This book is an attempt to answer some of the intricacies and the intriguing issues in the relationship between man and woman especially in marriage relationships. It is also intended to explore the nature and attributes of these two originally ‘perfect-bound’ creatures of God and how though different, these two can co-exist and inter-relate in peace, harmony and bliss. This book will be a helpful guide for counselors in the ministry of marriage counseling. Its pragmatic approach coupled with examples from real-life experiences will help provide more than theoretical road-map for both 'about-to-enter' marriage couples and those who have already entered into it.
Genesis for everyday readers Why another book on Genesis? It is a text that is inexhaustible, yielding something new at each reading. Authors Martin Kessler and Karel Deurloo contribute to its understanding with this concise, text-oriented, literary commentary on this fundamental book of the Bible. The authors maintain a clear focus on Genesis and what its words mean in themselves, in their narrative context, and in the context of the Bible. The unifying theme is the birth of Israel among the peoples of the world, beginning with the universal story of God's creation of earth, sky, and seas, moving toward the call of Abram, the first of the patriarchs, through Jacob, his grandson, and Jacob's sons, the progenitors of the twelve tribes of Israel. Clearly written and easy to follow, this book will encourage readers to reach beyond their usual assumptions to find not only information, but much illumination, about this richly layered text. Audience: --Bible study groups --introductory college courses --everyday readers who want to read the Bible with deeper meaning and understanding +
"Inspired by the complementary feature film Times of Fire as well as the documentary series The 7 churches of the Revelation, The Mysteries of the Apocalypse offers a panoramic view to this subject that is both innovative and full of passion.--Page [4] of cover.
An innovative approach to the study of ten centuries of Jewish culture and history A Companion to Late Ancient Jews and Judaism explores the Jewish people, their communities, and various manifestations of their religious and cultural expressions from the third century BCE to the seventh century CE. Presenting a collection of 30 original essays written by noted scholars in the field, this companion provides an expansive examination of ancient Jewish life, identity, gender, sacred and domestic spaces, literature, language, and theological questions throughout late ancient Jewish history and historiography. Editors Gwynn Kessler and Naomi Koltun-Fromm situate the volume within Late Antiquity, enabling readers to rethink traditional chronological, geographic, and political boundaries. The Companion incorporates a broad methodology, drawing from social history, material history and culture, and literary studies to consider the diverse forms and facets of Jews and Judaism within multiple contexts of place, culture, and history. Divided into five parts, thematically-organized essays discuss topics including the spaces where Jews lived, worked, and worshiped, Jewish languages and literatures, ethnicities and identities, and questions about gender and the body central to Jewish culture and Judaism. Offering original scholarship and fresh insights on late ancient Jewish history and culture, this unique volume: Offers a one-volume exploration of “second temple,” “Greco-Roman,” and “rabbinic” periods and sources Explores Jewish life across most of the geographic places where Jews or Judaeans were known to have lived Features original maps of areas cited in every essay, including maps of Jewish settlement throughout Late Antiquity Includes an outline of major historical events, further readings, and full references A Companion to Late Ancient Jews and Judaism: 3rd Century BCE - 7th Century CE is a valuable resource for students, instructors, and scholars of Jewish studies, religion, literature, and ethnic identity, as well as general readers with interest in Jewish history, world religions, Classics, and Late Antiquity.
The Beauty in the Womb-Man is a self-revealing work that turns the light on and shows you that you have valuable things to say, outstanding words to share, and eternal wisdom to give! Having obtained a degree in Christian Counseling, Dr. Carroll embarked upon her own personal journey of self-awareness, self-enhancement, self-enlightenment and self-empowerment. Through the years she has passed on this baton of power to women as she's traveled the world over. Make no mistake about it...you are included in this self-realization and this reality will become clearer to you as you turn through the pages of this soul-searching work!
Aurelius Prudentius Clemens (348-ca. 406) is one of the great Christian Latin writers of late antiquity. Born in northeastern Spain during an era of momentous change for both the Empire and the Christian religion, he was well educated, well connected, and a successful member of the late Roman elite, a man fully engaged with the politics and culture of his times. Prudentius wrote poetry that was deeply influenced by classical writers and in the process he revived the ethical, historical, and political functions of poetry. This aspect of his work was especially valued in the Middle Ages by Christian writers who found themselves similarly drawn to the Classical tradition. Prudentius's Hamartigenia, consisting of a 63-line preface followed by 966 lines of dactylic hexameter verse, considers the origin of sin in the universe and its consequences, culminating with a vision of judgment day: the damned are condemned to torture, worms, and flames, while the saved return to a heaven filled with delights, one of which is the pleasure of watching the torments of the damned. As Martha A. Malamud shows in the interpretive essay that accompanies her lapidary translation, the first new English translation in more than forty years, Hamartigenia is critical for understanding late antique ideas about sin, justice, gender, violence, and the afterlife. Its radical exploration of and experimentation with language have inspired generations of thinkers and poets since-most notably John Milton, whose Paradise Lost owes much of its conception of language and its strikingly visual imagery to Prudentius's poem.
