Hermeneutics
Showing 1–100 of 123 results
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Wonders From Your Law
$40.00Add to cartFinding internal coherence within the Old Testament is a challenging task. Numerous scholars over the centuries have provided various, divergent frameworks to organize the content of the Hebrew Bible. Navigating both the Old Testament itself and the history of its interpretation can feel like a maze of complexity.
Biblical scholar Kevin Chen offers a way of understanding the Old Testament through the orienting lens of what he calls “nexus passages.” Such passages pull the material of the Old Testament together through their high connectivity to other Scripture passages. In his thorough textual analyses, Chen shows how these nexus passages serve as lexical, thematic, and theological hubs for understanding the Old Testament. Both exegetical and intertextual, Wonders From your Law gazes deeply into the text for a constructive, evangelical approach to Old Testament theology.
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Acts Of The Apostles
$19.99Add to cartAlthough often treated as mere background history to the letters of Paul and other biblical writings, the book of Acts possesses its own unique theological message. Richard Thompson, in this latest volume of the Reading and Interpreting the Bible Series, explores the distinctive characteristics of this remarkable book and guides readers in its interpretation using pivotal Scripture passages as illustrations. From speeches and summaries to repetition and characterization, Dr. Thompson examines each literary feature and demonstrates its effect on the meaning and application of the text. Each chapter further concludes with helpful questions designed to review the topic at hand and encourage deeper reflection. For additional study, an extensive bibliography completes this exceptional resource.
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Wisdom Literature
$19.99Add to cartWhat is the nature of successful living?
What does it mean to achieve a good life? The Old Testament wisdom literature–Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes–provides perceptive answers to these questions. Though sometimes neglected, this genre, consisting of short sayings and lengthy reflective writings, offers readers thoughtful instructions for living. In this volume of the Reading and Interpreting the Bible Series, A. Wendell Bowes expertly guides readers in interpreting these insightful writings and applying their lessons to everyday life. From exploring the ancient Near Eastern background of these writings to providing interpretations of sample texts, Dr. Bowes has crafted a practical handbook for anyone wanting to study this rich and astute biblical literature. Reading the Bible with understanding is challenging. Without sound guidance, making sense of the different literary types, settings, and cultures found in the Scriptures can be overwhelming. The Reading and Interpreting the Bible Series opens the door to a proper and accessible method of biblical interpretation. Each volume concentrates on a specific literary type found in the Bible, highlighting its features and function. Social, political, and religious settings are examined, and a critical analysis of the biblical text brings to light its message and relevance for today. Readers will find in these volumes numerous illustrations of how to interpret specific texts, which can be used as a pattern for individual or group Bible studies.
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Hear Ye The Word Of The Lord
$25.00Add to cartLong before the words of the Bible were written, God’s communication through the spoken word rang out loud and clear. Jesus in particular commissioned representatives to speak on his behalf even during the time of his earthly ministry. And yet today we are a reading culture. It is easy for modern Christians to take for granted that the Bible was handed down in written form, but the way we receive God’s message is far different from how the original hearers would have heard it. These differences not only shape the way that we hear God’s message to his people, but they put us at risk of misunderstanding his revelation.
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. Filled with helpful biblical insights related to oral communication and constructive ways for modern readers to become better hearers and performers of Scripture, Hear Ye the Word of the Lord provides a constructive way forward for readers interested in exploring how we can better hear God’s Word.
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How To Read The Bible
$18.99Add to cartAs fewer Christians read the Bible daily, fewer understand what a marvelous revelation it is from God to man. How to Read the Bible (as If Your Life Depends on It) offers believers and nonbelievers alike a new appreciation for the Bible, helping them to read it for understanding, not just as the storybook they remember from childhood.
There is no other book like the Bible. God used at least forty human writers over more than 1,600 years to compost the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments.They included kings and shepherds, a physician and a tax collector. They lived on three continents–Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Yet the Bible is a single Book with a single Author, focused on a single theme: Jesus the Messiah, our Redeemer. From beginning to end, the Bible tells the story of the Kingdom of God and its King. The Old Testament tells us He is coming. The New Testament announces that He has arrived.
The sixty-six books of the Bible do not tell sixty-six stories. Together they tell one story. It’s the story of humanity’s rebellion against God and God’s redemptive love for the human race. It’s the story of a Kingdom and a Covenant, of one Lord who saves completely and rules eternally.
The unity of the Bible confounds human wisdom. The unity of the Bible baffles its critics. The unity of the Bible challenges its enemies. There’s no book like this Book because there’s no author like its Author.
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Introducing Biblical Hermeneutics
$54.00Add to cartRenowned scholar Craig Bartholomew, coauthor of the bestselling textbook The Drama of Scripture (more than 50,000 copies sold), writes in his main area of expertise–hermeneutics–to help seminarians pursue a lifetime of biblical interpretation. Integrating the latest research in theology, philosophy, and biblical studies, this substantive hermeneutics textbook is robustly theological in its approach, takes philosophical hermeneutics seriously, keeps the focus throughout on the actual process of interpreting Scripture, and argues that biblical interpretation should be centered in the context and service of the church–an approach that helps us hear God’s address today.
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Hermeneutics 3rd Edition
$27.99Add to cartThis textbook provides students and general readers with clear, accessible guidance for interpreting the Bible. With nearly 120,000 copies sold, it has become a trusted resource for serious students of the Bible. The authors’ successful approach shows how proper theory leads to sound practice.
This book gives readers not only an understanding of the principles of proper biblical interpretation but also the ability to apply those principles in sermon preparation, personal Bible study, or writing. The authors outline a seven-step hermeneutical process that includes (1) historical-cultural analysis, (2) written contextual analysis, (3) lexical-syntactical analysis, (4) literary analysis, (5) theological analysis, (6) comparison with other interpreters, and (7) application.
The third edition has been updated throughout to account for new developments in the field and to incorporate feedback from professors and students. Exercises have also been updated and streamlined. Resources for instructors are available through Textbook eSources.
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Hermeneutics 3rd Edition
$49.99Add to cartThis textbook provides students and general readers with clear, accessible guidance for interpreting the Bible. With nearly 120,000 copies sold, it has become a trusted resource for serious students of the Bible. The authors’ successful approach shows how proper theory leads to sound practice.
This book gives readers not only an understanding of the principles of proper biblical interpretation but also the ability to apply those principles in sermon preparation, personal Bible study, or writing. The authors outline a seven-step hermeneutical process that includes (1) historical-cultural analysis, (2) written contextual analysis, (3) lexical-syntactical analysis, (4) literary analysis, (5) theological analysis, (6) comparison with other interpreters, and (7) application.
The third edition has been updated throughout to account for new developments in the field and to incorporate feedback from professors and students. Exercises have also been updated and streamlined. Resources for instructors are available through Textbook eSources.
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Hebrews And The General Epistles
$19.99Add to cartOften neglected and misunderstood, the New Testament books of Hebrews, James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, and Jude present a number of interpretive challenges. From their placement in the biblical canon to their authorship and theological relationship to Paul’s Epistles, these eight books have historically confronted scholars with an assortment of complex issues that require an adept approach for study and understanding. In this volume of the Reading and Interpreting the Bible Series, Kevin Anderson introduces readers to the essential tools for plumbing the depths of these colorful and often controversial writings and applying their meanings to the contemporary church. Helpful tables, diagrams, and an exceptional reference list round out this well-crafted resource. Reading the Bible with understanding is challenging. Without sound guidance, making sense of the different literary types, settings, and cultures found in the Scriptures can be overwhelming. The Reading and Interpreting the Bible Series opens the door to a proper and accessible method of biblical interpretation. Each volume concentrates on a specific literary type found in the Bible, highlighting its features and function. Social, political, and religious settings are examined, and a critical analysis of the biblical text brings to light its message and relevance for today. Readers will find in these volumes numerous illustrations of how to interpret specific texts, which can be used as a pattern for individual or group Bible studies.
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Interpretation For Preaching And Teaching
$27.00Add to cartRenowned biblical scholar Stanley Porter offers an accessible introduction to hermeneutics to help students and pastors better interpret and understand God’s Word.
Interpretation for Preaching and Teaching focuses on various levels of interpretation and proclamation, which are arranged in a necessary hierarchy: language and linguistics, the biblical text, biblical theology, systematic theology, and homiletics. Stanley Porter grounds the discussion within a conversation of biblical authority and offers a fresh examination of the key issues. The result is a workable method that introduces each of the major topics of interpretation and addresses some of the complexities of their use.
This book provides the basics for a Bible interpreter to move from fundamental questions about the task of biblical interpretation to understanding a text and its theology to creating and delivering a sermon. It offers valuable guidance for professors and students of hermeneutics and equips pastors and Bible teachers to deliver a relevant message to those who rely on them to be faithful interpreters.
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Interpretation For Preaching And Teaching
$49.99Add to cartRenowned biblical scholar Stanley Porter offers an accessible introduction to hermeneutics to help students and pastors better interpret and understand God’s Word.
