Outline: A reassessment of the quests of the historical Jesus that promises to become the definitive history. Jesus of Nazareth ranks among the most important figures in history, yet contemporary scholarship finds little common agreement about his identity. It is accepted generally that there were three quests for the historical Jesus. The first was characterized by Albert Schweitzer and came t…
Outline: A reassessment of the quests of the historical Jesus that promises to become the definitive history. Jesus of Nazareth ranks among the most important figures in history, yet contemporary scholarship finds little common agreement about his identity. It is accepted generally that there were three quests for the historical Jesus. The first was characterized by Albert Schweitzer and came t…
Outline : The biblical story begins and ends with God as king. Human beings rebel, however, rather than fulfilling their royal calling to rule creation on behalf of their Sovereign―and the world became enslaved to the rule of a dark, serpentine lord. In this volume of IVP Academic's Essential Studies in Biblical Theology, Stephen Dempster traces the themes of kingship and kingdom throughout S…
Andrew Angel briefly reviews the work of Old Testament scholars on the mythological motif of God's battle with the dragon and the chaos waters. He also reviews works that touch on the existence of the motif in the period 515 BCE to 200 CE, noting the need for thorough survey of the motif in Hebrew literature of this period. There follows a study of forty-two Jewish and Christian texts (in Hebre…
Outline : The fourth edition of this classic text brings with it a renewed focus on purpose, theology, and message of the Old Testament in a more succinct and more inviting size for students. It provides,
Outline : In this comprehensive introduction to Old Testament wisdom. Tremper Longman III examines both cultural and canonical evidence to show wisdom's enduring theological significance.
Outline : The third quest for the historical Jesus has reached an impasse. But a fourth quest is underway-one that draws from a heretofore largely neglected source. In Jesus the Purifier, Craig Blomberg advances the idea that the Gospel of John is a viable and valuable source for studying the historical Jesus. The data from John should be integrated with that of the Synoptics, which will yield …
Outline: A Concise history of the Bible : its creation, use, and interpretation.
Outline : "A contribution to Christology that is an edifying as it is scholarly" This book challenges reductive modern readings of the transfiguration and shows how the mountain scene is not only about Jesus's glory as man but about his glory as God.
Outline : When we read Scripture, we enter the divine classroom for sanctifying instruction. In Taught by God, Brandon D. Smith contends that Scripture is not simply a collection of historical facts or moral rules; it is an encounter with the living God. Engaging with figures such as Origen, Justin, Hugh of St. Victor, Aquinas, and Luther, Smith illustrates how a premodern way of reading Script…
Outline : "A Historically informed and theologically sensitive reading of the gospels" This survey textbook offers an accessible introduction to the four Gospels in their literary, canonical, and theological contexts. Part 1 examines what the Gospels are and how we got four canonical Gospels. Part 2 explores the role history, narrative, and theology play in our reading of the Gospels. Part 3 ex…
Outline : The Touchstone Text series addresses key Bible passages, making high-quality biblical scholarship accessible for the church. The series editor is Stephen B. Chapman. Since the beginning of Christianity, the Lord's Prayer has occupied an important place in the lives of Jesus's disciples, for it is the prayer Jesus himself taught them. This volume helps readers understand how this class…
Outline: Recognizing that faithful theological study is an integrative task, the Theology for the People of God series uniquely combines biblical and systematic theology in dialogue with historical theology and with application to church and life. This series addresses classic doctrines of systematic theology and other relevant topics, pairing careful scholarship with the practical understandin…
Outline : Christians have long discussed and debated the first three chapters of the Bible. How we interpret this crucial section of Scripture has massive implications for how we understand the rest of God’s Word and even history itself. In this important volume, biblical scholar Vern Poythress combines careful exegesis with theological acumen to illuminate the significance of Genesis 1–3. …
Outline : The Prophetic Books of the Bible are full of symbolic speeches, dramatic metaphors, and lengthy allegories―a unique blend of literary styles that can make them hard to comprehend. How can we know if we are reading them the way God intended them to be read? In this accessible guide, leading Old Testament scholar Peter Gentry identifies seven common characteristics of prophetic litera…
Outline : As evangelicals, we desire to be biblical―we want our doctrine to be rooted in the Bible, our lives to be guided by the Bible, and our disagreements to be resolved by the Bible. And yet, conflicts within our church communities continue to appear and seemingly multiply with time. Interpretations of the Bible and deeply held convictions often put Christians at odds. Encouraging us tow…
Outline: This introduction to the Pentateuch identifies the major themes of the first five books of the Bible, guiding readers through this crucial portion of the Old Testament. The fourth edition has been substantially updated throughout.
