This volume tells the story of the New Testament text from the earliest copies to the latest scholarly editions in Greek. Using a cross-sectional approach, the author introduces those who have developed the discipline of New Testament textual criticism (the movers); the ancient sources for recovering the text (the materials); the aims that drove them (the motives); the criteria and techniques (methods); and the books and other examples of best practices (the models) of New Testament textual criticism. Written primarily for seminary students, the book will also interest clergy and graduate students in biblical studies, theology, church history, and religion.
This workbook accompanies The New Testament in Its World by N. T. Wright and Michael F. Bird. Following the textbook's structure, it offers assessment questions, exercises, and activities designed to support the students' learning experience. Reinforcing the teaching in the textbook, this workbook will not only help to enhance their understanding of the New Testament books as historical, literary, and social phenomena located in the world of early Christianity, but also guide them to think like a first-century believer while reading the text responsibly for today.
The final book of the Bible, Revelation prophesies the ultimate judgement of mankind in a series of allegorical visions, grisly images and numerological predictions. According to these, empires will fall, the "Beast" will be destroyed and Christ will rule a new Jerusalem. With an introduction by Will Self.
For centuries, people have passed on their heritage and history through storytelling. In Story Thru the Bible, you will learn an easy hands-on approach to oral teaching that engages the listener while sharing a biblical worldview. This approach causes the storyteller and the listener to engage in a whole new way while creating a laid-back atmosphere. This step-by-step guide uses 52 Bible stories adaptable to any culture or age group. Comes complete with summaries, questions, and practical applications.
The Bible is simply a love letter compiled into sixty-six books and written over a period ofsixteen hundred years by more than forty authors living on three continents. Although theauthors came from different backgrounds, there is one message, one theme, one thread that runs throughout the entire Bible from the first book, Genesis, to the last book, Revelation. That message is God's redeeming love for mankind--a message that is as relevant for us today as it was two thousand years ago.These five books (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts) begin with the birth of Jesus Christ and conclude with the first imprisonment of the apostle Paul about six decades later. Over the course of these decades, God introduced elements of His sovereign plan that turned the world upside down. He moved from an emphasis on the nation of Israel to an emphasis on the church, from a covenant of law to a covenant of grace, from His Holy Spirit merely coming upon people to actually indwelling them, and from commanding Israel to live in such a way as to attract others to commanding the church to disperse throughout the world and make disciples of all nations.The Gospels give us four similar but distinct accounts of Jesus the Messiah, God's Son. His birth, childhood, ministry, teaching, miracles, arrest, trials, death, and resurrection are all handled differently by the four authors, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. But in every record, by the time the tomb of Jesus was empty, the world had been changed.While the Gospels tell the story of the life of Christ, the book of Acts tells the story of the church of Christ. From its founding on the Day of Pentecost in the city of Jerusalem, through its expansion around the then-known world, to its crisis when the apostle Paul was imprisoned in Rome for the first time, the story is one of excitement, intrigue, incredible growth, and life-changing encounters.
The publication of the King James version of the Bible, translated between 1603 and 1611, coincided with an extraordinary flowering of English literature and is universally acknowledged as the greatest influence on English-language literature in history. Now, world-class literary writers introduce the book of the King James Bible in a series of beautifully designed, small-format volumes. The introducers' passionate, provocative, and personal engagements with the spirituality and the language of the text make the Bible come alive as a stunning work of literature and remind us of its overwhelming contemporary relevance.
Acts is the sequel to Luke's gospel and tells the story of Jesus's followers during the 30 years after his death. It describes how the 12 apostles, formerly Jesus's disciples, spread the message of Christianity throughout the Mediterranean against a background of persecution. With an introduction by P.D. James
A literary history of our most influential book of all time, by an Oxford scholar and Anglican priest In our culture, the Bible is monolithic: It is a collection of books that has been unchanged and unchallenged since the earliest days of the Christian church. The idea of the Bible as "Holy Scripture," a non-negotiable authority straight from God, has prevailed in Western society for some time. And while it provides a firm foundation for centuries of Christian teaching, it denies the depth, variety, and richness of this fascinating text. In A History of the Bible, John Barton argues that the Bible is not a prescription to a complete, fixed religious system, but rather a product of a long and intriguing process, which has inspired Judaism and Christianity, but still does not describe the whole of either religion. Barton shows how the Bible is indeed an important source of religious insight for Jews and Christians alike, yet argues that it must be read in its historical context--from its beginnings in myth and folklore to its many interpretations throughout the centuries. It is a book full of narratives, laws, proverbs, prophecies, poems, and letters, each with their own character and origin stories. Barton explains how and by whom these disparate pieces were written, how they were canonized (and which ones weren't), and how they were assembled, disseminated, and interpreted around the world--and, importantly, to what effect. Ultimately, A History of the Bible argues that a thorough understanding of the history and context of its writing encourages religious communities to move away from the Bible's literal wording--which is impossible to determine--and focus instead on the broader meanings of scripture.
The NIV is the world's best-selling modern translation, with over 150 million copies in print since its first full publication in 1978. This highly accurate and smooth-reading version of the Bible in modern English has the largest library of printed and electronic support material of any modern translation.
