Showing results for "First" in Biblical History & Culture

Distinct from the Greek Books of Maccabees found in other traditions, it blends powerful exhortations and vivid narratives that call God's people to reject idolatry, remain faithful under corrupt rulers, and live with repentance and hope in God's justice. Listen as this ancient text challenges the heart and strengthens faith.

1 Clement exhorts Christians to imitate the examples of Old Testament heroes like Moses and Elijah, to submit to godly leadership for the sake of harmony, and to pursue holiness in every aspect of life. Far more than a dry treatise, it pulses with the urgency of a faith tested by persecution and the hope of new life in Christ.

The Bible as we know it today is best understood as a process, one that begins in the tenth century BCE. In this revelatory account, a world-renowned scholar of Hebrew scripture joins a foremost authority on the New Testament to write a new biography of the Book of Books, reconstructing Jewish and Christian scriptural histories, as well as the underappreciated contest between them, from which the Bible arose. The Making of the Bible is the most comprehensive history yet told of the world's best-known literature, revealing its buried lessons and secrets.

The Zondervan Biblical and Theological Lectures series provides a unique audio learning experience. Unlike a traditional audiobook's direct narration of a book's text, The New Testament in Its World: Audio Lectures includes high quality live-recordings of college-level lectures that cover the...

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.