"The Year of the Lord's Favor is commentary on the texts of the Revised Common Lectionary that is contextualized, politically engaged and unflinchingly honest. Comfort is cruel if it is based on an illusion. These reflections connect honestly and realistically with the ordinary circumstances of experience. They encourage the twenty-first century Christian to live in a way that transcends sentimentality and fear and live a faith that makes things happen."--...

"Giving careful exegetical attention to Paul's letter to the Romans, Kevin W. McFadden shows that Paul wrote the letter to remind Roman Christians of his gospel because of his vocation as apostle to the Gentiles. The letter simultaneously demonstrates the guilt of the world and calls Paul's audience to live out the implications of the gospel. The theme of judgment thus appears in two distinct ways. Paul opposes justification by works of law, but simultaneously...

"Amid competing portrayals of the "cynic Jesus," the "peasant Jesus," and the "apocalyptic Jesus," the "political Jesus" remains a marginal figure. Douglas E. Oakman argues that advances in our social-scientific understanding of the political economy of Roman Galilee, as well as advances in the so-called "Third Quest" for the historical Jesus, warrant a revival-and a critical revision-of H. S. Reimarus's understanding of Jesus as an instigator of...

What does it mean for Jesus to be "deified" in early Christian literature? Although the divinity of Jesus was a topic of profound and contested discussion in Christianity's early centuries, believers did not simply assert that Jesus was divine; in their literature, they depicted Jesus with the specific and widely,recognized traits of Mediterranean deities. Relying on the methods of the history of religions school and ranging judiciously, across Hellenistic...

"Acts of the Apostles helps the preacher identify possibilities for sermons based on texts and themes in the book of Acts. While offering a basic exegetical framework for interpreting passages in Acts in their historical, literary, rhetorical, and theological contexts, this volume also suggests ways in which the preacher can relate passages and motifs from Acts to the congregation and world today. It also is useful in classes that seek to link text...

"The "dilemma of early Christology," Kaiser observes, is found in the early Christian claims to have "seen the Lord" and "beheld his glory"-expressions that in early Judaism would have pointed unequivocally to visions of Israel's God. The shift of those claims onto the figure of Jesus is usually explained either as a result of the resurrection of Jesus, presumed as a historical event, or on the influence of pagan polytheism. Kaiser examines the phenomenon...

"This is the Gospel of Mark from The Source New Testament with Extensive Notes on Greek Word Meaning. It contains abundant and detailed documentation for the meaning of hundreds of Greek words which appear in the New Testament. The Source is the only New Testament translation based on word meaning evidence from the recently discovered papyri and inscriptions. For centuries, translators had to guess the meaning of hundreds of New Testament words....

"A metaphysical interpretation of the New Testament, which teaches oneness as the only truth, and surrender (or letting go) as the practice that leads to spiritual enlightenment. NTI stresses the importance of willingness, acceptance, gratitude, mind-watching and trust on the path of enlightenment while teaching the reader to let go of unworthiness, fear, guilt and false (or separation-based) thinking. NTI has been described as a love letter and as...

"Is there anyone "up there" to hear our cries for help? Will there ever be justice in this world? Why do we suffer? Is there life after death? Is there a meaning in history? How will it all end? Is there a God? What do we mean by "God" anyway? The answers are in the Bible, some say. But are they? This book is a guide to reading the Bible not to find answers but to hear the urgency of the questions and to realise that those who wrote the Bible were...

"In FORGED New York Times bestselling author, Bart Ehrman, reveals another hidden scandal of the Bible. For centuries, scholars have known that not all of the books in the New Testament are authentic while the general public has been blissfully unaware. The books of the New Testament are widely assumed to be written accounts of Jesus's life by those who knew him best. However, if the Gospels and letters were not written by memebers of Jesus's inner...