Outline: The differences and discrepancies in the Gospels constitute one of the foremost objections to their reliability and the credibility of their message. Some have tried to resolve Gospels contradictions with strained harmonization efforts. Others conclude that the Gospels are hopelessly contradictory and, therefore, historically unreliable accounts of Jesus. In Jesus, Contradicted, New Te…
Outline: The inspiration and authority of Scripture are foundational to true Christianity, and as such frequently come under attack. Throughout the history of the church, leading figures have risen in defense of the Bible against those who questioned it as God's Word. In our day, D. A. Carson has defended the inspiration and authority of Scripture against critics. He has written widely on the n…
Outline : This monumental work is the culmination of Brevard Child's lifelong commitment to constructing a biblical theology that takes seriously the shape of the canon of Scripture and the role of communities that formed it and continue to draw life from it. Capping more than thirty years of research and reflection. Childs surveys the full biblical panorama. He addresses the formidable challen…
edited by James D.G. Dunn.
edited by Bruce W. Longenecker, Baylor University, Texas.
Outline: St. Paul was a pivotal and controversial figure in the fledgling Jesus-movement of the first century. The New Cambridge Companion to St. Paul provides an invaluable entryway into the study of Paul and his letters. Composed of sixteen chapters by an international team of scholars, it explores some of the key issues in the current study of his dynamic and demanding theological discourse.…
Outline: Gunter Stemberger's revision of H.L. Strack's classic introduction to rabbinic literature, which appeared in its first English edition in 1991, was widely acclaimed. Gunter Stemberger and Markus Bockmuehl have now produced this updated edition. Following Strack's original outline, Stemberger discusses first the historical framework, the basic principles of rabbinic literature and herme…
Outline : The most influential man to ever walk the earth has had his story told in hundreds of different ways for thousands of years. Can any more be said? Now, Timothy Keller, New York Times bestselling author of The Reason of God and the man Newsweek called a "C.S. Lewis for the twenty-first century," unlocks new insights into the life of Jesus Christ as he explores came as a king, but a kin…
Outline; Ministry training often emphasizes expanding on the work of existing ministries to the neglect of addressing the difficulties of planting new churches in North America and across the world. This volume provides a practical, thorough, biblical, and inspirational corrective. Incorporating relevant sociological, anthropological, and historical insights, Hesselgrave extrapolates ten phases…
Outline: The book of Proverbs is the mainspring of the biblical wisdom tradition. Katherine Dell explores the possible social contexts for its varied material and provides an overview of the characterization of its theology by scholars. She discusses how individual proverbs, instructions and poems came together to fom the collections we have today. Dell also shows that echoes of other Old Testa…
Outline: All too often, argues Ben Witherington, the theology of the New Testament has been divorced from its ethics, leaving as isolated abstractions what are fully integrated, dynamic elements within the New Testament itself. As Witherington stresses, "behavior affers and reinforces or undoes belief." Having completed commentaries on all of the New Testament books, a remarkable feat in itself…
Outline: Understanding the doctrines of grace provides a clearer picture of God's sovereignty, mercy, and majesty. From the lawgiver Moses to the Apostle John, and from the early church fathers to modern defenders of the faith, there are marched onto the stage of human history a long line of godly men, a triumphant parade of spiritual stalwarts who have upheld the doctrines of grace. In this bo…
Outline: Personal, experiential faith is seldom given a seat at the table of academic theology and biblical studies. David Crump, however, with the assistance of Soren Kierkegaard's religious philosophy, claims that "authentic understanding, and thus authentic Christian commitment, can only arise from the personal commitment that is faith." Examining the various biblical, historical, cultural, …
