to literary writings.Trade Review"Written with lucidity, vigor, and authority, Nicholas Boyle's 'Catholic Approach' is genuinely and generously catholic in spirit. Taking literature to be the site of theology where sacred and secular meet, Boyle examines influential readings on the Bible as literature—notably Herder, Schleiermacher, Hegel and Levinas—and then applies to literary writings—from Pascal, Goethe, Melville, and Austen to Tolkien—critical principles derived from theology. Boyle's reassessments of these major works challenge Catholics and non-Catholics alike to rethink their assumptions about the Bible and literature." —Theodore Ziolkowski, Princeton University"I have read Nicholas Boyle's book with immense satisfaction and, I hope, much profit as a reader and teacher of literature. The first part of it is a conspectus of the relevant field, a survey —responsive, responsible, and critical—of the major figures. The issue is the reading of the Bible and the reading of secular literature in the shadow (or under the auspices) of the Bible. The major figures are Herder, Schliermacher, Hegel, Hans Frei, Paul Ricoeur, Hans-Georg Gadamer, and Emmanuel Levinas. Boyle's commentaries are judicious: he holds his own without brow-beating his subjects. In the second part of the book he offers readings of Pascal's Pensees, Goethe's Faust. Melville's Moby-Dick and The Encantadas, Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, Rupert Brooke's "The Soldier," Ian McEwan's Atonement, and J.R.R.Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. The readings are conducted under the beliefs that 'Jesus is what the Law means' and that literature is language freed of purpose and need. Boyle is an acute reader, persuasive but not insistent. The only question he leaves urbanely open is: to read as sensitively as this, does one need to be a Roman Catholic? Or is it enough to be, as Boyle is, remarkably intelligent and just? Boyle wants to keep the discussion going: he never bangs the door or tells agnostics to stay out." —Denis Donoghue, New York University"Nicholas Boyle, professor of German literary and intellectual history at Cambridge University, has written a remarkable book. . . Boyle's distinctive proposal is that the site of theology. . . is occupied by both sacred and secular scriptures. Thus his book explores, in a creative and stimulating way, both the distinction and overlap between these scriptures. In doing so he elaborates a Catholic hermeneutical approach to literature. . . fine study. . . ." —Worship"This is a slow read but worth the effort, full of insights." —Mennonite". . . this work. . . demonstrate[s] the finer things that literary criticism can achieve when it seeks something of the divine in a body of writing. . . ." —First Things"This book is a welcome contribution. . . ." —Choice"Nicholas Boyle, a professor of German language and literature at Cambridge University, may not be a familiar name in North American intellectual circles, but he should be. Sacred and Secular Scriptures is a hugely ambitious work, but it never comes across as strained or overreaching. [T]he rewards of reading the book as a whole are plentiful, and Boyle's exquisite prose style and habit of pausing occasionally to summarize make even the most clotted stretches of Germanic thought clear. As a storyteller he never lets the reader forget how much has been at stake, theologically and culturally, in the struggle to understand the meaning and authority of Scripture. . . . his own synthesis is masterful." —Commonweal

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Book SynopsisBenedict XVI's writing as priest-professor, bishop, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and now pope has shaped Catholic theological thought in the twentieth century. In Explorations in the Theology of Benedict XVI, a multidisciplinary group of scholars treat the full scope of Benedict's theological oeuvre, including the Augustinian context of his thought; his ecclesiology; his theologically grounded approach to biblical exegesis and Christology; his unfolding of a theology of history and culture; his liturgical and sacramental theology; his theological analysis of political and economic developments; his use of the natural law in ethics and conscience; his commitment to a form of interreligious dialogue from a place of particularity; and his function as a public, catechetical theologian.Trade Review"This collection of essays on the theology of Benedict XVI offers a new apologetics founded ‘not so much on the desire to outdo one’s opponent in dialectical victory but to allow the Love in which the original Word was spoken . . . to make its own case, its own apologia, in the hearts of those who hear.’ It is, in short, an excellent presentation of what Benedict XVI means when he says that ‘love and reason are the twin pillars of all reality.' The essays sympathetically uncover the pontiff’s theological foundation stones." —Tracey Rowland, John Paul II Institute, Melbourne, Australia"If you're looking for a synoptic view of Benedict XVI's theological achievement, this is by a long way the best thing on offer in English. Each of the essays provides a detailed engagement with a central theme in Benedict's theology, treated not merely in isolation but also in terms of its relations to the whole. The result is a profound depiction of the range, scope, and integrated nature of Benedict's theology. This is a volume that honors the thinker it treats by taking him seriously not only as pope, but also as a theologian." —Paul J. Griffiths, Duke Divinity School"This is quite simply the best exploration of Pope Benedict's theology available in English. Some of these essays dig deep into the younger Ratzinger's Augustinian soil and reveal to us the roots of Benedict's papal teaching. Others trace the lines of growth from those roots out to his striking papal encyclicals, and to the apologetics of love that grounds his vision of the Church's task. The fruitfulness of the collection is perhaps most evident in the way that the authors do not simply repeat, but think with and in the light of Benedict’s theology. Above all, this collection displays Benedict’s theology as a personal, living faith and a reasoned faith, as a theology of divine and human love that invites humanity into faith’s re-imagining of human existence." —Lewis Ayres, Durham University"Shunning simplistic varieties of both caricature and adulation, these essays provide an appreciative but rigorous engagement with the breadth and depth of Benedict’s theology. The result is not merely a collection of summaries of different texts and themes but rather a convincing portrait of the vitality, integrity, and fecundity of Benedict’s theological vision and its prophetic witness to the evangelical message of God’s unfathomable love." —Khaled Anatolios, Boston College School Of Theology and Ministry“In this collection the theology behind the writings of Benedict XVI is examined by a group of scholars from a variety of different backgrounds. They reflect on his Augustine thought context, his ecclesiology, his Christology, his liturgical and sacramental theology, and more.” —U.S. Catholic.org“Explorations in the Theology of Benedict XVI explores the religious writing of the depart[ed] pope, detailing his studies into scripture and the writings of the countless monks before him. . . . A core addition to any Catholic theological discussion, highly recommended.” —Library Bookwatch“This festchrift is crafted out of love, and stands as an excellent synthesis of Benedict’s thoughts concerning the power of Advent, love and truth, and God’s love for humanity. . . . It is highly recommended for advanced students of theology, and institutions with collections dedicated to Ecclesiology, Ecumenism, Moral Theology, and Papal History.” —Catholic Library World“Certainly achieving [the contributors'] goal to appreciate and ‘to honor [Benedict XVI], as theologians,’ the essays contained therein provide much fodder for theological background and discussion around key themes of Benedict XVI’s writings as pope, especially his encyclicals, and on his writing prior to his election as he engaged currents of cultural thought more directly.” —Journal for Peace and Justice Studies“This volume stems from a conference held at the University of Notre Dame to honor Pope Benedict XVI’s 85th birthday in April 2012. . . . Most readers will learn many things from this book, which examines so many facets of Joseph Ratzinger’s writings. . . . Readers of this journal will be especially interested in a text that Beretta cites to illustrate the divine gratuitousness that always precedes the gratuity of human work and gifts.” —Cistercian Studies Quarterly“This volume is a truly beautiful and deep look at the theological work of one of the Church’s greatest living theologians. [It] is thorough and reflects the breadth of its subject.” —The Thomist