Interpretation for Preaching and Teaching focuses on various levels of interpretation and proclamation, which are arranged in a necessary hierarchy: language and linguistics, the biblical text, biblical theology, systematic theology, and homiletics. Stanley Porter grounds the discussion within a conversation of biblical authority and offers a fresh examination of the key issues. The result is a workable method that introduces each of the major topics of interpretation and addresses some of the complexities of their use.
This book provides the basics for a Bible interpreter to move from fundamental questions about the task of biblical interpretation to understanding a text and its theology to creating and delivering a sermon. It offers valuable guidance for professors and students of hermeneutics and equips pastors and Bible teachers to deliver a relevant message to those who rely on them to be faithful interpreters.
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Listening To Scripture
$24.99Add to cartLooking for a guide to interpreting the Bible that is accessible, up-to-date, and theologically grounded? A renowned Old Testament scholar and coauthor of the bestselling The Drama of Scripture introduces us to reading the Bible with an ear toward hearing God’s address. “When we read the Bible, we need to take off our shoes, as it were, because we are on holy ground,” says Bartholomew. “We take up the Bible to read it, only to find that through it God speaks to us. This is the awesome potential of Bible reading and interpretation.”
Bartholomew begins with a theological orientation, including topics such as the relationship between prayer, analysis, and reading Scripture; the Bible as the true story of the whole world; and reading the text in light of its literary, historical, and kerygmatic (proclamation) dimensions. He then explores the history of interpretation before discussing how we receive the Bible liturgically, ethically, and missionally. Throughout the book, exercises in lectio divina invite readers to engage both the head and the heart as they learn to interpret the Bible.
Professors and students of the Bible will value this work. It will also appeal to church leaders and other serious students of the Bible.
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Daniel
$19.99Add to cartThe book of Daniel is a colorful collage of fascinating stories and visions. From a magnificent statue to a feisty, horn-regenerating goat, readers encounter a cavalcade of fantastic images. Added to these amazing sights are the harrowing confrontations between God’s faithful servants and presumptuous kings. Grasping the meaning of all this is a weighty task. This volume of the Reading and Interpreting the Bible Series aptly meets this challenge, providing readers with the tools to interpret the message of Daniel and apply it to daily life. Using charts, word studies, and deep dives into ancient Middle Eastern culture, Old Testament scholar Barry Ross provides readers with the theological keys to this marvelous book. Reading the Bible with understanding is challenging. Without sound guidance, making sense of the different literary types, settings, and cultures found in the Scriptures can be overwhelming. The Reading and Interpreting the Bible Series opens the door to a proper and accessible method of biblical interpretation. Each volume concentrates on a specific literary type found in the Bible, highlighting its features and function. Social, political, and religious settings are examined, and a critical analysis of the biblical text brings to light its message and relevance for today. Readers will find in these volumes numerous illustrations of how to interpret specific texts, which can be used as a pattern for individual or group Bible studies.
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Wisdom For Faithful Reading
$26.99Add to cartThe church has too often lost its way in reading the Old Testament for lack of sound principles of interpretation. When careless habits get us off track, we can lose sight of what the Bible is really saying, derailing our own spiritual growth and even risking discredit to God’s word.
We need a consistent approach to give us confidence as faithful interpreters. In Wisdom for Faithful Reading, the trusted Old Testament scholar John Walton lays out his tried-and-true best practices developed over four decades in the classroom. His principles are memorable, practical, and enlightening, including:
*The Bible is written for us, but not to us.
*Reading the Bible instinctively is not reliable and risks imposing a foreign perspective on the text.
*More important than what the characters do is what the narrator does with the characters and what God is doing through the characters.
*Not everything has a “biblical view.”
Along with identifying common missteps, Walton’s insights point the way to stay focused on what the Old Testament text communicated to its original audience-and what it has to say for us today. When we submit ourselves to be accountable to the authors’ intentions we experience the true authority of Scripture, and faithful reading fuels a faithful life.
Using numerous examples across the breadth of the Old Testament and its genres, Walton equips thoughtful Christians to read more knowledgeably, to pay attention to God’s plans and purposes, to recognize good interpretations, and to truly live in light of Scripture. You may never read the Old Testament the same way again.
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Psalms
$19.99Add to cartSingular in beauty and scope, the book of Psalms exquisitely captures the interchange between God and humanity as does no other biblical book. From joy and love to hate and despair, from creation to consummation, the wide range of expressions and theological themes is matchless. For Jews and Christians alike, the book of Psalms–with its songs and prayers–is the quintessential reservoir of comfort, hope, assurance, and instruction for faithful living. In this volume of Reading and Interpreting the Bible, Alex Varughese equips readers with a detailed introduction to the Psalms, including guidelines for interpretation. He then skillfully illustrates his interpretive method by applying it to eight representative psalms. This accessible approach makes this volume an invaluable resource for anyone wanting to explore this sublime biblical book. Reading the Bible with understanding is challenging. Without sound guidance, making sense of the different literary types, settings, and cultures found in the Scriptures can be overwhelming. The Reading and Interpreting the Bible Series opens the door to a proper and accessible method of biblical interpretation. Each volume concentrates on a specific literary type found in the Bible, highlighting its features and function. Social, political, and religious settings are examined, and a critical analysis of the biblical text brings to light its message and relevance for today. Readers will find in these volumes numerous illustrations of how to interpret specific texts, which can be used as a pattern for individual or group Bible studies.
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Revelation
$19.99Add to cartLampstands, horsemen, beasts, locusts, and angels-the book of Revelation is filled with these images and more. How does anyone make sense of all this? Dan Boone, in this latest volume of the Reading and Interpreting the Bible Series, cuts a clear path to the plotline of this intriguing biblical book. Boone explores the book of Revelation and its imagery using the narrative elements of entrance, bad news, good news, response, and blessing. With attention given to Revelation’s apocalyptic, prophetic, and epistolary features, the author provides the reader with the sound interpretive clarity needed to understand the message and imagery of this fascinating book. Helpful diagrams are included, along with a bibliography.
Reading the Bible with understanding is challenging. Without sound guidance, making sense of the different literary types, settings, and cultures found in the Scriptures can be overwhelming. The Reading and Interpreting the Bible Series opens the door to a proper and accessible method of biblical interpretation. Each volume concentrates on a specific literary type found in the Bible, highlighting its features and function. Social, political, and religious settings are examined, and a critical analysis of the biblical text brings to light its message and relevance for today. Readers will find in these volumes numerous illustrations of how to interpret specific texts, which can be used as a pattern for individual or group Bible studies.
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Reading The Bible Around The World
$22.99Add to cartIt’s an exciting time to be reading the Bible. As we increasingly encounter readers with perspectives, experiences, and cultures different from our own, we can incorporate new ideas and approaches to interpreting Scripture. When diverse interpretations from various social locations are gathered together, we gain new vistas and a fuller image of the text.
In Reading the Bible Around the World, a crosscultural team of scholars describes and workshops global readings in biblical interpretation, focusing on passages in both the Old and New Testaments. By presenting a range of readings from different regions and people groups, with particular attention to marginalized groups, the authors demonstrate the importance of contextually sensitive approaches. They help us build up key values for reading Scripture in the twenty-first century: self-awareness, other-awareness, and true dialogue.
Who we are shapes how we read. Guided by these expert teachers, readers will gain a deeper understanding of the influence of their own social location and how to keep growing in biblical wisdom by reading alongside the global Christian community.
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Biblical Reasoning : Christological And Trinitarian Rules For Exegesis
$29.99Add to cartTwo experts in exegesis and dogmatics show how Christology and the Trinity are grounded in Scripture and how knowledge of these topics is critical for exegesis. The book outlines key theological principles and rules for the exegesis of Christian Scripture, making it an ideal textbook for hermeneutics and interpretation courses. The authors explore how the triune God revealed in Christ shapes Scripture and its readers and how doctrinal rules intrinsic to Scripture help guide exegesis.
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Doctrine Of The Word Of God
$29.99Add to cartA Guided Tour of One of the Greatest Theological Works of the Twentieth Century
Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics is considered by many to be the most important theological work of the twentieth century and for many people reading it, or at least understanding it contents and arguments, is a lifelong goal. Yet its enormous size, at over 12,000 pages (in English translations) and enough print volumes to fill an entire shelf, make reading it a daunting prospect for seasoned theologians and novices alike.
Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics for Everyone, Volume 1–The Doctrine of the Word of God helps bridge the gap for would-be Karl Barth readers from beginners to professionals by offering an introduction to Barth’s theology and thought like no other. User-friendly and creative, this guide helps readers get the gist, significance, and relevance of what Barth intended for the church… to restore the focus of theology and revitalize the practices of the church.
Each section contains insights for pastors, new theologians, professionals, and ordinary people including:
*Summaries of the section
*Contextual considerations
*And other visually informative features that reinforce the main points of the Barth’s thoughtIn addition, each volume features the voices of authors from different academic disciplines who contribute brief reflections on the value of Church Dogmatics for creative discovery in their disciplines. Volume 1 reflections include:
*Douglas Campbell (biblical studies)
*Myk Habets (systematic theology)
*Richard Keith (pastors)
*Julie Canlis (ordinary people)
*James Chaousis (mental health)
*John Vissers (spiritual formation)Whether you are just discovering Barth or want a fresh look at his magnum opus, this series invites you to an enjoyable and insightful journey into the Church Dogmatics.
