Has dividing the Bible into chapters and verses led to sampling Scripture rather than reading it deeply? According to author Glenn R. Paauw, misreading the Bible has divorced it from its context, leaving only a database of quick answers to life's questions. In these pages he introduces us to seven new understandings of Scripture to help us read and live the Bible well.
Originally featured as articles in the ESV Study Bible, these eighteen essays have been repurposed and republished in a convenient format. Covering a diverse range of essential subjects, including how to read the Bible well and why it is reliable, the essays delve into specific topics such as world religions, canon, and archaeology. Useful as both a general overview of the Bible and as a tool for more specific reference and training, readers of this book will grow in their understanding of Scripture and their ability to apply the Bible to their lives. Pastors, lay leaders, students, and other Christians engaged in studying God's Word will benefit from this collection, written by notable contributors, including J. I. Packer, John Piper, David Powlison, and Vern Poythress.
Does the Bible have authority in a world committed to relative truth? The understanding of absolute, objective truth has been largely lost. Spend just a few minutes discussing politics or religion and you’ll hear responses like, “There is no truth!” or “That may be true for you, but not for me.” Understanding the Faith dares to wade into the middle of the controversy with chapters such as: Is God Christian? Isn’t Claiming Truth Intolerant? Is the Bible Anti-Science? Summit Ministries’ half century of teaching, this first volume of the Understanding the Times Series is your definitive resource for deepening and defending your faith. It’s a required resource for every Christian’s bookshelf.
Help to read and understand the Bible. The Bible is the most extraordinary book you’ll ever read; it’s how God speaks directly to us and how his Spirit works to change us. But it can seem intimidating, confusing and even a little bit boring. In this book, Gary Millar shows you that the skills you need to read the Bible are not beyond your grasp. In a warm, approachable style, he gives you the tools to read and understand the Bible for yourself, helping you move from confusion to confidence as you enjoy refreshment in God’s word. Whether you are a new believer and don’t know where to start or you have been a Christian for a while but have never got into a regular habit of Bible reading, this book will equip you to get going. As you read the Bible, you will hear God speak, and you will be changed to be more like Jesus. Don’t miss out!
**By the Co-Creator of Immerse: The Reading Bible--ECPA 2022 Bible of the Year!** Confused. Frustrated. Apathetic. If you feel this way about the Bible, you're not alone. The reality is that we've been set up to fail when we read the Bible, inheriting barriers and habits that make reading Scripture harder than it needs to be. Alex Goodwin, co-founder of the Institute for Bible Reading, will show you a better way forward. Discover how the physical format of our Bibles can make or break our Bible reading and how changing our reading habits can help us see that Scripture is alive. Learn how the ancient collection of writings compiled in the Bible tells a story that is still unfolding--a story God is inviting you to live into today. You'll get actionable steps toward a flourishing relationship with the Bible, a grand sense of the overall story the Bible is telling, a clear sense of how you can participate in God's work of restoration and renewal, and renewed curiosity about the Bible in ways you didn't think were possible. Alex was once intimidated (and bored) by Bible reading too! He presents his discoveries in ways that are easy to access, full of illustrations, and peppered with humor to keep you engaged. Whether reading on your own or with a church or small group, you'll be surprised at how your fascination will develop and your life will be transformed as you read and enjoy Scripture in fresh, new ways.
Growing up in a Christian home dictated by legalism and religious ideals, Dianne Leman set out to find something more than the fear of not being enough or doing enough to earn God's favor. In her search, she found that Jesus was bigger, better, and more beautiful than she had ever dared to dream--and it wrecked her for good. In her faith-altering book, Leman guides believers out of Christian lives of doing into union with the Lord Jesus Christ that provides rest, freedom, delight, and grace that is not exhausting but exhilarating. This non-striving guide will help you · lose your religion and strengthen your faith · pray in power · offer mercy to the "messy" people · and much more Break the shackles of religion, and embrace the fruitful, fulfilling life with Jesus that you never thought possible.
There may be no more powerful desire in the human heart than to be loved. And not just loved, but loved anyway. In spite of what we've done or left undone, in spite of the ways we have failed or floundered. We long for an unconditional, lavish love that we know intrinsically we don't deserve. If you are tired, sad, yet always longing, bestselling author Jared C. Wilson has incredible news for you: that kind of love actually exists, and it is actually something you can experience--whether or not you're in a romantic relationship. In his signature reflective, conversational, and often humorous style, Wilson unpacks 1 Corinthians 13 to show us what real love looks like. Through engaging stories and touching anecdotes, he paints a picture of an extravagant God who not only puts the desire for love into our very souls but fulfills those desires in striking, life-changing ways.
Concise, pithy chapters with dozens of charts, highlighted summaries and study questions make Graeme Goldsworthy's introductory text enormously useful for understanding how the Bible fits together as the unfolding story of God's plan for salvation.
By early 1943, it had become increasingly clear that the Allies would win the Second World War. Around the same time, it also became increasingly clear to many Christian intellectuals on both sides of the Atlantic that the soon-to-be-victorious nations were not culturally or morally prepared for their success. A war won by technological superiority merely laid the groundwork for a post-war society governed by technocrats. These Christian intellectuals-Jacques Maritain, T. S. Eliot, C. S. Lewis, W. H. Auden, and Simone Weil, among others-sought both to articulate a sober and reflective critique of their own culture and to outline a plan for the moral and spiritual regeneration of their countries in the post-war world. In this book, Alan Jacobs explores the poems, novels, essays, reviews, and lectures of these five central figures, in which they presented, with great imaginative energy and force, pictures of the very different paths now set before the Western democracies. Working mostly separately and in ignorance of one another's ideas, the five developed a strikingly consistent argument that the only means by which democratic societies could be prepared for their world-wide economic and political dominance was through a renewal of education that was grounded in a Christian understanding of the power and limitations of human beings. The Year of Our Lord 1943 is the first book to weave together the ideas of these five intellectuals and shows why, in a time of unprecedented total war, they all thought it vital to restore Christianity to a leading role in the renewal of the Western democracies.