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Book SynopsisBenedict XVI's writing as priest-professor, bishop, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and now pope has shaped Catholic theological thought in the twentieth century. In Explorations in the Theology of Benedict XVI, a multidisciplinary group of scholars treat the full scope of Benedict's theological oeuvre, including the Augustinian context of his thought; his ecclesiology; his theologically grounded approach to biblical exegesis and Christology; his unfolding of a theology of history and culture; his liturgical and sacramental theology; his theological analysis of political and economic developments; his use of the natural law in ethics and conscience; his commitment to a form of interreligious dialogue from a place of particularity; and his function as a public, catechetical theologian.Trade Review"This collection of essays on the theology of Benedict XVI offers a new apologetics founded ‘not so much on the desire to outdo one’s opponent in dialectical victory but to allow the Love in which the original Word was spoken . . . to make its own case, its own apologia, in the hearts of those who hear.’ It is, in short, an excellent presentation of what Benedict XVI means when he says that ‘love and reason are the twin pillars of all reality.' The essays sympathetically uncover the pontiff’s theological foundation stones." —Tracey Rowland, John Paul II Institute, Melbourne, Australia"If you're looking for a synoptic view of Benedict XVI's theological achievement, this is by a long way the best thing on offer in English. Each of the essays provides a detailed engagement with a central theme in Benedict's theology, treated not merely in isolation but also in terms of its relations to the whole. The result is a profound depiction of the range, scope, and integrated nature of Benedict's theology. This is a volume that honors the thinker it treats by taking him seriously not only as pope, but also as a theologian." —Paul J. Griffiths, Duke Divinity School"This is quite simply the best exploration of Pope Benedict's theology available in English. Some of these essays dig deep into the younger Ratzinger's Augustinian soil and reveal to us the roots of Benedict's papal teaching. Others trace the lines of growth from those roots out to his striking papal encyclicals, and to the apologetics of love that grounds his vision of the Church's task. The fruitfulness of the collection is perhaps most evident in the way that the authors do not simply repeat, but think with and in the light of Benedict’s theology. Above all, this collection displays Benedict’s theology as a personal, living faith and a reasoned faith, as a theology of divine and human love that invites humanity into faith’s re-imagining of human existence." —Lewis Ayres, Durham University"Shunning simplistic varieties of both caricature and adulation, these essays provide an appreciative but rigorous engagement with the breadth and depth of Benedict’s theology. The result is not merely a collection of summaries of different texts and themes but rather a convincing portrait of the vitality, integrity, and fecundity of Benedict’s theological vision and its prophetic witness to the evangelical message of God’s unfathomable love." —Khaled Anatolios, Boston College School Of Theology and Ministry“In this collection the theology behind the writings of Benedict XVI is examined by a group of scholars from a variety of different backgrounds. They reflect on his Augustine thought context, his ecclesiology, his Christology, his liturgical and sacramental theology, and more.” —U.S. Catholic.org“Explorations in the Theology of Benedict XVI explores the religious writing of the depart[ed] pope, detailing his studies into scripture and the writings of the countless monks before him. . . . A core addition to any Catholic theological discussion, highly recommended.” —Library Bookwatch“This festchrift is crafted out of love, and stands as an excellent synthesis of Benedict’s thoughts concerning the power of Advent, love and truth, and God’s love for humanity. . . . It is highly recommended for advanced students of theology, and institutions with collections dedicated to Ecclesiology, Ecumenism, Moral Theology, and Papal History.” —Catholic Library World“Certainly achieving [the contributors'] goal to appreciate and ‘to honor [Benedict XVI], as theologians,’ the essays contained therein provide much fodder for theological background and discussion around key themes of Benedict XVI’s writings as pope, especially his encyclicals, and on his writing prior to his election as he engaged currents of cultural thought more directly.” —Journal for Peace and Justice Studies“This volume stems from a conference held at the University of Notre Dame to honor Pope Benedict XVI’s 85th birthday in April 2012. . . . Most readers will learn many things from this book, which examines so many facets of Joseph Ratzinger’s writings. . . . Readers of this journal will be especially interested in a text that Beretta cites to illustrate the divine gratuitousness that always precedes the gratuity of human work and gifts.” —Cistercian Studies Quarterly“This volume is a truly beautiful and deep look at the theological work of one of the Church’s greatest living theologians. [It] is thorough and reflects the breadth of its subject.” —The Thomist

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Book SynopsisIn Whores of Babylon, Frances E. Dolan offers a perceptive study of the central role that Catholics and Catholicism played in early modern English law, literature, and politics. She contends that despite sharing the same blood, origins, and history as their Protestant antagonists, Catholics provoked more prolific and intemperate visual and verbal representation, and more elaborate and sustained legal regulation, than any other marginal group in seventeenth-century England. This careful and thorough study examines legal and literary representations of the Catholic menace during three crises in Protestant/Catholic relations, from the Gunpowder Plot (1605) to the Popish Plot and Meal Tub Plot (1678-80). It also offers the first sustained analysis of the extent to which gender issues informed both Catholicism and anti-Catholicism in the early modern period. Available for the first time in paperback, this book will appeal to scholars and students of early modern England, Catholic Trade Review“[Dolan] reveals a historical picture that theorizes the interaction between religion, politics, and gender. For scholars who study other religions and time periods, Dolan’s book usefully demonstrates how and why closely-related religious groups deploy gender to mark difference. For specialists in early modern Christianity, Whores of Babylon provides convincing arguments about why Catholic women and (even more surprisingly) the Catholic couple so fascinated pamphleteers, preachers, playwrights, and polemicists as they promoted a white, Protestant, masculine, English national identity.” —Journal of the American Academy of Religion“Whores of Babylon is essential reading for scholars working on the intersections of gender, religion, law, and nationalism in early modern England. Dolan’s scholarship combines meticulous historical research and textual analysis with a sophisticated grasp of theoretical and historiographical questions. Moreover, Dolan’s lucid prose makes her exemplary form of cultural criticism a pleasure to read.” —Sixteenth Century Journal“This is an excellent book, one that painstakingly yet engagingly illuminates the bifurcated social and discursive positions of Catholic women in early modern England.” —Albion“Whores of Babylon is not about religion, as the term has been understood by many scholars who study early modern Catholicism. Religion is not the main concern of this book; religion serves instead mainly to highlight and underline points made about some ways seventeenth-century Englishwomen were valued and employed, used and abused, in print.” —Archivum Historicum

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Book SynopsisRachel M. Billings offers a holistic reading of Joshua, which joins theological sophistication with an emphasis on its meaning and purpose as a literary work.Trade Review"In exceptionally clear and accessible language, Rachel Billings uncovers a rich and sophisticated vein of theological thinking in the book of Joshua that has eluded other scholars. Her book is learned, instructive, and often moving as well. I recommend it highly." —Jon D. Levenson, Albert A. List Professor of Jewish Studies, Harvard University"Rachel M. Billings reads the book of Joshua in a theologically complex manner that acknowledges the various literary tensions within the book to illuminate the larger theology of Joshua. This book makes an engaging contribution to the field of biblical studies in the area of biblical theology and the literary study of the Hebrew Bible." —Joel Kaminsky, Smith College"Rachel M. Billings rejects both historicist and ironic readings of the text. In her hands Joshua becomes instead a powerful statement of a theological ideal, an ideal that is self-critical as well as aspirational. Her reading represents one of the best examples I have seen of what can be called 'canonical' interpretation: a literarily sensitive reading of the received form of the text in relation to its canonical context, its historical 'depth dimension,' and its theological subject matter." —Stephen B. Chapman, Duke Divinity School“Rachel M. Billings’s impressively composed and focused book . . . is a valuable addition to the University of Notre Dame Press’s Reading the Scriptures series, as it offers a learned study of a significant yet understudied text from the Hebraic canon. . . . Billings makes a viable contribution to recent scholarship directed at unearthing the theological, political, and hermeneutical imports available in the Hebrew scripture.” —Comitatus“This welcome, well-written, and well-argued book reconciles various literary tensions within the Book of Joshua. It is a positive contribution to furthering knowledge of Biblical studies, Biblical theology, and the literary study of the Hebrew Bible . . . Billings’s keen interpretation awakens the reader to the mercy that is divinely given in the book.” —Catholic Library World

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Book SynopsisAndrews analyzes Augustine's De Doctrina Christiana and places it into dialogue with contemporary theological hermeneutics.Trade Review“This volume takes the form of a dialogue between Augustine and contemporary theology, with particular attention to Augustine’s theoretical hermeneutics as found in De Doctrina Cristiana, which is his theoretical reflection on the practice of interpretation.” —New Testament Abstracts"Augustine's De doctrina christiana is the supreme classic of Christian theological hermeneutics, far surpassing competitors such as Origen and Schleiermacher in its scope and significance. James Andrews ably shows how contemporary hermeneutical discussion can provide a new context for Augustine's distinctive voice and, conversely, how our current understanding and practice of scriptural interpretation can be enriched by returning to the patristic sources of the interpretive tradition." —Francis Watson, Durham University"Hermeneutics and the Church: In Dialogue with Augustine contributes both to Augustine studies and to the emerging interdisciplinary discussion about theological interpretation of scripture. Andrews makes a convincing case that Augustine is working with an expanded, a posteriori theological hermeneutics that aims at both understanding and communication, respects authorial meaning, and guides readers to growth in faith and love." —Kevin Vanhoozer, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School“This is a very fine book. . . . The last few pages, in which Augustine locates Scripture in the context of the Eucharistic liturgy, are among the most powerful treatments of ‘theological interpretation’ of which I am aware.” —Theology“Not only does [Andrews] join scholars across centuries and disciplines, he respects the concerns of both the academy and the church. Rather than perpetuating the antagonism that has grown up between academicians and practitioners, he places them in a way that they can engage together as iron sharpening iron.” —Comitatus"Hermeneutics and the Church is a work of wide learning and keen theological intelligence, moving easily between the history of early Christian thought, contemporary hermeneutics, and theological construction. Elegantly argued and full of well-observed detail, it will be read with profit by historians, exegetes, and theologians alike." —John Webster, King's College"This book is a creative piece of work. James A. Andrews establishes the sermon as the essential paradigm with which to read and better grasp Augustine’s hermeneutical approach, which oscillates between understanding a text and delivering what one has understood. This book will prove fruitful for a modern appropriation of Augustine’s powerful hermeneutical ideas, which continue to have considerable impact in theology and other disciplines." —Karla Pollmann, University of St. Andrews

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Book SynopsisA Lent lectionary resource using Tom Wright's For Everyone Bible translation, this is the second in a three-volume series to cover the three years of the Revised Common Lectionary. For each day of Lent, there is a reading chosen from the Gospel designated for the year, plus a reflection by Tom Wright.

