Showing titles in Biblical History & Culture

The Israel Decree meticulously traces the historical, political, legal, and scriptural foundations of Israel's God-promised right to the land. Writing with clarity and commitment to biblical truth, bestselling author and native Israeli Amir Tsarfati helps you: understand how today’s Israel is a continuation of the ancient biblical nation, fulfilling a divine promise made millennia ago; live with greater expectancy and hope in light of what Bible prophecy says about the rapture and tribulation; and be encouraged by God’s wonderful character as you see it on display.

The official editions of the King James contained the books of the Apocrypha until 1796. Most printers did not clear inventories and change to the 66-book version we know today until the mid 1800's. Ethymologically, the word "apocrypha" means "things that are hidden", but why they were hidden is not clear. Listen to find out more!

A major new work on the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest sacred documents of Judaism, which reveals their surprising connections to early Christianity. “A luminous treatment of a fascinating subject! Highly recommended!”—Scott Hahn, author of The Fourth Cup From award-winning scholar John...

Believers today are facing a profound spiritual poverty—an ignorance of the women who shaped their faith and an incomplete understanding of the God those women faithfully served. The inspired writers of the Old Testament mention over one hundred women by name and countless others in passing. Yet, how many of us know the stories of these women and the God who wrote them?

Read by the authors. Does gaining power, possessions, and popularity lead to happiness and fulfillment? Or does inner transformation and self-sacrificial love bring the most joy and satisfaction? New York Times bestselling author Kathie Lee Gifford and scholar Bryan Litfin dive into these...

Lo que saben los rabinos, y que nunca aprendí en la iglesia es un examen revelador de lo que los cristianos pueden aprender sobre Dios de aquellos que lo llaman Adonai. El autor Chaim Bentorah ha pasado cuarenta años hablando con rabinos, aprendiendo de ellos y estudiando con ellos para que los cristianos puedan experimentar el evangelio a través de una nueva lente.

Welborn begins by showing how, paradoxically, language around the concept of democracy is largely absent from political thinkers in the first century. By contrast, we learn that Paul's Corinthian correspondence is full of vocabulary associated with democracy, not only the term we know as "Church" (ekkesia) or "people's assembly", which the Christ-group adopted as a self-designation, but other terms with a democratic history and resonance such as eleutheria ("freedom"), paressia ("freedom of speech"), koinonia ("partnership"), isotes ("equality").

4 Baruch is one of the most intriguing books in the Ethiopian Bible—and one of the most controversial texts excluded from the traditional Jeremiah narrative. In this immersive narration by Christopher Glyn, you'll hear the entire book read aloud that follows the storyline from Jerusalem to Babylon and back again.

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.

La Didachè est un petit livre qui fut écrit en langue grecque, sans doute en Syrie, vers la fin du premier siècle ou au début du deuxième siècle de notre ère. Son principal intérêt réside dans le tableau qu'elle nous trace des institutions chrétiennes. Elle nous apporte des renseignements souvent uniques sur la pratique des premières communautés, sur le baptême, les jeûnes, les temps de la prière, l'eucharistie, le ministère de la parole, la hiérarchie, la pénitence.

The recent rise in Christian nationalism and religious violence demands new approaches to scriptural interpretation that are rooted in nonviolence and moral seriousness. In The Accessorized Bible, David Dault explores the ethical implications of how we use scripture as an accessory, whether as an accessory to our fashion choices or as an accessory to our crimes and violence against one another.

The Bible is a piercing drama, a tale of prophets and wandering spirits, heroic mothers and flashing swords, cosmic mountains, and a dry, shadowy Sheol. It is a true story that defines the nature and purpose of reality, and its claims are astonishing. But few modern listeners experience the Bible that way. In this groundbreaking audiobook, celebrated storyteller Blaine Eldredge draws upon years of research to illuminate the story of the Bible through the lives of six kingly characters.

The Second Book of Enoch, also known as the Slavonic Enoch or 2 Enoch, is an ancient religious text that is part of the Jewish apocalyptic tradition. It is considered pseudepigraphical, attributed to the biblical figure Enoch, who was said to have been taken up to heaven and shown divine revelations. The book exists in various versions, with the most well-known being the Slavonic manuscript preserved in the Russian National Library. The Second Book of Enoch is comprised of several sections that offer a glimpse into cosmology, theology, and eschatology.

While Christians generally acknowledge that the Bible is God's Word, many of us lack robust confidence in the reality of its trustworthiness. We may not be sure if we really believe what we read. But the more we understand how Scripture came to be, the more we discover its power and truth. Historian Susan Lim unpacks how the history of the Bible bolsters our faith and anchors us through the changing tides of time. The story of Scripture, while messy and complicated at times, is also the story of how God shepherded his people throughout the centuries in and through these writings.

No matter your season of life as a woman, you long to be loved and appreciated. But perhaps most days you're left feeling unseen, unheard, or unknown. Though centuries apart from your life today, the women who knew Jesus faced similar fears and insecurities. Their names aren't etched onto the pages of Scripture, but they are etched into the heart of God. In this book, Paige Allen invites you to take a second look at the life-changing encounters of seven unnamed women who came face-to-face with Jesus in the Bible.

Some Christians think Paul's reference to "saved through childbearing" in 1 Timothy 2:15 means that women are slated primarily for delivering and raising children. Alternate readings, however, sometimes fail to build on the best historical and textual evidence. Sandra Glahn thinks that we have misunderstood Paul by misunderstanding the context to which he wrote. A key to reading and applying 1 Timothy, Glahn argues, lies in getting to know a mysterious figure who haunts the letter: the goddess Artemis.

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.

The Christian religion is the historical unfolding of God's covenantal involvement in this world, the culmination of which is God's coming into this world in the person of Jesus Christ. Far as the Curse Is Found is a retelling of the biblical story of God's unfolding covenant from creation to new creation

Does God call women to serve as equal partners in marriage and as leaders in the church? The answer to this straightforward question is deeply contested. Into the fray, Lucy Peppiatt offers her work on interpretation of the Bible and Christian practice.

The “modern Jesus” of progressives—supposedly friendlier and more accepting than the Savior we know from the Gospels—is gaining popularity and acceptance among self-identified Christians. But they don’t realize that progressive Christianity rejects the biblical revelation of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. Hijacking Jesus addresses perennial questions about the nature of Christ and his teaching, testing the historical and theological accuracy of progressive Christians.