The Bible's Cutting Room Floor


Book Description

Offers an examination of the texts that did not make it into the canonical bible, as well as the diverse reasons for their omission and why some of them are relevant to the lives of modern people.




The Christian Skeptic


Book Description

The Christian Skeptic was written for those who are not sure if they can still call themselves Christian because they are no longer able to "drink the Kool-Aid" of orthodoxy. It is also for seekers who find the person of Jesus intriguing or compelling but who struggle with all the doctrines that surround his story. Inspired by Leslie Weatherhead's now out-of-print book The Christian Agnostic, Jody Seymour takes a fresh look at some of the basic tenets of the Christian Faith. He offers new insight into concepts such as the nature of God, the person and work of Jesus, how to read the Bible, the role of the church, and the question of whether or not Jesus really said "my way or the highway." This book will give you an opportunity to explore the faith with the windows open to some fresh air, and you may discover that being caught between belief and doubt is a good place to be.




The Bible Doesn't Say That


Book Description

A “witty and accessible look at Scripture” that explores what the Bible meant before two millennia of mistranslations and misinterpretations (Publishers Weekly, starred review). In this fascinating book, acclaimed translator and biblical scholar Dr. Joel M. Hoffman walks the reader through dozens of mistranslations, misconceptions, and other misunderstandings about the Bible. In forty short, straightforward chapters, he covers morality, lifestyle, theology, and biblical imagery, including: The Bible doesn’t call homosexuality a sin, and doesn’t advocate for the one-man-one-woman model of the family that has been dubbed “biblical.” The Bible’s famous “beat their swords into plowshares” is matched by the militaristic “beat your plowshares into swords.” The often-cited New Testament quotation “God so loved the world” is a mistranslation, as are the titles “Son of Man” and “Son of God.” The Ten Commandments don’t prohibit killing or coveting. What does the Bible say about violence? About the Rapture? About keeping kosher? About marriage and divorce? Hoffman provides answers to all of these and more, succinctly explaining how so many pivotal biblical answers came to be misunderstood.




The Original Holy Peshitta Bible Translated (The Former Prophets and The Holy Writings) Joshua to Esther


Book Description

The Aramaic Peshitta Old Testament (The Former Prophets and The Holy Writings) Joshua to Esther (12 historical books) is translated from the world's oldest complete Semitic Bible - Codex Ambrosianus (6th century AD). The Peshitta Old Testament Bible is written in Aramaic and was translated from early Hebrew manuscripts in the 1st century A.D., before the Massoretic Hebrew text edition became the standard. The Massoretic edition is that used today in Jewish synagogues and temples worldwide and is the text translated to produce most Bible translations of the Old Testament. The Peshitta's Aramaic (Aramaic is a sister Semitic language to Hebrew) gives us a clear look at what the Hebrew Bible text was before the corrupt Scribes of Jesus' time and earlier had altered many of its readings for theological and political reasons. This is English only. 6x9" hardback; 308 pages with notes.




How Catholics Encounter the Bible


Book Description

In How Catholics Encounter the Bible, award-winning biblical scholar and historian Michael Peppard explores the paradoxical role of the Bible for Catholics--a book central to their tradition, but one which Catholics rarely read. Instead, as Peppard shows, biblical ideas influence Catholics through diverse modes of storytelling, artistic imagination, and ritual. Through examples of pilgrimage, visual arts, poetry, music, and even on Netflix, Peppard shows how the Bible thrives among Catholics, even if its printed text may be missing.




Rediscovering Values


Book Description

When we start with the wrong question, no matter how good an answer we get, it won’t give us the results we want. Rather than joining the throngs who are asking, When will this economic crisis be over? Jim Wallis says the right question to ask is How will this crisis change us? The worst thing we can do now, Wallis tells us, is to go back to normal. Normal is what got us into this situation. We need a new normal, and this economic crisis is an invitation to discover what that means. Some of the principles Wallis unpacks for our new normal are . . . • Spending money we don’t have for things we don’t need is a bad foundation for an economy or a family. • It’s time to stop keeping up with the Joneses and start making sure the Joneses are okay. • The values of commercials and billboards are not the things we want to teach our children. • Care for the poor is not just a moral duty but is critical for the common good. • A healthy society is a balanced society in which markets, the government, and our communities all play a role. • The operating principle of God’s economy says that there is enough if we share it. • And much, much more . . . In the pages of this book, Wallis provides us with a moral compass for this new economy—one that will guide us on Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street. Embracing a New Economy Getting back to "the way things were" is not an option. It is time we take our economic uncertainty and use it to find some moral clarity. Too often we have been ruled by the maxims that greed is good, it’s all about me, and I want it now. Those can be challenged only with some of our oldest and best values—enough is enough, we are in it together, and thinking not just for tomorrow but for future generations. Jim Wallis shows that the solution to our problems will be found only as individuals, families, friends, churches, mosques, synagogues, and entire communities wrestle with the question of values together.




Naming God


Book Description

An illuminating in-depth exploration of the complexities--and perhaps audacity--of naming the unnameable. One of the oldest and most beloved prayers--known even to Jews who rarely attend synagogue--is Avinu Malkeinu ("Our Father, Our King"), a liturgical staple for the entire High Holy Day period. "Our Father, Our King" has resonance also for Christians, whose Lord's Prayer begins "Our Father." Despite its popularity, Avinu Malkeinu causes great debate because of the difficulties in thinking of God as father and king. Americans no longer relate positively to images of royalty; victims of parental abuse note the problem of assuming a benevolent father; and feminists have long objected to masculine language for God. Through a series of lively introductions and commentaries, almost forty contributors--men and women, scholars and rabbis, artists and thinkers from all Jewish denominations and from around the world--wrestle with this linguistic and spiritual conundrum, asking, "How do we name God altogether, without recourse to imagery that defies belief?" Contributors: Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson - Rabbi Anthony Bayfield - Rabbi Will Berkowitz - Dr. Annette Boeckler - Dr. Marc Brettler - Dr. Erica Brown - Rabbi Angela Buchdahl - Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove - Rabbi Joshua Davidson - Rabbi Lawrence Englander - Lisa Exler - Rabbi Paul Freedman - Rabbi Elyse Frishman - Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand - Rabbi Edwin Goldberg - Rabbi Andrew Goldstein - Dr. Joel M. Hoffman - Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman - Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur - Rabbi Elie Kaunfer - Rabbi Karen Kedar - Rabbi Reuven Kimelman - Rabbi Daniel Landes - Liz Lerman - Rabbi Asher Lopatin - Catherine Madsen - Rabbi Jonathan Magonet - Rabbi Dalia Marx - Chazzan Danny Maseng - Ruth Messinger - Rabbi Charles H. Middleburgh - Rabbi Jay Henry Moses - Rabbi Jack Riemer - Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin - Rabbis Dennis and Sandy Sasso - Rabbi Marc Saperstein - Rabbi Jonathan P. Slater - Rabbi David Stern - Rabbi David Teutsch - Dr. Ellen Umansky - Edward van Voooen - Rabbi Margaret Moers Wenig - Dr. Ron Wolfson - Rabbi Daniel Zemel - Dr. Wendy Zierler




An Atheist View of the Bible


Book Description

The Inspiration for An Atheist View of the Bible came from reading An Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy by C. