By studying 1 and 2 Thessalonians, we get to read some of Paul’s first scriptural statements about the glories of Christ. We also notice Paul’s great compassion and love toward this young Thessalonian church, which may have been only six months old when Paul is writing First Thessalonians. Despite being young, she is doing generally well. Although it is true that there are some difficulties; most of these are caused by those outside the church, but some are caused by those inside the church. All of these aspects have direct and indirect meaning for us today in the twenty-first century. Of course, all books in the Bible and all parts of all biblical books are important and are worthy of our study because ultimately the Triune God wrote them for the original readers and for us.
Many factors contributed to the Protestant Reformation, but one of the most significant was the debate over the doctrine of justification by faith alone. In fact, Martin Luther argued that justification is the doctrine on which the church stands or falls. This comprehensive volume of 26 essays from a host of scholars explores the doctrine of justification from the lenses of history, the Bible, theology, and pastoral practice―revealing the enduring significance of this pillar of Protestant theology.
Challenging the dominant Van Tillian approach in Reformed apologetics, this book by a leading expert in contemporary Reformed theology sets forth the principles that undergird a classic Reformed approach. J. V. Fesko’s detailed exegetical, theological, and historical argument takes as its starting point the classical Reformed understanding of the “two books” of God’s revelation: nature and Scripture. Believers should always rest on the authority of Scripture but also can and should appeal to the book of nature in the apologetic task.
When Jesus commanded His followers to go and make disciples of all nations, He instructed them to baptize those disciples in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Since baptism is a central part of life in the church, why has it been controversial and divisive among so many Christians?
In Baptism: Answers to Common Questions, Dr. Guy M. Richard tackles the key questions people have about baptism: What does it mean? Is it necessary for salvation? Who should be baptized, and how should we baptize them? As he searches the Scriptures, Dr. Richard helps us think through what the Bible teaches about baptism and encourages us to deal graciously with our brothers and sisters in Christ even when we disagree.
A Hebrew vocabulary guide that gives the student everything he or she needs in order to master basic Hebrew vocabulary and to expand knowledge of biblical Hebrew. This title is intentionally made with a space between the cover and the binding to allow the book to lay flat when opened.
Clear. Understandable. Carefully organized. Basics of Biblical Hebrew Grammar by Gary D. Pratico and Miles V. Van Pelt is the standard textbook for colleges and seminaries. Since its initial publication in 2001 its integrated approach has helped more than 80,000 students learn Biblical Hebrew.
The third edition of Basics of Biblical Hebrew Grammar represents a significant updating and revision of the previous edition with the goal of providing students with the best possible tool for learning Biblical Hebrew.
Some of the keys to the effectiveness of Basics of Biblical Hebrew Grammar in helping students learn is that it:
- Combines the best of inductive and deductive approaches
- Uses actual examples from the Hebrew Old Testament rather than “made-up” illustrations
- Emphasizes the structural pattern of the Hebrew language rather than rote memorization, resulting in a simple, enjoyable, and effective learning process
- Employs colored text that highlights key features of nouns and verbs, allowing easy recognition of new forms
- Includes appendices of verbal paradigms and diagnostics for fast reference and a complete vocabulary glossary
- Displays larger font and text size, making reading easier
By the time students have worked their way through Basics of Biblical Hebrew Grammar they will have learned:
- The Hebrew Alphabet
- Vocabulary for words occurring 70 times or more in the Hebrew Bible
- The Hebrew noun system
- The Hebrew verbal system
A robust suite of learning aids is available for purchase to be used alongside the textbook to help students excel in their studies. These include a workbook; video lectures for each chapter featuring the author; flashcards keyed to vocabulary in each chapter; a laminated study sheet with key concepts; audio of the vocabulary for each chapter to aid in acquisition; and a compact guide to help refresh students refresh their memory on language forms, grammar, and word meanings.
The Lord’s Supper is more than a church tradition or a complex doctrinal controversy—it has practical importance to our daily lives. When Jesus instituted the Supper, it was meant to strengthen the faith of his followers by reminding them of his promises. God has always made promises to his people through covenants, and along with them given signs and meals to point to and confirm his blessings. Looking at the unity of the covenants throughout the Bible, this book will help Christians recover the practical importance of the Lord’s Supper as both a sign and a meal of the new covenant blessings God has bestowed on believers in Christ.
This book teaches that to experience righteous suffering is to “fellowship with Christ in his sufferings” (1 Pet 4:13). We desire to know the glory of Christ, but that is only half of what he experienced. Unless we know Jesus’ suffering, we will never know the whole Jesus. And to know Jesus is the greatest joy of a believer, a “joy unspeakable.”
by
Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck (1854-1921) is widely celebrated as one of the top theologians in the Reformed tradition, and through the ongoing labor of translation teams, editors, and publishers, his vast writings are being offered anew to English-only readers.
This book brings the groundbreaking framework of Bavinck’s “organic motif” to the fore in one of Bavinck’s most influential works. In the best sense of the title, the modern, yet orthodox Bavinck offers readers here both a philosophy of revelation and a philosophy of revelation. Philosophy of Revelation was originally presented by Bavinck at the Stone Lectures at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1908, that by itself deserves being published. This classic text is updated and annotated and may function as a supreme entry into the mind of Bavinck. Bavinck saw theology as the task of “thinking God’s thoughts after him and tracing their unity.” This project can be seen as “thinking Bavinck’s thoughts after him and tracing their unity.”
