Biblical Studies: Find Books
This guide serves as an introduction to library sources related to Bible research.
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Commentary Guidelines / Dr. Bergler
This document gives you an overview of the types of Biblical commentaries, their scope and the appropriate use for scholarship.
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New Titles in Bible and Religion
BL - Religion. Mythology. Rationalism.
Nonverts by Call Number: BL2525 .B85 2022ISBN: 9780197587447Publication Date: 2022The United States is in the midst of a religious revolution. Or, perhaps it is better to say a non-religious revolution. Around a quarter of US adults now say they have no religion. The great majority of these religious "nones" also say that they used to belong to a religion but no longer do. These are the nonverts: think "converts," but from having religion to having none. There are currently has about 59 million of them in the United States. Nonverts explores who they are, and why they joined the rising tide of the ex-religious. One of world's leading experts on contemporary atheism and nonreligiosity, sociologist and theologian Stephen Bullivant draws on dozens of interviews, original analysis of high-quality survey data, and a wealth of cutting-edge studies, to present an entertaining and insightful exploration of America's ex-religious landscape. Bullivant criss-crosses the country, talking to everyone from ex-Mormons in Utah to ex-Catholics in Pennsylvania, from ex-Evangelicals in Georgia to ex-Muslims in California, showing not only what they have in common but also how the traditions they left behind continue to shape them. While American religion is not going to die out any time soon, ex-Christian America is a growing presence in national life. America's religious revolution is not just a religious revolution--it is catalyzing a profound social, cultural, moral, and political impact. Nonverts will serve as an indispensable guide to this shifting landscape, as well as the future of American life.
The Secular Paradox by Call Number: BL2747.8 .B56 2022ISBN: 9781479809509Publication Date: 2022A radically new way of understanding secularism which explains why being secular can seem so strangely religious For much of America's rapidly growing secular population, religion is an inescapable source of skepticism and discomfort. It shows up in politics and in holidays, but also in common events like weddings and funerals. In The Secular Paradox, Joseph Blankholm argues that, despite their desire to avoid religion, nonbelievers often seem religious because Christianity influences the culture around them so deeply. Relying on several years of ethnographic research among secular activists and organized nonbelievers in the United States, the volume explores how very secular people are ambivalent toward belief, community, ritual, conversion, and tradition. As they try to embrace what they share, secular people encounter, again and again, that they are becoming too religious. And as they reject religion, they feel they have lost too much. Trying to strike the right balance, secular people alternate between the two sides of their ambiguous condition: absolutely not religious and part of a religion-like secular tradition.
BM - Judaism
Understanding the Jewish Roots of Christianity by Call Number: BM535 .U534 2021ISBN: 9781683594611Publication Date: 2021How Jewish is Christianity? In this volume, a variety of leading scholars and theologians explore the relationship of Judaism and Christianity through biblical, historical, theological, and ecclesiological angles. This cutting-edge scholarship will enrich readers' understanding of this centuries-old debate.
BP - Islam
Dawa by Call Number: BP170.85 .S66 2014ISBN: 9780991614530Publication Date: 2014A global survey of Islamist strategies and tactics for missionary outreach (dawa) in the 21st century, this easy-to-read book analyses the process of Islamisation at an individual and societal level. Looking at politics, law, education and other spheres, in a wide range of countries, it reveals the underlying patterns, structures and organisation. It also examines the theological roots of dawa that inspire Islamists today. Suitable for any interested reader, but well referenced for students.
The religious other : a biblical understanding of Islam, the Qur'an and Muhammad by Call Number: BP172 .R45 2020ISBN: 9781783687909Publication Date: 2020We live at a time when religious diversity has become a fact of life in our globalized societies. Yet Christian engagement with Muslims remains complex, complicated by fear, misunderstanding and a history fraught with political and cultural tensions. These essays, drawn from the 2018 and 2019 Middle East Consultations hosted by the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary's Institute of Middle East Studies, engage the need for a carefully developed theological understanding of Islam, its origins and its sacred text. Weaving together the work of Christian scholars of Islam, the Bible, theology and missiology, along with the insights of ministry practitioners, this book combines scholarly exploration with pertinent ministry practice, offering a rich framework for the church to continue its conversation about its engagement with Muslim communities and its proclamation of Christ worldwide.
The Challenge of Islam to the Church and Its Mission by Call Number: BP172 .S66 2008ISBN: 9780978714154Publication Date: 2008The growing impact of Islam on Western societies poses direct and indirect challenges to the Church and its mission. This book compares Islam with Christianity (offering a theological understanding of Islam), discusses the effects of Islam on the West in areas such as education and politics, and examines various issues in Christian-Muslim relations, including dialogue, cooperation and mission. Addressing a vital issue, it is essential reading for Christians in the West.
Fighting the Ideological War by Call Number: BP173.5 .F54 2012ISBN: 9780985310905Publication Date: 2012For more than two decades the United States has responded to global terrorism primarily as a physical threat, avoiding direct confrontation with the beliefs and ideas that motivate it. This collection of essays seeks to redress this imbalance. It aims to give decision-makers the tools to craft an effective strategy for countering and defeating the beliefs that motivate Islamist terrorists by examining those beliefs closely and drawing on the lessons to be learned from past ideological conflicts.
Global Jihad by Call Number: BP182 .S634 2007ISBN: 9780978714123Publication Date: 2007What is the driving force behind Islamist terrorism? Dr Sookhdeo takes an in-depth look at the teachings of Islam, past and present, drawing on a wide range of sources including many Muslim writers. He examines the facets of Islam that could motivate the men and women of violence. This is an invaluable resource for decision-makers in politics, security, intelligence and military but will also be of great interest to any reader who seeks to understand the Islamist violence in the world today.
Understanding Islamist Terrorism by Call Number: BP190.5.W35 S66 2009ISBN: 9780978714161Publication Date: 2009Modern Islamist terrorists look back to the early years of Islam to justify their actions. This book examines the origins of the classical Islamic doctrine of war that was followed at that time and explores its later development. It explains the ideology, logic and beliefs that drive the terrorists and demonstrates the consequences for the West of this return to the early teachings of Islam.
BQ - Buddhism
The Buddha by Call Number: BQ882 .A44 2024ISBN: 9781009346795Publication Date: 2023Philip Almond's engaging new book is the first to combine a history of early traditions about Siddhartha Gautama's life with an authoritative account of how he and the tantalizing philosophy inspired by him came to the attention of the West. It takes the reader on a remarkable journey encompassing (among other topics) Alexander the Great, the courts of the Mongol Khans, Jesuit missions to China and Japan, and intrepid European travellers and scholars from the modern era. Melding Pali and Sanskrit sources with vivid reception, Almond presents the Buddha's story as multi-layered: one of transition from a world of angels and demons, water and tree spirits, to an altogether different context where Buddhism mixed with the cultural preoccupations of those who tentatively - sometimes following false trails - tried to make sense of its fascinating complexity.
BR - Christianity
Cultural Identity and the Purposes of God by Call Number: BR115.C8 B78 2022ISBN: 9781433569739Publication Date: 2022Steven Bryan presents a biblical framework for thinking about various ideologies of cultural identity and cultivating diversity as the positive good that God intended.
The Secular Creed by Call Number: BR115.C8 M266 2021ISBN: 9780999284308Publication Date: 2021In this provocative book, Rebecca McLaughlin helps us disentangle the beliefs Christians gladly affirm from those they cannot embrace, and invites us to talk with our neighbors about the things that matter most. Far from opposing love across difference, McLaughlin argues, Christianity is the original source and firmest foundation for true diversity, equality, and life-transforming love.
Beyond Welcome by Call Number: BR115.E45 G66 2022ISBN: 9781587435607Publication Date: 2022González draws from the Bible and her own experiences to examine why the traditional approach to immigration ministries and activism can be at best incomplete and at worst harmful. By advocating for putting immigrants in the center of the conversation, González helps readers grow in discipleship and recognize themselves in their immigrant neighbors.
Confronting Injustice Without Compromising Truth by Call Number: BR115.J8 W55 2020ISBN: 9780310119487Publication Date: 2020Drawing from a diverse range of theologians, sociologists, artists, and activists, Confronting Injustice without Compromising Truth, by Thaddeus Williams, makes the case that we must be discerning if we are to "truly execute justice" as Scripture commands. Not everything called "social justice" today is compatible with a biblical vision of a better world. The Bible offers hopeful and distinctive answers to deep questions of worship, community, salvation, and knowledge that ought to mark a uniquely Christian pursuit of justice. In Confronting Injustice without Compromising Truth, Thaddeus Williams transcends our religious and political tribalism and challenges readers to discover what the Bible and the example of Jesus have to teach us about justice. He presents a compelling vision of justice for all God's image-bearers that offers hopeful answers to life's biggest questions.
