Showing titles in Commentaries

The Secrets of the Eternal Book decodes some of the Bible’s most enigmatic, yet oft-cited epochs. The author’s lively and easygoing style makes for a smooth entrance into the depths of perception, where one changes one’s world simply by contemplation and desire. While listening, you will gently rise beyond the level of physical events as they are described in the Bible, and you will find Pharaoh, Moses, Adam, and Eve that lie within you.

Prostitution, incest, drunkenness at the Lord's table, sectarianism, and babble all were problems in Paul's rag-tag startup church in Corinth. Paul's letter was a course-correction for many in the church, bringing people back to the Gospel as the basis for right unity, sexual ethics, observation of the sacraments, and worship.

The first person ever to complete the perilous 10,000 mile journey across the inscrutable desert landscape of the Middle East, Bruce Feiler, a fifth generation Southern Jew, embarks upon a quest to reconnect with the stories of the Bible, and uncover fresh answers to profound questions.

The subject of Philippians is the experience of Christ. Concerning the experience of Christ, each chapter of Philippians covers a major point. First, in chapter one, we have the magnification of Christ. No matter what the circumstances are in which we find ourselves, we need to express Christ in such a way that we magnify him. In chapter two, Paul presents Christ as our pattern.

Samuel. Saul. David. Goliath. Jonathan. When we think of 1 & 2 Samuel, these names and the stories that make them memorable generally come to mind. But these narratives are more than mere history. Peter Leithart offers here a typological reading of 1 & 2 Samuel as a unified book. By giving careful attention to the book's literary structures and its patterns of types and antitypes, Leithart unveils the symbolic world of Samuel's cumulative and cohesive story.

David Fitzgerald's award-winning 2010 book, Nailed: Ten Christian Myths That Show Jesus Never Existed At All, pointed out the top 10 fatal flaws of Christianity's origin story. Now, Jesus: Mything in Action presents the most compelling new findings in Jesus myth theory, critically examines its controversial reception by biblical scholars and the extent and reliability of our sources for Jesus, and reveals the surprising history behind Jesus' evolution.

During Jeremiah's 40 years of ministry, he never received a hint of gratitude. As one of the most important of the "Major Prophets", Jeremiah is a rich, rewarding study. It is full of surprises, deeply touching episodes, and extremely moving tale. It is also, in many ways, profoundly timely for us today.

Understanding the New Testament is a daunting but exciting task. Our world is so different from that of the first century. Yet it is important to understand the context and content of the New Testament if we are to be faithful followers. Now, this survey addresses the who, what, where, when, why, and how questions that readers of the Bible may have, such as: How can we tell if what is written in the New Testament is true history or just mythology? When were these books written and why? and What can today's believers get out of letters addressed to people who lived two millennia ago?

America's Book shows how the Bible decisively shaped American national history even as that history influenced the use of Scripture. It explores the rise of a strongly Protestant Bible civilization in the early United States that was then fractured by debates over slavery, contested by growing numbers of non-Protestant Americans, and torn apart by the Civil War.

The short book of Philippians is one of the most quoted in the Bible, yet Paul wrote it not for the popular sound bites, but to paint a picture of a mature Christian faith. While many give their lives to Jesus, few then go on to live a life of truly vibrant faith. In this disruptively inspiring book, Chandler offers tangible ways to develop a faith of pursuing, chasing, knowing, and loving Jesus. Because if we clean up our lives but don't get Jesus, we've lost! So let the goal be him.

Regarding gender relations, the evangelical world is divided between complementarians and egalitarians. While both perspectives have much to contribute, the discussion has reached a stalemate. Michelle Lee-Barnewall critiques both sides of the debate, challenging the standard premises and arguments and offering new insight into a perennially divisive issue in the church. She brings fresh biblical exegesis to bear on our cultural situation, presenting an alternative way to move the discussion forward based on a corporate perspective and on kingdom values.

This in-depth discussion of New Testament scholarship and the challenges of history as a whole proposes Bayes's Theorem, which deals with probabilities under conditions of uncertainty, as a solution to the problem of establishing reliable historical criteria. The author demonstrates that valid historical methods - not only in the study of Christian origins but in any historical study - can be described by, and reduced to, the logic of Bayes's Theorem. Conversely, he argues that any method that cannot be reduced to this theorem is invalid and should be abandoned.

If you could spend a few minutes with the giants of faith in the Old Testament in person, what lessons would they share with you? In Learning from the Giants, John C. Maxwell draws on 50 years of studying the Bible to share the stories of Elijah, Elisha, Job, Jacob, Deborah, Isaiah, Jonah, Joshua and Daniel. These people fought and won epic battles, served kings, and endured great hardships for God to come out on the other side transformed through His grace.

When you think of a son trudging uphill, carrying wood for his own sacrifice because his father has decided to give him up to death, what biblical event does this bring to mind? Is it Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22, or is it Christ's passion in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? The kinship between these two stories is deeper than mere coincidence, and the similarities don't end there. In fact, Murray argues that Christ isn't just present in the story of Abraham and Isaac - he's present on every page of the Old Testament.

Many today may see the relationship between God and humanity as one of passive submission and thus unquestioning. Two outstanding Dominicans, Timothy Radcliffe and Lukasz Popko, suggest otherwise. Questioning God explores Biblical conversations with God and there is no genuine conversation without true questions.

For thousands of years, the prophet Moses was regarded as the sole author of the first five books of the Bible, known as the Pentateuch. According to tradition, Moses was divinely directed to write down foundational events in the history of the world: the creation of humans, the worldwide flood, the laws as they were handed down at Mt. Sinai, and the cycle of Israel’s enslavement and liberation from Egypt. However, these stories—and their frequent discrepancies—provoke questions.

Leading New Testament scholar Robert M. Price has taken umbrage at the cavalier manner in which Rev. Lee Strobel has misrepresented the field of Bible scholarship in his book The Case for Christ. Price exposes and refutes Strobel's arguments chapter-by-chapter. In doing so, he has occasion to wipe out the entire field of Christian apologetics as summarized by Strobel. This book is a must-read for anyone bewildered by the various books published by Rev. Strobel.

Scripture is your guide to what matters most in life. If you're not familiar with it, Patrick Madrid's choice of 150 key verses can ease you in. If you regularly read and pray with Scripture, these verses will provide you rich food for thought. No matter what your situation, the Bible will help you evaluate the choices and make the decisions that confront you every day. Either explicitly or implicitly, Scripture addresses all of life's problems, worries, dangers, questions and uncertainties.

Piper has gathered many of Jesus' demands from the four Gospels and puts the demands in a redemptive, historical context, then concisely examines each. The result is an accessible introduction for thoughtful inquirers and new believers, as well as meditative meat for veteran believers who want to know Jesus better.

Many portions of the New Testament introduce a compassionate Jesus who turns the other cheek, loves his enemies, and shows grace to all. But the Jesus we find in Revelation and some portions of the Gospels leads an army of angels bent on earthly destruction. Which is the true revelation of the Messiah - and how can both be in the same Bible? How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian explores this question and offers guidance for the faithful conflicted over which version of the Lord to worship.