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Biblical Reasoning : Christological And Trinitarian Rules For Exegesis
$49.99Add to cartTwo experts in exegesis and dogmatics show how Christology and the Trinity are grounded in Scripture and how knowledge of these topics is critical for exegesis. The book outlines key theological principles and rules for the exegesis of Christian Scripture, making it an ideal textbook for hermeneutics and interpretation courses. The authors explore how the triune God revealed in Christ shapes Scripture and its readers and how doctrinal rules intrinsic to Scripture help guide exegesis.
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Pauline Epistles
$19.99Add to cartMany readers may agree with Peter in his second epistle, that Paul’s letters are “hard to understand” and easily distort (3:15-16, NIV). But as David Ackerman in this latest Reading and Interpreting the Bible volume expertly shows, a proper approach to interpretation will yield rich rewards. Ackerman introduces readers to the social world of Paul, his life, and his mission. The reader learns about competing religions, the structure of ancient letters, rhetorical devices, and the pastoral purposes of Paul’s writing. With clear explanations and illustrations using challenging texts, the reader is equipped with the tools needed to separate the timeless from the time-bound and to bridge the gap between Paul’s world and ours.
Reading the Bible with understanding is challenging. Without sound guidance, making sense of the different literary types, settings, and cultures found in the Scriptures can be overwhelming. The Reading and Interpreting the Bible Series opens the door to a proper and accessible method of biblical interpretation. Each volume concentrates on a specific literary type found in the Bible, highlighting its features and function. Social, political, and religious settings are examined, and a critical analysis of the biblical text brings to light its message and relevance for today. Readers will find in these volumes numerous illustrations of how to interpret specific texts, which can be used as a pattern for individual or group Bible studies.
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Old Testament Exegesis Fifth Edition
$30.00Add to cartFor years, Douglas Stuart’s Old Testament Exegesis has been one of the most popular ways to learn how to perform exegesis-the science and art of interpreting biblical texts properly for understanding as well as proclamation. This new edition includes a major revision and expansion of online and other resources for doing biblical research and updates past editions by including a helpful configuration of the format for the exegesis process. Stuart provides guidance for full exegesis as well as for a quicker approach specifically tailored to the task of preaching. A glossary of terms explains the sometimes-bewildering language of biblical scholarship, and a list of frequent errors guides the student in avoiding common mistakes. No exegetical guide for the Old Testament has been more widely used in training ministers and students to be faithful, careful interpreters of Scripture.
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In All The Scriptures
$35.99Add to cartNo one reads the Bible without some interpretive principles, or hermeneutics, in place.
The question every student of Scripture needs to ask, then, is this: Are your interpretive principles and methods legitimate and ethical? In this accessible introduction to biblical hermeneutics, Nicholas G. Piotrowski presents an approach that explores three layers of context: literary, historical, and christological. Because no text exists in the abstract, interpreters must seek to understand a passage’s ecology: the flow and argument of the entire biblical book, the world of the original author and audience, and the movement of redemptive history that culminates in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Careful interpretation is both a science and an art, Piotrowski argues, and it has powerful implications for what we believe and how we apply God’s Word. Featuring numerous examples, further reading lists, and a glossary, In All the Scriptures equips students, pastors, and thoughtful readers to build a solid foundation for interpreting the Bible.
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Reading The Book Of Revelation
$22.99Add to cartHow to read Revelation rightly.
Let’s face it: the book of Revelation is difficult to read! Many neglect it, leaving it to the experts or the obsessed. Others fixate on the details, focusing on current events but missing Christ in the process. But Revelation promises a blessing on all who read it. Why is it so hard to understand?
In Reading the Book of Revelation, Alexander E. Stewart offers five simple keys that unlock this difficult book. He then illustrates their profit in explaining Revelation chapter by chapter and provides recommendations for further study. With this short and accessible guide, readers will see how Revelation is approachable, applicable to their lives, and glorifying to Christ.
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How Scripture Interprets Scripture
$28.00Add to cartThis book addresses a topic of vital concern to the church: How does the ancient biblical text speak to us today? Michael Graves, an expert in ancient exegesis, describes how Old Testament texts interpret earlier Old Testament traditions, explores New Testament reception, and explains how insights from this process translate into present-day biblical interpretation. Graves clearly explains and illustrates this approach with fulsome discussions of five themes that are addressed in various ways in the Bible: personal responsibility; sacrificial offerings; insiders and outsiders; marriage, polygamy, and divorce; and the afterlife. By attending to the way these topics are addressed throughout the entire biblical witness, we become better interpreters and better teachers, more adept at discerning the Bible’s teaching on these topics and others for our modern world.
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Scripture As Communication
$34.99Add to cartJeannine Brown, a seasoned teacher of biblical interpretation, believes that communication is at the heart of what happens when we open the Bible. We are actively engaging God in a conversation that can be life changing. In this guide to the theory and practice of biblical hermeneutics, Brown emphasizes the communicative nature of Scripture, proposing a communication model as an effective approach to interpreting the Bible. The new edition of this successful textbook has been revised and updated to interact with recent advances in interpretive theory and practice.
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Scripture And Its Interpretation
$36.00Add to cartTop-notch biblical scholars from around the world and from various Christian traditions offer a fulsome yet readable introduction to the Bible and its interpretation. The book concisely introduces the Old and New Testaments and related topics and examines a wide variety of historical and contemporary interpretive approaches, including African, African-American, Asian, and Latino streams. Contributors include N. T. Wright, M. Daniel Carroll R., Stephen Fowl, Joel Green, Michael Holmes, Edith Humphrey, Christopher Rowland, and K. K. Yeo, among others. Questions for reflection and discussion, an annotated bibliography, and a glossary are included.
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Reading Scriputre As The Church
$40.99Add to cartThe Bible is meant to be read in the church, by the church, as the church. Although the practice of reading Scripture has often become separated from its ecclesial context, theologian Derek Taylor argues that it rightly belongs to the disciplines of the community of faith. He finds a leading example of this approach in the theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who regarded the reading of Scripture as an inherently communal exercise of discipleship. In conversation with other theologians, including John Webster, Robert Jenson, and Stanley Hauerwas, Taylor contends that Bonhoeffer’s approach to Scripture can engender the practices and habits of a faithful hermeneutical community. Today, as in Bonhoeffer’s time, the church is called to take up and read.
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Biblical Theme Of Peace Shalom
$39.95Add to cartPreaching the Gospel is at the heart of ministry and is often the core of the pastor’s job. It’s also often the most public part of the profession. Week after week, the pastor must deliver a message to the congregation that is both cogent and relevant to the lives of the people in the pews. Much study and research goes into the crafting of this message. Pastors begin this study in seminary, and it becomes a life-long pursuit.
In Peace / Shalom, James Durlesser and Ron Love have created a volume designed to not only provide thorough exegesis of the biblical theme of Peace / Shalom, but also how that exegesis can be applied to the daily living of the Christian. Throughout this book, the reader will not only find information about how the subject of peace permeates the scriptural canon but will also discover many ways to help the person in the pew have a better understanding of Peace in Scripture as it applies to today’s world, and how it applies to their individual lives.
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Thiselton On Hermeneutics
$98.99Add to cartAnthony Thiselton’s masterful work in the field of hermeneutics has impacted countless students and scholars over the past several decades. Especially influential was his Two Horizons (1980), a call to take seriously the contexts of both the reader and the text. Thiselton’s work continues to carry much weight, yet there has been no single place to go to access a helpful array of his writings — until now.
Thiselton on Hermeneutics provides select expositions and critical discussions of hermeneutics as a multidisciplinary area. Biblical interpretation, philosophical hermeneutics, literary theory, postmodernism, and Christian theology genuinely interact in these forty-two studies to form a coherent whole. Thiselton’s unique interactive and multidisciplinary approach shines through the volume. Ten of these essays — almost a quarter of the collection — are new (never published before) or quite recent.
Theologians, biblical scholars, philosophers, and many other academics will appreciate this distillation of the pioneering perspectives and creative insights of Anthony C. Thiselton.
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Reading Romans With Eastern Eyes
$28.99Add to cartIntroduction
1. How To Read With Eastern Eyes
2. Paul’s Mission Frames His Message (Rom 1, 15)
3. Dishonoring God And Ourselves (Rom 1-2)
4. Distinguishing “Us” And “Them” (Rom 2)
5. Christ Saves God’s Face (Rom 3)
6. Who Is Worthy Of Honor? (Rom 4)
7. Faith In The Filial Christ (Rom 5-6)
8. The Hope Of Glory Through Shame (Rom 5-8)
9. Shamed From Birth? (Rom 7)
10. They Will Not Be Put To Shame (Rom 9-11)
11. Honor One Another (Rom 12-13)
12. The Church As “Harmonious Society” (Rom 14-16)
Discussion Guide
Bibliography
Author Index
Subject Index
Scripture IndexAdditional Info
What does it mean to “read with Eastern eyes”? According to Jackson Wu, an Eastern perspective is in many ways culturally closer to that of the first-century world. Cultural values of honor and shame, social status, tradition, hierarchy, and relationships are similar in both East Asia and the New Testament.As readers, we bring our cultural understanding and values to the text. Our biases and background influence what we observe-and what we overlook. Wu aims to help us develop our “Eastern lenses” in order to interpret Scripture well and gain insights we might have missed.
In Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes, Wu demonstrates how an Eastern perspective sheds light on Paul’s most complex letter. When read this way, we see how honor and shame shape so much of Paul’s message and mission.
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Sleuthing The Bible
$28.99Add to cartWhy is there crime-scene tape on my Bible? Elementary, my dear reader.There is an element of detective work to biblical scholarship that entails sniffing out and interpreting clues that often escape the notice of readers. John Kaltner and Steven L. McKenzie introduce the art of sleuthing the Bible, providing the necessary training to hunt for clues and piece them together to understand the larger picture.Sleuthing the Bible helps answer questions that occur during thoughtful examination of the Bible and provides exercises enabling readers to work through biblical passages on their own. Kaltner and McKenzie analyze two kinds of clues: (1) Smoking Guns- those that are obvious upon any close reading of biblical texts, and (2) Dusting for Prints-those that are more subtle or hidden from nonspecialists because of their unfamiliarity with the languages, culture, and larger content of the Bible.Written in a jargon-free and accessible style, Sleuthing the Bible is an ideal resource for anyone who wants to dig deeper into the biblical text.
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Guide To Interpreting Scripture
$12.99Add to cartAccording to Dr. Michael Kyomya, misconceptions about what the Bible actually says can breed confusion and false ideas about God and the Christian life. Therefore, it is critically important that you know how to interpret Scripture carefully. Dr. Michael Kyomya explains what interpretation is, why it is important, how to do it, and the pitfalls to avoid. He illustrates his points with examples from his own experience and from sermons he has heard in Africa. Dr. Kyomya makes it clear that interpretation is not just something for scholars, but also is useful when preparing a sermon or a Sunday school lesson, as well as in your own personal study of the Bible. The writing is simple and clear, and the illustrations are both amusing and informative. Full of ways to enrich personal study of the Bible, this guide will equip you with the knowledge and instruction you need.
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Inexpressible : Hesed And The Mystery Of Gods Loving Kindness
$18.99Add to cartPreface: The Untranslatable Defining The Inexpressible
Introduction: A Word On The Meaning Of WordsPart I. The God Of Hesed
1. Opening The Door
2. The Definitive Encounter
3. Slow To Anger
4. Like No Other God
5. An Everlasting Refrain
6. A Prayer Of Honest RagePart II. The Objects Of Hesed
7. When Dinah Held My Hand
8. The Heseds Of David
9. Ethan: “I Will Sing”
10. Moses: “In The Morning”
11. Jeremiah: “I Am Hesed”
12. Hosea: A Novel Of HesedPart III. Hesed Finally Defined
13. Hesed And Truth
14. On Jesus’ Lips
15. How To Amaze Jesus
16. The One Who Showed Hesed
17. Paul And The Path To RedemptionPart IV. An Instinct For Hesed
18. Here, Rabbi, Take My Seat
19. Hesed In Post-AD 70 Judaism
20. Gemilut Hesed And Tikkun OlamConclusion: Do Justice, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly: The Monumental Nature Of Kindness
Afterword
Acknowledgments
Appendix A: Occurrences Of Hesed In Scripture
Appendix B: Comparison Of Translations
Appendix C: A Vocabulary Of Associated Words
Appendix D: For Further Study
Notes
Bibliography
Scripture IndexAdditional Info
God’s identity is beyond what we could ever fully express in human words. But Scripture uses one particular word to describe the distinctiveness of God’s character: the Hebrew word hesed.Hesed is a concept so rich in meaning that it doesn’t translate well into any single English word or phrase. Michael Card unpacks the many dimensions of hesed, often expressed as lovingkindness, covenant faithfulness, or steadfast love. He explores how hesed is used in the Old Testament to reveal God’s character and how he relates to his people. Ultimately, the fullness of hesed is embodied in the incarnation of Jesus.
As we follow our God of hesed, we ourselves are transformed to live out the way of hesed, marked by compassion, mercy, and faithfulness. Discover what it means to be people of an everlasting love beyond words.
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Homebrewed Christianity Guide To The Old Testament
$19.99Add to cartIntroduction
Chapter 1: The Old Testament-The Library Of An In-Your-Face God
Chapter 2: A Down-and-Dirty Creator-A Downright-Broken Creation
Chapter 3: Blessed To Be A Blessing, And Other Terrifying Thoughts
Chapter 4: From Pyramid To Promised Land: God’s Free People (Exodus Through Joshua)
Chapter 5: You Cannot Serve The Lord-Really, You Can’t (The History Of Israel And Judah; Joshua 23-2 Kings)
Chapter 6: Mourning Into Dancing, Or How To Get In God’s Face
EpilogueAdditional Info
The Old Testament bears witness to an in-your-face, holy God–a God who gets down and dirty with creation and history; a God who gets in people’s face with love and law, with power and purpose. Yet Israel’s in-your-face God is also “holy”–too other, too raw, too intense to be handled without oven mitts.Rolf Jacobson wrestles with this in-your-face God.The Old Testament starts at the beginning, where God digs in the dirt to create humanity and then gets in the dustlings’ faces when they sin. God smiles on Abraham and Sarah, electing their descendants as the chosen people, but has to get in Pharaoh’s face when he tries to enslave the people. Mostly, God gets in Israel’s face: with laws about what it looks like to be God’s people and through the prophets, who have to get in the faces of those who turn away from the Holy One.Jacobson also explores the psalms, poetry in which God often hides his face. He closes by exploring how the Old Testament points us ahead to Jesus, when God took on a human face and offered us the most intimate picture of God we’ll ever get. -
Bible Unwrapped : Making Sense Of Scripture Today
$18.99Add to cartMany people have questions about Scripture they are too afraid to ask. Drawing from the best of contemporary biblical scholarship and the ancient well of Christian tradition, scholar and preacher Meghan L. Good helps readers consider why the Bible matters. The Bible Unwrapped delves into issues like biblical authority, literary genre, and Christ-centered hermeneutics, and calls readers beyond either knee-jerk biblicism, on the one hand, or skeptical disregard on the other. Instead, Good invites readers to faithful reading, communal discernment, and deep and transformative wonder about Scripture. Join an honest conversation about the Bible that is spiritually alive and intellectually credible. Read the ancient story of God in the world. You may even learn to love it.
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Bible Unwrapped : Making Sense Of Scripture Today
$30.99Add to cartMany people have questions about Scripture they are too afraid to ask. Drawing from the best of contemporary biblical scholarship and the ancient well of Christian tradition, scholar and preacher Meghan L. Good helps readers consider why the Bible matters. The Bible Unwrapped delves into issues like biblical authority, literary genre, and Christ-centered hermeneutics, and calls readers beyond either knee-jerk biblicism, on the one hand, or skeptical disregard on the other. Instead, Good invites readers to faithful reading, communal discernment, and deep and transformative wonder about Scripture. Join an honest conversation about the Bible that is spiritually alive and intellectually credible. Read the ancient story of God in the world. You may even learn to love it.
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All Things New
$19.99Add to cartNew York Times bestselling author John Eldredge offers readers a breathtaking look into God’s promise for a new heaven and a new earth.
This revolutionary book about our future is based on the simple idea that, according to the Bible, heaven is not our eternal home–the New Earth is. As Jesus says in the gospel of Matthew, the next chapter of our story begins with “the renewal of all things,” by which he means the earth we love in all its beauty, our own selves, and the things that make for a rich life: music, art, food, laughter and all that we hold dear. Everything shall be renewed “when the world is made new.”
More than anything else, how you envision your future shapes your current experience. If you knew that God was going to restore your life and everything you love any day; if you believed a great and glorious goodness was coming to you–not in a vague heaven but right here on this earth–you would have a hope to see you through anything, an anchor for your soul, “an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God” (Hebrews 6:19).
Most Christians (most people for that matter) fail to look forward to their future because their view of heaven is vague, religious, and frankly boring. Hope begins when we understand that for the believer nothing is lost. Heaven is not a life in the clouds; it is not endless harp-strumming or worship-singing. Rather, the life we long for, the paradise Adam and Eve knew, is precisely the life that is coming to us. And that life is coming soon.