The Ballot and the Bible by Call Number: BR115.P7 S2734 2023ISBN: 9781587435966Publication Date: 2023How do Bible passages written thousands of years ago apply to politics today? What can we learn from America's history of using the Bible in politics? How can we converse with people whose views differ from our own? In The Ballot and the Bible, Kaitlyn Schiess explores these questions and more. She unpacks examples of how Americans have connected the Bible to politics in the past, highlighting times it was applied well and times it was egregiously misused. Schiess combines American political history and biblical interpretation to help readers faithfully read Scripture, talk with others about it, and apply it to contemporary political issues--and to their lives. Rather than prescribing what readers should think about specific hot-button issues, Schiess outlines core biblical themes around power, allegiance, national identity, and more. Readers will be encouraged to pursue a biblical basis for their political engagement with compassion and confidence.
The Spirit of Our Politics by Call Number: BR115.P7 W355 2023ISBN: 9780310367192Publication Date: 2024In this profound and hope-filled book, Michael Wear--a leading thinker and practitioner at the intersection of faith and politics--applies insights taken from the work of Dallas Willard to argue that by focusing on having the "right" politics, we lose sight of the kind of people we are becoming, to destructive results.
Jesus and the Powers by Call Number: BR115.P7 W75 2024ISBN: 9780310162247Publication Date: 2024Should Christians be politically withdrawn, avoiding participation in politics to maintain their prophetic voice and keep from being used as political pawns? Or should Christians be actively involved, seeking to control and utilize political systems to control the levers of power? In Jesus and the Powers, N.T. Wright and Michael Bird argue that Christians should pursue active involvement in ways that encourage and sustain liberal democratic systems while opposing both totalitarianism and nationalism. They argue that Christians should faithfully and earnestly contribute to free democratic societies and vigorously oppose political schemes based on autocracy and nationalism. Wright and Bird outline a Christian approach to political engagement with reflections on their relevance to current events, including the Russian-Ukraine conflict, China-Taiwan tension, political turmoil in the USA, UK, and Australia, as well as to the problem of white Christian nationalism.
Digital Liturgies by Call Number: BR115.T42 J36 2023ISBN: 9781433587139Publication Date: 2023People search for heaven in all the wrong places, and the internet is no exception. Digital Liturgieswarns readers of technology's damaging effects and offers a fulfilling alternative through Scripture and rest in God's perfect design.
Reading Theology Wisely by Call Number: BR118 .E44 2022ISBN: 9780802881786Publication Date: 2022In this illuminating introduction, Kent Eilers invites Christians of all backgrounds into the practice of reading theology. With a classroom-tested approach, Eilers shows how theology can form the imagination and enhance "the human capacity for perceiving reality beyond the surface of things"--allowing Christians to see and experience God in the everyday. He then guides readers through the essential facets of theology so that it can begin to feel familiar and accessible, even (and especially) to beginners with no prior experience.
The Shape of Christian History by Call Number: BR138 .S88 2022ISBN: 9781514002223Publication Date: 2022Filled with historical case studies and stories from Sunquist's teaching around the world, The Shape of Christian History offers a framework for how to read and write church history. Even more, it demonstrates how the study of history illuminates God's mission in the world and sharpens our understanding of how to participate in that mission faithfully.
Christendom by Call Number: BR145.3 .H367 2023ISBN: 9780451494306Publication Date: 2023From Constantine the Great's pivotal conversion to Christianity to the crisis that followed the collapse of the Roman empire--which left the religion teetering on the edge of extinction--to the astonishing revolution of the eleventh century and beyond, out of which the Papacy emerged as the head of a vast international corporation, Heather traces Christendom's chameleonlike capacity for self-reinvention, as it not only defined a fledgling religion but transformed it into an institution that wielded effective authority across virtually all of the disparate peoples of medieval Europe. Authoritative, vivid, and filled with new insights, this is an unparalleled history of early Christianity.
Worship in the Early Church by Call Number: BR162.3 .G6613 2021ISBN: 9780664267827Publication Date: 2022While many histories of Christian worship exist, this project undertakes a task both more focused and more urgent. Rather than survey the whole history of the Christian church, it focuses on the formative period between the first and fifth centuries CE, when so many of the understandings and patterns of Christian worship came to be. And rather than include such developments as the monastic hours of prayer and the history of ordination, the authors deal primarily with those aspects of worship that recur on a weekly or regular basis: preaching, Eucharist, and baptism.
The Oxford history of the Reformation by Call Number: BR305.3 .O94 2022ISBN: 9780192895264Publication Date: 2022Covering both Protestant and Catholic reform movements, in Europe and across the wider world, this compact volume tells the story of the Reformation from its immediate, explosive beginnings, through to its profound longer-term consequences and legacy for the modern world. The story is not one of an inevitable triumph of liberty over oppression, enlightenment over ignorance. Rather, it tells how a multitude of rival groups and individuals, with or without the support of political power, strove after visions of 'reform'. And how, in spite of themselves, they laid the foundations for the plural and conflicted world we now inhabit.
Turning Points in American Church History by Call Number: BR515 .C63 2024ISBN: 9780801097492Publication Date: 2024American history has profoundly shaped, and been shaped by, Christianity. This engaging introduction provides a brisk and lively yet deeply researched survey of these intertwined forces from the colonial period to the present. Elesha Coffman tells the story of Christianity in the United States by focusing on 13 key events over four centuries of history. The turning points are as varied as the movements they track, including a naval battle, a revival, a schism, a court case, an outpouring of the Spirit, an act of terrorism, the election of a bishop, and the election of a president. Coffman highlights women and men from a range of traditions and shows how, throughout these events, Christians endeavored to discern what it meant to live faithfully in the diverse and rapidly changing place that became the United States.
America's Book by Call Number: BR515 .N74 2022ISBN: 9780197623466Publication Date: 2022America's Book shows how the Bible decisively shaped American national history even as that history influenced the use of Scripture. It explores the rise of a strongly Protestant Bible civilization in the early United States that was then fractured by debates over slavery, contested by growing numbers of non-Protestant Americans (Catholics, Jews, agnostics), and torn apart by the Civil War. This first comprehensive history of the Bible in America explains why Tom Paine's anti-biblical tract The Age of Reason (1794) precipitated such dramatic effects, how innovations in printing by the American Bible Society created the nation's publishing industry, why Nat Turner's slave rebellion of 1831 and the bitter election of 1844 marked turning points in the nation's engagement with Scripture, and why Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson were so eager to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible. Noll's magisterial work highlights not only the centrality of the Bible for the nation's most influential religious figures (Methodist Francis Asbury, Richard Allen of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Catholic Bishop Francis Kenrick, Jewish scholar Solomon Schechter, agnostic Robert Ingersoll), but also why it was important for presidents like Abraham Lincoln; notable American women like Harriet Beecher Stowe, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Frances Willard; dedicated campaigners for civil rights like Frederick Douglass and Francis Grimké; lesser-known figures like Black authors Maria Stewart and Harriet Jacobs; and a host of others of high estate and low. The book also illustrates how the more religiously plural period from Reconstruction to the early twentieth century saw Scripture become a much more fragmented, though still significant, force in American culture, particularly as a source of hope and moral authority for Americans on both sides of the battle over white supremacy-both for those hoping to fight it, and for others seeking to justify it.
Religious Liberty in a Polarized Age by Call Number: BR516 .B396 2023ISBN: 9780802881694Publication Date: 2023Drawing on constitutional law, history, and sociology, Thomas C. Berg shows us how reaffirming religious freedom cultivates the good of individuals and society. After explaining the features of polarization and the societal benefits of diverse religious practices, Berg offers practical counsel on balancing religious freedom against other essential values.
The Religion of American Greatness by Call Number: BR516 .M5426 2022ISBN: 9781514000267Publication Date: 2022Paul D. Miller, a Christian scholar, political theorist, veteran, and former White House staffer, provides a detailed portrait of--and case against--Christian nationalism. Building on his practical expertise not only in the archives and classroom but also in public service, Miller unravels this ideology's historical importance, its key tenets, and its political, cultural, and spiritual implications. Miller shows what's at stake if we misunderstand the relationship between Christianity and the American nation. Christian nationalism--the religion of American greatness--is an illiberal political theory, at odds with the genius of the American experiment, and could prove devastating to both church and state.
