DO YOU LOVE TO TALK TO OTHERS ABOUT JESUS? DO YOU WANT TO SHARE YOUR FAITH BUT WONDER IF THE RIGHT WORDS WILL COME? Whether you love evangelism or fear it, this book is for you. John Teter offers stories from his experiences leading seeker Bible studies and witnessing to people around him that reveal how our witness is backed up by God himself, who follows through on the work he prompts us to begin. Even now God is preparing the way for you to get his Word out to those around you. Will you accept the challenge?
Walter Kaiser questions the notion that the New Testament represents a deviation from God's supposed intention to save only the Israelites. He argues that--contrary to popular opinion--the older Testament does not reinforce an exclusive redemptive plan. Instead, it emphasizes a common human condition and God's original and continuing concern for all humanity. Kaiser shows that the Israelites' mission was always to actively spread to gentiles the Good News of the promised Messiah. This new edition adds two new chapters, freshens material throughout, expands the bibliography, and includes study questions.
Karl Barth's lectures on the first chapter of the Gospel of John, delivered at Muenster in 1925-26 and at Bonn in 1933, came at an important time in his life, when he was turning his attention more fully to dogmatics. Theological interpretation was thus his primary concern, especially the relation between revelation and the witness to revelation, which helped to shape his formulation of the role of the written (and spoken) word vis-a-vis the incarnate Word. The text is divided into three sections - John 1:1-18, 19-34, 35-51, with the largest share of the book devoted to the first section. Each section begins with Barth's own translation, followed by verse-by -verse and phrase-by-phrase commentary on the Greek text. Although Barth's interpretation is decidedly theological, he does take up questions of philology and textual criticism more thoroughly than in his other works. Much has happened in Johannine scholarship since these lectures were first delivered, yet they remain valuable today - 100 years after Barth's birth - both for their insights into the gospel and into Karl Barth.
A distinguished group of scholars here provides a comprehensive survey of the theology of the early church as it is presented by the author of Acts. The twenty-five articles show the current state of scholarship and the main themes of theology in Acts.
The author argues that the idea of witness is a live metaphor in the New Testament, to be understood in terms of the Old Testament legal assembly, though the Greek lawcourts are also relevant. Professor Trites contends that this idea of witness in relation to Christ and his gospel plays an essential part in the New Testament and in Christian faith and life generally.
We know Jesus the Savior, but have we met Jesus, Prince of Peace? When did we accept vengeance as an acceptable part of the Christian life? How did violence and power seep into our understanding of faith and grace? For those troubled by this trend toward the sword, perhaps there is a better way. What if the message of Jesus differs radically differs from the drumbeats of war we hear all around us? Using his own journey from war crier to peacemaker and his in-depth study of peace in the scriptures, author and pastor Brian Zahnd reintroduces us to the gospel of Peace.
Vatican II's 1965 Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei verbum) is the most complete and authoritative statement on biblical interpretation ever issued by the Catholic Church, allowing Catholics to pursue biblical study in its fullness. Drawing on his fifty-year association with New Testament Abstracts, Harrington seeks to explain to a general audience the most important developments in the academic study of the New Testament since Dei verbum. He focuses on six major topics: the complexity involved in interpreting the New Testament, the impact of the Dead Sea scrolls, Jesus as the prophet of God's kingdom, the Evangelists as authors, new perspectives on Paul and Judaism, and the early church in the Roman empire. Book jacket.
