Showing titles in Commentaries

What should we make of the Bible story about a talking donkey? What about the passage in Joshua where the sun and moon stood still? Should biblical practices like women wearing head coverings still be followed today? The Bible serves as the foundation for all of Christian life, crossing time and transcending cultures, yet many passages are perplexing. Providing fascinating historical and scriptural insights, Eric J. Bargerhuff demystifies 40 Bible verses and stories.

If the Bible isn’t a science book or an instruction manual, then what is it? What do people mean when they say the Bible is inspired? When Rachel Held Evans found herself asking these questions, she began a quest to better understand what the Bible is and how it is meant to be read. What she discovered changed her—and it will change you too.

Drawing on the best in recent scholarship and using her well-honed literary expertise, Evans examines some of our favorite Bible stories and possible interpretations, retelling them through memoir, original poetry, short stories, soliloquies, and even a short screenplay. Undaunted by the Bible’s most difficult passages, Evans wrestles through the process of doubting, imagining, and debating Scripture’s mysteries. The Bible, she discovers, is not a static work but is a living, breathing, captivating, and confounding book that is able to equip us to join God’s loving and redemptive work in the world.

Given the fever-pitched controversies about evolution, Adam and Eve, and scientific evidence for the Flood, the average person might feel intimidated by the book of Genesis. But behind the heady debates is a terrific story—one that anyone can understand, and one that has gripped people for ages. If you are not a Bible scholar but want to be able to listen to Genesis and understand its big picture, this brief, witty book is the guide you've been waiting for.

Este maravilloso libro comunica la infalibilidad del amor de Dios e inspira el renuevo, desde la perspectiva de la mujer, y conecta a la mujer de hoy con la fuente de toda realización que sostuvo a sus hermanas en los tiempos bíblicos, la relación con Dios.

In The Day the Revolution Began, N. T. Wright once again challenges commonly held Christian beliefs, as he did in Surprised by Hope. Demonstrating the rigorous intellect and breathtaking knowledge that have long defined his work, Wright argues that Jesus' death on the cross was not only to absolve us of our sins, it was actually the beginning of a revolution commissioning the Christian faithful to a new vocation - a royal priesthood responsible for restoring and reconciling all of God's creation.

Since Daniel was told that the wise will understand the message and lead many to righteousness, while the wicked will not grasp its meaning and will continue in their wickedness, it is imperative for everyone living in these end times to diligently examine the vital message Daniel has recorded.

Covering Psalms 42–106, this second volume on the book of Psalms portrays the realities of human life and the peace that is found in God alone. James Montgomery Boice explores the life of David—his pain, trials, joy, and spiritual aspirations.

When you think of a son trudging uphill, carrying wood for his own sacrifice because his father has decided to give him up to death, what biblical event does this bring to mind? Is it Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22, or is it Christ's passion in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? The kinship between these two stories is deeper than mere coincidence, and the similarities don't end there. In fact, Murray argues that Christ isn't just present in the story of Abraham and Isaac - he's present on every page of the Old Testament.

Best-selling author John MacArthur gives readers a fresh look at how Jesus addressed attacks against the truth. Meek and mild. Politically correct. A great teacher. These are the popular depictions of Jesus. But they aren't the complete picture. Maybe because it's uncomfortable, or maybe because it's inconvenient, Christians and non-Christians alike are overlooking the fierceness of the Savior, His passionate mission to make the Gospel clear and bring people into the Kingdom of God.

For thousands of years, the prophet Moses was regarded as the sole author of the first five books of the Bible, known as the Pentateuch. According to tradition, Moses was divinely directed to write down foundational events in the history of the world: the creation of humans, the worldwide flood, the laws as they were handed down at Mt. Sinai, and the cycle of Israel’s enslavement and liberation from Egypt. However, these stories—and their frequent discrepancies—provoke questions.

The conversation about the relationship between women and men and their roles in the Christian life and the church has evolved, but the topic continues to inspire debate and disagreement. The third edition of this groundbreaking work brings together scholars firmly committed to the authority of Scripture to explore historical, biblical, theological, cultural, and practical aspects of this discussion.

Before the Bible was a book, it was flesh and blood. Sean Gladding takes us between the lines of Scripture to listen in on the conversations of people wrestling with the Story of God for the first time. Whether sitting around a campfire in Babylon, reclining at a table in Asia Minor or huddled together by candlelight in Rome, we meet people encountering the Story for the first and the hundred-and-first time. With them we hear a tale that is at once familiar and surprising. The Story of God, the Story of Us is an account of Scripture that introduces us to people who remind us of ourselves, because as much as the Bible is a story about God, it's also a story about us—a story, perhaps, we have yet to hear. Read by the author and his wife, Rebecca.

Description and commentary of the lives of the two prophets, which are given from 1 Kings 17 to 2 Kings 13 at a time of turmoil in the northern kingdom of Israel.

For Apostolic believers, the gift of the Holy Spirit defines who we are. From the first chapter of Genesis to the last chapter of Revelation, the Holy Spirit is evident in shaping our lives. A typical Bible commentary offers verse-by-verse analysis, usually of a single book of the Bible. This book resembles Bible commentaries in its thorough and comprehensive scope and its canonical survey of the Holy Spirit in Scripture. But unlike commentaries, this book gives us knowledge to undergird our Pentecostal experience.

A method of interpretation—a hermeneutic—is indispensable for understanding Scripture, constructing theology, and living the Christian life, but most contemporary hermeneutical systems fail to acknowledge the principles and practices of the biblical writers themselves. Christians today cannot employ a truly biblical view of the Bible unless they understand why the prophets and apostles interpreted Scripture the way they did.

Esteemed Bible scholars and teachers Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Z. Brettler take readers on a guided tour of the most popular Hebrew Bible passages quoted in the New Testament to show what the texts meant in their original contexts and then how Jews and Christians, over time, understood those same texts. By understanding the depth and variety by which these passages have been, and can be, understood, The Bible With and Without Jesus does more than enhance our religious understandings, it helps us to see the Bible as a source of inspiration for any and all listeners.

Reading Reading the Old Testament can seem like exploring an old, mysterious mansion, packed with of all sorts of strange rooms. What does this odd and ancient world have to do with us, who are modern followers of Jesus? As it turns out, everything! Every chapter in the Old Testament, in a variety of ways, tells the story that culminates in Jesus the Messiah. What Christians today call the Old Testament is what Jesus and the earliest believers simply called the Scriptures.

Biblical scholars, Egyptologists, archaeologists, historians, literary scholars, anthropologists, and filmmakers are drawn to the mystery of the exodus. Unable to find physical evidence until now, many archaeologists and scholars claim this mass migration is just a story, not history. Others oppose this conclusion, defending the biblical account.

Violence in the Old Testament has long been a stumbling block for Christians and skeptics alike. God Is a Man of War offers a fresh interpretation of Old Testament accounts of violence, by exploring them through the twofold lens of Orthodox tradition and historical context. Father Stephen De Young examines what these difficult passages reveal about the nature of Christ and His creation, bearing witness to a world filled not only with pain and suffering - often of human making - but also with the love of God.

Do you find the Book of Revelation confusing? Maybe a little intimidating? What if you didn’t have to be scared of it? Maybe you could even enjoy the book. This new commentary is designed to help you understand the Book of Revelation. It is easy to read, clear, and understandable. In these pages you will learn: How to read Apocalyptic literature. The key to understanding Revelation is in the past. The meaning of all the strange symbols. The meaning of the various numbers. The real meaning of the millennium. How the book of Revelation applies to Christians today. And much more.You won’t ...