The Epistle of Jesus to the Church is a commentary on the book of Revelation that assumes Jesus was the author and John the reporter of the words and events described. Here one will not find an explanation of an anti-Roman message written by John in hidden codes and apocalyptic motifs to fool Roman authorities. John the apostle and prophet was the faithful scribe, who did not create the message but faithfully and accurately described all that he saw and heard. This commentary follows the principle that the Scriptures explain themselves, because the Revelation is a word from Jesus to his church--a word that is grounded in the Scriptures. The Epistle of Jesus to the Church has been written with teachers, students, and pastors in mind. The interpretation of the book of Revelation is thorough; difficult passages are addressed, and plausible answers are provided to the questions posed by in-depth study of the biblical book. This is a commentary for personal study or classroom instruction, one that may be confidently used to preach and teach the Revelation of Jesus to the church.
This book of stories examines the broad map of human love and friendship from the perspective of the Bible to conclude that love's often difficult path can be smoothed with God's help, if we muster the courage and the faith to ask. In support, the author offers classical stories from Hebrew and Christian scriptures, among many--Boaz and Ruth, Tobias and Sarah, Jonathan and David, Peter and Jesus, Joseph and his brothers, Jacob and Rachel and Leah--stories of emotional relationships both constant and supportive, faithful and content, envious and vengeful, sensuous and pure, those of families, friends, siblings, husbands and wives, and disciples. Students of the Bible, and the general public, will find this an instructive and compelling work, which comes complete with reflection questions, suitable for individual and group study, at the end of each chapter. +
‘Delivery from slavery’: these words, taken from a Dutch labour movement song, perfectly map onto the Bible’s central concern. They are also similar to the Torah’s key phrase: ‘I am YHWH, your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage' (Ex 20:2). The words are invoked here to serve as an axiom to be introduced into the modern period. The watchword ‘delivery from slavery’ translates the biblical message of the exodus from slavery into the theory and practice of a modern liberation movement. The present work argues that biblical theology is the attempt to ‘update’ the ‘language of the message’. It searches for a language that attends to the concerns of today’s world while ‘preserving’ the concerns that originally motivated biblical language.
Science, in the present state of our scientific knowledge, including the most advanced, can support our faith in order to make the texts not only understandable, but also interesting and often beneficial for our reflection or our interior life. This systematic alliance between faith and science is one of the most innovative aspects of the book, which is highlighted by its title. Thus, on a general level, history, geography, archaeology, linguistics, paleoanthropology, and other disciplines are now able to retrace the history of ancient palestine over a long period of time. Retracing by the same token, the history of the small territory of canaan that the hebrews conquered under the leadership of moses and then, joshua. You will discover egypt, master of the entire near east for more than a thousand years, and the invasions of the sea peoples who ravaged the land of canaan shortly before its conquest by joshua, as well as the hittites and the invasion of egypt by the hyksos. If we place ourselves at the more modest level of the protagonists of the profane or sacred stories that are told in this volume 1, “the time of the patriarchs,” science will teach us a lot about their habits, their fears, and their joys. Texts found in the remains of the city-state of nuzi will shed light on the lifestyle of these nomadic shepherds. Finally, I propose to use the theories of information and communication, in a totally new way, as two scientific tools at the service of the bible. We will consider the sacred text as containing a series of “messages” (in the sense of telecommunications) that god addresses to us through time and space. The senders of these messages are characters “inspired” by god (the patriarchs in this volume 1). These messages reach our mailbox (either e-mail or brain). Communication theory and habits will dictate our first action: authenticate the sender so that he doesn’t send spam or bugs! You will discover how to authenticate abraham through history and plate tectonics, and jacob through paleoclimatology and hieroglyphic inscriptions. Geophysics, including paleoclimatology, plate tectonics, volcanology, and seismology, makes it possible to convert facts tainted with divine wonder to simple manifestations of the earth’s moods, which can often be dated, and which make it possible to take these great patriarchs out of the mythical fog in which our ignorance has tended to confine them.