Chapters include:
- The Idea of a Philosophy of Revelation
- Revelation and Philosophy
- Revelation and Nature
- Revelation and History
- Revelation and Religion
- Revelation and Christianity
- Revelation and Religious Experience
- Revelation and Culture
- Revelation and the Future
Now that you’ve learned Hebrew, it’s time to master it.
Students who complete a basic grammar of biblical Hebrew must next practice their hard-won skill by interacting with full texts. In this comprehensive graded reader, Professor William Fullilove provides helpful notes and questions to walk you through full texts in a variety of genres: from narrative and law to psalms and wisdom literature. His graded approach, starting with simpler texts and progressing to higher complexity, gives you the confidence you need to progress in your understanding of biblical Hebrew.
Your studies are valuable. Don’t lose the ground you’ve gained—go farther.
Hebrew parsing and vocabulary apps available at Google Play and on the App Store.
Septuaginta: A Reader’s Edition offers the complete text of the Greek Old Testament as it appears in the Rahlfs-Hanhart revised Septuaginta, laid out in a clear and readable format. All deuterocanonical books are included, as well as all double-texts, which are presented on facing pages for easy textual comparison. In order to facilitate natural and seamless reading of the text, every word occurring 100 times or fewer in the Rahlfs-Hanhart text (excluding proper names)―as well as every word that occurs more than 100 times in the Rahlfs-Hanhart text but fewer than 30 times in the Greek New Testament―is accompanied by a footnote that provides a contextual gloss for the word and (for verbs only) full parsing. Additionally, an appendix provides a complete alphabetized list of common vocabulary (namely, all the words that are not accompanied by a footnote), with glosses and (as applicable) comparison of a word’s usage in the Septuagint to its usage in the New Testament.
All of these combined features will make Septuaginta: A Reader’s Edition an indispensable resource for biblical scholars and an excellent tool for improving one’s comprehension of the Greek language.
In addition to the attractive and high-quality binding, each volume will include two ribbon markers.
Have you ever read (or tried to read) the Bible and wondered if it makes any sense? Often, when we read about God’s plan for the world in the Bible, we are confused and uncertain about what he is actually doing. We read the books (or parts of them) that we find in the Bible, attempt to piece together the different names and events, and often do so without clarity of understanding, or any concept of the historical situation and/or Bible characters. We look at all of the oblique parts of the Bible and cannot grasp the big picture or the grand storyline that is ultimately unfolding before our very eyes. How can we put together this complicated puzzle? As the Father Has Sent Me: God’s Progress of Redemption is the answer for our confusion. This book will help the reader put the pieces of the Bible reading puzzle together, while discovering the unity of God’s story for the world. See how the grand story of God’s redemptive plan unfolds and begin to cherish his gracious involvement in our world of need!
The summons to live a radical life for God has led us away from doing the very basic things he has commanded. Instead of changing the world, our Lord Jesus calls us to change the way we approach relationships. Specifically, he challenges us to pursue reconciliation. Unreconciled: The New Norm invites Christians, especially those who are busy seeking to do great things for a great God, to remember the command “to go and be reconciled” and to renew their commitment to live in obedience to the things God has revealed. Perhaps by pursuing the seemingly ordinary, we will see God do extraordinary things in our pursuit to create cultures of reconciliation.
Eschatology and ethics are joined at the hip, says Michael Allen, and both need theocentric reorientation. In Grounded in Heaven Allen retrieves the traditional concept of the beatific vision and seeks to bring Christ back into the heart of our theology and our lives on earth.
Responding to the earthly-mindedness of much recent theology, Allen places his focus on God and the heavenly future while also appreciating ways in which the Reformed tradition provides a unique angle on broadly catholic concerns. Reaching back to classical ethics as well as its reformation by Calvin and other Reformed theologians, Grounded in Heaven offers a distinctly Protestant account of the ascetical calling to be heavenly-minded and to deny one’s self.
There has been an explosion of interest in wisdom literature, and many studies are now available. There is every opportunity for people to “get wisdom, get insight” (Prov. 4:5). However, in today’s world it seems the practical sensibilities that come from wisdom are found in very few places. Wisdom literature is needed now more than ever. By walking in the way of wisdom, we will “find favour and good success in the sight of God and man” (Prov. 3:4). In this New Studies in Biblical Theology volume, Richard Belcher begins with a survey of the problem of wisdom literature in Old Testament theology. Subsequent chapters focus on the message and theology of the books of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. These point forward to the need for Christ and the gospel. Belcher concludes by exploring the relationship of Christ to wisdom in terms of his person, work, and teaching ministry. Addressing key issues in biblical theology, the works comprising New Studies in Biblical Theology are creative attempts to help Christians better understand their Bibles. The NSBT series is edited by D. A. Carson, aiming to simultaneously instruct and to edify, to interact with current scholarship and to point the way ahead.
When we think of the ministry of discipleship (or what I call “disciple investing”), we often conclude that the focus of discipleship involves one individual intentionally helping only one other individual (often called “one-to-one” ministry). We think we have to choose one person to whom we must give our attention. However, as we observe the Apostle Paul’s ministry, the reality is that he devotes time and effort with all sorts of people, both individuals and groups, people whom he meets in various contexts. The Apostle Paul willingly and actively invests in multiple relationships, as seemingly he is open to most anyone the Lord sends his way. And Paul goes out of his way both to lead others to Christ, as well as to deepen believers in their walks with Christ. The Disciple Investing Apostle: Paul’s Ministry of Relationships provides an overview of the many and varied relationships that the Apostle Paul develops as he helps others grow in Christ. In the book, you will meet the people Paul meets and you also will watch him build meaningful disciple investing relationships with these friends. And in doing so, you may learn some lessons for your personal ministry with others as well.