Biblical Culture

Cultural Christians in the Early Church, which aims to be both historical and practical, argues that cultural Christians were the rule, rather than the exception, in the early church. Using different categories of sins as its organizing principle, the book considers the challenge of culture to the earliest converts to Christianity, as they struggled to live on mission in the Greco-Roman cultural milieu of the Roman Empire.

In 1925, James Henry Breasted sent a team of archaeologists to the Holy Land to excavate the ancient site of Megiddo - Armageddon in the New Testament. Their excavations made headlines around the world and shed light on one of the most legendary cities of biblical times. Digging Up Armageddon brings to life one of the most important archaeological expeditions ever undertaken, describing the site and what was found there, and providing an up-close look at the internal workings of a dig in the early years of biblical archaeology.

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.

Did you know that Jesus made puns? Did you know that Paul never calls himself or the churches he writes to “Christian?” Did you know that we don’t know who wrote the Letter to the Hebrews, or if it’s even really a letter? James F. McGrath sheds light on these and many other surprising realities of Scripture in The A to Z of the New Testament. Cutting through common myths and misunderstandings of problematic bible passages, James F. McGrath opens up expert knowledge to laypeople in his friendly introduction to New Testament studies.

The Bible teaches us the real story of Christmas. The problem is people have taken this story and added onto it. Cultures have added on to it. It’s passed through countries, and they’ve tacked on their little spin. We have thousands of years of a Christmas that is built around legends and myths. The Christmas we know is, in places, more a fairy-tale. It’s an inspiring one for sure. But a fairy-tale, nonetheless. This book helps us slow down and unpack the layers so we can see just how beautiful this gift really is.

Not only will studying Scripture daily enrich and nourish your soul, but it will also provide you with solid answers to many of life's most urgent questions—from the introduction. If you are less than familiar with the Bible, you might be surprised at what you'll find there.

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.

It’s not often that you come across a document of such religious and historical importance as The Septuagint Genesis – in fact its significance would be hard to overstate. But what is the Septuagint? Well, its name refers to the “seventy’ (actually 72) translators – six from each tribe of Israel – who translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek, the primary language of Jews in Egypt at the time. This, the oldest and arguably most important translation, was the version of The Bible that Jesus himself would have read – and the one from which almost all the New Testament’s writers were quoting.

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.

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.

An examination of sex and the Bible by one of the leading biblical scholars in the United States. For several decades, Michael Coogan's introductory course on the Old Testament has been a perennial favorite among students at Harvard University. In God and Sex, Coogan examines one of the most controversial aspects of the Hebrew Scripture: What the Old Testament really says about sex, and how contemporary understanding of those writings is frequently misunderstood or misrepresented.

The God of the Old Testament commanded and endorsed many practices that we find morally reprehensible today. High on the list was the institution of slavery, which features prominently in several sections of the Hebrew Bible. Fathers could sell their daughters into slavery, masters could beat their slaves, creditors could carry off children for failure to repay a debt, and foreigners could be kept for life, passed down as inherited property. How are we to make sense of all of this from our modern point of view?

Rabbi Curt Landry helps Christians discover their roots in Judaism, empowering them to walk in the revelation of who they really are and who they are born to be. Reclaiming Our Forgotten Heritage reveals the mysteries of the church, letting Christians grasp the power that comes from connecting with their true identity.

Chuck Missler, an internationally recognized biblical authority, reviews the origin of both the Old and New Testaments in light of recent discoveries and controversies.

God's faithfulness to Israel is an incredible affirmation of His unconditional goodness, and as we discover His heart for His chosen people, we better understand His heart for us. Israel's story begins with God's promise to make Abraham a great nation, and to this day, His hand continues to guide and protect the Jewish people. Israel Always is a sweeping journey through Israel's prolific history, its modern-day influence, and its promised future, highlighting the continuous throughline of God's provision for His people.

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

In Corona Crisis, professor Mark Hitchcock shares how the current coronavirus outbreak is related to the vivid, end-time biblical prophecies about plagues, pestilences, and pandemics. Jesus listed "pestilences in various places" as a sign of his coming (Luke 21:11). In the prophecy of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, the fourth rider kills one-fourth of the earth with pestilence and the "wild beasts of the earth".

Why does the Bible depict a world in which humans, with surprising regularity, encounter the divine - wrestling an angel, addressing a burning bush, issuing forth prophecy without any choice in the matter? These stories spoke very differently to their original audience than they do to us, and they reflect a radically distinct understanding of reality and the human mind. Yet over the course of the thousand-year biblical era, encounters with God changed dramatically.

Through thousands of years of interpreting the Bible through the lens of changing languages and societies, and varying regard to females and feminine qualities, the concept of God has become more and more male to the exclusion of God's female side of wisdom, mercy, grace, and nurture. Let us attempt to rediscover the truth and expand our understanding of the complete and perfect God. If God is our creator and we were made in the image of God, then God is both our father and our mother.

This Very Short Introduction audiobook offers a clear, accessible, and concise account of the apocryphal gospels - exploring their origins, their discovery, and discussing how the various texts have been interpreted both by the Church and beyond.