Can we know how the ancient Israelites lived 'the good life'? In his last work, Norman Whybray brings his considerable learning to this question in a social and theological study of the Hebrew Bible. He discovers that far from giving a faint or undifferentiated picture of 'the good life', the books of the Old Testament each yield a distinct impression of what this life entails, underpinned by divine guidance and protection. Comprehensive in scope, and marked by Professor Whybray's lucid thought and style, this book is a fitting addition to the work of an illustrious scholar. It will richly reward any reader interested in the social world as depicted in the Bible, and in God's relationship with it.
Scholars of the social sciences have devoted more and more attention of late to the concept of human happiness, mainly from sociological and psychological perspectives. This volume, which includes essays from scholars of the New Testament, the Old Testament, systematic theology, practical theology, and counseling psychology, poses a new and exciting question: what is happiness according to the Bible? Informed by developments in positive psychology, The Bible and the Pursuit of Happiness explores representations of happiness throughout the Bible and demonstrates the ways in which these representations affect both religious and secular understandings of happiness. In addition to the twelve essays, the book contains a framing introduction and epilogue, as well as an appendix of all the terms used in reference to happiness in the Bible. The resulting volume, the first of its kind, is a highly useful and remarkably comprehensive resource for the study of happiness in the Bible and beyond.
ECPA 2020 Christian Book Award Finalist! Wouldn’t it be great if we could do what pleases God, helps others, and is best for us—at the same time? Can we live the good life without being selfish? In Giving Is the Good Life, bestselling author Randy Alcorn teaches life-changing biblical principles of generosity and tells stories of people who have put those radical principles into practice. Each story is a practical application that can help stimulate your imagination and expand your dreams of serving Jesus in fresh ways. These real-life models give you not just words to remember but footprints to follow. Giving Is the Good Life reveals a grander view of God and generosity—one that stretches far beyond our imagination and teaches us what the good life is really all about.
The question of the good life--what it looks like for people and societies to be well ordered and flourishing--has universal significance, but its proposed solutions are just as far reaching. At the core of this concern is the nature of the good itself: what is right? We must attend to this ethical dilemma before we can begin to envision a life lived to the fullest. With Seeking What Is Right, Iain Provan invites us to consider how Scripture--the Old Testament in particular--can aid us in this quest. In rooting the definition of the good in God's special revelation, Provan moves beyond the constraints of family, tribe, culture, state, or nature. When we read ourselves into the story of Scripture, we learn a formative ethic that speaks directly to our humanity. Provan delves into Western Christian history to demonstrate the various ways this has been done: how our forebears identified with the narrative of God's people, Israel, and how they applied the Old Testament to their particular times and concerns. This serves as a foundation upon which modern Christians can assess their decisions as people who read the whole biblical story from the beginning in our time. Provan challenges us to grapple with ethical issues dominating our contemporary culture as a people in exile, a people formed by disciplines steeped in the patterns and teachings of Scripture. To come alongside ancient Israel in its own experiences of exile, to listen with Israel to the utterances of a holy God, is to approach a true picture of the good life that illuminates all facets of human existence. Provan helps us understand how we should and should not read Scripture in arriving at these conclusions, clarifying for the faithful Christian what the limits of the search for what is right look like. --Carol M. Kaminski, Professor of Old Testament, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
Take a daily step toward joy and contentment and ditch stress, overwhelming thoughts, and boredom with encouraging and biblical messages from Alli Worthington. You do your best to live life well—you work hard to be present in the moment, take care of the people in your life, knock it out of the park at work and home. And yet, somehow, you still have days (perhaps more than you'd like to admit) where you're simultaneously stressed and bored, and you wonder if you even know how to be happy. Is happiness a worthy goal? Does happiness matter to God, or does He only care about holier things? Alli Worthington gets it. As a wife, mother of five boys, author, speaker, and entrepreneur, she knows a thing or two about being busy, stressed, and happy in the midst of a crazy world! Over the years, she's seen how happiness gets a bad rap in Christian circles, and now she is standing up to shout the good news from the roof (or the internet, as the case may be): You are allowed to be happy! Yes, you! You can be happy right now! Join Alli for The Year of Living Happy: Finding Contentment and Connection in a Crazy World, and find the roots of your happiest life yet. Each of the 100 short and inspirational entries includes a thoughtful message from Alli, based on God’s Word practical ways to make your life happier day by day a journaling section This gorgeous book is an empowering gift for yourself or any woman you love. It can be used as a daily devotional or as a guided journal. Be part of this exciting message: Happiness and holiness can coexist for a beautiful life. Don’t miss the great big adventure God has for you. Let this be The Year of Living Happy!