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Book SynopsisAn introduction to the Bible, requiring no previous knowledge and written to be easily accessible.Trade ReviewA wonderful book, full of wisdom and wit, that will really help you discover the impact the Bible can have on our your life * Mark Russell, CEO, Church Army *Thoroughly original and inspiring * The Right Reverend James Jones KBE *

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Book SynopsisReading the King James Bible alongside Tyndale's Bible, the Geneva Bible, and the original Hebrew and Greek texts, the author highlights how the translators and editors improved upon - or, in some cases, diminished - the earlier versions.Trade Review"'A product of decades of thought, this is an old man's book - wise while verging on the sentimental, pared down yet also self-indulgent, sometimes belligerent or desperate - whose overarching message should resonate nevertheless with readers of all generations.' (Jackie Wullschlager, Financial Times) 'The book is invigorated by a passion. Bloom is evangelical on the genius of the King James Bible. He is excellent on the contribution of William Tyndale, "the authentic genius of English Bible Translation". He can be brilliantly perceptive on the "erotic magnetism" of Esther or flawed heroism of David. His brisk run through the prophets is fun and often convincing. "Jonah is a sulking, unwilling prophet, cowardly and petulant", he writes. "Elijah and Elisha are savage, Jeremiah is a bipolar depressive, Ezekiel a madman.'" (Hugh MacDonald, Sunday Herald (Scotland)"

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Book SynopsisThe vividness and beauty of the language emerge in a fresh way... with evocative simplicity.Robert AlterTrade Review"...fascinating new volume..." -- Herald Scotland

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Book SynopsisThe Bible is full of ancient texts long predating the assembly of Judaism’s and Christianity’s sacred books. Why these texts, and how were they transformed on the journey from folk tale to holy writ? Konrad Schmid and Jens Schröter unearth the history, in the process overturning assumptions about the relationship between the Old and New Testaments.Trade ReviewA landmark…This is a rich book treating the historical traditions that lie within the texts, the oral traditions that transmitted them down the generations, the processes by which texts were formed and collected within scribal culture, and the way in which this gradually led to the formation of various canons…If you have time to read only one book on the Bible this year, make sure that it is this one. -- Katherine J. Dell * Church Times *Excellent…With a sure touch, the authors lead the reader through the geopolitical context of the Hebrew Bible and the setting and background of the New Testament, finding something to say about practically every book’s origins and development…The Bible is not a fixed entity, clearly delineated from all other writings, even though our culture tends to see it so. -- John Barton * The Tablet *Outlines how different forms of the Bible came into being. Their focus is historical and philological rather than theological or literary. Yet the story they tell is engrossing: that of an unstable world needing to attend to the values of God’s kingdom. They help a non-specialist reader appreciate the fascinating diversity of ways in which the Bible’s message was regularly reinterpreted in a changing political situation…Together, Schmid and Schröter…show that the history of the Bible is much less fixed than has been imagined. -- Constant J. Mews * Australian Book Review *A richly detailed resource…packed with interesting information about the Bible and its use in the Jewish and Christian traditions. * Choice *The Making of the Bible is an impressive and up-to-date account of its subject matter, simultaneously comprehensive…and concise… The prose is accessible to non-specialists. And while biblical scholars will already know much on offer here, even they will be surprised by the occasional fact or theory. The book will be most useful as an introductory textbook in masters-level classes and as an entrée to the topic for outsiders to the guild. The sheer amount of information packed between the covers is an achievement in itself. -- Brad East * Interpretation *A remarkable deep dive into foundational books whose origins are often taken for granted. * Publishers Weekly *With this exemplary account of both origins and canonization, Schmid and Schröter have given us a superb book on how the Bible came into being. The Making of the Bible is invaluable for anyone interested in Scripture and in the intertwined histories of Judaism and Christianity. -- John Barton, author of A History of the Bible: The Book and Its FaithsThe Making of the Bible will be a go-to for me. It does for the history of the Bible what I’ve sought to do for the Bible’s languages: to make this book real. -- Sarah Ruden, author of The Gospels: A New TranslationAn erudite history of ‘How We Got the Bible’ that addresses the key issues—historical backgrounds, oral traditions, ancient manuscripts, canon formation, and the books that were left out. Schmid and Schröter are expert guides along these rocky paths for all readers interested in the New Testament and the Hebrew Bible. -- Bart Ehrman, author of Heaven and Hell: A History of the AfterlifeThis impressive book tells the story of how the Bible was made. In the process of that telling, the authors unearth a second story of equal significance: how these different Bibles formed us, creating a world shaped by sacred scripture. Today, we're grappling with the consequences of both stories, which makes this book an essential guide for the future. -- Martin Puchner, author of The Written World: The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, and CivilizationThis comprehensive book on the Bible—the Hebrew Bible as well as the New Testament—by two world-renowned theologians is for students and teachers alike. It will be read with pleasure and benefit by everyone interested in the most important document of Western civilization. -- Thomas Römer, author of The Invention of God

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Book SynopsisJews, Christians, and Muslims believe that their Scriptures preserve God's words to humanity, and that those words were spoken uniquely to them. This book gives insights into their origins, contents, canonization, and the important roles they have played in the lives of their communities. It explores how they evolved from oral to written texts.Trade ReviewWinner of the 2007 Best Professional/Scholarly Book in Theology and Religious Studies, Association of American Publishers "This is undoubtedly one of the best single volumes on the history of sacred text in the Abrahamic faiths."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Many readers will appreciate this probing interfaith investigation for the insight it offers into sacred books that both link and divide the world of faith."--Booklist "In today's culture of interfaith outreach, this book, agreeably approachable, offers insights into the parallel and intersecting paths the sacred books of the three great Abrahamic religions followed."--Suzi Brozman, Atlanta Jewish Times "Highly readable...The Voice, the Word, the Books, with its lavish illustrations and adequate index, will prove very valuable for those teaching an introduction to the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, or the Koran."--Patrick J. Ryan, The American "Readers who have some knowledge of biblical history and scholarship will already be familiar with much of the territory Peters surveys. But here that familiar territory borders on a detailed discussion of the Qur'an, and the frontier between these two traditions makes for an illuminating and often surprising adventure of ideas...The depth of the author's scholarship is...evident on every page."--Lawrence S. Cunningham, Commonweal "The open critique, dialogue and reworking of a tradition, which has been essential to the relevance of Judaism and Christianity to the modern world, awaits its day in Islam. In Peters' work you will find clues as to how big that task will be."--Rachael Kohn, Australian Review of Public Affairs "F. E. Peters offers here a remarkably well-informed, thoughtfully conceived, and elegantly written comparative... The scholarship is, in my opinion, an example of the comparative study of religion at its finest. The author's argument is grounded in first-hand, extensive knowledge of each tradition he handles, nourished by wide and incisive readings of secondary scholarly studies, and shaped overall by a clearly envisioned comparative... In my opinion, Peters has not only delivered fully on this promise to mark the histories of the Abrahamic scriptural traditions as a passage from spoken word to text and back to spoken utterance, but also presented the field of religious studies with a model for comparative studies beyond the Abrahamic traditions as well."--Martin S. Jaffee, Journal of the American Academy of Religion "In these days it is especially a pleasure to encounter a gentle, intelligent work, written for the educated general public, that promotes understanding, even empathy, for the other. Peters ... offers new information and insights for practitioners of these faiths as well as for the inquiring and the curious."--Robert W. Lebling, Saudi Aramco World "Peters has made an important contribution to the comparative study of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam."--Barry Dov Walfish, Journal of ReligionTable of ContentsIntroduction. The Voice from Sinai 1 Chapter 1: Sacred Words, Sacred Book 5 "Thus Spake Yahweh": What Is the Bible? 7 "Then the Lord Said": What Is the New Testament? 17 "Recite! in the Name of God": What Is the Quran? 28 Chapter 2: Book Shaping: The Making of a Canon 38 From Biblia to Book: The Making of the Bible 41 The Making of a "New" Testament 51 The "Old" and the "New" in the Covenant 61 The Collection of the Quran 67 Chapter 3: Reciters, Rhapsodes, and Scribes: How the Bible Reached Us 80 The Matter of Authorship 81 The Higher Criticism of the Bible 83 Composing and Performing 85 The Scribes 87 From Recitation to Writing 88 Authors behind the Authors 90 Enter J, E, and Company 92 The Writing Begins 94 Jeremiah 95 Who "Wrote" the Books? 96 Writing in Scripture 98 The Levites 100 The Masoretes 101 Chapter 4: The Reporters: The Good News and How We Got It 105 Jesus: The Setting 105 The Gospels 106 Extracting Q 107 Dating the Gospels 108 John 109 The Gospels as Documents 109 From Aramaic to Greek 110 New Approaches 111 Community Authorship 113 Paul and the Rest 114 The Apocryphal Gospels 115 Thomas and His Twin 117 Chapter 5: The Poet in Performance: The Composition of the Quran 120 The Revelations 120 Biography and the Quran 122 Approaching the Quran 126 The Cultural Environment 127 Writing and the Quran 128 Writing in Arabia 130 Oral Poetry and the Quran 132 Muhammad, Poet and Performer 133 The Bible in the Quran 135 The Mantic Seer 137 The Oral Performance 139 A Change in Style 140 The Writing Down of the Quran 141 Other Possibilities 143 Uthman or Later? 147 In Sum 150 Chapter 6: The Book in Mortal Hands 152 The Word Made Flesh: Books and Bookmaking in the Ancient World 152 Scrolls and Books 153 Searching the Scriptures 155 From Notebooks to Books 157 The Christians Adopt the Codex 159 Toward a Standard Edition? 160 The Shape of the Page: Chapter and Verse 164 Dividing the Text 164 Marking the Text 167 Suras and Ayas 169 The Sacramental Text 172 Sefer Torah: Torahs and Their Arks 174 Washing Their Hands of the Christians 180 A Matter of Etiquette: The Book in Our Hands 182 Chapter 7: In Other Words 189 The Loss of God's Tongue 190 Targums and Methurgemans 192 Scripture for the Hellenized: The Septuagint 195 Origen: Multitasking the Bible 198 From Old Latin to the Vulgate 200 Hebraica Veritas and the Latin West 203 The Polyglot 208 Enter the Humanists 210 Translating the Untranslatable Quran 214 Chapter 8: Picturing the Word 219 The Rabbis and the Second Commandment 219 Adorning and Illustrating the Hebrew Bible 223 Christian Images 228 Icons and Iconoclasm 229 The Bible with Pictures 233 Printing with Pictures 238 The Reformation and Images 240 The Word Unpictured: Islam and Images 242 Drawing in the Book 243 Chapter 9: Giving Voice to the Word 247 Talking Back to God 248 Reading through the Torah 249 The Scripture in Church 251 Praying the Quran 256 The Scripture as Libretto 258 The Cantorial Scripture 259 The Divine Office 260 The Art of Qira 263 Epilogue. Three Books, Side by Side 271 Glossary 277 List of Illustrations 281 Index 283

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Book SynopsisThe life and times of a uniquely American testamentIn his retirement, Thomas Jefferson edited the New Testament with a penknife and glue, removing all mention of miracles and other supernatural events. Inspired by the ideals of the Enlightenment, Jefferson hoped to reconcile Christian tradition with reason by presenting Jesus of Nazareth as a gTrade Review"Peter Manseau’s fluent and instructive The Jefferson Bible: A Biography . . . carefully traces Jefferson’s pilgrimage into the non-miraculous."---James Parker, The Atlantic"Peter Manseau knows the Jefferson Bible well. . . . His outstanding biography of the text . . . pays careful attention to its status as private project, published book and political symbol."---Crawford Gribben, Wall Street Journal"Manseau’s story [recounts] a thrilling mixture of accident, fine timing, and diligent public-museum curation."---Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker"[A] fine ‘biography,’ the latest in Princeton University Press’s excellent series on the Lives of Great Religious Books. "---Nick Spencer, Prospect"Manseau's biography is scholarly and witty. It is an excellent introduction to an underappreciated aspect of Jefferson's thinking."---Daniel Rey, History Today"Excellent. . . . As Manseau observes, the ways in which Americans have received the Jefferson Bible may be more interesting than the ways by which Jefferson conceived it."---John Miller, Angelus"An illuminating look at a work of one of our most intellectually inquisitive presidents that will appeal to Jefferson aficionados, as well as anyone interested in the history of American religion." * Library Journal *"[F]ascinating. ... Manseau’s accounting of the post-discovery history of Jefferson’s [Bible] is well told." * The Journal of Southern History *

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Book SynopsisThis comprehensive study interprets Paradise Lost as a rhetoric of literary forms, by attending to the broad spectrum of literary genres, modes, and exemplary works Milton incorporates within that poem. Originally published in 1985. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-pTable of Contents*FrontMatter, pg. i*Contents, pg. vii*Preface, pg. ix*Abbreviations, pg. xi*Chapter 1. Paradise Lost As Encyclopedic Epic: The Uses Of Literary Forms, pg. 1*Chapter 2. Inspiration and Literary Art: The Prophet-Poets of Paradise Lost, pg. 25*Chapter 3. "Argument Heroic Deem'd": The Genres of the Satanic Heroic Mode, pg. 55*Chapter 4. "Semblance of Worth, not Substance": The Discursive and Lyric Genres of the Damned, pg. 79*Chapter 5. "Other Excellence": Generic Multiplicity and Milton's Literary God, pg. 110*Chapter 6. "Our Happy State": Literary Forms for Angelic Wholeness, pg. 140*Chapter 7. "A Happy Rural Seat of Various View": Pastoral Idyl and the Genres of Edenic Innocence, pg. 173*Chapter 8. "Our Pleasant Labor": Georgic and Comedic Modes and Genres in Eden, pg. 196*Chapter 9. "I Now Must Change Those Notes to Tragic": The Fall and the Tragic Genres, pg. 220*Chapter 10. "Not Less but More Heroic": Prophecy and the Transformation of Literary Forms, pg. 254*Notes, pg. 281*Index, pg. 361