Reorganized Religion by Call Number: BR526 .S593 2022ISBN: 9781546001614Publication Date: 2022Uncover the ways the Christian church has changed in recent years--from the decline of the mainline denominations to the mega-churchification of American culture--and a hopeful reimagining of what the church might look like going forward. The United States is in the middle of an unprecedented spiritual, technological, demographic, political and social transformation--moving from an older, mostly white, mostly Protestant, religion-friendly society to a younger diverse, multiethnic, pluralistic culture, where no one faith group will have the advantage. At the same time, millions of Americans are abandoning organized religion altogether in favor of disorganized disbelief. Reorganized Religion is an in-depth and critical look at why people are leaving American churches and what we lose as a society as it continues
A Longing to Belong by Call Number: BR563.A82 L433 2023ISBN: 9780310123989Publication Date: 2023Growing up in the only Korean family in a Minnesota town, Michelle Lee-Barnewall has felt the pain of racial discrimination and the resulting identity confusion that follows. Through the telling of her personal story, she seeks to transcend the current divide between those who emphasize social justice concerns and those who believe these concerns compromise the core of the gospel. A Longing to Belong integrates a biblical worldview and personal experience on the topic of race and race relations.
Jesus V. Evangelicals by Call Number: BR1642.U5 C345 2023ISBN: 9780310135449Publication Date: 2023Jesus v. Evangelicals is an insider's critique of the evangelical movement according to its own rules. Since evangelicals regard themselves governed by the Bible, biblical scholar Constantine Campbell engages the Bible to critique evangelicals and to call out the problems within the contemporary evangelical movement. By revealing evangelical distortions of the Bible, this book seeks to restore the dignity of the Christian faith and to renew public interest in Jesus, while calling evangelicals back to his teaching. Constantine Campbell appeals to evangelicals to break free from the grid that has distorted their understanding of the Bible and to restore public respect for Christianity in spite of its misrepresentations by the evangelical church.
The Digital Evangelicals by Call Number: BR1642.U5 C678 2022ISBN: 9780253062260Publication Date: 2022In The Digital Evangelicals, Travis Warren Cooper locates evangelicalism as a media event rather than as a coherent religious tradition by focusing on the intertwined narratives of evangelical Christianity and emerging digital culture in the United States. He focuses on two dominant media traditions: media sincerity, immediate and direct interpersonal communication, and media promiscuity, communication with the primary goal of extending the Christian community regardless of physical distance. Cooper, whose work is informed by ethnographic fieldwork, traces these conflicting paradigms from the Protestant Reformation through the rise of the digital and argues that the tension is culminating in a crisis of evangelical authority. What counts as authentic interaction? Who has authority over the circulation of information? While many studies claim that technology influences religion, The Digital Evangelicals reveals how Protestant metaphors and discourses shaped the emergence of the internet and explores what this relationship with global new media means for evangelicalism.
The Evangelical Imagination by Call Number: BR1642.U5 P75 2023ISBN: 9781587435751Publication Date: 2023Contemporary American evangelicalism is suffering from an identity crisis--and a lot of bad press. In this book, acclaimed author Karen Swallow Prior examines evangelical history, both good and bad. By analyzing the literature, art, and popular culture that has surrounded evangelicalism, she unpacks some of the movement's most deeply held concepts, ideas, values, and practices to consider what is Christian rather than merely cultural. The result is a clearer path forward for evangelicals amid their current identity crisis--and insight for others who want a deeper understanding of what the term "evangelical" means today.
Another Gospel? by Call Number: BR1725.C455 A3 2020ISBN: 9781496441737Publication Date: 2020Another Gospel?describes the intellectual journey Alisa took over several years as she wrestled with a series of questions that struck at the core of the Christian faith. After everything she had ever believed about God, Jesus, and the Bible had been picked apart, she found herself at the brink of despair . . . until God rescued her, helping her to rebuild her faith, one solid brick at a time.In a culture of endless questions, you need solid answers. If you or someone you love has encountered the ideas of progressive Christianity and aren't sure how to respond, Alisa's journey will show you how to determine--and rest in--what's unmistakably true.
BS - The Bible
NIV Study Bible by Call Number: BS195 .N37 2020ISBN: 9780310448945Publication Date: 2020With its decades-long legacy of helping readers grasp the Bible's meaning, the NIV Study Bible embodies the mission of the NIV translation to be an accurate, readable, and clear guide into Scripture. Specifically designed to expand upon the NIV, the NIV Study Bible's editorial team crafts that same accuracy and clarity into every study note.
The Bible by Call Number: BS475.3 .C664 2021ISBN: 9780199383030Publication Date: 2020In Michael Coogan's eagerly awaited addition to Oxford's What Everyone Needs to Know® series, conflicts and controversies surrounding the world's bestselling book are addressed in a straightforward Q&A format. This book provides an unbiased look at biblical authority and authorship, the Bible's influence in Western culture, the disputes over meaning and interpretation, and the state of biblical scholarship today. Brimming with information for the student and the expert alike, The Bible: What Everyone Needs to Know ® is a dependable introduction to a most contentious holy book.
Sacred Word, Broken Word by Call Number: BS476 .S68 2012ISBN: 9780802867186Publication Date: 2012The Bible is a religious masterpiece. Its authors cast a profound vision for the healing of humanity through the power of divine love, grace and forgiveness. But the Bible also contains "dark texts" that challenge our ethical imagination. How can one book teach us to love our enemies and also teach us to slaughter Canaanites? Why does a book that preaches the equality of all people -- male and female, slave and free, Greek and Jew -- also include laws that permit God's people to trade in slaves and to persecute those of a different faiths or ethnicities? In Sacred Word, Broken Word Kenton Sparks argues that the "dark side" of Scripture is not an illusion. Rather, these dark texts remind us that all human beings, including the biblical authors, stand in need of God's redemptive solution in Jesus Christ.
Biblical Critical Theory by Call Number: BS480 .W365 2022ISBN: 9780310128724Publication Date: 2022In Biblical Critical Theory, Christopher Watkin shows how the Bible and its unfolding story help us make sense of modern life and culture. Critical theories exist to critique what we think we know about reality and the social, political, and cultural structures in which we live. In doing so, they make visible the values and beliefs of a culture in order to scrutinize and change them. Biblical Critical Theory exposes and evaluates the often-hidden assumptions and concepts that shape late-modern society, examining them through the lens of the biblical story running from Genesis to Revelation, and asking urgent questions like: How does the Bible's storyline help us understand our society, our culture, and ourselves How do specific doctrines help us engage thoughtfully in the philosophical, political, and social questions of our day How can we analyze and critique culture and its alternative critical theories through Scripture.
Reading While Black by Call Number: BS521.2 .M33 2020ISBN: 9780830854868Publication Date: 2020Reading While Black is a personal and scholarly testament to the power and hope of Black biblical interpretation. At a time in which some within the African American community are questioning the place of the Christian faith in the struggle for justice, New Testament scholar McCaulley argues that reading Scripture from the perspective of Black church tradition is invaluable for connecting with a rich faith history and addressing the urgent issues of our times. He advocates for a model of interpretation that involves an ongoing conversation between the collective Black experience and the Bible, in which the particular questions coming out of Black communities are given pride of place and the Bible is given space to respond by affirming, challenging, and, at times, reshaping Black concerns.
Biblical Theology According to the Apostles by Call Number: BS543 .B683 2020ISBN: 9780830820207Publication Date: 2020This stimulating New Studies in Biblical Theology volume examines the passages in the Synoptic Gospels, Acts, Paul's letters, and Hebrews which recount the characters, events, and institutions of Israel's story in chronological order and at substantial length. The authors demonstrate just how valuable a lens these summaries provide for a clearer vision of the earliest Christians' practice of biblical theology. In doing so, they also show how contemporary readers can and should follow the apostles' example. Addressing key issues in biblical theology, the works comprising New Studies in Biblical Theology are creative attempts to help Christians better understand their Bibles.
Biblical Theology by Call Number: BS543 .W578 2019ISBN: 9781108712682Publication Date: 2019In Biblical Theology, Ben Witherington, III, examines the theology of the Old and New Testaments as a totality. Going beyond an account of carefully crafted Old and New Testament theologies, he demonstrates the ideas that make the Bible a sacred book with a unified theology. Witherington's progressive revelation approach allows each part of the canon to be read in its original context and with its original meaning.
