Showing titles in Biblical History & Culture

The Second Book of Enoch, also known as the Slavonic Enoch or 2 Enoch, is an ancient religious text that is part of the Jewish apocalyptic tradition. It is considered pseudepigraphical, attributed to the biblical figure Enoch, who was said to have been taken up to heaven and shown divine revelations. The book exists in various versions, with the most well-known being the Slavonic manuscript preserved in the Russian National Library. The Second Book of Enoch is comprised of several sections that offer a glimpse into cosmology, theology, and eschatology.

Embark on a transformative journey with Systematic Theology for Beginners: A Comprehensive Introduction to Christian Doctrine. This definitive guide is crafted to illuminate the foundational truths of Christianity, providing both new believers and seasoned Christians with a thorough and accessible understanding of key theological principles. Imagine unlocking the profound mysteries of your faith, equipped with the knowledge to deepen your relationship with God. This book is designed to be your trusted companion in this spiritual adventure. Here’s what awaits you inside: Crystal Clear ...

While Christians generally acknowledge that the Bible is God's Word, many of us lack robust confidence in the reality of its trustworthiness. We may not be sure if we really believe what we read. But the more we understand how Scripture came to be, the more we discover its power and truth. Historian Susan Lim unpacks how the history of the Bible bolsters our faith and anchors us through the changing tides of time. The story of Scripture, while messy and complicated at times, is also the story of how God shepherded his people throughout the centuries in and through these writings.

What if there was a world of both wonders and horrors, a world that we can barely imagine, which was actually the reality at one time in our ancient past? What if there really had been a near-perfect world marred with terrible violence, slavery, corruption, wickedness, injustice, brutality, and unimaginable perversions, and that was the civilization that men, women, and children had to live in? What if there really had been a world filled with fallen angels, demons, giants, dragons, monsters, zombies, and vampires and they walked among us? What if there really had been a world in which ...

Long-time Bible teacher Kristie Anyabwile discovered as she prepared her lessons that a single inductive approach doesn’t do justice to the variety of genres that make up the Word of God. Because Scripture is a collection of writings that spans 1,500 years, many literary styles are represented, and each must be taken into account for the fullest understanding of God’s Word. Kristie shows you the immense value of studying the Bible literarily—that is, according to the literary style presented in a particular book, chapter, or passage.

There are precious nuances contained within the Bible. I employ logical reasoning and utilize life experiences to understand the Bible as a stand-alone book without carrying any kind of religious baggage from my early years. It is important to separate Biblical facts from fiction and streamline the ploy of myth makers about human existence. Anyone willing to see the Bible as more than a religious guide will hopefully find my efforts and research illuminating and helpful.

Much of the contemporary discussion of the Jesus tradition has focused on aspects of oral performance, storytelling, and social memory, on the premise that the practice of communal reading of written texts was a phenomenon documented no earlier than the second century CE. Brian J. Wright overturns that premise by examining evidence that demonstrates communal reading events in the first century.

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

In this book Christie shares personal stories and encounters, mostly from her journals that span over three decades. Her discoveries will broaden your understanding of Scripture from their Jewish perspective and reveal to you the family and culture that Romans 11 says you have been grafted into. Most importantly, we pray your heart will be strengthened in the love story that is woven throughout all of the biblical feasts.

If Jesus is God, then God is a grunt—the humble, hardy folk placed at the bottom of the social hierarchy who are relied on to accomplish the dirtiest, most difficult (and most thankless) work. This is good news for millions of Christian soldiers and veterans in the U.S. because they have had to make an impossible choice, with no perceivable middle ground, between patriot and pacifist. Author Logan Isaac offers an opportunity for GIs, veterans, and those close to them to read Christian traditions as a soldier would—by and through the lived experiences of military service.

Cultural Christians in the Early Church: Audio Lectures considers the challenge of culture to the earliest converts to Christianity as they struggled to live on mission in the Greco-Roman cultural milieu of the Roman Empire, and argues that cultural Christians were the rule, rather than the exception, in the early church.

This short book is designed to briefly introduce people to information from Church history and the teaching of the Bible that have been misunderstood, misinterpreted, and misrepresented to show that what most people have been told about the nature and duration of hell is not true. The true teaching of the Bible is that God will one day restore all of his creation to the perfection he initially intended.

In Holy Disunity: How What Separates Us Can Save Us, Layton E. Williams proposes that our primary calling as humans is not to create unity but rather to seek authentic relationship with God, ourselves, one another, and the world around us. And that means actively engaging those with whom we disagree. Our religious, political, social, and cultural differences can create doubt and tension, but disunity also provides surprising gifts of perspective and grace.

Dwelling Place is a must listen for anyone who is trying to figure out where they fit in God's big plan. He longs for sons and daughters to come home to sit at His table and learn of His ways. Written from the heart of a Jewish believer who has lived through her identity crisis, this book brings understanding as it delivers a very real picture of Ephesian's "One New Man,"- the dwelling place of God in the Spirit among His Jewish and Gentile children.

Welcome to Holy Communion, an audiobook that takes listeners on a captivating journey through the origins and significance of the sacred Christian practice of communion. This thought-provoking and enlightening audiobook offers a comprehensive exploration of the history, theology, and personal meaning behind the act of communion.

This book explores a systematic bias in translating the Bible and in interpreting its teachings, which suggests that men are inherently suited to be leaders in the home, church, and community, while it is God's plan for women to submit to men's leadership. This erroneous understanding of the Bible has been promoted by certain influential evangelical Christian leaders in order to push back the growing influence of feminist attitudes, the expansion of women's leadership roles, and the increase in egalitarian relationships among evangelicals in English-speaking North America.

If you have ever doubted your calling from God…If you have ever ceased to hear His voice…If you have ever felt Abandoned and alone…The heart cry of John the Baptist will call you home to your Savior and Lord.

This remarkable work paints a comprehensive and colorful picture of the world that Jesus knew. From detailed, convincing portraits of John the Baptist, Pontius Pilate, Herod, Jesus himself, and other key figures, to the Jewish and Hellenistic leaders often ignored in scripture, Who's Who in the Age of Jesus is a critical, in-depth look at one of the most tumultuous eras in human history.

He walked on the face of the earth over 2000 years ago and changed human history for time and eternity. Nearly 2.4 billion Christians know him as Jesus Christ, Son of God, Son of Man and Savior of the world. Other billions recognize him as a great prophet and philosopher. Drawing from the four gospel accounts and using “sanctified imagination”, this book chronicles the incredible life of Jesus. It tells the story of His miraculous conception and birth; his childhood; his magnificent ministry with a band of 12 ordinary men and his death and glorious resurrection. This book presents an ...

Waiting for Our Souls to Catch Up invites listeners to begin a journey of the heart and mind in which a small effort of faith, guided by reason, can yield huge spiritual dividends. From the small rituals that enhance our daily lives to the study of the historical and scriptural legacy shared by the world's great religions, Waiting for Our Souls to Catch Up is an intelligent guide to the wisdom of the ages.