Study Commentaries

For centuries, The Book of Enoch has intrigued scholars, theologians, and seekers of truth. This ancient manuscript, once considered lost, reveals a universe of angelic beings, divine secrets, and cosmic battles. It challenges conventional religious thought, offering a glimpse into the pre-flood world and the cosmic order as envisioned by its author.

In Religion and Medicine, Dr. Jeff Levin outlines this longstanding history and the multifaceted interconnections between these two institutions. The first book to cover the full breadth of this subject, it documents religion-medicine alliances across religious traditions, throughout the world, and over the course of history. Levin summarizes a wide range of material in the most comprehensive introduction to this emerging field of scholarship to date.

In this volume, Dr. R.C. Sproul delves into the rich teaching, praises, and exhortations contained in one of his favorite books of the Bible. Take up this verse-by-verse guide to gain greater insights into the grace of the gospel and the glory of the Lord in the redemption of His people.

Reading Revelation Responsibly is for those who are confused by, afraid of, and or preoccupied with the book of Revelation. In rescuing the Apocalypse from those who either completely misinterpret it or completely ignore it, Michael Gorman has given us both a guide to reading Revelation in a responsible way and a theological engagement with the text itself. He takes interpreting the book as a serious and sacred responsibility, believing how one reads, teaches, and preaches Revelation can have a powerful impact on one's own—and other people's—well-being.

Story captures our hearts and feeds our imaginations. It reminds us who we are and where we came from. Story gives meaning and direction to our lives as we learn to see it as an affirmation of God’s love. Drawing upon her own experiences, well-known tales in literature, and selected narratives from Scripture, Madeleine L’Engle gently leads the way into the glorious world of story in The Rock That Is Higher. Here she acknowledges universal human longings and considers how literature, Scripture, personal stories, and life experiences all point us toward our true home.

If you start at the beginning of the New Testament and read straight through, first you’ll find three similar accounts of Jesus’ life. Then you come to the gospel of John. From recounting Jesus’ signs to recording His famous I am statements, John puts a spotlight on Jesus’ redemptive work so that others will believe and be saved. In this volume, Dr. R.C. Sproul provides an introduction to John in his accessible, conversational style. Each chapter is packed with insights and exhortations to draw you closer to the life and light of the Savior.

At every moment the author brings deep insight, conviction, and clarity about what God's Kingdom work is all about.

Who was Jesus? What was His mission? The gospel of Matthew opens the New Testament with a rich portrait of the Messiah who fulfills God’s promises to Israel and proclaims the coming of God’s kingdom. In this volume, Dr. R.C. Sproul explores the events of Jesus’ life, from His miraculous birth to His triumphant resurrection, and explains some of His most famous teachings, including the Sermon on the Mount and the Great Commission. As Dr. Sproul looks back on these crucial moments in history, he also provides pastoral wisdom on how the church is to worship and serve in the present age.

Jesus Christ has been given the name above all names, the highest seat of honor, the right to reign and rule. Yet the busyness of our lives and the diversions of this world often distract us from knowing the most important person we could ever know. Perhaps we need some help to see Jesus afresh. In this thoughtful study and worshipful reflection, two influential pastors draw on decades of pastoral experience in order to guide us through the whole sweep of Scripture and examine seven key qualities of Jesus's identity and ministry.

I and II Kings provide a record of Israel's history from the beginning of the movement to place Solomon on David's throne through the end of the reign of Zedekiah, Judah's last king. There are great lessons to be learned from Israel's desire to be "like those around us" and its consequences.

What is this book good for? It establishes a clear linear understanding of biblical text in its purpose of driving the listener to see how faithfully God executes His purpose in creation. The covenantal framework from Adam to Christ, and from creation to consummation, is a most apt way of seeing the flow of the entire biblical text. One is lifted in the journey and is able to see the entire scope of Divine Providence work out the divine decree from generation to generation, book to book, event to event, person to person.

This Very Short Introduction looks at the importance accorded to the bible by different communities and cultures and attempts to explain why it has generated such a rich variety of uses and interpretations. It explores how the Bible was written, the development of the canon, the role of biblical criticism, the appropriation of the bible in high and popular culture, and its use for political ends.

The Mengzi is one of the very greatest works of world literature and philosophy, and it is perhaps the single most influential Confucian text of all time. Of all the Confucian classics, it is also the one most likely to speak to a contemporary audience. The Mengzi contains the dialogues, debates and sayings of Mengzi, a Confucian sage of the fourth century BCE. (He is also known by the Latinization of his name, 'Mencius'.)

In 15 New Testament Words of Life, New Testament expert Nijay Gupta explores the most important words found in the New Testament. He makes their meaning clear so that these words can become—once again—life giving words for modern Christians as they were for early Jesus-followers. For those first readers of the New Testament who chose to follow Jesus, these words were words of life and they can be again for Jesus-followers in the modern world.

The two books of Samuel form a basic foundational study in the Old Testament. An understanding of this basic history is essential, not only to understanding the Old and New Testaments, but in gaining a valid perspective of eschatological issues as well.

Over the past several decades, globalization has homogenized what we eat, and done so ruthlessly. The numbers are stark: Of the roughly 6,000 different plants once consumed by human beings, only nine remain major staples today. Just three of these - rice, wheat, and corn - now provide 50 percent of all our calories. Dig deeper and the trends are more worrisome still.

Exploring the relationship between Christianity and Zen, especially through his dialogue with the great Zen teacher D.T. Suzuki, the book makes an excellent introduction to a comparative study of these two traditions, as well as giving the listener a strong taste of the mature Merton. Never does one feel him losing his own faith; rather, one feels that faith getting deeply clarified and affirmed. Just as the body of "Zen" cannot be found by the scavengers, so too, Merton suggests, with the eternal truth of Christ.

The spirit of our times can appear to be one of joyless urgency. As a culture we have become less interested in the exploration of the glorious mind, and more interested in creating and mastering technologies that will yield material well-being. But while cultural pessimism is always fashionable, there is still much to give us hope.

Christian men and women across the country experience leadership in many different ways. Some lead a congregation, youth group or ministry, some in their homes, businesses, or non-professional organizations. The lives of many followers of Christ are marked by a combination of these roles. In Leadership by the Book, Brent Garrison offers examples from each book of the Old and New Testaments of how God's servants have led his people

God has many ways of teaching us. Jesus taught by example. Men looked at how he lived, and decided to walk that way also. He also taught by precept, speaking directly to people, in a way we might call teaching today. But his favorite way of teaching was through the use of the parable. He loved to tell stories—stories with spiritual meanings. "In the fall of 1987," Jamie said, "I visited Israel with a camera crew. We had obtained permission from the Israeli government to set up cameras at ten of the sites where Jesus told his best-known parables.