14 Fresh Ways to Enjoy the Bible by Call Number: BS617 .C59 2023ISBN: 9780802428851Publication Date: 2023The Bible is God's masterpiece and gift to you--claim it for all that it's worth. The Bible is the most read book in all the world. But many of us get stuck in a rut when it comes to approaching it. Rather than feeling inspired and energized, we feel confused, disenchanted, or removed. Bible scholar and lover of God's Word James Coakley wants to share fourteen invaluable strategies that will bring our Scripture study to life. The Bible is historical, true, and it's also great literature. The Artist who created the universe has also gifted us with His Word, which is beautifully designed and full of creativity. The same riveting techniques that modern authors use in their books were also used by Biblical authors long ago. Coakley opens our eyes to the dramatic and poetical ways God communicates to us. Readers will acquire practical strategies to engage in God's Word and general guidelines that will keep them on track. The literary skills mentioned in this book don't require advanced training--just a desire to open and receive the gift of God's Word. Would you like to unearth new treasure and insight whenever you open your Bible? Coakley promises an exciting ride and invigorating time in God's eternal, life-changing Word!
The Hebrew Bible by Call Number: BS895 .A48 2019ISBN: 9780393292497Publication Date: 2018A masterpiece of deep learning and fine sensibility, Robert Alter's translation of the Hebrew Bible, now complete, reanimates one of the formative works of our culture. Capturing its brilliantly compact poetry and finely wrought, purposeful prose, Alter renews the Old Testament as a source of literary power and spiritual inspiration. From the family frictions of Genesis and King David's flawed humanity to the serene wisdom of Psalms and Job's incendiary questioning of God's ways, these magnificent works of world literature resonate with a startling immediacy. Featuring Alter's generous commentary, which quietly alerts readers to the literary and historical dimensions of the text, this is the definitive edition of the Hebrew Bible.
Why the Bible Began by Call Number: BS1130 .W75 2023ISBN: 9781108490931Publication Date: 2023Why did no other ancient society produce a text remotely like the Bible? That a tiny, out of the way community, could have produced a text so determinative for peoples across the globe seems improbable. For Jacob Wright, the Bible is not only a testimony of survival, but also an unparalleled achievement in human history. Forged during Babylonian exile after the shattering destruction of Jerusalem, it makes not victory but total humiliation the foundation of a new idea of belonging. Lamenting the destruction of their homeland, scribes who composed the Bible turned to the golden ages of the past, reflecting deeply on abject failure. More than just religious scripture, the Bible is a resonant blueprint for the inspiring creation of a nation. As a response to catastrophe, it offers a powerful, message of hope and restoration that is unique in the Ancient Near Eastern and Greco-Roman worlds. Wright's Bible is thus a social, political, and even economic roadmap - one that enabled a small and obscure community located on the periphery of leading civilizations and empires, not just to come back from the brink, but ultimately to shape the world's destiny.
Light of the Word by Call Number: BS1199.H5 L56 2023ISBN: 9781514006948Publication Date: 2023Historian 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. Lim explains how Christians came to accept certain documents as inspired and not others, and how the books we now call the Bible came to be assembled and canonized as authoritative.
The Manifold Beauty of Genesis One by Call Number: BS1235.52 .D384 2021ISBN: 9780825445446Publication Date: 2021The first chapter of the Bible's first book lays the foundation for all that follows about who God is and what God is like. Our technology-age fascination with the science of origins, however, can blind us to issues of great importance that don't address our culturally conditioned questions. Instead, Genesis 1 itself suggests the questions and answers that are most significant to human faith and flourishing.
How to Read and Understand the Psalms by Call Number: BS1430.52 .W355 2023ISBN: 9781433584336Publication Date: 2023Developed from a lifetime of studying and teaching, How to Read and Understand the Psalms gives readers tools to learn how to properly interpret and internalize the Psalms.
Hearing the Message of Ecclesiastes by Call Number: BS1475.6.F3 W75 2023ISBN: 9780310145912Publication Date: 2023There is no easy answer to the meaning of life--even when you believe in God. Old Testament scholar Christopher J. H. Wright invites you to join Qoheleth on a journey through wisdom literature from centuries ago, because the message of Ecclesiastes can be strangely reassuring as we put our faith to the test in today's post-modern era. There will be disorienting twists and turns and the occasional complete impasse as complex topics are discussed, like: The meaning of life Mysteries of time and injustice Ambiguities of work, politics, worship, and wealth.
Isaiah by Call Number: BS1515.53 .M335 2023ISBN: 9780801030949Publication Date: 2023This commentary by highly regarded Old Testament scholar J. Gordon McConville draws on the best of biblical scholarship as well as the Christian tradition to offer a substantive and useful commentary on Isaiah. McConville treats Isaiah as an ancient Israelite document that speaks to twenty-first-century Christians. He examines the text section by section--offering a fresh translation, textual notes, paragraph-level commentary, and theological reflection--and shows how the prophetic words are framed to persuade audiences.
Jonah by Call Number: BS1605.53 .E75 2021ISBN: 9780802868312Publication Date: 2021This Illuminations commentary delves into Jonah's reception history in Christian, Jewish, and Islamic contexts while also exploring its representations in visual arts, music, literature, and pop culture. After this thorough contextualization, Erickson provides a fresh translation and exegesis, paving the way for pastors and scholars to read and utilize the book of Jonah as the provocative, richly allusive, and theologically robust text that it is.
Creating the Canon by Call Number: BS2320 .L35 2023ISBN: 9781514001103Publication Date: 2023Wide-ranging yet accessible, Creating the Canon offers an illuminating treatment of the composition, formation, and authority of the New Testament and serves as a valuable guide to those with limited prior study.
The Genesis Creation Account and Its Reverberations in the New Testament by Call Number: BS2387 .G43 2021ISBN: 9781940980294Publication Date: 2021"The two great theological themes of creation and redemption run throughout Scripture like two golden threads in a magnificent tapestry. This book is about how beautiful, far-reaching, and complex is the theme of creation in the New Testament. Fifteen authors present studies in three sections-backgrounds and New Testament theology, studies in New Testament books, and a conclusion. The book concludes that the theme and reality of creation are affirmed throughout the New Testament, indeed, throughout the entire Bible. The doctrine and reality of creation by God touches many themes and doctrines. Analyzing these carefully illustrates that the biblical writers considered creation a key doctrine and that it took place literally as the Genesis 1-2 account presents it. Otherwise key teachings of Scripture on anthropology, eschatology, soteriology and ethics are undermined or rendered ineffectual or inconsistent. Accepted as the key foundational doctrine of Scripture, fiat creation sets the stage for all that follows and becomes the glorious beginning to which we return in the end"--
The Beatitudes Through the Ages by Call Number: BS2575.52 .E39 2021ISBN: 9780802876508Publication Date: 2021In this book, Rebekah Eklund explores how the Beatitudes have affected readers across differing eras and contexts. From Matthew and Luke in the first century, to Martin Luther King Jr. and Billy Graham in the twentieth, Eklund considers how men and women have understood and applied the Beatitudes to their own lives through the ages. Reading in the company of past readers helps us see how rich and multifaceted the Beatitudes truly are, illuminating what they might mean for us today.
Mark's Gospel by Call Number: BS2585.52 .B535 2023ISBN: 9780802879189Publication Date: 2023A culmination of contemporary scholarship on the Gospel of Mark. A preeminent scholar of the Gospel of Mark, C. Clifton Black has been studying and publishing on the Gospel for over thirty years. This new collection brings together his most pivotal work and fresh investigations to constitute an all-in-one compendium of contemporary Markan scholarship and exegesis. The essays included cover scriptural commentary, historical studies, literary analysis, theological argument, and pastoral considerations.
The First Biography of Jesus by Call Number: BS2585.52 .B65 2020ISBN: 9780802874603Publication Date: 2020Helen Bond argues that Mark's author used the genre of biography to extend the gospel from an earlier narrow focus on the death and resurrection of Jesus so that it included the way of life of its founding figure. Situating Jesus at the heart of a biography was a bold step in outlining a radical form of Christian discipleship patterned on the life - and death - of Jesus.
A Bird's-Eye View of Luke and Acts by Call Number: BS2589 .B57 2023ISBN: 9781514008096Publication Date: 2023In this accessible and compelling introduction, Michael Bird draws us into the wide-ranging narrative of Luke-Acts to discover how Luke frames the life of Jesus and of the first disciples who set out from Jerusalem to "the ends of the earth" proclaiming the Good News. Bird shows us how these two books, when read together, tell a cohesive narrative about Jesus, the Church, and the mission of God--with implications for the whole of our lives today. Situating both books in their historical and literary context, Bird moves through an exploration of their central theological themes and culminates with consideration of the books' relevance for contemporary social issues.
