Ever since E. P. Sanders published Paul and Palestinian Judaism in 1977, students of Paul have been probing, weighing and debating the similarities and dissimilarities between the understandings of salvation in Judaism and in Paul. Do they really share a common notion of divine and human agency? Or do they differ at a deep level? And if so, how? Broadly speaking, the answers have lined up on either side of the old perspective and new perspective divide. But can we move beyond this impasse? Preston Sprinkle reviews the state of the question and then tackles the problem. Buried in the Old Testament's Deuteronomic and prophetic perspectives on divine and human agency, he finds a key that starts to turn the rusted lock on Paul's critique of Judaism. Here is a proposal that offers a new line of investigation and thinking about a crucial issue in Pauline theology.
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World of the New Testament Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts
This volume addresses the most important issues related to the study of New Testament writings. Two respected senior scholars have brought together a team of distinguished specialists to introduce the Jewish, Hellenistic, and Roman backgrounds necessary for understanding the New Testament and the early church. Contributors include renowned scholars such as Lynn H. Cohick, David A. deSilva, James D. G. Dunn, and Ben Witherington III. The book includes seventy-five photographs, fifteen maps, numerous tables and charts, illustrations, and bibliographies. All students of the New Testament will value this reliable, up-to-date, comprehensive textbook and reference volume on the New Testament world.
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Time Travel to the Old Testament Your Essential Companion
Thomas Schreiner, a respected scholar and a trusted voice for many students and pastors, offers a substantial and accessibly written overview of the whole Bible. He traces the storyline of the scriptures from the standpoint of biblical theology, examining the overarching message that is conveyed throughout. Schreiner emphasizes three interrelated and unified themes that stand out in the biblical narrative: God as Lord, human beings as those who are made in God's image, and the land or place in which God's rule is exercised. The goal of God's kingdom is to see the king in his beauty and to be enraptured in his glory
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Four Views on the Role of Works at the Final Judgment
啟示錄或許是新約眾多經卷中最難理解的部分。因著以天啟文學手法寫成,歷代以來對末日預言的解釋已衍生出不少學派。單以千禧年此課題,已有最基本的前千禧年派、無千禧年派和後千禧年派,直叫一般信徒眼花撩亂。幸好有格雷格( Steve Gregg)以主流詮釋啟示錄的四派平行處理全卷經文,省卻不少對照的功夫,讓有志研究此書的信徒一目了然。另外,當末日主基督再臨時,甚麼人才能得救?人在世上所作所行到底純粹是關乎獎賞抑或與拯救有關?由四名有代表性學者互相對談品評,實令讀者眼界大開。
How can we understand the book of Revelation and its many interpretations? Four Views of Revelation: A Parallel Commentary covers the traditional views in an even-handed fashion. Four parallel columns present the information you need on these key views, and inform you about outstanding commentators on the book of Revelation. No other book gives such extensive coverage of how the church has understood Revelation over the centuries. The four-column format makes this an easy read for lay people, pastors, and scholars alike. This is a wonderful addition to any Bible study resource library.
Features include:
Convenient, one-volume format
Four parallel columns for easy comparison
Complete coverage of the major interpretations of Revelation
Extensive coverage of the place of Revelation in church history
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The God Who Became Human A Biblical Theology of Incarnation (New Studies in Biblical Theology)
Seeking an answer to Anselm's timeless question, "Why did God become man?" Graham Cole follows Old Testament themes of preparation, theophany and messianic hope through to the New Testament witness to the divinely foretold event. He concludes with a consideration of the theological and existential implications of the incarnation of God.
That there are four canonical versions of the one gospel story is often seen as a problem for Christian faith: where gospels multiply, so too do apparent contradictions that may seem to undermine their truth claims. In Gospel Writing Francis Watson argues that differences and tensions between canonical gospels represent opportunities for theological reflection, not problems for apologetics.
Watson presents the formation of the fourfold gospel as the defining moment in the reception of early gospel literature -- and also of Jesus himself as the subject matter of that literature. As the canonical division sets four gospel texts alongside one another, the canon also creates a new, complex, textual entity more than the sum of its parts. A canonical gospel can no longer be regarded as a definitive, self-sufficient account of its subject matter. It must play its part within an intricate fourfold polyphony, and its meaning and significance are thereby transformed.
In elaborating these claims, Watson proposes nothing less than a new paradigm for gospel studies — one that engages fully with the available noncanonical material so as to illuminate the historical and theological significance of the canonical.
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The Israelite Samaritan Version of the Torah First English Translation Compared with the Masoretic Version
This landmark volume presents the first-ever English translation of the ancient Israelite Samaritan version of the Pentateuch, or Torah. A text of growing interest and importance in the field of biblical studies, the Samaritan Pentateuch preserves a version of the Hebrew text distinct from the traditional Masoretic Text that underlies modern Bible translations.
Benyamim Tsedaka's expert English translation of the Samaritan Pentateuch is here laid out parallel to the more familiar Masoretic Text, highlighting the more than 6,000 differences between the two versions. In addition to extensive explanatory notes in the margins throughout, the book's detailed appendices show affinities between the Samaritan and Septuagint versions and between the Samaritan and Dead Sea Scroll texts. Concluding the volume is a categorical name index containing a wealth of comparative information.