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Book SynopsisNearly 250 favourite stories presented with background information in words and pictures. Ideal for new and young Christians.Table of ContentsPreface ixTHE OLD TESTAMENTJoseph’s Family Movesto EgyptGenesis 45:16–47:31 46Hebrews Become SlavesExodus 1 47Moses Is BornExodus 2:1–10 48Moses Kills an Egyptianand Flees to MidianExodus 2:11–25 50The Burning BushExodus 3:1–4:17 52The PlaguesExodus 4:18–10:29 54The PassoverExodus 11:1–12:50 56The ExodusExodus 12:51–13:16 58Crossing the Red SeaExodus 13:17–22; 14 60Food in the WildernessExodus 15–16; 17:1–7 62The Ten CommandmentsExodus 20 64The Golden CalfExodus 32 66The TabernacleExodus 35–36; 39:1–31;Leviticus 1–9 68Twelve SpiesNumbers 13–14 70The Bronze SerpentNumbers 21:4–9 72Crossing the JordanJoshua 3–4 74Jericho CapturedJoshua 6 76Achan’s Sin and theConquest of AiJoshua 7–8 78The Sun and Moon StandStill at AijalonJoshua 10:1–28 80Gideon’s Call and TestsJudges 6 82Gideon’s 300Judges 7 84The Birth of SamsonJudges 13 86Samson the PrisonerJudges 16:1–31 88The Story of RuthThe Book of Ruth 90The Birth of Samuel1 Samuel 1:1–20 92God Speaks to Samuel1 Samuel 1:21–2:11; 3 94The Ark Is Captured1 Samuel 4:1–5:12 96The Return of the Ark1 Samuel 6:1–7:2 97Saul Is Made King1 Samuel 8–10 98Saul Sacrifices Wrongly1 Samuel 13 99Samuel Anoints David1 Samuel 16:1–13 100David Plays for Saul1 Samuel 16:14–23 102David and Goliath1 Samuel 17 104David and Jonathan1 Samuel 18:1–4 106Saul Tries to Kill David1 Samuel 18–19 107Jonathan Warns David1 Samuel 20 108David Runs From Saul1 Samuel 21–22 109Abigail Shares Her Food1 Samuel 25 110David Spares Saul1 Samuel 26 111The Witch of Endor1 Samuel 28 112Saul Dies1 Samuel 31 113David Becomes King of Judah2 Samuel 2:1–11 114David Captures Jerusalem2 Samuel 5:1–16;1 Chronicles 11:1–9 116ContentsCreationGenesis 1–2 2The FallGenesis 3 4Cain and AbelGenesis 4 6Noah Builds the ArkGenesis 6–8 8The Tower of BabelGenesis 11:1–9 10Abraham’s JourneysGenesis 11:27–12:20 12Abraham and LotGenesis 13:1–13; 14 14God’s Covenant with AbrahamGenesis 17 15Abraham Entertains AngelsGenesis 18 16The Destruction of SodomGenesis 19 18Isaac Is BornGenesis 21:1–7 20Hagar and Ishmael AreSent AwayGenesis 21:8–21 22Abraham Offers IsaacGenesis 22 24A Bride for IsaacGenesis 24 26Esau Sells His BirthrightGenesis 25:29–34 28Jacob Deceives IsaacGenesis 27:1–40 30Jacob’s LadderGenesis 27:41–28:22 32Jacob Meets RachelGenesis 29:1–30 34Joseph’s CloakGenesis 37:1–11 36Joseph Is Sold as a SlaveGenesis 37:12–36 38Joseph in Potiphar’s HouseGenesis 39–40 40Joseph Becomes GovernorGenesis 41 42Joseph’s Brothers Buy GrainGenesis 42–44; 45:1–15 44The Ark Is Moved2 Samuel 6; 1 Chronicles13; 15:1–16:3 118David and Bathsheba2 Samuel 11–12 120Absalom Rebels2 Samuel 15–18 122Araunah’s Threshing Floor2 Samuel 24 124Solomon Builds the Temple1 Kings 5–8;2 Chronicles 2–7 126Solomon’s Glory1 Kings l0; 2 Chronicles8:17–9:28 128Solomon Turns from God1 Kings 11;2 Chronicles 9:29–30 129The Kingdom Divides1 Kings 12:1–24;14:21–31; 15:6–8;2 Chronicles 10–11 130Ravens Feed Elijah1 Kings 17:1–7 132The Widow of Zarephath1 Kings 17:8–16 134Elijah and the Prophets of Baal1 Kings 18 136Elijah and the Still, Small Voice1 Kings l9:1–18 138Elijah’s Mantle to Elisha1 Kings 19:19–21 139Naboth’s Vineyard1 Kings 21 140Elijah Is Taken in a Whirlwind2 Kings 2 142Elisha Raises theShunammite Boy2 Kings 4 :8–37 144Naaman Is Healed2 Kings 5:1–19 146Elisha’s Greedy Servant2 Kings 5:20–27 148Elisha and the Syrians2 Kings 6:8–23 150Jehu Overthrows Jezebeland Destroys Baal2 Kings 9–10 152The Story of JonahThe Book of Jonah 154The Story of IsaiahThe Book of Isaiah 156Israel Taken Into Captivity2 Kings 17 158Sennacherib Goes againstHezekiah2 Kings 18 160Josiah Repairs the Temple –The Book of the Law Found2 Kings 22:1–23:30;2 Chronicles 34–35 162The Story of JeremiahThe Book of Jeremiah 164Judah Falls, Jerusalem IsDestroyed and ZedekiahIs Blinded2 Kings 24–25;2 Chronicles 36:5–21 166Daniel and the King’s FoodDaniel 1 168The Fiery FurnaceDaniel 3 169The Handwriting on the WallDaniel 5–6 170The Story of Queen EstherThe Book of Esther 172Ezra and the People ReturnThe Book of Ezra 174Nehemiah Prays for HisHomelandNehemiah 1 176Nehemiah BuildsJerusalem’s WallsNehemiah 4–7 178Ezra Reads the LawNehemiah 8–10 180The Story of JobThe Book of Job 182The Prophets and theComing KingVarious prophecy books 184THE NEW TESTAMENTJohn’s Birth AnnouncedLuke 1:5–25 186Jesus’ Birth AnnouncedLuke 1:26–38 188Mary Visits ElizabethLuke 1:38–56 190John the Baptist Is BornLuke 1:57–80 192Jesus Is BornLuke 2:1–7 194Shepherds Worship JesusLuke 2:8–20 196Simeon and Anna Honour JesusLuke 2:21–38 198Wise Men See a StarMatthew 2:1–8 199Wise Men Visit JesusMatthew 2:9–12 201The Flight to EgyptMatthew 2:13–18 202The Return to NazarethMatthew 2:19–23;Luke 2:39 204The Carpenter’s ShopLuke 2:40; Matthew 13:55;Mark 6:3 205Jesus and the TeachersLuke 2:41–52 206John Preaches in the WildernessMatthew 3:1–12; Mark 1:1–8;Luke 3:1–18 207Jesus Is BaptizedMatthew 3:13–17; Mark1:9–11; Luke 3:21–23 208Jesus Is TemptedMatthew 4:1–11 209The Wedding at CanaJohn 2:1–11 210Jesus Cleanses the TempleJohn 2:13–22 212NicodemusJohn 2:23–3:21 214The Woman at the WellJohn 4:1–42 215The Nobleman’s Son Is HealedJohn 4:46–54 216Jesus at the SynagogueLuke 4:16–31 218The Miracle of FishLuke 5:1–11 219Jesus Calls Four DisciplesMatthew 4:18–22; Mark1:16–20 220At the Capernaum SynagogueMark 1:21–28;Luke 4:31–37 222Jesus Heals Peter’s Mother–in–LawMatthew 8:14–17; Mark1:29–34; Luke 4:38–41 224A Healing Tour of GalileeMatthew 4:23–25; Mark1:35–39; Luke 4:42–44 226Through the Roof to JesusMatthew 9:1–8; Mark 2:1–12;Luke 5:17–26 227Jesus Calls MatthewMatthew 9:9; Mark 2:13–14;Luke 5:27–28 228A Dinner at Matthew’s HouseMatthew 9:10–13; Mark2:15–17; Luke 5:29–32 230Wineskins and PatchedGarmentsMatthew 9:14–17; Mark2:18–22; Luke 5:33–39 231At the Pool of BethesdaJohn 5:1–47 232Sabbath in a Wheat FieldMatthew 12:1–8; Mark2:23–28; Luke 6:1–5 233The Withered HandMatthew 12:9–14; Mark 3:1–6;Luke 6:6–11 234Teaching by the SeaMatthew 12:15–21;Mark 3:7–12 235Choosing the TwelveMark 3:13–19;Luke 6:12–16 236The Sermon on the MountMatthew 5:1–8:1;Luke 6:17–49 238A Centurion’s ServantMatthew 8:5–13;Luke 7:1–10 240The Widow of NainLuke 7:11–17 241The Sower and Other ParablesMatthew 13:1–52; Mark4:1–34; Luke 8:4–18 242Jesus Stills a StormMatthew 8:18, 23–27; Mark4:35–41; Luke 8:22–25 243Jesus Heals a Man with DemonsMatthew 8:28–34; Mark5:1–20; Luke 8:26–39 244The Fringe of His GarmentMatthew 9:20–22; Mark5:25–34, Luke 8:43–48 245Jairus’ DaughterMatthew 9:18–19, 23–26;Mark 5:21–24, 35–43;Luke 8:40–42, 49–56 246Two by TwoMatthew 9:35–11:1; Mark6:6–13; Luke 9:1–6 248John Is BeheadedMatthew 14:1–12; Mark6:14–29; Luke 3:19–20,9:7–9 250Jesus Feeds 5,000Matthew 14:13–21; Mark6:30–44; Luke 9:10–17;John 6:1–13 252Jesus Walks on the SeaMatthew 14:24–33; Mark6:47–52; John 6:16–21 253Healing at GennesaretMatthew 14:34–36;Mark 6:53–56 254The Syro-Phoenician WomanMatthew 15:21–28;Mark 7:24–30 255Jesus Heals a Deaf andDumb ManMatthew 15:29–31;Mark 7:31–37 256Jesus Heals at BethsaidaMatthew 16:5–12; Mark8:13–26 257A Visit to Caesarea PhilippiMatthew 16:13–20; Mark8:27–30; Luke 9:18–21 258The TransfigurationMatthew 17:1–8; Mark 9:2–8;Luke 9:28–36 260A Fish with Tax MoneyMatthew 17:24–27 262Who Is Greatest?Matthew 18:1–6; Mark9:33–37; Luke 9:46–48 264The Two DebtorsMatthew 18:15–35 265The Pool of SiloamJohn 9:1–41 266The Good ShepherdJohn 10:1–21 268The Good SamaritanLuke 10:25–37 270Mary and MarthaLuke 10:38–42 271Tears for JerusalemLuke 13:31–35 272The Lost SheepLuke 15:1–7 274The Lost CoinLuke 15:8–10 275The Prodigal SonLuke 15:11–32 276The Rich Man and LazarusLuke 16:19–31 277Jesus Raises LazarusJohn 11:1–44 278Ten LepersLuke 17:11–19 280A Pharisee and a PublicanLuke 18:9–14 281Jesus and the ChildrenMatthew 19:13–15; Mark10:13–16; Luke 18:15–17 282The Rich Young RulerMatthew 19:16–30; Mark10:17–31; Luke 18:18–30 283The Labourers in the VineyardMatthew 20:1–16 284Blind BartimaeusMatthew 20:29–34; Mark10:46–52; Luke 18:35–43 286Zaccheus and the Parableof the Three ServantsLuke 19:1–27 288Jesus’ Triumphal Entryinto JerusalemMatthew 21:1–9; Mark11:1–10; Luke 19:29–44; John12:12–19 289Jesus at the TempleMatthew 21:10–17; Mark11:11–19; Luke 19:45–48 290Give to CaesarMatthew 22:15–22; Mark12:13–17; Luke 20:20–26 292The Widow’s MiteMark 12:41–44;Luke 21:1–4 293Figs, Lamps, and SheepMatthew 24:32–25:46; Mark13:28–37; Luke 21:29–36 294Mary Anoints Jesus’ FeetMatthew 26:6–13; Mark14:3–9; John 12:2–11 296Thirty Pieces of SilverMatthew 26:14–16; Mark14:10–11; Luke 22:3–6 298The Last SupperMatthew 26:17–29; Mark14:12–25; Luke 22:7–20, 24–30;John 13:1–20 300GethsemaneMatthew 26:36–56; Mark14:32–52; Luke 22:39–53; John18:2–12 304Jesus on TrialMatthew 26:57–68; Mark14:53–65; Luke 22:54, 63–65;John 18:12–14, 19–24 306Peter Denies JesusMatthew 26:58, 69–75;Mark 14:54, 66–72; Luke 22:54–62; John 18:15–18, 25–27 308Judas Hangs HimselfMatthew 27:3–10; Acts1:18–19 309Jesus Is Sent to PilateMatthew 27:2, 11–14; Mark15:1–5; Luke 23:1–5; John18:28–38 310Jesus is Sentenced to DeathMatthew 27:15–30; Mark15:6–19; Luke 23:6–25; John18:39–19:5 312The Way of the CrossMatthew 27:31–34; Mark15:20–23; Luke 23:26–33; John19:16–17 314The Day Jesus DiedMatthew 27:27–56; Mark15:16–41; Luke 23:26–49; John19:14–30 316Women Visit Jesus’ TombMatthew 27:57–68; Mark15:42–16:8; Luke 23:50–24:3;John 19:31–20:8 318Peter and John VisitJesus’ TombLuke 24:11–12;John 20:2–10 320Mary MagdaleneMark 16:9–11;John 20:11–18 321The Road to EmmausMark 16:12–13;Luke 24:13–35 322Doubting ThomasMark 16:14; Luke 24:36–43;John 20:19–31 324The Miracle of FishJohn 21 326Jesus Ascends into HeavenMark 16:19–20; Luke 24:50–53;Acts 1:9–12 328PentecostActs 2 330Peter and John Heala Lame ManActs 3 332Peter and John beforethe CouncilActs 4:1–31 333The BelieversActs 4:32–5:16 334The Seven DeaconsActs 6:1–7 336Stephen Is KilledActs 6:8–7:60 338Philip and the EthiopianActs 8:26–40 339Saul Becomes PaulActs 9:1–22 340Saul EscapesActs 9:23–31 342DorcasActs 9:36–42 343CorneliusActs 9:43–10:48 344Christians at AntiochActs 11 346Peter in PrisonActs 12:1–23 348Paul’s First Missionary JourneyActs 13:1–3 350Paul’s Journey BeginsActs 13:4–52 352Mistaken for GodsActs 14 354Paul’s Second MissionaryJourneyActs 15:36–41 356The Macedonian CallActs 16:1–10 358Timothy’s Family and HomeActs 16:1–4; 2 Timothy 1:5 360Lydia Becomes a BelieverActs 16:11–15 362The Philippian PrisonActs 16:16–40 364Paul at ThessalonicaActs 17:1–9 366The Bereans Accept PaulActs 17:10–14 367Paul at Mars HillActs 17:16–34 368Paul at CorinthActs 18:1–4 370Gallio Judges Paul at CorinthActs 18:5–17 372Books of Evil Are BurnedActs 19:17–20 374Diana of the EphesiansActs 19:23–41 376EutychusActs 20:6–12 378Paul Is ArrestedActs 21:17–23:35 380Paul Before Felix and FestusActs 24:1–25:12 382Paul Before King AgrippaActs 25:13–26:32 383Paul’s Journey Toward RomeActs 27:1–8 384Paul’s ShipwreckActs 27:27–28:10 386Paul at RomeActs 28:11–31 388PhilemonThe Book of Philemon 390The Seven ChurchesThe Book of Revelation 392Index

