Author: Joel S. Kaminsky
Publisher: Abingdon Press
ISBN: 1426751079
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 380

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Book Description
The Bible: enduring truths, lasting influence, complex relationships, and relevant approaches for living.

Author: Frederick Carl Eiselen
Publisher: Doubleday Books
ISBN: 9780385148771
Category : Bible
Languages : en
Pages : 1462

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Book Description

Author: Clyde E. Fant
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780687084562
Category : Bible
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This text provides a comprehensive and definitive introduction to the literature, cultures, and theologies of the early Jewish and Christian traditions. Designed to be read with selected passages from the Bible and the Apocrypha, An Introduction to the Bible offers essential information to students with little or no experience in the academic study of religion. It will help students gain a solid background for future work in biblical studies. The revised edition includes information regarding new directions in biblical studies, a revised bibliography, and a subject index - as well as maps, charts and photographs. "This volume is pedagogically self-aware. Here speak teachers who live close to the teaching environment. The narrative account of a great deal of material is patient, attentive to detail, willing to pause to provide small instructional clues, all the time keeping the big picture in focus. This second edition of the book attests both to the vitality of its authors and to the positive reception the book has already enjoyed. Given the large cultural crisis upon us, such instruction in a context that reaches beyond 'the choir' is welcome and enormously important. Clear, well organized, up to date, and reflective of reliable scholarly consensus. Most important, I suspect, is the likelihood that its student-users will sign up for more scripture study....[The book] will help students generate not only a beginning with the Bible, but a long-term interest." --Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia. "As most instructors of introductory survey courses in biblical studies will attest, finding a suitable textbook can be quite a challenge. The revised edition of An Introduction to the Bible marks a strong contribution to the field. It is a well-structured, clearly written textbook. The authors incorporate many of the newest discussions regarding the formation and subsequent understandings of both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. Students using this book will be exposed to the rich content of ancient Near Eastern studies. They will also find themselves challenged to read these classical texts using some of the most recent hermeneutic arguments in circulation....An Introduction to the Bible provides an excellent entry point for a critical approach to the sacred texts of Judaism and Christianity."---C. Shaun Longstreet, Texas A&M University, excerpted from the Review of Biblical Literature, August 2003.

Author: Dr. Joel N. Lohr
Publisher: Abingdon Press
ISBN: 1426775644
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 374

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Book Description
Jews call the Hebrew Scriptures the “Tanakh” and Christians call them the “Old Testament.” It doesn't take long to see that Jews and Christians view the same set of books differently and interpret these scriptures in unique and at times conflicting ways. The Hebrew Bible for Beginners introduces students to the tremendous influence the Hebrew Bible has had on western society for over two millennia and explores the complexities of reading ancient religious literature today. The book also addresses how certain modern critical approaches may initially be alarming, indeed even shocking, to those who have not been exposed to them, but it tackles the conversation in a respectful fashion. Avoiding jargon and convoluted prose, this highly accessible volume provides textboxes, charts, a timeline, a glossary, and regularly includes artistic renderings of biblical scenes to keep lay and beginning readers engaged.

Author: Prof. Walter Brueggemann
Publisher: Abingdon Press
ISBN: 1426721978
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 745

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Book Description
This book has become a standard text in seminary and university classrooms. The purpose of this second edition is to help readers come to a critically informed understanding of the Old Testament as the church's scripture. This book introduces the Old Testament both as a witness of ancient Israel and as a witness to the church and synagogue through the generations of those who have passed these texts on as scripture. The authors of this volume share a commitment to the interpretation of the Old Testament as a central resource for the life of the church today. At the same time, they introduce the Old Testament witness in a manner that honors the importance of biblical scholarship in helping students engage the variety of theological voices within the Old Testament. This second edition gives special attention to deepening and broadening theological interpretations by including, for example, issues related to gender, race, and class. It also includes more detailed maps and charts for student use.

Author: Prof. J. Clinton McCann JR.
Publisher: Abingdon Press
ISBN: 1426750072
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 206

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Book Description
Taking his point of departure from the newest frontier of research, McCann reads the psalms in the context of their final shape and canonical form. He interprets the psalms as scripture as well as in their character as songs, prayers, and poetry from Israel's history. McCann's intent is to contribute to the church's recovery of the psalms as torah--as instruction, as a guide to prayer, praise of God, and pious living. The explicit connections which McCann draws from the psalms to the New Testament and to Christian faith and life are extensive, making his work suitable for serious study of the psalms in academic and in church settings. An appendix examines the tradition of singing the psalms and offers suggestions for the use of the psalms in worship.

Author: Prof. Judy Fentress-Williams
Publisher: Abingdon Press
ISBN: 1426775326
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 309

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Book Description
The many voices in scripture form a dialogue with readers, which produce theological truths that are larger than the individual parts. This introduction is informed by both literary theory and theology. It groups sections of the whole Bible together by genre. Each section identifies and describes the genre (such as historiography, poetry, prophecy, gospel, letter, apocalypse), and then moves into a discussion about the literary characteristics and theological insights. The words of scripture not only come a long way to find us but like a poem must be read with attention. Poetry doesn’t yield meaning easily, and it doesn’t promise to make sense. We know to look past the words on the page and find the images, tropes, sounds, and metaphors that are meaning-full. This type of writing invites, rather demands, the imagination. We must accept that we will only get so close, but that this is close enough. Our imagination spans the gaps left by sparse language and incomplete narratives. We return again and again, with more information and perhaps more experiences. The words are the same, but we are not; and for that reason there are always new discoveries. “At last, an introduction that students will enjoy reading, because it is at once engaging, informative, and eye-opening, as well as completely lucid. Fentress Williams shows how many books of the Bible reflect the experience of marginalized persons and communities in precarious situations, and therefore how they speak in ways both realistic and encouraging to contemporary readers. Do your students and yourself a favor: adopt this text and get ready for serious conversation about ancient texts that never go out of date.” – Ellen F. Davis, Amos Ragan Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology, Duke Divinity School

