Showing titles in Commentaries

Most Christians would agree that the Bible provides a basis for mission. But Christopher Wright boldly maintains that mission is bigger than that - there is in fact a missional basis for the Bible. The entire Bible is generated by and is all about God's mission. In order to understand the Bible, we need a missional hermeneutic of the Bible, an interpretive perspective that is in tune with this great missional theme. We need to see the "big picture" of God's mission and how the familiar bits and pieces fit into the grand narrative of Scripture.

"The Bible tells us of Jesus' birth and of His being in the temple in Jerusalem when He was a boy of 12. But then there is no further mention of Him until about 20 years later when He starts His ministry. Where was He? Why did the Bible not say? After an intensive search and study of The Dead Sea Scrolls and other ancient documents, I found where God gave instructions, through His Prophets, for the preparation of a place in the wilderness for His Son Jesus. The instructions were followed. A place was prepared." (Walter Parks)

This book offers updated explanations of the sins of interpretation to teach sound grammatical, lexical, cultural, theological, and historical Bible study practices.

Billy Graham once wrote "I used to read five psalms every day — that teaches me how to get along with God. Then I read a chapter of Proverbs every day and that teaches me how to get along with my fellow man." This daily reading enabled him to read all of the Psalms and all of the Proverbs in one month. The purpose of this book is to summarize five psalms and one proverb each day for 31 days. I have placed Psalm 119 on the 31st day because of its length. For Proverbs, I selected a few verses since each chapter is so long. Each chapter is written in common language that anyone should be ...

Renowned critic and translator Robert Alter’s The Art of Biblical Narrative has radically expanded our view of the Bible by recasting it as a work of literary art deserving studied criticism. In this seminal work, Alter describes how the Hebrew Bible’s many authors used innovative literary styles and devices such as parallelism, contrastive dialogue, and narrative tempo to tell one of the most revolutionary stories of all time: the revelation of a single God. In so doing, Alter shows, these writers reshaped not only history, but also the art of storytelling itself.

A groundbreaking account of the Secret Gospel of Mark, one of the most hotly debated documents in Christian history.

The interpretation of scripture has depended largely on the view of history held by theologians and exegetes. In Participatory Biblical Exegesis, Matthew Levering examines the changing views....

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, often regarded as the greatest preacher of the 19th century, crafted The Treasury of David over the span of nearly half his ministry. Concise and provocative, Spurgeon's magnum opus on the Psalms has been prized by Christians ever since. Available for the first time in unabridged audio, this collection features Spurgeon's crucial commentary on Psalms 120-150.

The Bible is the written word of the living God. He speaks through this word, working in and through human agents as he reveals himself to his people. His word is trustworthy, yet many Christians struggle to articulate why they believe that to be true. Centered in the words of Scripture and especially the teaching of Jesus himself, this volume unpacks the doctrine of Scripture as taught by the church through the ages, helping to strengthen listeners’ confidence in God’s word.

Part of Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe’s best-selling “BE” commentary series, BE Compassionate has now been updated with study questions and a new introduction by Ken Baugh. A respected pastor and Bible teacher, Dr. Wiersbe explores the compassionate life of Jesus. Filled with moving examples of Christ’s ministry to people of all backgrounds, cultures, and beliefs, this study will inspire you to share His love with the world around you.

In Life-Study of 1 & 2 Samuel, Witness Lee opens up the central thought of these two books, which is that the fulfillment of God's economy needs man's cooperation in the principle of incarnation, as illustrated by the history of Samuel's mother, Hannah, of Samuel, and of David, in the positive sense, and by the history of Eli and of Saul, in the negative sense. Such a cooperation is related to the personal enjoyment of the good land, which typifies the all-inclusive and all-extensive Christ.

In How to Read the Bible, Cox explores three different lenses commonly used to bring the Bible into focus: literary - as narrative stories of family conflict, stirring heroism, and moral dilemmas; history - as classic texts with academic and theological applications; and activism - as a source of dialogue and engagement to be shared and applied to our lives. By bringing these together, Cox shows the Bible in all its rich diversity and meaning and offers us a contemporary activist version that wrestles with issues of feminism, war, homosexuality, and race.

Moving beyond typical conservative and liberal approaches, which seek to either defend or whitewash over violence in the Bible, Disarming Scripture takes a surprising yet compelling approach.

Is it possible to embrace the inherent dignity of womanhood while still cherishing the Bible? Many, both inside and outside the church, are concerned that an orthodox understanding of the Bible is threatening and even harmful to women. After all, the Bible has a number of passages regarding women that are deeply troubling. But is that assessment accurate?

During His earthly ministry Jesus performed thousands of miracles. From curing all types of diseases, to calming a storm, to raising people from the dead, Jesus showed His power over and over again. The writers of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, recorded 37 specific miracles out of the thousands performed. These were selected to give us a better understanding of who Jesus is as well as demonstrate His power and authority. Each miracle has multiple lessons to teach and only by close examination can you see everything Jesus was attempting to teach his followers two thousand ...

In the early 19th century, Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, conceived the idea of extracting a gospel purified of what he saw as extraneous philosophical, mythological, and theological elements. To do so, he took verses from the four canonical gospels and arranged them into a single narrative, focusing on the actual words of Jesus.

Shocked by the Bible sets the record straight with well-researched, controversial, myth-breaking assertions about what the Bible really does—and doesn’t—say. And guess on which day the Bible says Jesus died. Believe it or not, the Good Book doesn't mention Friday, and even more surprisingly, while the Bible says Jesus rose from the grave, it does not say it occurred Sunday morning. News veteran Joe Kovacs goes on a mission to help both Christians and non-Christians alike find out what the Bible really contains, and what it doesn't.

Combining cutting-edge research with broad anecdotal evidence from her work as a clinical psychologist to illustrate just how invaluable spirituality is to a child's mental and physical health, Miller translates these findings into practical advice for parents, giving them concrete ways to develop and encourage their children's - as well as their own - well-being. In this provocative, conversation-starting book, Dr. Miller presents us with a pioneering new way to think about parenting our modern youth.

The book of Romans clarifies the principle of justification, whether it is by deeds of the law, or by the work of God. The law has never been a means of salvation. Faith has always been the means of spirituality regardless of the dispensation. This epistle also helps us to understand how to have victory over the flesh. If we as believers walk according to our new nature, the inward man, we are controlled by the Holy Spirit and not the sin nature. This New Testament Commentary is a verse by verse a verse-by-verse teaching of the book of Romans from the personal study notes of Bob Yandian.

Deftly guiding listeners through “the four,” Peter Leithart delves into both the unique perspective of each gospel and their unifying witness to Jesus. The gospels are riddled with themes and types; Leithart reveals them and explains the Old Testament prophecies that intertwine with these apostolic books, as well as their underlying literary structures. He discusses the dating of the books, showing how the timeline of the four gospels lace together, and lays out Israel's history leading up to John the Baptist's birth.