The concept of blessing pervades the everyday life of Christians—from testimonies recounting God's provision, to praise songs, to wishing someone well. In fact, the term has been so integrated into Christian language that it is rarely considered thoughtfully. In the pages of Scripture, blessing seems to be either physical or spiritual, but a fuller biblical-theological approach reveals that God's blessing has always been both spiritual and physical. In Divine Blessing and the Fullness of Life in the Presence of God, William Osborne traces the theme of blessing throughout Scripture as he guides readers into a deeper understanding of how God's gracious benevolence impacts the everyday lives of Christians.
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.
1879 Containing a description of twenty-seven bibles, & an exposition of 2,000 Biblical errors in science, history, morals, religion, & general events; also a delineation of the characters of the principle personages of the Christian Bible, & an examina.
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.
The world’s most powerful Bible software brings you the most visually striking new study Bible! From the makers of Logos Bible Software, the NKJV Faithlife Illustrated Study Bible’s striking illustrations and comprehensive verse-by-verse insights will serve as a guide to help you understand and apply God’s Word. With informative contributions by respected scholars and bestselling authors like Charles Stanley, Randy Alcorn, and Ed Stetzer, and over 100 innovative infographics, this NIV study Bible brings the stories of Scripture to life and helps you to see events, places and people clearly. Features: Complete text of the New King James Version (NKJV) In-depth book introductions that include an outline and information on authorship, background, structure, themes, and a map, a timeline, or both Verse-by-verse study notes with the unique focus of revealing nuances from the original biblical languages for modern readers Informative contributions by Charles Stanley, Randy Alcorn, and Ed Stetzer, among others Over 100 innovative full color infographics, comprehensive timelines and informative tables to enrich Bible study Three detailed life-of-Jesus event timelines chronicling his infancy and early ministry, the journey to Jerusalem, and the passion and resurrection 27 family trees and people diagrams illustrate the interconnectedness of key characters in Scripture Helpful overview articles give a bird’s-eye view of the books of the Bible, noting the type of literature and key themes of each book. 14 original color maps at the back of the Bible provide historical and geographical context for key events of the Old and New Testaments Words of Christ in red 9-point type size
"A masterpiece of contemporary Bible translation and commentary."—Los Angeles Times Book Review, Best Books of 1999 Acclaimed for its masterful new translation and insightful commentary, The David Story is a fresh, vivid rendition of one of the great works in Western literature. Robert Alter's brilliant translation gives us David, the beautiful, musical hero who slays Goliath and, through his struggles with Saul, advances to the kingship of Israel. But this David is also fully human: an ambitious, calculating man who navigates his life's course with a flawed moral vision. The consequences for him, his family, and his nation are tragic and bloody. Historical personage and full-blooded imagining, David is the creation of a literary artist comparable to the Shakespeare of the history plays.
This is the first attempt in biblical studies to apply the tools developed by theoreticians of metaphor to the common biblical metaphor of God as king. The extent to which elements of human kingship are projected onto God is investigated, and several significant conclusions emerge: 1. Royal characteristics that have a diminutive connotation are generally not projected onto God. 2. God's nature as greatest king is emphasized through use of superlatives. For example, his garb is enormous and he has a large number of royal attendants. God is not limited by the metaphor. 3. When the entailments of the metaphor would have conflicted with Israelite proscriptions, such as the iconic prohibition, the metaphor is avoided. 4. The metaphor is predominant enough to influence Israel's depiction of human kingship. For example, the term gadol ('great', 'majestic') is appropriated by God the king and is not used of the Israelite king. 5. There is no single metaphor 'God is king'; as Israelite kingship changes, the metaphor undergoes parallel changes. Also, biblical authors emphasize different aspects of God's kingship in specific contexts. The lack of a complete fit between human kingship (the vehicle) and God as king (the tenor) is consistent with the tensive view of metaphor, which predominates in contemporary scholarship. The literary study has other benefits. By enumerating the parallels between human and heavenly messengers, it finds that 'angels' should be construed as projections of royal officials. The analysis of human enthronement rituals as they are projected onto God suggests that there was no annual 'enthronement festival' which celebrated God becoming king. The systematic study of the metaphor also opens new avenues for exploring a number of issues in the study of Israelite religion.
What are we missing when we look at the creation narratives of Genesis only or primarily through the lens of modern discourse about science and religion? Theologian Peter Bouteneff explores how first-millennium Christian understandings of creation can inform current thought in the church and in the public square. He reaches back into the earliest centuries of our era to recover the meanings that early Jewish and Christian writers found in the stories of the six days of creation and of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Readers will find that their forbears in the faith saw in the Genesis narrative not simply an account of origins but also a rich teaching about the righteousness of God, the saving mission of Christ, and the destiny of the human creature.
In this New Studies in Biblical Theology volume, Andrew Shead examines Jeremiah's commissioning, embodiment of the word of God, covenant preaching and "oracles of hope." He shows how a differentiation between the divine "word" and the prophet's "words" enables the word of God to function as an organizing center for the book's theology.