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Book SynopsisIn the fourth study in the Victory Series, bestselling author Neil Anderson shows you how to live under grace with a renewed mind, and how to overcome anger, depression, and loss.

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Book SynopsisIn this book, pastor Eric J. Bargerhuff sheds light on 14 familiar stories that even well-intentioned Christians often misunderstand, including David and Goliath, Jonah and the Big Fish, and more. Discover the original meaning and context of each story--and its purpose for us today.

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Book SynopsisIf you're like most small-group leaders, you often feel overwhelmed trying to find study material. In this helpful guide, Ryan Lokkesmoe gives ice-breaker questions, key Scripture passages, discussion questions, and a guide for leading prayer time so you and your group can draw nearer to God and each other while you enhance your study of the Word.

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Book SynopsisThe Bible Passages You''ve Always Wondered about--ExplainedWhat should we make of the Bible story about a talking donkey? What about the passage in Joshua where the sun and moon stood still? Should biblical practices like women wearing head coverings still be followed today? The Bible serves as the foundation for all of Christian life, crossing time and transcending cultures, yet many passages are perplexing. Providing fascinating historical and scriptural insights, Eric J. Bargerhuff demystifies forty Bible verses and stories. Ranging from strange accounts, such as bears mauling forty-two boys (2 Kings 2), to hard-to-accept statements, such as Jesus saying we must hate our families in order to be his disciples (Luke 14), you will learn the context of each passage and how it applies to us today. Other fascinating accounts include· The Finger on the Wall· 'Lead Us Not into Temptation'· Jeremiah''s Linen Underwear

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisAccessible study of end-time theories presents a persuasive case for amillennialism, the view that Christ reigns now and forever. This expanded edition includes a foreword from Michael Horton, indexes, and end times charts.

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Book SynopsisTwo respected New Testament scholars expose theological meaning in James and Jude by tracing the use of rhetorical strategies from the ancient cultural and educational context.Table of ContentsContentsForewordJamesPreface to JamesIntroduction to JamesJames 1:1--Address/SalutationJames 1:2-27--Epitome of the Exhortation of JamesJames 2:1-13--Warning against PartialityJames 2:14-26--Faith and WorksJames 3:1-12--The TongueJames 3:13-4:10--God and the WorldJames 4:11-5:6--Admonitions and WarningsJames 5:7-20--Concluding Pastoral AdviceJudePreface to JudeIntroduction to JudeJude 1-4--The Letter OpeningJude 5-10--The Intruders' Behavior Illumined from HistoryJude 11-15--The Intruders' Behavior Illumined from History, Nature, and ProphecyJude16-25--Exhortations and ConclusionIndexes

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Book SynopsisA respected New Testament scholar provides students and pastors with expert guidance on choosing a commentary for any book of the New Testament.

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Book Synopsis'In an evaluation of the Scriptures as the Word of God, inspiration is an essential element. The long Protestant experience with this issue is both fruitful and painful, for many have drawn false conclusions from the justified belief in inspiration. Paul Achtemeier is a first-rate scholar who combines scientific investigation with faith, and his sensitivity and honesty make this a most useful book for all interested in the Bible. . . . A better practical book on the subject would be hard to find.'--Raymond E. Brown, former Auburn Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Union Theological Seminary, New York'If Achtemeier''s book reaches that large body of Christians looking for a nonfundamentalistic doctrine of Scripture, it could play a major role in creating a framework for them. He comes across as possessing a deep love and respect for the Bible and for the Lord, and eager for people to place their minds and lives beneath its authority. He offers us in the end the doctrine of a co

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Book SynopsisThis clear and comprehensive introduction to New Testament textual criticism is a popular text for beginning and intermediate students.

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Book SynopsisExplores the most prominent social institutions of the world of early Israel and the period of the monarchy, showing that properly understanding the social context of the Hebrew Bible is essential for sound biblical interpretation.

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Book SynopsisThis tried and true classroom favorite by respected New Testament scholar Gary Burge has been praised for its usefulness. The expanded second edition has been revised throughout to take account of current scholarship and introduces software tools that have become available since the original edition was published. Combining original insight with how-to guidance, this textbook helps students interpret the Gospel of John and apply it in teaching and preaching.Table of ContentsContentsPreface to the Second EditionPreface to the First EditionPart 1: Before You Begin1. History of Interpretation2. Who Wrote the Gospel of John?3. How the Fourth Gospel Was Built4. Johannine StylePart 2: Strategies for Interpretation5. The Text6. The Literary Context7. Building a Bibliography8. The Cultural Context9. Word Studies in John: Part 1--Word Searches10. Word Studies in John: Part 2--Word MeaningsPart 3: Preaching and Teaching from the Fourth Gospel11. The Problem of Horizons12. Preaching from John13. CommentariesIndexes

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Book SynopsisOffers a fresh approach to the art of biblical interpretation, focusing on the ways Scripture itself forms its readers as wise and faithful interpreters.Table of ContentsContentsForeword by Peter T. O'BrienIntroduction1. "Who Meditates on His Law":The Psalter and the Hermeneutics of Delight2. "In Your Mouth and in Your Heart":Deuteronomy and the Hermeneutics of Law3. "This Kindness":Ruth and the Hermeneutics of Virtue4. "To Fulfill the Word of the LORD":1-2 Chronicles and the Hermeneutics of History5. "More Than for Hidden Treasure":Proverbs, Job, and the Hermeneutics of Wisdom6. "The Word of the LORD Came":Zechariah and the Hermeneutics of Prophecy7. "Everything I Have Commanded You":Matthew and the Hermeneutics of Obedience8. "Fulfilled in Your Hearing":Luke and the Hermeneutics of the Gospel9. "That You May Believe":John and the Hermeneutics of Truth10. "Beyond What Is Written"?1 Corinthians and the Hermeneutics of Theology11. "Taken Figuratively":Galatians and the Hermeneutics of Allegory12. "Today, If You Hear His Voice":Hebrews and the Hermeneutics of Exhortation13. "She Who Is in Babylon":1 Peter and the Hermeneutics of Empire14. "Take It and Eat":Revelation and the Hermeneutics of ApocalypticEpilogue: Always ApprenticesIndexes

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Book SynopsisA respected New Testament scholar introduces epistolary analysis, showing how focusing on the form and function of Paul's letters affects exegesis.Table of ContentsContents1. Introduction2. The Opening3. The Thanksgiving4. The Body5. The Closing6. Epistolary Analysis in Practice: The Test Case of PhilemonIndexes

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Book SynopsisIlluminates a spectrum of themes in the history of biblical interpretation. This work explores topics including Jewish exegesis and problems of Old Testament interpretation and the relationship between the Bible and social, political, and institutional history.Trade ReviewAll blurbs are from reviews for the cloth edition: 'These essays ... provide a valuable introduction to the sixteenth-century Bible commentary as a genre. However, the contributors have also succeeded in forging links between this genre and larger themes and problems of sixteenth-century history, offering numerous examples of how commentaries mirror the intellectual, social, and institutional developments of their time.' - Stephen G. Burnett, The Sixteenth Century Journal 'The book contributes to the cause of understanding Reformation era exegetical debates in their late medieval context rather than from an anachronistic perspective that attempts to claim the Protestant Reformers for one side or the other in modern debates over doctrines of Scripture.' - Joel E. Kok, Calvin Theological Journal 'All who work in this history of exegesis and its impact on society will want to read this volume...' - Robert Kolb, Religious Studies ReviewTable of ContentsIntroduction 1 Social History and Biblical Exegesis: Community, Family, and Witchcraft in Sixteenth-Century Germany / H.C. Eric Midelfort 7 The Consultations of the Universities and Scholars Concerning the "Great Matter" of King Henry VIII / Guy Bedouelle 21 The Use of Scripture in Establishing Protestantism: The Case of Urbanus Rhegius / Scott H. Hendrix 37 issues in Sixteenth-Century Jewish Exegesis / Kalman P. Bland 50 The Hermeneutic of Promise and Fulfillment in Calvin's Exegesis of the Old Testament Prophecies of the Kingdom / Richard A. Muller 68 Hebraica Veritas and Traditio Apostolica: Saint Paul and the Interpretation of the Psalms in the Sixteenth Century / R. Gerald Hobbs 83 Calvin and the Patristic Exegesis of Paul / David C. Steinmetz 100 Erasmus on Romans 9:6-24 / John B. Payne 119 The Epistle to the Romans (Chapter 11) According to the Versions and/or Commentaries of Valla, Colet, Lefevre, and Erasmus / Jean-Claude Margolin 136 Polemic, Exegetical Tradition, and Ontology: Bucer's Interpretation of John 6:52, 53, and 64 Before and After the Wittenberg Concord / Irena Backus 167 "De Exegetica Methodo": Niels Hemmingsten's De Methodis (1555) / Kenneth G. Hagen 181 Notes 197 Index 257

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Book SynopsisExamines sagas and tales from the Bible for the light they shed on the practice of law and on the meaning of a life lived in the legal profession. This book shows that the dilemmas and decisions that legal professionals confront are approached through an experience of narrative in which we come to know ourselves and our actions through stories.Trade Review“Milner Ball has written a wonderful book, a sustained and fruitful meditation on the relation between fundamental biblical texts and possible meanings of the practice of law in modern America. He illuminates these crucial texts and the law itself in original, surprising, and highly persuasive ways. A truly impressive achievement.”—James Boyd White, author of Acts of Hope: The Creation of Authority in Literature, Law, and Politics“Simply put, this book is extraordinary. Its author is a wordsmith of the very first order. He says strikingly original things about familiar old texts and acutely probes pressing contemporary issues. Milner Ball is deeply learned across traditional disciplinary lines, but he wears his learning lightly. A wise, clear, and funny conversationalist, he is also extraordinarily deep and inspiring.”—Aviam Soifer, author of Law and the Company We Keep“This artful interweaving of literature and law evokes the power of biblical narrative to inform contemporary life. The result is a rich tapestry of words for sustained reflection and appropriation.”—Phyllis Trible, author of Rhetorical Criticism: Context, Method, and the Book of JonahTable of ContentsPrologue I. Moses 1. Law and the “Mouth” for God 2. Intercession 3. Counsel for the Situation 4. The Word in Moses’ Situation 5. The Risks 6. The Promise of Succession 7. The Promise of Justice 8. Psalm 114 II. The Encompassing Women 9. The Midwives 10. Socratic Midwifery That Isn’t 11. Socratic Midwifery That Is 12. Are You the Lawyers? 13. Miriam 14. Rachel 15. Jeremiah’s Rachel Poem 16. Law and Tears 17. The Womb of God and Tears III. The Gospel According to John 18. The Jerusalem Trial 19. The Gospel Trail: A Divine Lawsuit 20. A Reversal and Appeal 21. The Power of the Word: Two Women 22. The Power of the Word: Moses and the Spirit 23. The Power of the Word: Disbelief 24. John’s Freedom from and for Law 25. Lawyer’s Independence Epilogue Acknowledgments Appendix Notes Index