Outline : That there are four canonical versions of the one gospel story is often seen as a problem for Christian faith: where gospels multiply, so too do apparent tensions and contradictions that may seem to undermine their truth claims. In Gospel Writing Francis Watson argues that differences and tensions between canonical gospels represent opportunities for theological reflection, not proble…
Outline: What are the origin and meaning of the words "greed is idolatry" found in Ephesians 5: 5 and Colossians 3: 5? In what sense are the greedy guilty of idolatry? Many different answers have been given to this question throughout the history of interpretation. In fact, a consensus exists on only one score - that the expression serves to vilify greed. Brian Rosner ably takes on the challeng…
Outline: A History of Biblical Interpretation provides detailed and extensive studies of the interpretation of the Scriptures by Jewish and Christian writers throughout the ages. Written by internationally renowned scholars, this multivolume work comprehensively treats the many different methods of interpretation, the many important interpreters from various eras, and the many key issues that h…
Outline: This insightful book examines nine case studies in the history of exegesis in order to demonstrate the valuable insights into Scripture that we can gain not only from what individual commentators say but from fifteen centuries' cumulative witness to the meaning of Scripture in the life of the church.
Outline: For Jesua and His Contemporaries, what we now know as the Old Testament was simply the Scriptures - and it was the fundamental basis of how people understood their relationship with God. In this book John Goldingay uncovers five major ways in which the New Testament uses the Old Testament. His discussion paves the way for contemporary readers to understand and appreciate the Old Testam…
Outline: The premier Dead Sea Scrolls primer ever since its original publication in 1994, James VanderKam's Dead Sea Scrolls Today won the Biblical Archaeology Society's Publication Award in 1995 for the Best Popular Book on Biblical Archaeology. In this expanded and updated edition the book will continue to illuminate the greatest archaeological find in modern times.
Outline: Ernst Wurthwein's classic introduction to the textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible is here thoroughly updated in the light of new critical editions of the texts and recent contributions and findings in the various areas of the history of the text - especially the Masoretic text, the Septuagint, and the Peshitta, with attention given to the Dead Sea Scrolls. New in this edition are a c…
Outline : "Messiah" is one of the most contested terms in Christian reflection, with many people reading the concept back into early Old Testament texts. In The One Who Is to Come Joseph Fitzmyer contradicts that misreading, carefully tracing the emergence of messianism in Judaism to a much later date -- the second century B.C.
Outline: This original work of scholarship clarifies how, in light of Matthew's Gospel, the first Christians understood and claimed Israel's messianic mission to people of every ethnic group immediately after Jesus' death and resurrection. In Part 1 James LaGrand examines the Hebrew Bible and other ancient documents to uncover the meaning in Matthew's time of the terms 'Israel' and 'the nations…
Outline : This survey textbook is grounded in the view that the prophetic book of the Old Testament should be read as Christian Scripture. Although it covers critical issues such as authorship, background, and history, its primary focus is on the message and theology of the prophetic books and the contribution they make to the Christian canon. The prophetic books covered are Isaiah, Jeremiah, L…
Outline: Old Testament Use of Old Testament by Gary Edward Schnittjer surveys hundreds of Old Testament allusions within the Old Testament and provides hermeneutical guidance for interpreting these interrelated Scriptures. The handbook takes an easy-to-navigate, book-by-book approach. Schnittjer provides a list of scriptural allusions for each book and follows with an interpretive profile of ho…
Outline: Stanley E. Porter focuses upon the depiction of Paul in the book of Acts from literary-critical, rhetorical, and theological perspectives, among several others. The essays within this volume examine various topics related to the Paul of Acts such as the "we" passages of Acts as a source regarding Paul, and the theology and perspective of these passages in terms of their portrait of him…