Unlocking the Bible is essentially a lay-persons guide to biblical interpretation. Its thesis is that understanding the text requires a prior understanding of critical technique. With this in view, the book examines historical, literary and cultural issues which are essential for an appreciation of the Bible today, and suggests that a consideration of the authors primary aims is key to an accurate exegesis of the text. Unlocking the Bible, although intended for general consumption, should ...

The Problem of God falls into two equal parts. The first of these deals with the traditional theistic arguments for Gods existence (ontological, cosmological, teleological, experiential, moral), exploring the extent to which they succeed as rational arguments. On the assumption that the God of traditional theism does exist, the second part addresses the problems posed by his traditional attributes (his eternity, omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, and role as creator). The aim of the b...

The material here was originally intended as a third section in Smiths previous offering, The Problem of God, but took on a life of its own to become a separate work. The Problem of Faith is thus a sequel to the former work and deals with those questions with which all thinking believers wrestle: the nature of religious language, evil and the God of love, the concept of miracles and of prayer, the relationship between faith and reason, life after death, and the problem of hell. The aim is ...

Few can offer a more experienced view on religion than Ray Bradley. Having been raised as a 'winner of souls for Christ' in the 1940s, he spent the next 40 years as an atheist professor of philosophy and an outspoken critic /debater of religion.Revered for his work in logic and his meticulous approach to debate, God's Gravediggers is Bradley's coup de grâce to religion. A career's worth of work on a subject that could hardly be more important. Approaching the moral, logical and sci...

Philosophical theology is aimed primarily at theoretical understanding of the nature and attributes of God and of God's relationship to the world and its inhabitants. During the twentieth century, much of the philosophical community (both in the Anglo-American analytic tradition and in Continental circles) had grave doubts about our ability to attain any such understanding. In recent years the analytic tradition in particular has moved beyond the biases that placed obstacles in the way of ...

Philosophy of Religion: The Basics offers a concise introduction to philosophy of religion, distilling key discussions and concepts of the subject to their succinct essence, providing a truly accessible entry into the subject.A truly accessible introduction to philosophy of religion for beginnersTakes a topical approach, starting with the nature of religion and moving the reader through the major concepts, explaining how topics connect and point to one anot...

When world-class biblical scholar Bart Ehrman first began to study the texts of the Bible in their original languages he was startled to discover the multitude of mistakes and intentional alterations that had been made by earlier translators. In Misquoting Jesus, Ehrman tells the story behind the mistakes and changes that ancient scribes made to the New Testament and shows the great impact they had upon the Bible we use today. He frames his account with personal reflections on how his stud...

This is a book about the big questions in life: knowledge, consciousness, fate, God, truth, goodness, justice. It is for anyone who believes there are big questions out there, but does not know how to approach them. Think sets out to explain what they are and why they are important. Simon Blackburn begins by putting forward a convincing case for the study of philosophy and goes on to give the reader a sense of how the great historical figures such as Descartes, Hume, Kant, and Wittgenstein...

There is a widespread belief that reason and faith are incompatible and opposed to each other. Faith is viewed as subjective, emotional, a crutch for those who find the real world too hard. Though many of the world's finest minds hold this view, the Bible teaches that it is the fool who says there is no God.Dr. R. C. Sproul clearly and simply argues that at its core Christianity is rational. He focuses on defending the basic truth claims for two of the most crucial issues of apolog...

“This book is . . . my personal search ‘for the face of the Lord.’” –Benedict XVIIn this bold, momentous work, the Pope––in his first book written as Benedict XVI––seeks to salvage the person of Jesus from recent “popular” depictions and to restore Jesus’ true identity as discovered in the Gospels. Through his brilliance as a theologian and his personal conviction as a believer, the Pope shares a rich, compelling, flesh-and-blood portrait of Jesus and incites us to encounter, face-...

The second edition of this popular compendium provides the necessary intellectual equipment to engage with and participate in effective philosophical argument, reading, and reflectionFeatures significantly revised, updated and expanded entries, and an entirely new section drawn from methods in the history of philosophyThis edition has a broad, pluralistic approach--appealing to readers in both continental philosophy and the history of philosophy, as well as analytic...

Geza Vermes, translator and editor of The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls and worldwide expert on the life and times of Jesus, tells the enthralling story of early Christianity and the origins of a religion.The creation of the Christian Church is one of the most important stories in the development of the world's history, but also one of the most enigmatic and little understood, shrouded in mystery and misunderstanding. With a forensic, brilliant re-examination of all the key su...