A Theology of Paul and His Letters by Call Number: BS2651 .M665 2021ISBN: 9780310270904Publication Date: 2021Fifteen years in the making, this groundbreaking work is organized into three major sections: Part 1 provides an overview of the issues involved in doing biblical theology in general and a Pauline theology in particular. Here Moo also sets out the methodological issues, formative influences, and conceptual categories of Paul's thought. Part 2 moves on to Paul's New Testament writings, where Moo describes each Pauline letter with particular relevance to its theology. Part 3 offers a masterful synthesis of Paul's theology under the overarching theme of the gift of the new realm in Christ.
BT - Doctrinal Theology
The Substance of Our Faith by Call Number: BT21.3 .S83 2023ISBN: 9780801048463Publication Date: 2023Doctrine is central to Christian discipleship and maturity. Unfortunately, it is often sidelined in churches' teaching ministry as irrelevant or impractical. Countering this, leading church historian Douglas Sweeney defines doctrine as church teaching intended for the shaping of daily faith and practice. The Substance of Our Faith addresses introductory issues in the study and application of historical doctrine, incorporating a unique global and catholic perspective. It addresses the Spirit's role in the rise of doctrine in the early church, the authority of Scripture and tradition in the development of doctrine, the challenges of doing global historical theology, the nature and purpose of doctrine, and implications for teaching the faith today. Specifically, Sweeney advocates that those who teach the Christian faith in all churches do so in communion with the saints who have come before. A future volume by the author will narrate the actual history of doctrinal teaching around the world.
Another Kind of Normal by Call Number: BT75.3 .W37 2022ISBN: 9780192843012Publication Date: 2022Another Kind of Normal: Ethical Life II constructs a mode of such living according to the Christian tradition, based upon an interpretation of Christ's coming and the relationship of that incarnation to God as the Creator of all things. In the second of four volumes, Graham Ward explores an Augustinian vision of consonance between divine rhythm and the rhythmic orders of creation. On the basis of what Augustine calls the 'interval', it proposes Christ is encountered as riddle, scandal, and paradox. It provides an account of creation as a Trinitarian event that calls for a rethinking of what are the key teachings in Christianity with respect to an understanding of creation as a divine benediction and a theatre for transformation and healing. Ward argues through Scriptural exegesis, for the omnidirectionality of time as graced, rejecting a conception of linear temporality and theologies indebted to that conception. Throughout, participation in God, through our hiddenness in Christ develops an account of the complex relationship between divine and human creativity, appealing to music, painting, poetry, drama, film, architecture, and novels.
Christian Beliefs, Revised Edition by Call Number: BT77 .G875 2022ISBN: 9780310124337Publication Date: 2022This readable guide to twenty basic Christian beliefs condenses Wayne Grudem's award-winning book Systematic Theology, prized by pastors and teachers everywhere. He and his son, pastor Elliot Grudem, have boiled down the essentials of theology for everyday Christians and made them both clear and applicable to life.
God by Call Number: BT103 .L39 2022ISBN: 9780268202064Publication Date: 2022This book explores a wide range of philosophical issues in their connection with theism, including views of free will, ethical theories, theories of mind, naturalism, and karma-plus-reincarnation. In this clear and logical guide, C. Stephen Layman takes up eight important philosophical questions about God: Does God exist? Why does God permit evil? Why think God is good? Why is God hidden? What is God's relationship to ethics? Is divine foreknowledge compatible with human free will? Do humans have souls? Does reincarnation provide the best explanation of suffering?
The Trinity in the Canon by Call Number: BT111.3 .T757 2023ISBN: 9781535950244Publication Date: 2023Editor Brandon Smith and a stellar cast of theologians demonstrate that trinitarian theology derives directly from Scripture and should produce both right doctrine and right living. The Trinity in the Canon is an appeal for the church to incorporate the Trinity into our preaching, our liturgies and worship, and our interactions with those outside the church. Pastors, scholars, professors, students, and laypersons will benefit spiritually, theologically, and practically from this in-depth study of the Trinity.
Speaking in Tongues: a Critical Historical Examination by Call Number: BT122.5 .B56 2022ISBN: 9781666797619Publication Date: 2022In three carefully researched volumes, this ground-breaking study examines the gift of tongues through 2,000 years of church history. Starting in the present and working back in time, these volumes consider (1) the modern redefinition of "tongues" as a private prayer language; (2) the church's perennial understanding of "tongues" as ordinary human languages; and (3) the Corinthian "tongues," which, in light of Jewish liturgical tradition, turn out to have been a foreign liturgical language (Hebrew or Aramaic) requiring bilingual interpreters.In the first volume, the authors establish that modern glossolalia, far from being a supernatural gift enjoyed by certain believers since the time of Pentecost and undergoing a resurgence in modern times, has no precedent in church life prior to the nineteenth century. They discuss why German theologians, responding to the Irvingite revival, coined the term "glossolalia" in the 1830s; why Pentecostals between 1906-8 quietly began redefining "tongues" to mean a heavenly language unintelligible to human beings but pleasing to God, instead of foreign languages useful for evangelism; why Protestant cessationists believed miraculous tongues had ceased; and why interpolated idioms like "unknown tongues" in Protestant Bibles were aimed originally at Rome's use of Latin.
Beyond Immanence by Call Number: BT124 .T677 2023ISBN: 9780802868039Publication Date: 2023Karl Barth was often critical of Søren Kierkegaard's ideas as he understood them. But close reading of the two corpora reveals that Barth owes a lot to the melancholy Dane. Both conceive of God as infinitely qualitatively different from humans, and both emphasize the shocking nearness of God in the incarnation. As public intellectuals, they used this theological vision to protect Christocentric faith from political manipulation and compromise. For Kierkegaard, this meant criticizing the state church; for Barth, this entailed resisting Nazism.
Meticulously crafted by a father-son team of renowned systematic theologians, "Beyond Immanence" demonstrates that Kierkegaard and Barth share a theological trajectory--one that resists cynical manipulation of Christianity for political purposes in favor of uncompromising devotion to a God who is radically transcendent yet established kinship with humanity in time.
The Death of Omnipotence and Birth of Amipotence by Call Number: BT133 .O57 2023ISBN: 9781948609913Publication Date: 2023In this ground-breaking book, best-selling and award-winning author Thomas Jay Oord explains why omnipotence should be rejected. But Oord offers a replacement: amipotence, the power of love. If we think love shapes and guides God's power, we make better sense of life. We make better sense of the Bible. Amipotence explains why God doesn't prevent genuine evil and it overcomes other obstacles to belief. An amipotent Spirit empowers all that is loving, true, beautiful, and good. No book makes a bolder but more needed argument for why God is not all-powerful. Those who care about God, love, scripture, and logic will find what they've long been looking for.
The rise and fall dispensationalism : how the evangelical battle over the end times shaped a nation by Call Number: BT157 .H866 2023ISBN: 9780802879226Publication Date: 023In The Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism, Daniel G. Hummel illuminates how dispensationalism, despite often being dismissed as a fringe apocalyptic movement, shaped Anglo-American evangelicalism and the larger American cultural imagination.
Hummel locates dispensationalism’s origin in the writings of the nineteenth-century Protestant John Nelson Darby, who established many of the hallmarks of the theology, such as premillennialism and belief in the rapture. Though it consistently faced criticism, dispensationalism held populist, and briefly scholarly, appeal—visible in everything from turn-of-the-century revivalism to apocalyptic bestsellers of the 1970s to current internet conspiracy theories.
God: an Anatomy by Call Number: BT180.C67 S73 2022ISBN: 9780525520450Publication Date: 2022The scholarship of theology and religion teaches us that the God of the Bible was without a body, only revealing himself in the Old Testament in words mysteriously uttered through his prophets, and in the New Testament in the body of Christ. The portrayal of God as corporeal and masculine is seen as merely metaphorical, figurative, or poetic. But, in this revelatory study, Francesca Stavrakopoulou presents a vividly corporeal image of God: a human-shaped deity who walks and talks and weeps and laughs, who eats, sleeps, feels, and breathes, and who is undeniably male.
Here is a portrait--arrived at through the author's close examination of and research into the Bible--of a god in ancient myths and rituals who was a product of a particular society, at a particular time, made in the image of the people who lived then, shaped by their own circumstances and experience of the world. From head to toe--and every part of the body in between--this is a god of stunning surprise and complexity, one we have never encountered before.
