Westminster Bible Companion – serie

The power of story as God's word to the community of faith is never more clear than in the books of Samuel. Emotion, drama, complexity of character, and mystery fill the pages of these two biblical books. Eugene Peterson's commentary emphasizes the resonance and interplay between these stories of kings and prophets and the social and cultural issues that concern us today.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

David Bartlett explores Paul's letter to the Romans and there discovers Paul's vision of the nature of God. Along the way, Bartlett also highlights Paul's thoughts on God's gift of Jesus Christ, the world of the first Christians, and the nature of faith. Fascinating and clearly written, this rewarding and uplifting book will encourage and enlighten the modern reader faced with contemporary issues, including pluralism and the meaning of faith.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

The book of Exodus is literally a story about "going out," and as such, it touches on something all of us have in common: each of our lives is marked by different kinds of goings out and comings in. J. Gerald Janzen reads the Exodus story as both the story of a particular people and a revelation of God's concern for the liberation and redemption of all people. The lessons of Exodus are encouraging because they hold out hope for all who are oppressed by forces over which they have no control. But the lessons are sobering also, because they caution the liberated not to perpetuate the evils under which they suffered.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

Not only does the book of Genesis begin our Bible, but it also can serve to begin the discussion of a variety of important topics as well: the question of origins, tensions between genders and between siblings, the reality of sin, the saga of human family, and the promise of God's covenant. In this perceptive and helpful commentary, W. Sibley Towner relates the theological issues in Genesis to faith issues in the church today.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

The original audience for the Gospel of Matthew included converts from Judaism who wrestled with how to be faithful to Jesus Christ under difficult circumstances in a changing world. The Gospel of Matthew became a first-aid manual for this church in the midst of a struggle.Thomas Long identifies this first audience and its faith within the social and religious context of the day and clarifies the structure of the Gospel. Providing examples of contemporary relevance, Long helps today's reader discern the significance of this guide for faithful living in today's church.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

The Gospel of Luke is arguably the most recognizable and beloved of the Gospel writings. It contains familiar stories such as the birth of Christ, and the parables of the good Samaritan and the prodigal son. Its message about inclusivity and economic justice continue to empower many in their struggles for liberation. Luke is also noted for the prominence of women in its narrative. The general familiarity with Luke, however, may impede a true sense of what this Gospel is about as a whole. Thus, New Testament scholar Sharon Ringe offers readers a thorough introduction to and a critical reading of Luke. Readers will gain a renewed understanding of this Gospel in light of its whole message.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

The Gospel of John is one of the most beloved books in the Christian canon. Its stories and images have long captured the imaginations of Christians. Not only is it one of the most popular writings of the New Testament, but many aspects of its style and outlook are distinctive. In this clear, thorough, and accessible commentary on the Gospel of John, scholars Gail O'Day and Susan Hylen explore and explain this Gospel's distinctive qualities.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

In this book, Paul Walaskay discusses Luke's description of the early church, its leadership, and its struggles as a people of God amid competing religious claims. He helps the reader understand Luke and his contemporaries and examines the first-century church's situation in light of today's issues.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

Paul's influence on Christian thought has been powerful and formative. The deuteropauline epistles, attributed to but not written by Paul, were actually authored by early Christians in an attempt to apply Pauline insights to particular challenges not addressed specifically by Paul. According to Lewis Donelson, this rearticulation and reinterpretation of Pauline wisdom served these early communities by linking them more closely to their apostolic roots. It also provided them with a living gospel that had continuing relevance for their particular time and place.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

Fred B. Craddock examines the letters of First and Second Peter and Jude, asking, what kind of literature is it? who wrote the letter? to whom was the letter written? and for what purpose was the letter written? Craddock's answers let us draw from these often undervalued epistles an awareness of what is involved in living a Christian life in this world. We also see the similarities and differences in how Christ is portrayed in these epistles as opposed to the depiction found in other New Testament writings.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

Deuteronomy, Thomas Mann notes, is more than a relic of ancient history. It is a living document that deals with issues that have relevance for the modern-day reader, including justice and the vision of the Great Society, individual responsibility versus the importance of community, and the nature of loyalty to God and to the world. By examining these and other issues, readers will draw striking parallels between the world of Israel several millennia ago and today. This absorbing and readable book will stimulate discussion about the Deuteronomistic prescriptions for a healthy society and their applicability to contemporary life and society.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

Job is the quintessential study when it comes to questions of faith in the face of adversity and the universal human quest for meaning and order in a world that consistently mocks both. James Wharton concludes that the function of Job never has been to provide answers but to keep the questions urgent and contemporary for all who set out to honor and serve God.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

Often called "minor prophets," these first great classical prophets spoke to issues that dominated their times--love, redemption, fidelity, renewal, authority, justice, righteousness, and inclusivity--and that continue to have great relevance today.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

The book of Ezekiel was written during a tumultuous time in Israel's history. It follows a period that began with Ezekiel's warning of Jerusalem's fall and his prediction of the destruction of the temple--a sanctuary regarded as so holy that its destruction was unimaginable. The period continues with Ezekiel's and others' exile to Babylon. Although much in the book of Ezekiel focuses on the consequences of Israel's rebellion against God that lead to the destruction of Jerusalem, even more deals with the hope of Israel's rebirth with divine assistance.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