Author: Prof. Joel B. Green
Publisher: Abingdon Press
ISBN: 1426724365
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
We read the Bible and interpret Scripture in order to live in grace-filled relation to God's divine purpose.When we approach the Bible as Scripture author, Joel Green, takes seriously the faith statement that the Bible is our Book; these scriptures are our Scripture. We are not reading someone else's mail--as though reading the Bible had to do foremost with recovering an ancient meaning intended for someone else and then translating its principles for use in our own lives. When we recall that we are the people of God to whom the Bible is addressed as Scripture, we realize that the fundamental transformation is not the transformation of an ancient message into a contemporary meaning, bur rather the transformation of our lives by means of God's Word. This means that reading the Bible as Scripture has less to do with what tools we bring to the task, however important these may be, and more to do with our own dispositions as we come to our engagement with Scripture. We come not so much to retrieve facts or to gain information, but to be formed and ultimately, transformed. Scripture does not present us with texts to be mastered but with a Word, God's Word, intent on mastering us, on shaping our lives.

Author: Prof. Walter Brueggemann
Publisher: Abingdon Press
ISBN: 142675051X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
The Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries series offers compact, critical commentaries on all the books of the Old Testament. In addition to providing fundamental information on and insights into Old Testament writings, these commentaries exemplify the tasks and procedures of careful, critical exegesis so as to assist students of the Old Testament in coming to an informed engagement of the biblical texts themselves. These commentaries are written with special attention to the needs and interests of theology students, but they will also be useful for students in upper-level college or university settings, as well as for pastors and other church leaders. Each volume consists of four parts: -- an introduction that addresses the key issues raised by the writing; the literary genre, structure, and character of the writing; the occasional and situational context of the writing, including its wider social and historical context; and the theological and ethical significance of the writing within these several contexts-- a commentary on the text, organized by literary units, covering literary analysis, exegetical analysis, and theological and ethical analysis-- an annotated bibliography-- a brief subject index In this volume on Deuteronomy, Brueggemann shows the significance of the Book of Deuteronomy to the shape and substance of Israel's faith in the Old Testament. Deuteronomy gave classic articulation to the main themes characteristic of Judaism, and, derivatively, of Christianity. Brueggemann emphasizes that Deuteronomy is an expression of covenant theology, whereby YHWH and Israel are pledged to exclusive loyalty and fidelity to each other; YHWH is to assure the well-being of Israel, and Israel is to live in trust and obedience to YHWH. In examining the relationship of Israel to God, Brueggemann makes suggestions on how such covenant fidelity might be lived out by believers today. "Brueggemann's commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy provides an accessible exegetical and theological understanding of a crucial biblical text. The introduction presents Deuteronomy as an expression of the radical Yahwistic alternative to the political rhetoric and ideology of the Israelite monarchy in the eighth and seventh centuries. Each section consists of an introduction, exegesis, and theological and ethical analysis of the essential elements that form the core of Deuteronomy's message to the Israelite community. The choice between 'covenant' and 'idol' that forms the crux of the text's message is further interpreted in light of the concern for covenant faithfulness as expressed in the rest of the OT and in the proclamation of the NT. Brueggemann explores how this same choice is reflected in the political and ideological voices that address the community of faith today. This commentary introduces the Book of Deuteronomy to theological students, pastors and teachers and points to the relevance of its message for those who seek to bring the alternative biblical message into the current cultural conversation."--Beverly White Cushman, Calvin College, in Religious Studies Review, Volume 29 Number 3, July 2003.

Author: Dr. Joel S. Kaminsky
Publisher: Abingdon Press
ISBN: 1426751168
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 380

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Book Description
The Bible has profoundly influenced the western world. Many of its characters and stories are well known and yet, oddly enough, wide swaths of the Bible are unknown and misunderstood. The laws and teaching contained within it have shaped contemporary thinking and jurisprudence in ways many do not realize. Equally important, two of the world’s largest religions—Judaism and Christianity—consider the Hebrew Bible to be sacred and to contain enduring truths about beginnings and creation, life and death, the world, and what it means to be human. Introductions to the Bible tend toward extensive discussion with little to introduce the beginner to the Bible’s tremendous influence on contemporary society or to the complexities of reading ancient religious literature. Further, few discuss the differing ways Jews and Christians approach those parts of the Bible that they share in common or how each group appropriates materials from this common scriptural pool in divergent, conflicting, and often complex ways. As classroom teachers of introductory courses on the Bible, the authors of this volume will acquaint students with the tremendous influence that the Bible has had on culture and to address some of the critical questions in user-friendly, faith-respecting ways, in order to maximize students’ appreciation of the biblical text and their understanding of it. This introduction will introduce the beginner to the Bible with simplicity and precision, in an engaging manner. It will provide the reader with a quick overview of the issues related to reading and studying the Bible as an academic discipline while simultaneously illustrating the importance of the Bible for religion, western jurisprudence, ethics, and contemporary conceptions of the family, morality, and even politics. A CHOICE Magazine Outstanding Academic Title of 2014.