Glorification and the Life of Faith by Call Number: BT180.G6 C64 2023ISBN: 9781540961686Publication Date: 2023Drawing from Christian spirituality, liturgy, poetry, hymns, iconography, seminal "glory" texts in the Bible, the Nicene Creed, and theologians throughout the ages who caught sight of the glory of God in diverse ways, this book explores the immensely rich and generative soteriological theme of glorification. It shows students how to integrate theology into the life of faith and demonstrates how the practices of Christian worship influence theological thinking. Metaphors, descriptions, evocations, concepts, narratives, and more highlight the amazing, abundant reality of glorification.
Practicing the Way by Call Number: BT203 .C645 2024ISBN: 9780593193822Publication Date: 2024This introduction to spiritual formation is full of John Mark Comer's trademark mix of theological substance and cultural insight as well as practical wisdom on developing your own Rule of Life. These ancient practices have much to offer us. By learning to rearrange our days, we can follow the Way of Jesus. We can be with him. Become like him. And do as he did.
Confronting Jesus by Call Number: BT203 .M3755 2022ISBN: 9781433581137Publication Date: 2022In this follow-up to Confronting Christianity, Rebecca McLaughlin shares important biblical context to help all readers explore who Jesus really is and understand why the Gospels should be taken seriously as historical documents.
Atonement and the Death of Christ by Call Number: BT265.3 .C73 2020ISBN: 9781481312042Publication Date: 2020Through his death on the cross, Christ atoned for sin and so reconciled people to God. New Testament authors drew upon a range of metaphors and motifs to describe this salvific act, and down through history Christian thinkers have tried to articulate various theories to explain the atonement. While Christ's sacrifice serves as a central tenet of the Christian faith, the mechanism of atonement--exactly how Christ effects our salvation--remains controversial and ambiguous to many Christians. In Atonement and the Death of Christ, William Lane Craig conducts an interdisciplinary investigation of this crucial Christian doctrine, drawing upon Old and New Testament studies, historical theology, and analytic philosophy. The result is a multifaceted perspective that upholds the suffering of Christ as a substitutionary, representational, and redemptive act that satisfies divine justice. In addition, this carefully reasoned approach addresses the rich tapestry of Old Testament imagery upon which the first Christians drew to explain how the sinless Christ saved his people from the guilt of their sins.
Jesus in Context by Call Number: BT301.9 .W45 2021ISBN: 9781108700047Publication Date: 2021Jesus changed our world forever. But who was he and what do we know about him? David Wenham's accessible volume is a concise and wide-ranging engagement with that enduring and elusive subject. Exploring the sources for Jesus and his scholarly reception, he surveys information from Roman, Jewish, and Christian texts, and also examines the origins of the gospels, as well as the evidence of Paul, who had access to the earliest oral traditions about Jesus. Wenham demonstrates that the Jesus of the New Testament makes sense within the first century CE context in which he lived and preached. He offers a contextualized portrait of Jesus and his teaching; his relationship with John the Baptist and the Qumran community (and the Dead Sea Scrolls); his ethics and the Sermon on the Mount, his successes and disappointments. Wenham also brings insights into Jesus' vision of the future and his understanding of his own death and calling.
Jesus the Purifier by Call Number: BT303.2 .B528 2023ISBN: 9781540962959Publication Date: 2023The third quest for the historical Jesus has reached an impasse. But a fourth quest is underway--one that draws from a heretofore largely neglected source: John's Gospel. In this book, renowned New Testament scholar Craig Blomberg advances the idea that John is a viable and valuable source for studying the historical Jesus. The data from John should be integrated with that of the Synoptics, which will yield additional insights into Jesus's emphases and ministry. Blomberg begins by reviewing the first three quests, reassessing both their contributions and their shortcomings. He then discusses the emerging consensus regarding demonstrably historical portions of John, which are more numerous than usually assumed. Peeling back the layers, we discover in Jesus's ministry an emphasis on purity and purification. The Synoptics corroborate this discovery, specifically in Jesus's meals with sinners. Blomberg then explores the practical and contemporary applications of Jesus the purifier, including the "contagious holiness" that Jesus's followers can spread to others.
Rethinking Life by Call Number: BT696 .C53 2023ISBN: 9780310363842Publication Date: 2023Drawing on Scripture, church history, and his own story, Shane Claiborne explores how a passion for social justice issues surrounding life and death--such as war, gun ownership, the death penalty, racial injustice, abortion, poverty, and the environment--intersects with our faith as we advocate for life in its totality.
The Age of AI by Call Number: BT702 .T49 2020ISBN: 9780310357643Publication Date: 2020In The Age of AI, Jason Thacker--associate research fellow at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission--helps us navigate our digital age in this thoughtful exploration of the social, moral, and ethical challenges of our ongoing interactions with artificial intelligence. Applying God's Word to this new AI-empowered age, The Age of AI shows us how Christian truth transforms how we use AI in order to love God and our neighbor better. It serves as a guide for those wary of technology's impact on our society and also for those who are enthusiastic about where AI is taking us. Jason explains how AI affects us individually, in our relationships, and in our society at large as he addresses AI's impact on our bodies, sexuality, work, economics, and privacy. With theological depth and a wide awareness of the current trends in AI, Jason is a steady guide reminding us that while AI is changing most things, it does not change the foundations of the Christian faith.
Every Body's Story by Call Number: BT708 .P365 2022ISBN: 9780310124597Publication Date: 2022In Every Body's Story, Branson Parler focuses on three predominant myths of sexuality in our secular age--individualism, romance, and materialism--and three dominant myths in Christian circles--anti-body theology, legalism, and the sexual prosperity gospel--exploring how those stories shape our practice. Our views of sexuality and our practices around sex are never just about sex. How we use and view our bodies reveals who/what we think God is (or is not) and who we are. If we truly understand the biblical logic of marriage, sexuality, and singleness--that they are meant to embody the gospel--then we will better understand why this witness is so vital.
Christianity and Critical Race Theory by Call Number: BT734.2 .R66 2023ISBN: 9781540965196Publication Date: 2023Critical race theory has become a lightning rod in contemporary American politics and evangelical Christianity. This irenic book offers a critical but constructive and sympathetic introduction written from a perspective rooted in Scripture and Christian theology. The authors take us beyond caricatures and misinformation to consider how critical race theory can be an analytical tool to help us understand persistent inequality and injustice--and to see how Christians and churches working for racial justice can engage it in faithful and constructive ways. The authors explore aspects of critical race theory that resonate with well-trod Christian doctrine but also that challenge or are corrected by Christian theology. They also address the controversial connection that critics see between critical race theory and Marxism. Their aim is to offer objective analysis and critique that go beyond the debates about social identity and the culture wars and aid those who are engaging the issues in Christian life and ministry. The book includes a helpful glossary of key terms.
Eyes to See by Call Number: BT761.3 .M84 2021ISBN: 9780830831654Publication Date: 2021Tim Muehlhoff gives us insight into recognizing how God is at work in the world. He unpacks the doctrine of common grace to uncover how God works in ways that we don't always realize. If we have a limited idea of what divine action looks like--dramatic answers to prayer, healings with no medical explanation, financial needs being met unexpectedly--then we miss seeing how God acts through common grace in ordinary, everyday ways such as antibiotics, financial planners, and thoughtful friends.
The Doctrine of Good Works by Call Number: BT773 .M395 2023ISBN: 9781540965202Publication Date: 2023In Titus, Paul says Christ redeemed a people "zealous for good works." Despite this declaration and others like it, the doctrine of good works has fallen on hard times in contemporary Protestant theology and practice. At best, it's neglected--as in most systematic theologies and in too much church teaching. At worst, it's viewed with suspicion--as a threat to salvation by grace alone through faith alone. In this important work addressing a significant gap in current theological literature, the authors argue that by jettisoning a doctrine of good works, the contemporary church contradicts historical Protestantism and, more importantly, biblical teaching. They combine their areas of expertise--exegesis, systematic and historical theology, and practical theology--to help readers recover and embrace a positive doctrine of good works. They survey historical Protestant teaching to show the importance of the doctrine to our forebears, engage the scriptural testimony on the role of good works, formulate a theology of salvation and good works, and explore pastoral applications.