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Early Christian Readings Of Genesis One
$38.99Add to cartAcknowledgments
Abbreviations
IntroductionPart I: Understanding The Context
1. Who Are The Church Fathers, And Why Should I Care?
2. How Not To Read The Church Fathers
3. What Does “Literal” Mean? Patristic Exegesis In ContextPart II: Reading The Fathers
4. Basil The Literalist?
5. Creation Out Of Nothing
6. The Days Of Genesis
7. Augustine On “In The Beginning”
8. On Being Like MosesBibliography
Author Index
Subject Index
Scripture IndexAdditional Info
Do the writings of the church fathers support a literalist interpretation of Genesis 1? Young earth creationists have maintained that they do. And it is sensible to look to the Fathers as a check against our modern biases.But before enlisting the Fathers as ammunition in our contemporary Christian debates over creation and evolution, some cautions are in order. Are we correctly representing the Fathers and their concerns? Was Basil, for instance, advocating a literal interpretation in the modern sense? How can we avoid flattening the Fathers’ thinking into an indexed source book in our quest for establishing their significance for contemporary Christianity?Craig Allert notes the abuses of patristic texts and introduces the Fathers within their ancient context, since the patristic writings require careful interpretation in their own setting. What can we learn from a Basil or Theophilus, an Ephrem or Augustine, as they meditate and expound on themes in Genesis 1? How were they speaking to their own culture and the questions of their day? Might they actually have something to teach us about listening carefully to Scripture as we wrestle with the great axial questions of our own day?Allert’s study prods us to consider whether contemporary evangelicals, laudably seeking to be faithful to Scripture, may in fact be more bound to modernity in our reading of Genesis 1 than we realize. Here is a book that resets our understanding of early Christian interpretation and the contemporary conversation about Genesis 1. -
Bible As Political Artifact
$39.00Add to cartBiblical studies and the teaching of biblical studies are clearly changing, though it is less clear what the changes mean and how we should evaluate them. In this book, Susanne Scholz engages some of the issues as she has encountered them in the field over the last twenty years. She casts a feminist, class-critical eye on the politics of pedagogy, in higher education and in wider society alike, decrypting important developments in “the architecture of educational power.” She also examines how the increasingly intercultural, interreligious, and diasporic dynamics in society inform the hermeneutical and methodological possibilities for biblical exegesis, whether the topic is rape in ancient Near Eastern legislation or Eve and Adam in the American Christian right”s approaches. In bold strokes, Scholz lays out a program for biblical scholarship and pedagogy that connects to current events and ideas, such as the Title IX debate, inclusive language, or film. Taken as a whole, the fourteen chapters demonstrate that the foregrounding of gender, placed into its intersectional contexts, offers intriguing and valuable alternative ways of seeing the world and the Bible”s place in it.
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Understanding And Using The Bible
$18.99Add to cartThe book is in two parts. Part One explores key Christian belief about the Bible and why it matters; encourages effective use and application of the Bible in different cultural and social contexts; teaches on right and wrong use of the Bible; models different possible ways of approaching and using the Bible with integrity; encourages readers to take the Bible as a whole and build a biblical worldview. Part Two, ‘Using the Bible’ illustrates examples of applied Bible use in different contexts with contributions from a variety of authors.
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Re Imagining The Bible For Today
$35.99Add to cartThe early 21st century has seen an unexpected rise of new or rediscovered ways of reading the Bible, both in academic circles and in churches, with surprising results. These ancient texts appear to have a message that resonates with discussions in society at large. This textbook seeks to reclaim the Bible for a Christianity that is open to society and keen on participating in conversation about today’s major issues; a Christianity that is relevant to the personal spirituality of people who aren’t too sure what to believe and how to exercise faith.
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Interpreting Old Testament Wisdom Literature
$35.99Add to cartIn popular perception, Wisdom literature is a “self-help” or “philosophy” section of the Old Testament library-the odd and interesting bits of canonical mortar between History and Prophets. Themes that are prominent elsewhere in the Old Testament receive only scant attention in the wisdom books. Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes focus on everyday life rather than on God’s special dealings with the nation of Israel. But Old Testament scholarship has come to see the wisdom of the wise as reflecting an aspect of the Israelite worldview, not something totally foreign. The covenant beliefs are presupposed, even if rarely rising to the surface. Wisdom must be learned from parents, teachers, and friends, but it is ultimately a gift from God-not primarily intellectual but intensely practical. The issues addressed-justice, faith, wealth, suffering, meaning, sexuality-are highly relevant today. The focus of this volume is on both wisdom books and wisdom ideas. The first section surveys recent developments in the field of Old Testament wisdom, and the second section discusses some issues that have arisen in Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes, and examines the Song of Songs as a wisdom text. The final section explores wisdom in Ruth, in some Psalms, and in the broader field of Old Testament narrative (from Joshua to Esther), while also examining wisdom, biblical theology, the concept of retribution in wisdom, and the vexed issue of divine absence. The following contributors are featured: Christopher B. AnsberryCraig G. BartholomewLennart BostrAmRos ClarkeKatharine J. DellDavid G. FirthGregory GoswellErnest C. LucasBrittany N. MeltonSimon StocksLindsay Wilson
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Companion To The Old Testament
$44.99Add to cartThis book provides intelligent enrichment for encounters with the Old Testament, the first part of the Christian Bible. There are chapters on its five main sections: the Pentateuch, the Historical Books, Poetry and Wisdom, the Prophetic Books, and the Apocrypha/Deutero-Canon. Each of the core chapters covers three areas: an introduction to the general significance of each section in its ancient context; a survey of major ways these sacred texts have been interpreted in the global history of Christianity; and suggestions for how its texts apply to Christian ministry and mission today. These areas are often treated separately by scholars, but this book usefully offers an integrated overview of these areas that will inform and inspire, and serve the interests and needs of students and general readers alike.
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Knowing Scripture (Expanded)
$18.99Add to cartThe Bible is the written Word of God, and it is treasured by many. But it is also an ancient book about people and cultures very different than us. Thus, while we know we should read it, many of us have a hard time understanding the Bible. In this expanded edition of Knowing Scripture, R. C. Sproul helps us dig out the meaning of Scripture for ourselves. The author says, “The theme of this book is not how to read the Bible but how to study the Bible.” He presents in simple, basic terms a commonsense approach to studying Scripture and gives eleven practical guidelines for biblical interpretation and applying what we learn. With a minimum of technical jargon, Sproul tackles some of the knotty questions regarding differences of interpreting the Bible, including discovering the meanings of biblical wordsunderstanding Hebrew poetry, proverbs and parablesapproaching historical and didactic passagesbeing careful with predictive prophecydiscerning how culture conditions the Biblechoosing and using Bible translations, commentaries, Bible software and other helpsKnowing Scripture is a basic book for both beginning Bible readers and experienced students of Scripture.
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Saving The Bible From Ourselves
$24.99Add to cartDoes the Bible need to be saved? Over the course of the centuries, Bible scholars and publishers have increasingly added “helps” chapter divisions, verses, subheads, notes to the Bible in an effort to make it easier to study and understand. In the process, however, these have led to sampling Scripture rather than reading deeply. According to author Glenn R. Paauw, the text has become divorced from the Bible’s literary and historical context, leading to misinterpretation and a “narrow, individualistic and escapist view of salvation.” Rather than being a culture-shaping force, the Bible has become a database of quick and easy answers to life’s troubling questions. But these deficiencies can be corrected by engaging in what the author calls “big readings.” In these pages Paauw introduces us to seven new (to us) understandings of the Bible as steps on the path to recovering one deeply engaged Bible. With each “new” Bible presented, deficiencies in how we currently interact with the Bible are explored, followed by recommendations for a new practice. The Bible’s transformative power is recovered when we remove the chains Christians have applied to it over the centuries. The Bible does not need to be saved because of any defect in itself, but because we have distorted and misread it.Saving the Bible from Ourselves provides students of the Bible a new paradigm for reading and living the Bible well.”
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Making Love With Scripture
$16.99Add to cartNothing has been more contentious in the history of Christianity than the meaning of the Bible, and that debate continues today. Arguments over scripture have divided denominations, churches, and families, and these squabbles have led many to abandon the faith altogether. Jacob D. Myers, a rising young scholar, has a solution to the problem with scripture. The instability of the Bible’s meaning, he argues, is not a weakness but a strength, and it can benefit conservatives and liberals alike.
In a conversational style peppered with pop culture references, Myers provides a variety of tools for readers of the Bible, helping the experienced and inexperienced alike appreciate the sacred text in new ways. Finally, he proposes the intriguing alternative of an “erotic” interpretation, one that makes love with the Bible and opens new vistas of understanding.
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Why Mission
$34.99Add to cartRecent years have seen heightened efforts at reading the New Testament in terms of God’s mission. This has pressed against commitments to a dispassionate reading of the New Testament books in favor of a self-involved, missiological reading. This book harvests recent efforts as well as extends the conversation by an approach that takes seriously the contribution of diverse New Testament voices. This book contributes to New Testament studies, but also serves related discussions in missiology and evangelism. Reframing New Testament Theology is a series that fulfills the need for brief, substantive, yet highly accessible introductions to central questions and themes raised by study of the New Testament. A significant defining question will serve as the point of departure and will frame the discussion. Students will be drawn into an active, theological engagement with the New Testament and related materials by the subsequent analysis.
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Cleansed Lepers Cleansed Hearts
$49.00Add to cartIllnesses are perceived and understood differently across cultures and over time. Traditional interpretations of New Testament texts frame the affliction lepra (“leprosy”) as addressed either by ritual cleansing or miraculous healing. But as Pamela Shellberg shows, these interpretations are limited because they shift modern ideas of “leprosy” to a first-century context without regard for how the ancients themselves thought about lepra. Reading ancient medical texts, Shellberg describes how Luke might have perceived lepra and used the language of “clean” and “unclean” and demonstrates how Luke’s first-century understandings shaped his report of Peter’s dream in Acts 10 as a warrant for Gentile inclusion.
