Mark's Gospel has attracted an enormous amount of scholarly attention over recent decades. The major themes of the Gospel have been studied exhaustively and from a variety of critical perspectives. But at least one important theme in Mark has been comparatively overlooked in recent study: the theme of faith. This critically-acclaimed study redresses such neglect through a thorough exegetical and literary study of all the references to faith in Mark's composition.

Recently a growing number of Christians have actively promoted the concept of -restorative justice- and attempted to develop programs for dealing with crime based on restorative principles. But is this approach truly consistent with the teaching of Scripture? To date, very little has been done to test this claim. Beyond Retribution fills a gap by plumbing the New Testament on the topics of crime, justice, and punishment.
Christopher Marshall first explores the problems involved in applying ethical teachings from the New Testament to mainstream society. He then surveys the extent...

Synopsis:
Two parables that have become firmly lodged in popular consciousness and affection are the parable of the Good Samaritan and the parable of the Prodigal Son. These simple but subversive tales have had a significant impact historically on shaping the spiritual, aesthetic, moral, and legal traditions of Western civilization, and their capacity to inform debate on a wide range of moral and social issues remains as potent today as ever. Noting that both stories deal with episodes of serious interpersonal offending, and both recount restorative responses on the part of the leading...

In recent years the theme of the kingdom of God has come to the forefront in the preaching, teaching, and popular writing of Christians of all theological persuasions. Any attempt to gain clarity on the biblical meaning of the phrase the ""kingdom of God"" must take the teaching of Jesus as its major point of reference; for the prominence of kingdom terminology today is directly attributable to the great frequency with which he appealed in his teaching to the notion of God's kingdom. In this little book, the author sets Jesus' proclamation of the kingdom of God against its Jewish background...