Bible Theology

If you put aside what you think you know about Jesus and approach the Gospels as though for the first time, something remarkable happens: Jesus emerges as a teacher of the transformation of consciousness. Cynthia Bourgeault is a masterful guide to Jesus' vision and to the traditional contemplative practices you can use to experience the heart of his teachings for yourself.

In Spiritual Warfare in the End Times, best-selling prophecy author Ron Rhodes powerfully exposes Satan's most destructive and effective tools of spiritual injury - and the means of rendering them ineffective. Though Satan will always want to diminish your capacity to serve in God's kingdom, God promises you'll never fight him alone. Spiritual Warfare in the End Times will provide you with all you need for victory both now and in the future.

Whenever we read, think, hear, or say anything about God, we are doing theology. Yet theology isn't just a matter of what we think. It affects who we are. Kelly Kapic offers a concise introduction to the study of theology for newcomers to the field. He highlights the value and importance of theological study and explains its unique nature as a serious discipline. Not only concerned with content and method, Kapic explores the skills, attitudes, and spiritual practices needed by those who take up the discipline.

The universal symbol of the Christian faith is neither a crib nor a manger, but a gruesome cross. Yet many people are unclear about its meaning, and cannot understand why Christ had to die. In this magisterial and best-selling book, John Stott explains the significance of Christ's cross and answers the objections commonly brought against biblical teaching on the atonement.

In this highly accessible discussion, Bart Ehrman examines the most recent textual and archaeological sources for the life of Jesus, along with the history of first-century Palestine, drawing a fascinating portrait of the man and his teachings. Ehrman shows us what historians have long known about the Gospels and the man who stands behind them. Through a careful evaluation of the New Testament (and other surviving sources, including the more recently discovered Gospels of Thomas and Peter), Ehrman proposes that Jesus can be best understood as an apocalyptic prophet.

Ever since he became a Christian at the age of 40, it has been Poirot actor David Suchet's dream to make an audio recording of the complete Bible. In between filming the final episodes of Poirot, David Suchet spent over 200 hours in the recording studio to create the very first full-length audio version of the NIV Bible spoken by a single British actor.

For centuries, people have been fascinated by stories of angel sightings, yet many contemporary beliefs about them are based on misconception and myth rather than solid, biblical truth. Responding to our modern cultural interest in angels, popular Bible teacher Dr. David Jeremiah provides an in-depth, biblical look at these agents of heaven and their role in our world and our lives.

Satan's transformation from opaque functionary to chief antagonist is one of the most striking features of the development of Jewish theology in the Second Temple Period and beyond. Once no more than an "accuser" testing members of the human community, Satan, along with his demons, is presented by Jewish apocalyptic texts and the New Testament as a main source of evil in the world. In Satan and the Problem of Evil, noted scholar Archie Wright explores this dynamic in both its historical and theological trajectories.

The foundation of Hebrew and Jewish religion, thought, law, and society is the Torah - the parchment scroll containing the text of the Five Books of Moses that is located in every synagogue. This accessible guide explains the Torah in clear language, even to those who were not raised in the Jewish religious tradition. Christians who want to know more about the Jewish roots of Christianity need to understand the Torah, as do followers of Islamic tradition and those interested in the roots of Abrahamic faiths.

Avoiding sensationalism and date-speculating, respected Bible teacher Amir Tsarfati uses his unique perspective as an Israeli Christian to lead you through a fascinating modern-day description of God's plan for the end of the world. Grounded from start to finish in Scripture, the book reveals how the Rapture, the imminent rise of the Antichrist, and the tragic horrors of the Great Tribulation will play out in our world today.

With careful consideration and exegesis, internationally known astrophysicist and Christian apologist Hugh Ross adds yet another compelling argument to the case for the veracity of the biblical commentary on the history of the universe, Earth, life, and humanity. Hidden Treasures in the Book of Job shows that the Bible is an accurate predictor of scientific discoveries and a trustworthy source of scientific information, and that both the book of Scripture and the book of nature are consistent both internally and externally.

Piper has gathered many of Jesus' demands from the four Gospels and puts the demands in a redemptive, historical context, then concisely examines each. The result is an accessible introduction for thoughtful inquirers and new believers, as well as meditative meat for veteran believers who want to know Jesus better.

The heart of the biblical understanding of idolatry, argues Gregory Beale, is that we take on the characteristics of what we worship. Employing Isaiah 6 as his interpretive lens, Beale demonstrates that this understanding of idolatry permeates the whole canon, from Genesis to Revelation. Beale concludes with an application of the biblical notion of idolatry to the challenges of contemporary life.

Mary Magdalene is one of the most influential symbols in the history of Christianity - yet, if you look in the Bible, you'll find only a handful of verses that speak of her. How did she become such a compelling saint in the face of such paltry evidence? In her effort to answer that question, Cynthia Bourgeault examines the Bible, church tradition, art, legend, and newly discovered texts to see what's there.

Is God a sadistic torturer? Coldhearted judge? Genocidal maniac? Unfortunately, our popular caricatures often make him out to be. God has some skeletons in the closet. At least, that's what many of us fear. "How can a loving God send people to hell?" "Isn't it arrogant to believe Jesus is the only way to God?" "What is up with holy war in the Old Testament?" These are difficult questions that our family, our friends, our culture - even we ourselves - are asking.

Critics outside the church often accuse the Old Testament God of genocide, racism, ethnic cleansing, and violence. But a rising tide of critics within the church claim that Moses and other "primitive," violence-prone prophets were mistaken about God's commands and character. Both sets of critics dismiss this allegedly harsh, flawed, "textual" Old Testament God in favor of the kind, compassionate, "actual" God revealed by Jesus. Are they right to do so?

This thought-provoking audiobook helps listeners reconcile the teachings of the Bible with the widely held evolutionary view of beginnings and will appeal to anyone interested in the Christianity-evolution debate.

Homosexuality is one of the most hotly debated topics in the evangelical church today. In Two Views on Homosexuality, the Bible, and the Church four contributors, two defending a traditional view and two defending an affirming view, address not only biblical and theological questions, but also the pressing pastoral questions for the church.

In his new book, When a Jew Rules the World, Richardson paints a picture of what that 1,000-year reign will be like, along the way blow-torching the notion that gentile Christians have "replaced" the Jews and Israel as the people of promise. Richardson lays out the tragic history of anti-Semitism within the church from the very beginning in what may be the most thorough repudiation of what has become known as "Replacement Theology", or, as Richardson calls it, "Supersessionism".

Highly regarded biblical scholar and speaker Christopher Wright shows us that how we read the Bible has a profound impact on how we understand what mission is. According to Wright, "People read (and preach) the Bible in tiny bits and pieces, for its promises or rules or doctrines, and fail to take it . . . as the true story of the universe, past, present, and future, within the plan and purposes of God—a story in which we are called to participate as coworkers with God." Wright encourages us to explore the Bible's grand narrative.