Taken together, the nine prophets found in the books Obadiah through Malachi lived during a tumultuous two hundred years of Israelite history. Their communities dealt with the crisis of the impending Assyrian threat in the eighth century and the Babylonia exile in the sixth, as well as the hopeful age of restoration in the late sixth and early fifth centuries. Intimately connected to the travails and needs of their communities, these prophets had the responsibility of bringing God's message of hope--even in the bleakest times--to their people.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

These books of the Bible, despite their differences, all treat the phenomenon of what it means to live wisely before God. In this readable commentary, Ellen Davis points out that the writers of these books considered wisdom--and the fruits of wisdom, a well-ordered life and a peaceful mind--to be within the grasp of anyone wholeheartedly desiring it.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

In this volume, Walter Brueggemann writes on Isaiah 1-39, which many scholars believe had a single author, Isaiah, of the eighth century BCE, who wrote in the context of the Assyrian empire between 742 and 701.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

In this rich and thoughtful commentary Richard Boyce makes Leviticus and Numbers come alive for serious and lively preaching and teaching. In a clear and direct style, Boyce explains the various rituals and regulations in these books, while always showing what today's believers can learn from them. Attentive to the particularities of the text in its time, Boyce is nevertheless unabashed about seeing and hearing these books as a word to the church--a word that connects again and again with the New Testament and speaks in important ways to contemporary life.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

Who is God? How does God act in our lives? How are we to act as God's faithful people? Joshua, Judges, and Ruth represent a chorus of voices reflecting on Israel's earliest days in its land. In Joshua, God empowers an obedient Israel to conquer the promised land. In Judges, Israel's faithlessness and God's wrath lead to a downward spiral of sin, subjugation, and social disintegration. Ruth narrates a story of divine blessing worked out through human loyalty.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

For believers who have grown weary or disillusioned with their Christian commitment, the letter to the Hebrews offers much practical assistance. In this day of dwindling church attendance and clergy burnout, a new reading of Hebrews offers an encouraging, renewed understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ. The letter of James deals primarily with the social and practical aspects of Christianity, reminding the reader that Christian faith touches every aspect of life. One of the most useful books in the New Testament, its concerns are grounded in day-to-day questions: how do we live? what should we live? and what are the implications of Christian faith for our lives? This epistle will challenge and encourage modern readers in search of a life of integrity.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

Mark, often eclipsed by the other Synoptic Gospels, is now considered by many biblical scholars to be the earliest written gospel. This conclusion would place Mark closest to the historical Jesus. In his book, Douglas Hare examines Mark for modern Christians who are in search of the Jesus portrayed in these earliest known writings. What emerges is a Jesus whose moral and religious teachings are of secondary importance to the very fact of his life, death, and resurrection. For it is the Jesus depicted in Mark that serves as the window through which we may see God. God's love for humankind, Hare contends, is made visible through Mark's Jesus.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

In this insightful, informative, and easy-to-read volume, James Limburg takes us into the world of the Psalms and brings their world to us. Limburg studies each Psalm and shows how the Psalms confront the issues of our contemporary culture, transcending time, and transforming our faith and experience.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

Old Testament scholar Terence Fretheim identifies the theology in the dramatic accounts of the books of Kings, which chronicles the reigns of more than forty kings over a period of nearly four hundred years. Interspersing theological reflections throughout, Fretheim trace's God's words of judgement and promise for Israel--and for us--accross the entirety of Kings.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

The prophet Jeremiah declared the word of the Lord at a critical time in the history of ancient Israel. In the first volume of a two-part commentary on Jeremiah, John Bracke provides a powerful interpretation of the prophet's message to a nation that refused to listen to the call to repent and to renew covenant living in obedience to God's commandments. Readers encounter God's anguish and pain over both the failure of the people and the suffering that they and Jeremiah were forced to endure.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

In Part Two of his commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations, John Bracke provides a powerful interpretation of the prophet's message to a nation refusing to repent and obey God and points beyond exile and suffering to God's restoration of the people and renewal of the covenant.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

Originally written to be read aloud in church and to offer comfort and hope to those struggling to be faithful in troubling times, Revelation sparks great interest with its mysterious symbols of numbers and beasts. Here, two foremost historians offer readers a highly accessible commentary perfect for Bible study leaders.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

In this volume, a part of the Westminster Bible Companion series, Paul Hooker suggests that First and Second Chronicles is not a "history of Israel," but rather a theological reflection on the story of Israel's faith. The Chronicler, according to Hooker, seeks to sketch the lines of Israel's future as the people of God by drawing on the resources of Israel's past.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

According to this well-known author, today's readers find much that is familiar in Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, including the message of God's faithfulness in the face of prejudice, sexism, and patriarchy.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

The book of Daniel is concerned with religious persecution. Daniel's message in this apocalyptic text, however, assures that God will deliver those who trust God, refuse to worship other Gods, and keep Jewish tradition in the face of persecution. C. L. Seow examines this difficult and provocative book and explores its relevance to faith and the church today.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.