The Best Argument for God by Call Number: BT1103 .F59 2023ISBN: 9781644137802Publication Date: 2023This book is destined to become the apologetic gold standard for defending classical theism against atheistic naturalism. Flynn clearly identifies what is at stake and then provides you with cogent, accessible, yet potent defenses to counter those arguments that atheists routinely make to justify their claim that there is no God. Flynn's in-depth analysis will give you the tools you need to share your belief in such a way that those who deny God's existence will have to defend their view.
Humble Confidence by Call Number: BT1103 .T67 2022ISBN: 9780830852949Publication Date: 2022Benno van den Toren and Kang-San Tan provide a global, intercultural introduction to Christian apologetics. They present a model of apologetics as crosscultural dialogue and accountable witness, then explore how it plays out in relation to specific contexts and the major world religions--including primal religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, secularism, and late-modern spiritualities. Building on recent developments in apologetics and missiology, as well as their experience teaching internationally in Europe, Asia, and Africa, Van den Toren and Tan offer an approach that is conversational, patient, holistic, and embodied. Filled with examples from Scripture and real-world experiences, Humble Confidence gives readers a travel guide to help find the most effective avenues for true dialogue in their own settings.
BV - Practical Theology
Lead Like It Matters by Call Number: BV652.1 .G755 2022ISBN: 9780310362838Publication Date: 2022Discover the secret to igniting a life-giving, soul-transforming, people-inspiring movement in your organization, church, or ministry.
Grace to Grow by Call Number: BV652.25 .J45 2023ISBN: 9780310151180Publication Date: 2023Grace to Grow is a guide to help pastors move their ministries from merely surviving to fully thriving, despite the challenging road ahead. He gives insight into his own journey as a young pastor and identifies biblical principles, strategies, and techniques that made the difference in the life of his church and his personal discipleship for almost four decades.
Academically Speaking by Call Number: BV1471.3 .O857 2024ISBN: 9780802883391Publication Date: 2024Ostrander cut his teeth as an undergraduate at Moody Bible Institute and the University of Michigan before completing his PhD with George Marsden at Notre Dame. From there he worked as a professor and administrator at various Christian colleges, a vice president at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, and an independent academic consultant. Throughout, he witnessed the many dramatic transformations of Christian higher education. Ostrander traces an attempt to cultivate evangelical intellectualism in the '90s to the political and economic forces that shake Christian colleges today.
Advanced Missiology by Call Number: BV2063 .N44 2021ISBN: 9781725272224Publication Date: 2021Advanced Missiology draws the connections between the theory and practice of missions. Using the metaphor of a river, the book shows how theories "upstream" such as theology, education, anthropology, community development, and history have exerted an influence on missiology (and missiology, in turn, has gone back upstream to influence those disciplines). What causes these disciplines to converge in missiology is the goal of making disciples across cultures. Whereas missiologists are not always explicit about how their abstract theories actually relate to the task of making disciples across cultures, each chapter in Advanced Missiology shows how numerous theories, sub-fields, models, and strategies of missiology ultimately facilitate the Great Commission. The book argues that by using interdisciplinarity for this fundamental purpose, missiological studies will be more credible and useful.
Cultures Colliding by Call Number: BV3415.2 .H34 2023ISBN: 9781439911617Publication Date: 2023In Cultures Colliding, Haddad recounts the unexpected origins and rapid rise of American institutions in China by telling the stories of the Americans who established these institutions and the Chinese who changed them from within. Today, the impact of this untold history continues to resonate in China.
All My Knotted-Up Life by Call Number: BV3785.M74 A3 2023ISBN: 9781496472670Publication Date: 2023All My Knotted-Up Life is told with surprising candor about some of the personal heartbreaks and behind-the-scenes challenges that have marked Beth's life. But beyond that, it's a beautifully crafted portrait of resilience and survival, a poignant reminder of God's enduring faithfulness, and proof positive that if we ever truly took the time to hear people's full stories . . . we'd all walk around slack-jawed.
Sharing the Gospel with Ease by Call Number: BV3790 .R356 2022ISBN: 9781496461803Publication Date: 2022In this book, Thom Rainer explores what makes so many Christians hesitant to talk about the greatest news the world has ever heard. There are real obstacles, challenges, and fears, but God is bigger and stronger than these hurdles. His compassion extends to all who wander, and He wants to show them His love through the lives of His people. With this helpful guide, you will Discover why it is so difficult to share the greatest news in the world Identify common objections that are difficult to answer and learn how to respond to them gracefully Learn about the three biggest barriers to talking to your friends and neighbors about the gospel and how to bypass those obstacles See how God loves to work through our lives to draw others to Himself
The Flourishing Pastor by Call Number: BV4011.6 .N45 2021ISBN: 9781514001325Publication Date: 2021In these pages, Tom Nelson looks to the biblical image of the shepherd leader in response to the contemporary context. If pastors are to lead congregations, then they must first learn what it means to be led by the Good Shepherd. Pulling from his years of experience as a lead pastor and president of a nonprofit, Nelson offers pastors and ministry leaders a timely vision for leadership that incorporates in-depth biblical teaching and whole-life discipleship. His wisdom and insight provide a roadmap for ministry resilience and longevity.
Preaching for Special Services by Call Number: BV4221 .G53 2001ISBN: 9780801091117Publication Date: 2001Preaching for Special Services will help pastors prepare sermons for these special services. Each chapter explores a different occasion and offers the perspective, encouragement, and practical advice that pastors need as they plan their messages. Through this useful book, pastors will discover how Christ-centered special occasion preaching can make a difference in the lives of their listeners.
Seeking God by Call Number: BV4501.3 .H837 2022ISBN: 9781641584388Publication Date: 2022Jesus promised, "Seek and you will find!"Do you long for a transforming encounter with the living God? Jesus assures us that those willing to become seekers will find what their hearts most deeply desire.Profoundly influenced by his long friendship with Dallas Willard, and his experience guiding people through the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius for the last thirty years, Trevor Hudson offers you a practical tool kit for your seeking journey. Designed to help you move beyond insight to encounter the living God in your life, each chapter invites you to experience the crucified and risen Christ.
The Great Dechurching by Call Number: BV4523 .D38 2023ISBN: 9780310147435Publication Date: 2023The Great Dechurching gives the church in America its first ever deep dive into the dechurched phenomenon. Readers will learn about the dechurched through a detailed sketch of demographics, size, core concerns, church off-ramps, historical roots, and the gravity of what is at stake. Then they will explore what can be done to slow the bleed, engage the pertinent issues winsomely and wisely, and hopefully re-church some of the dechurched.
Foster the Family by Call Number: BV4529.16 .F56 2022ISBN: 9781540901866Publication Date: 2022With the compassion and insight of a fellow foster parent, Jamie C. Finn helps you see your struggles through the lens of the gospel, bringing biblical truths to bear on your unique everyday realities. In these short, easy-to-read chapters, you'll find honest, personal stories and practical lessons that provide encouragement and direction from God's Word as you walk the journey of foster parenting.
The Meaning of Singleness by Call Number: BV4596.S5 T738 2023ISBN: 9781514004852Publication Date: 2023Is Christian singleness a burden to be endured or a God-ordained vocation? Might singleness here and now give the church a glimpse of God's heavenly promises? Dani Treweek offers biblical, historical, cultural, and theological reflections to retrieve a theology of singleness for the church today. Drawing upon both ancient and contemporary theologians, including Augustine, Ælfric of Eynsham, John Paul II, and Stanley Hauerwas, she contends not only that singleness has served an important role throughout the church's history, but that single Christians present the church with a foretaste of the eschatological reality that awaits all of God's people. Far from being a burden, then, Christian singleness is among the highest vocations of the faith.
Living with your emotions by Call Number: BV4597.3 .S45 2023ISBN: 9798863985725Publication Date: 2023This book includes chapters on nearly 20 negative emotions which afflict people. Dr. Seilhamer explains the causes and effects of the emotions, addresses them from the basis of Scripture, and points the way toward healing.
Healthy Leadership for Thriving Organizations by Call Number: BV4597.53.L43 I775 2023ISBN: 9781540964809Publication Date: 2023Drawing wisdom from the Bible, contemporary leadership theory, and the insights of over two hundred executive leaders, Irving provides a theological framework that makes human flourishing the driving motivation for leading organizations well. He helps readers invest in their own growth to become leaders who motivate, inspire, and nurture. But he broadens the view to help readers see how different levels of leadership--the dynamics and interdependence of teams and of the whole organization--work together. He then offers practical insights on building teams, culture, and effective communication and on navigating the storms of crisis and change.
