Biblical Culture

Christ in the Psalms takes the listener on a thought-provoking and enlightening pilgrimage through this beloved prayer book of the Church. Lively and highly devotional, this audiobook holds a wealth of insight into the beloved Scriptures, the world of the Early Church, and the Apostles themselves.

Although most people acknowledge that Jesus was a first-century Jew, interpreters of the Gospels often present him as opposed to Jewish law and customs—especially when considering his numerous encounters with the ritually impure. Matthew Thiessen corrects this popular misconception by placing Jesus within the Judaism of his day. Thiessen demonstrates that the Gospel writers depict Jesus opposing ritual impurity itself, not the Jewish ritual purity system or the Jewish law.

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ—but they are perhaps best understood as four separate versions of the same story, showing complex origins, intricate interweavings, and often inherent contradictions. Faithfully pointing listeners back to the original Greek, this translation from renowned scholar and acclaimed translator Sarah Ruden is the first to reconsider the Gospels as books to be read and understood on their own terms.

The Book of Enoch: A Complete Guide and Reference is the ultimate reference and guide to the book of 1 Enoch (The Ethiopic Book of Enoch). This guide and reference contains the author's notes and insights on the ancient text, as well as commentary, parallel Bible verses, references to 2 Enoch and 3 Enoch, history, prophecy, and the Calendar of Enoch. The author has included an amazing section on the application of the Calendar of Enoch to the prophecy of Daniel and "Daniel's Week of Years."

In this third volume of The Masks of God - Joseph Campbell’s major work of comparative mythology - the preeminent mythologist looks at the pagan religions of Greece, Rome, and the Celts, as well as the Abrahamic religions - Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Exploring the West’s shift from female-centered to male-centered mythology, Campbell examines the distinguishing characteristics and the shared root concepts of these mythologies. The Masks of God is a four-volume study of world religion and myth that stands as one of Joseph Campbell’s masterworks.

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.

While many Christians would readily affirm this truth, the widely held assumption that the Bible depicts a male God persists—as it has for centuries. This misperception of Christianity not only perniciously implies that men deserve an elevated place over women, but also compromises the glory of God by making God appear to be part of creation, subject to it and its categories, rather than in transcendence of it.

Too often when we come to the Bible, we settle for easy answers.

In Holy Disunity: How What Separates Us Can Save Us, Layton E. Williams proposes that our primary calling as humans is not to create unity but rather to seek authentic relationship with God, ourselves, one another, and the world around us. And that means actively engaging those with whom we disagree. Our religious, political, social, and cultural differences can create doubt and tension, but disunity also provides surprising gifts of perspective and grace.

Paul was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, steeped in the learning of his people. But he was also a Roman citizen who widely traveled the Mediterranean basin, and was very knowledgeable of the dominant Greek and Roman culture of his day. These two mighty rivers of influence converge in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. With razor-sharp attention to the text, Kenneth Bailey examines the cultural milieu and rhetorical strategies that shaped this pivotal epistle. Familiar passages take on a new hue as they are stripped of Western interpretations and rendered back into their ancient setting.

Is Christianity the White Man's Religion? affirms that ethnic diversity has played a powerful role in the formation of the Old and New Testaments and that the Bible is a book of justice, promoting equality for all people. Contrary to popular Eurocentric conceptions, biblical Christianity is not just for White Westerners. It's good news for all of us.

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.

How did we get the Bible? And why does it matter? History reveals that Scripture can be used for both life-giving and destructive purposes. Discovering the Bible’s origins makes all the difference for fostering redemptive interpretation of Scripture. Bringing together both historical criticism and theology, this investigation examines ancient scribal culture through the lens of faith. What we find is a divine-human collaboration that points to the character of God and the value of human agency.

In this book Christie shares personal stories and encounters, mostly from her journals that span over three decades. Her discoveries will broaden your understanding of Scripture from their Jewish perspective and reveal to you the family and culture that Romans 11 says you have been grafted into. Most importantly, we pray your heart will be strengthened in the love story that is woven throughout all of the biblical feasts.

This book welcomes listeners to appreciate the origins of Christianity within the Roman world in which early Christianity got its first foothold. It does that by immersing listeners in the life and culture of two thriving first-century towns—Pompeii and Herculaneum. Those towns (destroyed in the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE) act as showpieces of the world into which the early Christian movement was spreading.

The Book of Enoch is a significant historical text that describes important facets of life, with rich words that deserve deeper exploration.

Imagine embarking on a captivating journey through the Bible, not as a religious text, but as a historical chronicle. This is the invitation extended by Werner Keller's renowned book, "The Bible as History." Published in 1955, it delves into the fascinating intersection of archaeological discoveries and biblical narratives, painting a vivid picture of the ancient world inhabited by prophets, kings, and everyday people.

If Jews and Christians both believe in the same God, why is there such division? Why is history littered with deathly accounts of this division, from the early Jewish persecution of Christians to the Crusades' slaughtering of Jews? The Lion of Judah unpacks the roots of this division, showing how jealousy, theology, the law, and the integration of Gentile believers into what was once a predominantly Jewish early church contributed to the schism. It then goes on to reveal how Jesus magnificently fulfilled every word in the Bible.

The Apostolic Church: In the Twenty-First Century is a collection of articles and essays on the nature and mission of the church. Written in an accessible style, this book will help both ministers and laypersons understand how to live out their faith in the community we know as the church.

Paul Beauchamp, grand spécialiste de l'exégèse, trace à travers 50 portraits de deux ou trois pages chacun les grandes clés de l'Ancien Testament. Mais il ne fait pas que décrire et résumer les faits et gestes des grandes "figures" de la Bible, il nous permet d'entrer dans cette danse intérieure des mots et des sens.