Showing titles in Biblical History & Culture

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?

The Mysterious and Prophetic History of Esau Considered (1837) by J H Heath examines the numerous biblical prophecies on Edom and Esau. Drawing on the books of Exodus, Daniel, and Revelation, the author first looks at the history of the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their families, to identify Ishmael and Esau with Edom.

Beginning with Jesus' birth, Ken Bailey leads you on a kaleidoscopic study of Jesus throughout the four Gospels. Bailey examines the life and ministry of Jesus with attention to the Lord's Prayer, the Beatitudes, Jesus' relationship to women, and especially Jesus' parables. Through it all, Bailey employs his trademark expertise as a master of Middle Eastern culture to lead you into a deeper understanding of the person and significance of Jesus within his own cultural context.

In Killing a Messiah, New Testament scholar Adam Winn weaves together stories of historical and fictional characters in a fresh reimagining of the events leading up to Jesus's execution. Based on what we know of the first-century context, Winn's narrative offers compelling explanations for gaps in the Gospel accounts. The social, political, and religious realities of Jesus's world come to life and shed new light on our reading of the biblical texts. In a city full of political entanglements, espionage, and competing interests, the blame for the crucifixion is complex.

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.

Have you ever wondered what the Old Testament - especially the Old Testament law - has to do with your Christian life? You are not alone. Some Christian leaders believe we should cast off the Old Testament now that we have the New. Carmen Joy Imes disagrees. In this warm, accessible volume, Imes takes listeners back to Sinai, the ancient mountain where Israel met their God, and explains the meaning of events there. She argues that we've misunderstood the command about "taking the Lord's name in vain." Instead, Imes says that this command is about "bearing God's name."

Tradition suggests Mary Magdalene was a prostitute and Jesus was born in a barn. But what does the Bible really say? Armed with her theology degree, archaeological experience, and sharp wit, Amanda Hope Haley clears up misconceptions of Bible stories and encourages you to dig into Scripture as it is written rather than accept versions altered by centuries of human interpretations.

After her brother died unexpectedly and her mother moved into a dementia-care facility, spiritual travel writer and Episcopal deacon Lori Erickson felt called to a new quest: to face death head-on, with the eye of a tourist and the heart of a pastor. Blending memoir, spirituality, and travel, Near the Exit examines how cultures confront and have confronted death by investigating Egypt's Valley of the Kings, Mayan temples, Colorado cremation pyres, Day of the Dead celebrations, Maori settlements, and tourist-destination graveyards.

Best-selling author and national radio host Dr. Andrew Farley is known to challenge legalistic and lifeless interpretations with his discerning take on controversial scriptures. In Twisted Scripture, Andrew skewers sacred cows and shatters destructive lies, bringing the undiluted truth about God's love and grace in a colorful and conversational look at the most controversial passages in the New Testament.

Issus de "l'étincelle divine", nous sommes tous un fragment de la force créatrice de Dieu le Père et Dieu la Mère. Si notre cerveau possède deux hémisphères, l'un masculin, l'autre féminin, il en va de même du miroir de la création. Notre Père, co-créateur de l'univers, immobile et imperturbable, est pur intellect, alors que Dieu la Mère est le dieu émotif et actif qui peut "interférer" avec notre plan de vie.

Wissen, was stimmt, wenn es um die Bibel geht, den Weltbestseller schlechthin! Weltweit sind von den Bibelgesellschaften im Jahr 2006 über 25,7 Millionen Exemplare abgegeben worden - einschließlich Teilbibeln sind es fast 400 Millionen. Doch Rekorde hält die Bibel nicht nur, was ihre quantitative Verbreitung angeht. Wie kein zweites Buch beeinflusst sie die Kulturen der Welt. Seit bald zwei Jahrtausenden prägt der Bibelgebrauch von Judentum und Christentum Teile des Vorderen Orients und Europa.

In The Bible’s Cutting Room Floor, acclaimed author and translator Dr. Joel M. Hoffman gives us the stories and other texts that didn’t make it into the Bible even though they offer penetrating insight into the Bible and its teachings. The Book of Genesis tells us about Adam and Eve’s time in the Garden of Eden, but not their saga after they get kicked out or the lessons they have for us about good and evil.

Woven from Joseph Campbell’s previously unpublished work, this volume explores Judeo-Christian symbols and metaphors - and their misinterpretations - with the famed mythologist’s characteristic conversational warmth and accessible scholarship. Campbell’s insights highlight centuries of confusion between literal and metaphorical interpretations of Western religious symbols that are, he argues, perennially relevant keys to spiritual understanding and mystical revelation.

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.

Each Christmas, adults and children alike delight at the story of the kings from the East who followed the star to Bethlehem to offer gifts to the newborn Christ. While this familiar tale is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, another little-known version later emerged that claimed to be the eyewitness account of the wise men. This ancient manuscript has lain hidden for centuries in the vaults of the Vatican Library, but through the determined persistence of a young scholar, Brent Landau, this astonishing discovery has been translated into English for the very first time as the Revelation of the Magi.

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...

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.

In Hitler, God, and the Bible, international evangelist and bestselling author Ray Comfort exposes Adolf Hitler's theology and abuse of religion as a means to seize political power and ultimately instigate World War II and genocide.

This fascinating study mines the depths of Hitler's beliefs and convincingly argues that without Hitler's misuse of Christianity the Third Reich would not have had its legendary rise, resulting in the deaths of more than six million Jews.

Die Frage nach dem Verhältnis der drei großen Weltreligionen Christentum, Islam ist in den medialen Diskussionen allgegenwärtig. Es ist vom "Kampf der Kulturen" die Rede, von Interreligiosität (was aber genau ist das?), v.a. aber von politischen Problemen und Konflikten, die mit religiösen, ethnischen, gesellschaftlichen und kulturellen eng verknüpft sind. Doch liegt es nicht nahe, zu allererst die Urdokumente der Religionen, ihre Heiligen Schriften nämlich, zu befragen und nach Besonderheiten, Charakteristika und Gemeinsamkeiten abzuklopfen?

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.