Better Together by Call Number: BV4597.53 .M36 S77 2020ISBN: 9780785230151Publication Date: 2020An impassioned plea and workable solution for women and men to imagine a better world, embrace their differences, find ways to end oppression, and learn how to work better together.
Sonorous Desert by Call Number: BV4647.L56 H35 2022ISBN: 9780691232898Publication Date: 2022Kim Haines-Eitzen draws on ancient monastic texts from Egypt, Sinai, and Palestine to explore how noise offered desert monks an opportunity to cultivate inner quietude, and shows how the desert quests of ancient monastics offer profound lessons for us about what it means to search for silence. Drawing on her own experiences making field recordings in the deserts of North America and Israel, she reveals how mountains, canyons, caves, rocky escarpments, and lush oases are deeply resonant places. Haines-Eitzen discusses how the desert is a place of paradoxes, both silent and noisy, pulling us toward contemplative isolation yet giving rise to vibrant collectives of fellow seekers.
Untrustworthy by Call Number: BV4647.T7 K75 2022ISBN: 9781587435621Publication Date: 2022Drawing from her extensive experience in journalism and her training as a theologian, Kristian explores social media, political and digital culture, online paranoia, and the press itself. She explains factors that contribute to our confusion and helps Christians pay attention to how we consume content and think about truth. Finally, she provides specific ways to take action, empowering readers to avoid succumbing to or fueling the knowledge crisis.
Experiencing Friendship with God by Call Number: BV4817 .C46 2023ISBN: 9780593445570Publication Date: 2023In Experiencing Friendship with God, speaker and pastor Faith Eury Cho draws on ancient wisdom about intimacy with God to help us cultivate a relationship with Him, even among all the complications of today's world. With practical ideas and stories from her own spiritual journey, Faith explores how to . trust God when life is overwhelming . pray when you don't feel like you have the words . keep faith when God feels silent . continue to focus on the hope we have in Jesus If knowing the Presence of God is our greatest desire, then every season of our lives has significance-even the lowest. Only then do we realize that the purpose of each moment is God Himself. And when we do that, we will understand that we were never without Him after all.
BX - Christian Denominations
Introduction to the Spiritual Life by Call Number: BX2350.3 .P564 2021ISBN: 9780525572763Publication Date: 2021The path of following Jesus is an ancient and storied spiritual tradition. Yet many believers are not familiar with the three major forms of prayer and the three stages of spiritual growth that exist to bring them closer to God. In his most personal book yet, Brant Pitre, PhD, draws on the riches of the Bible, the words of Jesus, and the writings of mystics across the centuries to shed light on the mystery-and wonder-of the spiritual life.
The Cambridge Companion to Hildegard of Bingen by Call Number: BX4700.H5 C36 2021ISBN: 9781108457811Publication Date: 2021This specially commissioned collection of thirteen essays explores the life and works of Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), monastic founder, leader of a community of nuns, composer, active correspondent, and writer of religious visions, theological treatises, sermons, and scientific and medical texts.
C. S. Lewis in America by Call Number: BX5199.L53 N65 2023ISBN: 9781514007006Publication Date: 2023Perhaps no other literary figure has transformed the American religious landscape in recent history as much as C. S. Lewis. Even before the international publication and incredible success of his fictional works such as The Chronicles of Narnia or apologetic works like Mere Christianity, Lewis was already being read "across the pond" in America. But who exactly was reading his work? And how was he received? With fresh research and shrewd analysis, this volume by noted historian Mark A. Noll considers the surprising reception of Lewis among Roman Catholic, mainline Protestant, and evangelical readers to see how early readings of the Oxford don shaped his later influence.
40 Questions about Arminianism by Call Number: BX6195 .P566 2022ISBN: 9780825446856Publication Date: 2022The actual teachings of Jacobus Arminius and Arminianism are often unknown or misunderstood. Answers beyond a basic caricature can be elusive. In 40 Questions About Arminianism, however, J. Matthew Pinson combines solid historical research with biblical and doctrinal precision to address the following questions and more: Can one be both Reformed and Arminian? Does God want everyone to be saved? What do Arminians mean by "free will"? Do Arminians believe that God elects individuals to salvation? Do Arminians affirm two kinds of apostasy? An accessible question-and-answer format helps readers pursue the issues that interest them most, with additional resources available at 40questions.net. Questions regarding historical backgrounds and the Bible encourage a broad understanding of historic and contemporary Arminianism. Book jacket.
Introduction to Christian Worship by Call Number: BX8338.A1 .B78 2019ISBN: 9781945935404Publication Date: 2019The who, what, when, where, why, and how of worship Preaching, fellowship, sacraments, and prayer continue to serve as the model of worship. The forms have changed, but these four elements, worship's basic grammar, remain constant despite the richly diverse practices of Christian communities. Grounded and beginning with Scripture and the priesthood of all believers, Bruns introduces students to the theological and practical fundamentals of planning and leading worship. Although the perspective is broad, this introduction draws heavily from the Wesleyan/Methodist perspective. Topics include theology of ordination; theology of sacred space; the order of worship; the church year; sacraments; music; and the practicalities of leading and planning worship.
Reformed and Evangelical Across Four Centuries by Call Number: BX8935 .F45 2022ISBN: 9780802873408Publication Date: 2022A definitive history of evangelical Presbyterianism in America "Reformed and Evangelical across Four Centuries" tells the story of the Presbyterian church in the United States, beginning with its British foundations and extending to its present-day expression in multiple American Presbyterian denominations. This account emphasizes the role of the evangelical movement in shaping various Presbyterian bodies in America, especially in the twentieth century amid increasing departures from traditional Calvinism, historic orthodoxy, and a focus on biblical authority. Particular attention is also given to crucial elements of diversity in the Presbyterian story, with increasing numbers of African American, Latino/a, and Korean American Presbyterians--among others--in the twenty-first century. Overall, this book will be a bountiful resource to anyone curious about what it means to be Presbyterian in the multidimensional American context, as well as to anyone looking to understand this piece of the larger history of Christianity in the United States.
Timothy Keller by Call Number: BX9225.K45 H363 2023ISBN: 9780310128687Publication Date: 2023Timothy Keller takes readers behind the scenes to meet the people and understand the events that formed Keller's spiritual life and ministry priorities. With unfettered access to Keller's personal notes and sermons--as well as exclusive interviews with family members and longtime friends--Collin Hansen gives you unprecedented understanding of one of the 21st century's most influential church leaders.
RichLyn Catalog
ACL Biblical & Theological Studies
- ACL Biblical & Theological StudiesThis guide highlights freely accessible resources related to Biblical and Theological Studies.
Commentary Analyses: Find the best commentary for your purposes.
- Best CommentariesThese commentaries are not necessarily "online" but if you find a commentary that you would like to use that is available through the RichLyn Library contact a librarian with the passage of Scripture you are studying AND the title of the commentary series. We will scan the appropriate pages and email them to you.
Interlibrary Loan
Interlibrary Loan is a service provided by RichLyn Library that allows our users to borrow books and other material from other libraries around the nation. RichLyn Library utilizes two separate interlibrary loan services. For detailed instructions how to access Interlibrary Loan sources please click here: https://huntington.libguides.com/ill
PALShare
PALShare allows us to borrow books and some media from the PALNI consortia which include 23 private academic libraries in Indiana. Those items that are available for lending through PALSHare will have a blue "Place Hold" or "PALShare Request button in the "Availability/Holdings" section of the bibliographic record. Use your HU login and password to sign in then submit your request. You will be notified when RichLyn Library receives the item for lending. The item is picked up and checked out at the Library Service Desk. PALShare books have a 60 day lending period and media is 14 days. No renewals.
Worldshare Interlibrary Loan
- Books and other media - Monographic resources can be ordered through the Worldcat Catalog or Worldcat Discovery Service. In the "Availability/Holdings" section of the bibliographic record a blue "Request Item" button will take you to a form to request the item. Please fill out the form as much as possible and you must include your barcode number on the back of you ID card. You will be notified when RichLyn Library receives the item for lending (from one to two weeks). The item is picked up and checked out at the Library Service Desk. Material checkout periods are set by the lending library and renewals may be possible.
- Periodical/Journal Articles - If you are using one of the Ebscohost databases a "Request ILL" link is provided for items that do not have full text. You may also request articles using the Worldcat Catalog or Worldcat Discovery Service. Enter the title of the article as in the search box. A blue "Request Item" button will appear in the "Availability/Holdings" section of the bibliographic record. If you click on the button a form will appear to request the article. The articles will be emailed to you once they are available (usually two to five days).