For Luke, “cleansing” was how the favor of God announced by Isaiah was extended to Gentiles, and the stories of Jesus’ cleansing of leprous bodies in the Gospel are the pattern for the divine cleansing of Gentile hearts in Acts. Shellberg illuminates Luke’s understanding of “cleansing” as one of his primary expressions of the means of God’s salvation and favor, breaking down and breaking through the distinctions between Jew and Gentile. Shellberg’s conclusions take up the value of Luke’s emphasis on the divine prerogative to declare things “clean” for discussions of inclusion and social distinction today.
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New Testament : Methods And Meanings
$56.99Add to cartIn this concise, accessible book, Warren Carter and A.J. Levine introduce three aspects of New Testament study: the world of the text (plots, characters, setting, and themes), the world behind the text (the concerns, circumstances, and experiences of the early Christian communities), and the world in front of the text (the meaning for contemporary readers). As students engage the New Testament, they face a central issue that has confronted all students before them, namely, that these texts have been and are read in diverse and often quite conflicting ways. These multiple readings involve different methods: historical-critical, traditional (history of interpretation), colonial, multicultural, and sociological, with feminist and liberationist implications for the first-century readers as well as the ongoing implications for today’s reader. For example, Carter and Levine show how a text can be used by both colonizer and colonized, feminist and anti-feminist, or pro- and anti-Jewish. The authors also show how scholarly work can be both constructive and threatening to the contemporary Church and how polemical texts can be used, whether for religious study, theological reflection, or homiletical practice.
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Violence In Scripture
$50.00Add to cartThe Bible frequently depicts God as angry and violent, and also sometimes depicts human violence as positive or even as commanded by God. This forms one of the most vexing problems in approaching Scripture and in interpreting the Bible for preaching and teaching today. In this volume, Creach first examines the theological problems of violence and categorizes the types of violence that appear in scripture. Then, he wrestles with the most important biblical texts on violence to work through specific interpretational issues. This new volume in the Interpretation: Resources for Use of Scripture in the Church series will help preachers and pastors interpret those difficult texts, encouraging them to face violence in the Bible with honesty.
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Biblical Hermeneutics : Five Views
$28.99Add to cartThe latest in the Spectrum Multiview series, this book provides a forum for proponents of five approaches to biblical hermeneutics to state their case, respond to the others, and then provide a summary response and statement. Five seasoned scholars contribute to the multifaceted discussion over this contested discipline: Craig Blomberg with the historical-critical/grammatical approach, Richard Gaffin with the redemptive-historical approach, Scott Spencer with the literary/postmodern approach, Robert Wall with the canonical approach and Merold Westphal with the philosophical/theological approach.
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Christ Centered Biblical Theology
$28.99Add to cartThe appeal of biblical theology to Christians is that it provides a “big picture” that makes sense of the bulk and variety of the biblical literature. It seeks to view the whole scene of God’s revelation of his one mighty plan of salvation. The Bible ceases to be a mass of unconnected texts, and begins to look like a unity that connects the narratives of Israel with those of the four Gospels; that shows up in the progression from creation to new creation; and that highlights the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the primary focus of the whole Bible. If the Bible is indeed the one word of the one God about the one way of salvation through the one Savior, Jesus Christ, it is biblical theology that reveals this to us. Over the last fifty years, Graeme Goldsworthy has refined his understanding of biblical theology that came about as a result of his experiences as a student, pastor and teacher in theological education. His approach was first presented in Gospel and Kingdom, and more comprehensively in According to Plan. It has been welcomed in some circles, but has not been without its critics. In this valuable complement to his volume Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics, Goldsworthy defends and refines the rationale for his approach, which has drawn particularly on that developed by the Australian biblical scholar Donald Robinson. Goldsworthy’s conviction is that biblical theology is foundational for evangelical hermeneutics, indispensable in expository preaching, and life-giving to pastoral ministry.
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Handbook Of Biblical Criticism (Revised)
$37.00Add to cartThe 4th edition of this best-selling textbook continues to be a valuable resource for the beginning student in the critical study of the Bible. Thoroughly revised to include the newest methods, recent discoveries, and developments in the field of biblical criticism over the past decade, the Handbook of Biblical Criticism is designed to be a starting point for understanding the vast array of methods, approaches and technical terms employed in this field. Updates in this edition also include an expanded dictionary of terms, phrases, names, and frequently used abbreviations and a bibliography that includes the most up-to-date date publications.
The Handbook of Biblical Criticism is a valuable introductory textbook, a handy, reliable guide for pastors, laypersons, and for scholars whose expertise lies in other fields.
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Hermeneutics As A Theory Of Understanding 1
$33.99Add to cartIn this primer on hermeneutics, Petr Pokorny takes up basic issues in understanding from language in general to the interpretation of the Bible.
While Hermeneutics as a Theory of Understanding deals with most of the problems of hermeneutics and their role in society and impact in history, the book’s main aim is not to introduce new methodologies or to investigate the character of human understanding by new probes into literary or historical documents. Instead, Pokorny’s principal intention is to define the philosophical and theological premises of individual projects of understanding – their interrelations, meaning, and function in interpretation, especially that of ancient texts such as the Bible.
Pokorny’s work here functions admirably both as a text for students and as a monograph that suggests new paths in hermeneutical discussion.
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Invention Of The Biblical Scholar
$26.00Add to cartAcknowledgments
Preface: The Irreducible Strangeness Of The Biblical Scholar1. Theory And Methodolatry
2. The Invention Of The Biblical Scholar
3. Onwards Towards The PastIndex
Additional Info
What is a “biblical scholar”? Stephen D. Moore and Yvonne Sherwood provide a thoroughly defamiliarizing and frequently entertaining re-description of this peculiar academic species and its odd disciplinary habitat. The modern-and -biblical scholar, they argue, is a product of the Enlightenment. Even when a biblical scholar imagines that she is doing something else entirely (something confessional, theoretical, literary, or even postmodern), she is sustaining Enlightened modernity and its effects. This study poses questions for scholars across the humanities concerned with the question of the religious and the secular. It also poses pressing questions for scholars and students of biblical interpretation: What other forms might biblical criticism have taken? What untried forms might biblical criticism yet take? -
Teaching The Bible
$29.00Add to cart“Although the field of biblical studies is bursting with new methods and fresh interpretations, there has been surprisingly little discussion of what these changes mean for the actual task of teaching the Bible. Happily, this volume takes significant first steps in addressing the shifts in classroom pedagogy that the new day in biblical studies urgently demands.”
Norman K. Gottwald, Author of The Hebrew Bible: A Brief Socio-Literary Introduction“An absolutely indispensable compendium of resources for charting the changes in the discipline of biblical studies, for exposing the operations of power in past and present interpretations and uses of the Bible, and for discovering a variety of postmodernist and postcolonial pedagogies in the reading and teaching of the Bible in a radically pluralistic age.”
Abraham Smith, Perkins School of Theology, S.M.U. -
Handbook Of New Testament Exegesis (Reprinted)
$34.00Add to cartIntroduction
1. Textual Criticism
2. Translation And Translations
3. Historical-Cultural Context
4. Literary Context
5. Word Studies
6. Grammar
7. Interpretive Problems
8. Outlining
9. Theology
10. Application
Summary
Appendix: Checklist For Doing Biblical ExegesisAdditional Info
This handbook provides a one-stop-shopping guide to the New Testament exegetical method. Brief and approachable, it offers both a broad overview of the exegetical process and a step-by-step approach to studying the New Testament in depth, helping students and pastors understand the text and appropriate it responsibly. The book is chock-full of illustrations of New Testament texts where the method under discussion truly makes a difference. -
Guide To Interpreting Scripture
$14.99Add to cartQuoting verses without regard to context can have serious consequences. In A Guide to Interpreting Scripture, Dr. Michael Kyomya illustrates what scriptural interpretation is, why it is important, how to do it, and the pitfalls to avoid. Full of ways to enrich your personal study of the Bible, this guide will equip you with the knowledge and instruction you need.
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Sacred Scripture : A Short History Of Interpretation
$40.00Add to cartHow did the Bible’s sixty-six books become sacred Scripture? How have they been understood and interpreted over the last two thousand years? What was it that led to our acceptance of the Bible as the true word of God?
For two millennia, Christians have accepted the importance of the Bible as sacred Scripture, and for as many years they have struggled to comprehend its meaning. Over the centuries the church has expressed the centrality of Scripture in numerous ways, and Christians have studied and interpreted the Bible in a wide variety of faithful approaches. Understanding that process is critical to our ability–and our willingness–to accept the Bible as sacred and true. To that end, Soulen leads us through the history of how Christian understandings of the Bible have changed and developed throughout history. -
Whose Community Which Interpretation
$22.00Add to cartIn this volume, renowned philosopher Merold Westphal introduces current philosophical thinking related to interpreting the Bible. Recognizing that no theology is completely free of philosophical “contamination,” he engages and mines contemporary hermeneutical theory in service of the church. After providing a historical overview of contemporary theories of interpretation, Westphal addresses postmodern hermeneutical theory, arguing that the relativity embraced there is not the same as the relativism in which “anything goes.” Rather, Westphal encourages us to embrace the proliferation of interpretations based on different perspectives as a way to get at the richness of the biblical text.
About the series: The Church and Postmodern Culture series features high-profile theorists in continental philosophy and contemporary theology writing for a broad, nonspecialist audience interested in the impact of postmodern theory on the faith and practice of the church. -
Is There A Meaning In This Text (Anniversary)
$39.99Add to cartWritten by a brilliant young author, this book develops an evangelical theological hermeneutic that sees meaning in the text of Scripture.
This tenth anniversary edition includes a new preface by the author and a foreword by Craig L. Blomberg. It also represents the first volume in Zondervan’s Landmarks in Christian Scholarship collection. Beginning in 2009, one title will be chosen each year to be part of this select group based on its contribution and continuing importance in the fields of biblical studies and theology.
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10 Commandments
$55.00Add to cartWith this volume, WJK is proud to introduce an exciting new phase in the renowned Interpretation commentary series. Instead of focusing on individual books of the Bible, these new additions to the expanded series will focus on the Bible’s most enduring passages and most vital themes, bringing to these topics the insight and faithful wisdom that are longtime hallmarks of the Interpretation series. In this first offering, Pat Miller studies the Ten Commandments as ancient document and as contemporary guide. With careful attention to each commandment in its original context, this book shows the reader the modern relevance of these basic principles, as well as how the ideas of each commandment influenced the New Testament and the history of Christian thought. More than an intellectual exercise, The Ten Commandments applies the call of the commandments to modern-day issues. For example, Miller discusses how the commandment “You shall not kill” relates to manslaughter, murder, execution, and war, and suggests that the story of Ruth may be read as a commentary on how to honor one’s father and mother. Future volumes are underway to address passages such as The Lord’s Prayer and the Sermon on the Mount. Issues of violence, wealth, or eschatology will be addressed as well. Surely this expanded Interpretation series will be an excellent resource for all those who teach, preach, and study the Bible.
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3 Views On The New Testament Use Of The Old Testament
$19.99Add to cartThis book in the Counterpoints: Exploring Theology series introduces the various approaches presently employed in the study of the uses of the Old Testament in the New Testament, especially in those instances where the New Testament authors discern the fulfillment of a prophetic element in the Old Testament text. The foundational issue concerns the relationship of the human author’s intention to the Divine Author’s intention.
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Seized By Truth
$30.99Add to cartShows how we read the Bible and interpret Scripture in order to live in grace-filled relation to God’s divine purpose
Green contends that when we approach the Bible as Scripture, the Bible then becomes our book; these Scriptures become our Scripture. We are not reading someone else’s mail – as though reading the Bible had to do foremost with recovering an ancient meaning intended for someone else and then translating its principles for use in our own lives.
Argues that when we encounter the Bible, the fundamental transformation takes place, not through the metamorphosis of an ancient message into a contemporary meaning, but as our lives are radically changed by means of God’s Word.
Concludes that reading the Bible as Scripture has less to do with what tools readers bring to the task, than with their dispositions as they engage Scripture.
Thus, readers come to the Bible, not so much to retrieve facts or to gain information, but to be formed and ultimately, transformed. -
Prophecy And Hermeneutics
$30.00Add to cartThis volume by Christopher Seitz offers a contemporary look at the study of Isaiah and the twelve Minor Prophets. Seitz explores fundamental questions of hermeneutics, the canon, and the Prophets as a bridge between the Testaments.
In the first section, “The Overreach of History–Figuring the Prophets Out,” Seitz delivers an insightful account of the history of the genre, looking at the impact of modern critical methods and the influence of Gerhard von Rad. In particular, Seitz is concerned about unintended consequences of the tradition-historical approach, especially the separation of the Prophets from their canonical context. As an alternative, he makes the case for a “figural” reading that takes seriously the Prophets’ association with other portions of the canon while maintaining their individual integrity.
The second section, “Time in Association–Reading the Twelve,” offers three exegetical essays in which Seitz explores the themes and hermeneutical approach developed in the first half of the volume.
This work, the second in the Studies in Theological Interpretation series, introduces an original and fruitful approach to the study of the Prophets, one that takes seriously the questions of both exegesis and hermeneutics.
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Bible Research : Developing Your Ability To Study The Scriptures
$17.99Add to cartBible Research clearly explains specific methods and essential tools needed for successful Scripture study. It includes both text and self instructional workshops on specific research books such as Nave’s Topical Bible, Strong’s Concordance, Vine’s Expository Dictionary, and The Manners and Customs of the Bible.
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High View Of Scripture
$27.00Add to cartContents
Introduction
1. Evangelicals, Traditionalism, And The Bible
2. Introducing New Testament Canon Formation
3. Canon And Ecclesiology
4. A Closed Second-Century Canon?
5. Two Important Fourth-Century Lists
6. Inspiration And Inerrancy
Postscript
Appendix: The Fathers, Scripture, And InspirationAdditional Info
This book shows the diverse histories of the canon’s historical development and its subsequent twenty-first century implications for an evangelical “high view of Scripture”. -
Reading The Bible With The Dead
$34.99Add to cartMany Christians would describe themselves as serious and regular readers of the Bible. Yet, if we are honest, we have a tendency to stick with the parts of the Bible that we understand, leaving vast tracts of Scripture unexplored. Even when following a guide, we may never reach into the Bible’s less-traveled regions, passages marked by violence, tragedy, offense, or obscurity. Where our modern minds shy away from, however, ancient, medieval, and Reformation commentators dove into. In fact, they often displayed strikingly contemporary interests and sensitivities to the difficulties, meaning, and moral implications of the Bible’s most difficult narratives. Reading the Bible with the Dead presents a remarkably engrossing exploration of these passages through the eyes of those who came before. In doing so, readers will be left with a conviction that the legacy of the faithful interpreters of the past can guide and challenge readers and hearers today.
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Between Philosophy And Religion 1
$126.00Add to cartIntroduction: The Challenge Of Spinoza To Modernity
The Bible And Hermeneutics
The Ontological Argument And Modernity: The Relationship Between Thought And Existence
Conclusion: Hermeneutics And Ontology
Appendix 1: Critical Commentary On Works Relating To Spinoza, The Bible, And Modernity
Appendix 2: Strauss On The Bible, Philosophy, And Modernity
BibliographyIndex
Additional Info
In Between Philosophy and Religion Volumes I and II, Brayton Polka examines Spinoza’s three major works-on religion, politics, and ethics-in order to show that his thought is at once biblical and modern. Indeed, Polka argues that Spinoza is biblical only insofar as he is understood to be one of the great philosophers of modernity and that he is modern only when it is understood that he is unique in making the interpretation of the Bible central to philosophy and philosophy central to the interpretation of the Bible. This book and its companion volume are essential reading for any scholar of Spinoza. -
Engaging The Bible
$24.00Add to cartBringing together some of the leading luminaries in feminist, womanist, and multicultural critical biblical studies in this book, each woman describes her unique perspective and offers her reading of a particular biblical scene. This is an ideal text for courses on feminist and multicultural biblical interpretation and includes discussion questions for each chapter and a list of suggested readings.
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Seeing The Word
$32.00Add to cartTaking full account of more recent approaches and historical-critical methods, the author proposes a rethinking of the way students and scholars should approach the New Testament.
A timely prophetic plea for an ‘evangelical catholic reading of the text in our own time’
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When Deborah Met Jael
$35.99Add to cartWhen Deborah Met Jael defines and situates the significant elements that might constitute lesbian-identified readings of scripture. Deryn Guest explores the instability of the lesbian label and the concept of a “lesbian sensibility” while defending the need to retain the ‘lesbian’ identifier despite shifts to queer terminology. An exploration of the differing social locations of lesbian-identified hermeneutics, noting in particular the adverse positions of lesbians socially, economically and religiously, grounds the subsequent proposal of three principles (and accompanying reading strategies) that might characterize lesbian-identified hermeneutics. These principles, which are not to be read as progressive linear movements but rather as interweaving commitments, include a commitment to a hermeneutic of hetero-suspicion, a commitment to strategies of appropriation, a commitment to the disruption of sex-gender binaries and a commitment to making a difference (which involves a willingness to confront the issue of biblical authority). Throughout, the author evaluates strategies that have been used to date by lesbians reading scripture, identifying those strategies that are most likely to provide empowerment contemporary lesbians in a variety of social contexts and she engages closely with relevant biblical texts to demonstrate how these strategies can be applied.
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Cross Cultural Paul
$31.99Add to cartThe apostle Paul was a cross-cultural missionary, a Hellenistic Jew who sought to be “all things to all people” in order to win them to the gospel. In this provocative book Charles Cosgrove, Herold Weiss, and K. K. Yeo bring Paul into conversation with six diverse cultures of today: Argentine/Uraguayan, Anglo-American, Chinese, African American, Native American, and Russian. No other book on the apostle Paul looks at his thought from multiple cultural perspectives in the way that this one does. From the introduction outlining the authors’ cultural backgrounds to the conclusion drawing together what they learn from each other, Cross-Cultural Paul orients readers to the hermeneutical struggles and rewards of approaching texts cross-culturally.