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Book SynopsisLooks at the biblical figure of Babylon as it appears in U.S. culture from 2001-2011 in politics, media, war, and sexual regulation; analyzes allusions to Babylon as part of a larger response to the erosion of national sovereignty within economic globalization.Trade Review"Runions' scholarship is phenomenal. It's stunning that she can sustain her rigor over this variety of cultural and political contexts. That she does is a testament to her breadth as a scholar, and her critical acumen." -- -Jay Twomey University of Cincinnati "The Babylon Complex is unlike anything else in the fields it engages and crosses; its scholarship is unique, top-tier, and challenging, offering much savvier reflections upon biblical heritages and uses than what one often finds in the current theoretical 'turn to religion.' In short, it is both relevant and interdisciplinary, two terms too often used, but seldom as aptly as they are for this truly excellent book." -- -Joseph A. Marchal Ball State University "Erin Runions reveals Babylon to be an ambivalent but perversely indispensable figure for theopolitical discourses girding contemporary biopolitics. Modeling a queerly sublime ethics of reading, The Babylon Complex sets an agenda for a next generation of biblical scholars while demonstrating what cultural studies gains from engagement with biblical studies." -- -Jennifer Glancy Le Moyne College "Theoretically sophisticated and engaging, this remarkable book complicates our understanding of how the Bible affects U.S political ideals and subjectivities." -Reading Religion "With fearless insight and incisive prose, Erin Runions offers a breathtaking tour de force of astute biblical-political-philosophical analysis that persistently reframes the intertwining of biblical interpretation and biopolitics through the figure of Babel/Babylon. As she shows, the pervasive theopolitics of American discourse, right and left, is informed by an eschatological fantasy sanctioned by the twin edifices of bible and law. This engrossing account of biblically inflected defenses of US sovereignty places biblical interpretation at the center of critical theory and critical theory at the center of biblical interpretation. A must read for anyone interested in the current state of theodemocratic exceptionalism, in the unpredictable and shifting meanings of biblical texts, and in the possibility of listening, finally, to an other." -- -Jennifer Knust Boston UniversityTable of ContentsIntroduction: Babylon and the Crisis of Sovereignty 1. From Babel to Biopolitics: Josephus, Theodemocracy, and the Regulation of Pleasure 2. Bellicose Dreams: Babylon and Exception to Law 3. Tolerating Babel: Biopolitics, Film, and Family 4. Revenge on Babylon: Literalist Allegory, Scripture, Torture 5. Who Lives in Babylon? The Gay Antichrist as Political Enemy 6. Babelian Scripture: A Queerly Sublime Ethics of Reading Postlude: Roads to Babel Works Cited Index

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Book SynopsisThis collection of fourteen essays by scholars of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam explores the nature of exegesis during the High and Late Middle Ages (11th to the 15th Centuries) as a discourse of cross-cultural and inter-religious conflict, paying attention to the commentaries of scholars in the Western and Southern Mediterranean.Trade Review"The quality of the studies in Medieval Exegesis and Religious Difference is of a very high level and many [of the essays] break new ground based on the close study of manuscripts or the examination of familiar texts from new perspectives." -- -Barry Dov Walfish University of Toronto Library "...the volume itself is well produced and rewards patient reading." -- -Matthew Gabriele Al-Masaq: Journal of the Medieval Mediterranean "An impressively coherent collection illuminating the rich cultural and historical importance of biblical exegesis in the medieval Mediterranean world. Medieval Exegesis and Religious Difference assembles a formidable cadre of creative scholars whose rigorous investigations render it a fascinating and important contribution." -- -Jeremy Cohen Tel Aviv UniversityTable of ContentsNote on Transliteration and References Introduction Ryan Szpiech Part I: Strategies of Reading on the Borders of Islam 1. The Father of Many Nations: Abraham in al-Andalus Sarah Stroumsa 2. Ibn al-Marmah's Notes on Ibn Kammnah's Examination of the Three Religions: The Issue of the Abrogation of Mosaic Law Sidney Griffith 3. Al-Biq Seen through Reuchlin: Reflections on the Islamic Relationship with the Bible Walid Saleh Part II: Dominicans and Their Disputations 4. Two Dominicans, A Lost Manuscript, and Medieval Christian Thought on Islam Thomas E. Burman 5. The Anti-Muslim Discourse of Alfonso Buenhombre Antoni Biosca i Bas 6. Reconstructing Medieval Jewish-Christian Disputations Ursula Ragacs Part III: Authority and Scripture Between Jewish and Christian Readers 7. Reconstructing Thirteenth-Century Jewish-Christian Polemic: From Paris 1240 to Barcelona 1263 and Back Again Harvey J. Hames 8. A Christianized Sephardic Critique of Rashi's Pesha? in Pablo de Santa Maria's Additiones ad Postillam Nicolai de Lyra Yosi Yisraeli 9. Jewish and Christian Interpretations in Arragel's Biblical Glosses Angel Saenz-Badillos Part IV: Exegesis and Gender: Vocabularies of Difference 10. Between Epic Entertainment and Polemical Exegesis: Jesus as Anti-Hero in Toledot Yeshu Alexandra Cuffel 11. Sons of God, Daughters of Man, and the Formation of Human Society in Nahmanides's Exegesis Nina Caputo 12. Late Medieval Readings of the Strange Woman in Proverbs Esperanza Alfonso 13. Exegesis as Autobiography: The Case of Guillaume de Bourges Steven F. Kruger Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis book presents a fresh understanding of the ethical legacy of the biblical figure of Lot’s wife. It draws on archives of Jewish and Christian thought as well as modern philosophical and literary treatments of the Sodom story to show how Lot’s wife’s fate harbors an ethics of reparative resilience.Trade Review"Lowell Gallagher's Sodomscapes is a stunningly learned and creative engagement with the ethics of looking back--looking back at a past littered with the calcified remains of those rendered mute by traditional Western Christian and philosophical morality and looking back at the other in a pose of vulnerable and creative welcome to a radically unknowable future. Attending to the figure of Lot's wife in a wide range of images, texts, and imagetexts from across the Jewish and Christian traditions and into secular modernity, Gallagher shows that Sodom was always about the double edge of hospitality. In the process Gallagher uncovers and creates a 'counter-memory of Lot's wife' in which homelessness and home, stranger and beloved, danger and hope stand in radical proximity." -- -Amy Hollywood Harvard Divinity SchoolTable of ContentsPreface: Entering Sodomscape Introduction: Figural Moorings of Hospitality in Sodomscape 1. Exodus, Interrupted: Lot's Wife and the Allegorical Interval 2. Figural Neuter, Desert of Allegory 3. Remembering Lot's Wife: The Structure of Testimony in the Painted Life of Mary Ward 4. Avant-Garde Lot's Wife: Natal'ia Goncharova's Salt Pillars and the Rebirth of Hospitality 5. Soundings in Sodomscape: Biblical Purity Codes, Spa Clinics, and the Ends of Immunity 6. The Face of the Contemporary: Lost World Fantasies of Finding Lot's Wife 7. Out of Africa: Albert Memmi's Desert of Allegory in Pillar of Salt Acknowledgments Notes Index

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Book SynopsisTable of Contents1 Shibboleth: Inheritance | 1 שיבולת 2 : Judges | 13 3 S(h)ibboleth: Sovereign Violence and the Remainder | 19 4 Schibboleth: Derrida | 36 5 Schibboleth: Celan | 50 6 “S(ch)ibboleth”: Apostrophe | 69 7 S(c)hibboleth: Babel | 86 8 Shibboleth: Salcedo | 100 Acknowledgments | 107 Notes | 109 Index | 155

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Book SynopsisWorking from the Bible to contemporary art, Shibboleth surveys the linguistic performances behind the politics of border crossings and the policing of identities. In the Book of Judges, the Gileadites use the word shibboleth to target and kill members of a closely related tribe, the Ephraimites, who cannot pronounce the initial shin phoneme. In modern European languages, shibboleth has come to mean a hard-to-falsify sign that winnows identities and establishes and confirms borders. It has also acquired the ancillary meanings of slogan or cliche. The semantic field of shibboleth thus seems keyed to the waning of the logos in an era of technical reproducibility-to the proliferation of technologies and practices of encryption, decryption, exclusion and inclusion that saturate modern life. The various phenomena we sum up as neoliberalism and globalization are unimaginable in the absence of shibboleth-technologies. In the context of an unending refugee crisis and a general displacement,Table of Contents1 Shibboleth: Inheritance | 1 שיבולת 2 : Judges | 13 3 S(h)ibboleth: Sovereign Violence and the Remainder | 19 4 Schibboleth: Derrida | 36 5 Schibboleth: Celan | 50 6 “S(ch)ibboleth”: Apostrophe | 69 7 S(c)hibboleth: Babel | 86 8 Shibboleth: Salcedo | 100 Acknowledgments | 107 Notes | 109 Index | 155

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