This work represents the attempts of several major scholars to respond to the historical problems presented throughout the biblical testimony and their description of what this means for reading scripture. Walter Brueggemann, for example, has written a wonderful article on various historical problems within the book of Genesis, beginning with Von Rad's and Noth's use of source criticism and his own understanding of how historically dissimilar texts can function within scripture. This book honors the work and life of Gerald Sheppard, who broke ground in biblical studies by describing what it means to read the Bible as Jewish and Christian Scripture. It distinguishes between the original historical dimensions of the text or mere redaction levels of tradition history and what Sheppard regarded as the "Scriptural Form" of the biblical testimony. It provides new and fresh ways for describing scripture as both a human testimony and also divine revelation. The Bible as a Human Witness to Divine Revelation provides examples of how major scholars have responded to the limits of the older-modern criticisms within the framework of still applying a variety of historical criticisms and paying attention to the later formation and context of the biblical book. It also helps readers understand how to hear "the word of God" through biblical text that are filled with historical dissimilarities or even contradictions. The book shows scholarly examples that respond to crises of both the pre-modern and modern eras as unfinished projects because pre-modernity tended to ignore the human dimensions of scripture and modernity tended to limit its inquiry only to that single dimension
If Christians are part of the one body of Christ, how do we account theologically for the multiple expressions of our common faith? If God is ultimate truth, why is it so difficult to agree on issues related to truth? Must we sacrifice a commitment to truth in favor of a pragmatic unity in the church? Or must we hold on to our perception of the truth at the expense of fracturing the church? For John Franke, truth versus unity is a false dichotomy. In this provocative yet thoughtful book, he argues that orthodox and biblical Christian faith is inherently pluralist, and that this diversity, far from being a problem that needs to be overcome, is in fact a blessing from God and part of the divine design and intention for the church. Suggesting that Christians should affirm the reality of ultimate truth, but cautioning humility regarding our grasp of it, Franke sets forth a relational theology in which the many expressions of revealed truth—Christ, the Holy Spirit, and Scripture, along with a diverse church—together witness to the expansiveness of the one God. John Franke asserts the plurality of truth, not as a capitulation to non- or anti-Christian thought, but rather as an expression of profoundly Christian thought—and specifically, of emergent, missional, and Trinitarian Christian thought. In so doing, he gently implies that the dominant alternative view—that white, modernist, Western Christian scholars and institutions have a monopoly on truth—is actually a capitulation to modes of thought and power that have betrayed the life and gospel of Jesus Christ. —From the foreword by Brian McLaren A refreshing study of plurality and diversity as something intrinsic to the nature of Christianity rather than as something extraneous to it. Lucid and lively, the book makes a valuable contribution to the ongoing discussion about the religion’s emerging profile in the twenty-first century. I am entirely in agreement with John Franke that faith is embodied, that theology is rooted in practice and experience, and that the gospel shapes and is shaped by culture. Manifold Witness tracks the manifold trails of Christianity’s impact on persons and societies. It should find welcome response in theological study and teaching. —Lamin Sanneh, Professor of World Christianity and Director, World Christianity Initiative, at Yale Divinity School, Professor of History at Yale University, and author of Translating the Message: The Missionary Impact on Culture and Disciples of All Nations: Pillars of World Christianity Why is there a Trinity of persons and a quartet of Gospels? Do not relation and difference, context and plurality lie at the very heart of the Christian tradition? Is not the infinite resourcefulness of love enhanced by change and alterity? These are the kinds of questions that John Franke addresses in a bold, sweeping, and lucid presentation of the ongoing renewal of the life of the church. Manifold Witness is the fruit of a tenacious faith in the Christian tradition and a no-less-tenacious faith in the power of truth. —John D. Caputo, Thomas J. Watson Professor of Religion and Humanities at Syracuse University and author of What Would Jesus Deconstruct? The Good News of Postmodernism for the Church John Franke’s Manifold Witness is the most Reformed book I have ever read. Why? It is the first I have read that not only believes the human mind has been impacted by the Fall but also that carries this through into how the Bible makes truth claims. We need manifold witnesses because, as humans, no one author can grasp the whole Story. If it takes a village to nurture a child, it takes the manifold voices of the Bible and the church to nurture the church. Boldness, braced up by humility, marks every page of this book. —Scot McKnight, Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies, North Park University and author of A Community Called Atonement With clarity, grace, and practical insight, John Franke argues convincingly that the plurality of witnesses in Christian tradition is not a hindrance but a gift that rescues us from both the rigid dogmatism that constricts God’s truth and the ‘anything goes’ pluralism that trivializes it. —Danielle Shroyer, pastor of Journey Church in Dallas, Texas, and author of The Boundary Breaking God: An Unfolding Story of Hope and Promise An honest, passionate, engaging, and spirit-raising book! Franke’s humble, bold articulation of the crux of the emerging church conversation, centered on the Bible and tradition, is confessional yet inclusive. He genuinely celebrates the gifts of the plurality of the church in diverse witnesses and the unity of the reconciling love of God in Jesus’ mission. —Andrew Sung Park, Professor of Theology at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio I cannot think of a more important nor relevant topic than the nature of Truth, with a capital T. It shapes and influences how we think, believe, and act. In a world of competing truth claims it is easy and common to end the conversation by retreating to our own familiar tradition. John Franke wants us to do more, to think deeply and faithfully about a wonderfully provocative notion, the plurality of truth. This book will be an invaluable resource for preachers and teachers. —John Buchanan, Pastor, Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago, and Editor/Publisher of The Christian Century Manifold Witness will truly help Christians committed to the apostolic faith understand that a plurality of views and interpretations, rather than contradicting that faith, stands at its very core! —Justo L. González, author of A Concise History of Christian Doctrine and A History of Christian Thought