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Short Introduction To Hermeneutics
$30.00Add to cartHermeneutics defines the rules used to search out the meaning of Scripture. Throughout church history, interpreters have approached biblical interpretation in different ways, using different tools and methods. This book conveniently and accessibly surveys major biblical interpreters and approaches to hermeneutics from the patristic period to the present days. It provides a theoretical basis for understanding the processes of hermeneutics in different faith traditions.
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Evangelicals And Scripture
$32.99Add to cartBy definition, a high view of Scripture inheres in evangelicalism. However, there does not seem to be a uniform way to articulate an evangelical doctrine of Scripture.
Taking up the challenge, Vincent E. Bacote, Laura C. Miguilez and Dennis L. Okholm present twelve essays that explore in depth the meaning of an evangelical doctrine of Scripture that takes seriously both the human and divine dimensions of the Bible. The essays, selected from the presentations made at the 2002 Wheaton Theology Conference, approach this vital subject from three directions. Stan Grenz, Bruce McCormack and Donald Dayton consider the history of evangelical thinking on the nature of Scripture. John Brogan, Kent Sparks, J. Daniel Hays and Richard Schultz address the nature of biblical authority. Finally, Bruce Benson, John Franke, Daniel Treier and David Alan Williams explore the challenge of hermeneutics, especially as it relates to interpreting Scripture in a postmodern context.
Together these essays provide a window into current evangelical scholarship on the doctrine of Scripture and also advance the dialogue about how best to construe our faith in the Word of God, living and written, that informs not only the belief but also the practice of the church.
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Matthew : Storyteller Interpreter Evangelist (Revised)
$34.00Add to cartFor the past ten years, the well-received first edition of this commentary has offered readers a way to look at scriptural texts that combines historical, narrative, and contemporary interests. Carter explores Matthew by approaching it from the perspective of the “authorial audience”-by identifying with and reading along with the audience imagined by the author. Now an updated second edition is available as part of a new series focusing on each of the gospel writers as storyteller, interpreter, and evangelist.
This edition preserves the essential identity of the original material, while adding new insights from Carter’s more recent readings of Matthew’s gospel in relation to the Roman Imperial world.
Four of the seventeen chapters have been significantly revised, and most have had minor changes. There are also new endnotes directing readers to Carter’s more recent published work on Matthew. Scholars and pastors will use the full bibliography and appendix on redaction and narrative approaches, while lay readers will appreciate the clear and straightforward text.
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Appealing To Scripture In Moral Debate A Print On Demand Title
$27.99Add to cart240 Pages
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Arguing from scripture is one of the ways that Christians test their moral judgments. But are all methods of appealing to the Bible equally valid and effective? In this book Charles Cosgrove looks at the church’s long tradition of moral debate and analyzes five important hermeneutical rules that guide contemporary use of scripture in ethical argument. After introducing the nature of moral arguments generally, Cosgrove devotes one chapter to each of the five rules of biblical interpretation that make ethical appeals to scripture persuasive. He sets forth each rule’s rationale, provides examples of its operation, and subjects it to critique. Based not only on the work of biblical scholars and Christian ethicists but also on Cosgrove’s own experience with debates in classrooms, churches, and other Christian contexts, this volume is a valuable aid to readers who employ moral reasoning in real-life settings. -
Bible In Modern Culture Print On Demand Title (Reprinted)
$38.99Add to cartA Print On Demand Title
Historical critical method in Biblical Scholarship has been a Pandora’s box for the intellectual life of the church. No achievement of modern scholarship has been more effective in understanding the Bible, yet it has also seriously challenged a church trying to preserve the integrity of its cherished theological traditions. In this critically acclaimed book Roy Harrisville and Walter Sundberg trace the development and drama of historical-critical method by surveying the major figures who created and employed it- from Baruch Spinoza in the seventeenth century to present-day interpreters. This expanded second edition of The Bible in Modern Culture includes three new chapters detailing the work of Adolf Schlatter, Paul Ricoeur, and Brevard Childs
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Making Sense Of The Bible
$21.99Add to cartKnowing what kind of material you are reading is critical to knowing how it should be interpreted. Johnson fully discusses the eight major biblical forms of literature—wisdom, liturgical, legal, prophetic, historical, apocalyptic, epistolary, and Gospel. Valuable findings for multiple purposes.
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Bible In A World Context A Print On Demand Title
$15.99Add to cartIn the West, the Bible is largely read and studied abstractly, without context. This is unfortunate since the meaning and value of Scripture are rooted, first, in the contextual situations of its readers. The West has much to learn from voices in places like Latin America, Africa, and Asia, where people are reading and studying the Bible in direct relation to the often trying circumstances of their daily lives.
The Bible in a World Context is an engaging work that offers a fresh look at the subjects of Bible reading and hermeneutics from a global perspective. Three rising scholars representing three distinct geographical regions each contribute to the volume a programmatic essay on hermeneutics and a shorter Bible study on Luke 2:1-20, the account of Jesus’ birth. In showing the role that context plays in interpretation, these chapters demonstrate a contextual hermeneutics that brings familiar biblical texts to life in new and important ways.
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Biblical Hermeneutics
$42.00Add to cartWith the revival of preterist interpretation of Bible prophecy, Terry’s book once again is gaining an audience. It was the textbook of choice for most seminaries through the 1970s. Even dispensational schools used it. Together with Terry’s Biblical Apocalyptics, you’ll have the foundation for sound biblical interpretation.
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Slaves Women And Homosexuals
$32.99Add to cart320 Paqes
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This book successfully walks the reader through the hermeneutical maze that accompanies the treatment of each of these areas. The goal is not only to discuss how these groups are to be seen in light of Scripture but to make a case for a specific hermeneutical approach to reading these texts. This book takes a markedly new direction toward establishing common ground, potentially breaking down certain walls of hostility within the evangelical community. -
Biblical Interpretation Past And Present
$60.99Add to cart608 Pagers
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Standing at the beginning of the third millennium, the call to draw biblical interpretation back into the heart of the church is being sounded. The Bible and its interpretation belong to the church. Gerald Bray has written this comprehensive guide to the history of biblical interpretation out of the conviction that biblical interpretation and Christian doctrine go hand in hand. His account is history with a clear message. -
Theology Hermeneutics And Imagination
$120.00Add to cartThis book explores the contemporary crisis of biblical interpretation by examining modern and postmodern forms of the ‘hermeneutics of suspicion’. Garrett Green looks at several thinkers who played key roles in creating a radically suspicious reading of the Bible. After Kant, Hamann and Feuerbach comes Nietzsche, who marked the turn from modern to postmodern suspicion. Green argues that similarities between Derrida’s deconstruction and Barth’s theology of signs show that postmodern suspicion ought not to be viewed simply as a threat to theology but as a secular counterpart to its own hermeneutical insights. When theology attends to its proper task of describing the grammar of scriptural imagination, it discovers a source of suspicion more radical than the secular, the hermeneutical expression of God’s gracious judgement. Green concludes that Christians are committed to the hermeneutical imperative, the never-ending struggle for the meaning of scripture in the hopeful insecurity of the faithful imagination.
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Linguistics And Biblical Interpretation
$42.99Add to cartContemporary linguistics is increasingly enlightening for biblical studies, but till now there’s been no intelligible introduction for non-linguists. This new book shows how three linguistic principles (the concept of meaning, the significance of author, text, and reader in the search for meaning, and the use of discourse analysis in determining meaning) can illumine Scripture. Each principle is illustrated with examples from the Bible and from ordinary speech. Even laypeople will be fascinated!
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Modern Preacher And The Ancient Text
$38.99Add to cartHow to choose and isolate a coherent section of Scripture, outline the main points, decide on a universal principle, choose alternate ways to preach the material (e.g., didactive, narrative, or textual), and deliver it in a creative, imaginative fashion.
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Protestant Biblical Interpretation (Reprinted)
$30.00Add to cartThe Prophets of Israel has established itself as a reliable introduction to prophecy and prophets in Israel. Students will now be able to acquire this useful textbook in a more affordable paperback edition.
According to Leon Wood, a continuity exists between Israel’s earlier nonwriting prophets and its later prophets. Both must be studied to acquire a thorough understanding of Israelite prophecy.
This assertion, for which the author of this study marshals considerable evidence, underlies the entire text of this significant volume. Instead of concentration upon the prophetic writings, the author focuses on the prophets themselves, both those who recorded their messages and those who did not. A study of the [prophets] themselves is most worthwhile, he writes, for when one sees them as people, in the day and circumstances in which they lived, he has a distinct advantage for understanding what they wrote.
The book begins with an informative introduction to the Israelite prophets represented in the canon; the author then discusses the nonwriting prophets of both the premonarchy era (including Miriam, Deborah, and Samuel) and the monarchy period (including Gad, Nathan, Ahijah, Iddo, Shemaiah, Azariah, Hanani, Jehu, Jahaziel, Eliezer, Elijah, Micaiah, Zechariah, and Elisha).