What if it is death that teaches us how to truly live? Keeping the end in mind shapes how we live our lives in the here and now. Living life backward means taking the one thing in our future that is certain—death—and letting that inform our journey before we get there. Looking to the book of Ecclesiastes for wisdom, Living Life Backward was written to shake up our expectations and priorities for what it means to live "the good life." Considering the reality of death helps us pay attention to our limitations as human beings and receive life as a wondrous gift from God—freeing us to live wisely, generously, and faithfully for God's glory and the good of his world.
“Hilarious. . . . It’s Cliff Notes for Scripture—screenplay by Plotz, story by God. . . . In the end, though, the book is made by the spirit of the writer.” — The New York Times Book Review “Like the Bible itself, Good Book contains multitudes—it is by turns thought-provoking, funny, enlightening and moving.” — A. J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically “Plotz is a genius writer.” — Franklin Foer, author of How Soccer Explains the World A whip-smart, laugh-out-loud tour through the most important book in the world, a book most people have never read: the Bible.
Tim Chester shows how the gospel makes a real difference as he takes us to this little-read, life-changing New Testament letter. With clarity and insight, he helps small groups to be excited about, and equipped for, letting the truth transform their lives, their churches, and their mission. These five studies will help small groups and individuals see how to live the good life.
In Ancient Wisdom for the Good Life, Ralph K. Hawkins turns our attention to the Bible’s Wisdom Literature (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs) and how it can correct us, train us in righteousness, and ultimately empower us for successful living. These are some of the most inspired writings on the Good Life the world has ever known, in which ancient Israel’s sages wrote about how to live stable, harmonious, productive, and joyous lives. Together, they interlock to cover the entire field of wisdom, providing contemporary readers with the tools to develop a unified world view with God at the center. Ancient Wisdom for the Good Life culls out the guidance of ancient Israel’s sages for a modern society that has been cut adrift from its moorings. Full of wisdom and practically written, this book could be used as a supplementary text in an undergraduate or seminary course in the Wisdom Literature, and it would certainly be useful for pastors in their sermon preparation or even just general reading. Table of Contents: Winning and the Wisdom Literature A Mindset of Integrity A Mindset of Community A Mindset of Communication A Mindset of Cause-and-Effect A Mindset of Goal-Setting A Mindset of Work A Mindset of Health A Mindset of Abundance A Mindset of Joy About the Author Ralph K. Hawkins (PhD, Andrews University) is professor of religion and director of the Program in Religion at Averett University. He is co-director of the Jordan Valley Excavation Project (JVEP) and the author of several books, including The Iron Age I Structure on Mt. Ebal: Excavation and Interpretation (Eisenbrauns), How Israel became a People (Abingdon Press), and Discovering Exodus: Content, Interpretation, Reception (SPCK/Eerdmans). An Anglican priest, Hawkins has also written pastoral books, including While I Was Praying: Finding Insights about God in Old Testament Prayers (Smyth & Helwys), and Leadership Lessons: Avoiding the Pitfalls of King Saul (Thomas Nelson).
The Good Life contains an exposition and critique of the various ideals in living that have been advocated by major philosophers and schools of thought. In addition, the ethical problems of egoism, determinism, and relativism are explained and evaluated in both their classic Greek form and in the deconstruction of post-modernism. The ideals that are discussed include hedonism as described by the Cyrenaics and Epicureans, and the Utilitarianism of Bentham and Mill; the naturalistic ethic of the Stoics, the Transcendentalists, the evolutionists, and the back-to-nature movement; the biblical ethic of Judaism and Christianity as well as the Eastern religions of Confucianism and Buddhism; and the Kantian ideal of duty and virtue ethics, including feminist theory. To illuminate various conceptions of the good life, multiple examples are drawn from contemporary life, including the abortion issue, racism, capital punishment, and multiculturalism.
