Kategoria BISAC: Religion >> Biblical Criticism & Interpretation - General

Informed by literary theory and Homeric scholarship as well as biblical studies, Biblical Narrative and the Death of the Rhapsode sheds new light on the Hebrew Bible and, more generally, on the possibilities of narrative form. Robert S. Kawashima compares the narratives of the Hebrew Bible with Homeric and Ugaritic epic in order to account for the "novelty" of biblical prose narrative. Long before Herodotus or Homer, Israelite writers practiced an innovative narrative art, which anticipated the modern novelist's craft. Though their work is undeniably linked to the linguistic tradition of...

For many people today, the Hebrew Bible is the one supreme channel through which the Word of God was transmitted to humanity. In The Birth of God, Jean Bottero, one of the world's leading figures in Ancient Near Eastern Studies, approaches the Bible from a different perspective. He sees in it an astounding variety of documents that reveal much of their time of origin, historical events, and climates of thought. Therefore, we owe to the Bible at least the same respect we give to Homer, Shakespeare, and other classics of world literature. The Birth of God addresses...

What is the Bible's stance on such controversial issues as homosexuality and polygamy? What does it have to say about sexual behaviors that some would deem perverted or criminal? Is sex always wrong if it is not used to create life?

Ellens answers these and other questions in a book that argues that our understanding of what the Bible has to say about sex is frequently misguided. He corrects our impressions with a look at the Scriptures themselves, considers what they might have meant to people in the past, and reflects on how we understand, or misunderstand, them today. Focusing on...

"Professor Daniel P. Fuller raises questions concerning the unity of the Bible which few are willing to ask. His interesting findings will provoke serious study of the Bible for all those who seek to edify the church and train men and women for positions of leadership." -Oscar Cullmann "No book besides the Bible has had a greater influence on my life than Daniel Fuller's Unity of the Bible. When I first read it as a classroom syllabus over twenty years ago, everything began to change. . . . It changed my life because it is so honest. No hard questions are dodged. No troubling texts are...

Christianity believes in a God who acts in history. The Bible tells us the story of God's actions in Israel, culminating in the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth and the spreading of the gospel from Jerusalem to Rome. The issue of history is thus unavoidable when it comes to reading the Bible Volume 4 of the Scripture and Hermeneutics Series looks at how history has dominated biblical studies under the guise of historical criticism. This book explores ways in which different views of history influence interpretation. It considers the implications of a theology of history for biblical exegesis,...

Biblical theology attempts to explore the theological coherence of the canonical witnesses; no serious Christian theology can overlook this issue. The essays in the present volume illustrate the complexity and richness of the conversation that results from attentive consideration of the question. In a time when some voices are calling for a moratorium on biblical theology or pronouncing its concerns obsolete, this collection of meaty essays demonstrates the continuing vitality and necessity of the enterprise. Richard B. Hays, George Washington Ivey Professor of New Testament, The Divinity...

Why the Good Book Is a Great Read If you want to rightly understand the Bible, you must begin by recognizing what it is: a composite of literary styles. It is meant to be read, not just interpreted. The Bible's truths are embedded like jewels in the rich strata of story and poetry, metaphor and proverb, parable and letter, satire and symbolism. Paying attention to the literary form of a passage will help you understand the meaning and truth of that passage. How to Read the Bible as Literature takes you through the various literary forms used by the biblical authors. This book will help you...

This book answers foundational questions: Who wrote the Bible? What is its message? Why is it thought to be a "holy" book? How does one read and interpret it? Best of all, though, you'll broaden your vision of Jesus Christ, the focal point of Scripture. How? By better understanding the geographical, religious, and historical concerns that shaped the world in which he lived. You'll see Jesus as never before: both as a man of his times and culture, and as the culmination of a divine providence that prepared the way for the ministry of the Messiah. Written by renowned preacher, writer, and...

The basis of all biblical study is that God has revealed himself, not only through the Word, but in various ways in various times and places. These self-disclosures are called theophanies. The pivotal theophany in Old Testament times was God's revelation to Moses on Mount Sinai. So significant is this theophany in terms of God's covenant with his people and his progressive revelation that author Jeffrey J. Niehaus justifiably employs the term "Sinai theology" to convey his theme. This book explores the meaning of this theophany throughout the Old Testament -- pre-Sinai, post-Sinai...

The trouble with reading the Bible is that it claims to be God's autobiography; so the first thing readers must do is decide what they understand about God and how they are going to interpret his role in the rambling library of books that claims his authorship. Richard Holloway offers a usefully dialectical approach to this central question that will allow unbelievers as well as believers to profit from a study of the most influential book in human history.