In ascending to heaven, Jesus Christ gave the church the Great Commission to expand the gospel to all nations. Despite this biblical commission, it is still an unfinished task. As leaders of local churches, pastors play a crucial part in this endeavor. Pastoral leadership principles have varied widely throughout history, yet it is interesting to discover the similarities between pastoral leadership principles practiced by John Chrysostom (AD 347-407) in Antioch and Constantinople, and Won ...

Eryl W. Davies enhances understanding of the ethical issues embedded in the stories concerning Abraham in Genesis 12-25.He focuses on the ethics of deception in Gen. 12:10-20 and 20:1-18 and the 'dark side' of the character of God, as revealed in stories such as the binding of Isaac in Gen. 22, while also considering how the writings of philosophers such as Kant, Kierkegaard and Habermas illuminate aspects of the biblical stories.Davies closely explores the...

Davies outlines the composition and date of Numbers, and the various attempts that have been made to establish a coherent and meaningful structure in its arrangement. Davies also shows how the application of reader-response criticism, feminist criticism and postcolonial criticism have contributed to our understanding of selected passages in the book. Addressing theological issues, Davies considers three themes that occupy much of the content of Numbers, namely; land, purity and holiness, a...

According to the Bible, the God of Christianity has a reputation for answering prayer. However, many Christians have been sometimes severely tempted to think they have been sold short as they have found themselves in some crisis and have cried out to God in all sincerity, and found that he has been "out." From years of pastoral experience in addressing crises, and after having to face crises in his own experience, Roger Abbott attempts to help Christians who are struggling with what seem t...

Many Christians believe that they have to understand everything about their faith for that faith to be genuine. This isn't true.There are many things we don't understand about God, His Word, and His works. And this is actually one of the greatest things about the Christian faith: that there are areas of mystery that lie beyond the keenest scholarship or even the most profound spiritual exercises. Sadly, for many people these problems raise so many questions and unc...

An examination of one of the most controversial aspects of the Hebrew Scripture: What the Old Testament really says about sex, and how contemporary understanding of those writings is frequently misunderstood or misrepresented.In the engaging and witty voice generations of students have appreciated, Michael Coogan explores the language and social world of the Bible, showing how much innuendo and euphemism is at play, and illuminating the sexuality of biblical figure...

The groundbreaking Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible (DTIB) introduced readers to key names, theories, and concepts in the field of biblical interpretation. It has been well received by pastors and students, won book awards from Christianity Today and the Catholic Press Association, and was named the ECPA 2006 Christian Book of the Year. Theological Interpretation of the Old Testament features key articles from DTIB, providi...

Of all the teachings of Christianity, the doctrine of hell is easily the most troubling, so much so that in recent years the church has been quietly tucking it away. Rarely mentioned anymore in the pulpit, it has faded through disuse among evangelicals and been attacked by liberal theologians. Hell is no longer only the target of those outside the church. Today, a disturbing number of professing Christians question it as well. Perhaps more than at any other time in history, hell is under f...

Reading the Women of the Bible takes up two of the most significant intellectual and religious issues of our day: the experiences of women in a patriarchal society and the relevance of the Bible to modern life.

Though marriage is highly esteemed throughout Scripture, the Bible also affirms singleness as an important calling for some Christians. Redeeming Singleness expounds a theology of singleness that shows how the blessings of the covenant are now directly mediated to believers through Christ.Redeeming Singleness offers an in-depth examination of the redemptive history from which biblical singleness emerges. Danylak illustrates the continuity of this affirmation of si...

Some of the leading voices in evangelical Christianity reaffirm the importance of preaching biblical theology for the health of our churches.Loving, teaching, and rightly dividing the Word of God is every pastor's privilege and responsibility. If a pastor understands what the Word says about God, man, and the curse, about Christ and his substitutionary atonement, and about the call to repentance and sacrifice, he will develop and preach a sound theology. And sound theology...

For millennia, people have used the Bible as a touchstone on important social and political questions, and rightly so. But many use the Bible simply as a weapon to wield against opponents in a variety of debates--without knowing what the Bible actually says about the issue in question. In The Bible Now, two respected biblical scholars, Richard Elliott Friedman and Shawna Dolansky, tell us carefully what the Hebrew Bible says or does not say about a wide range of issues--including homosexua...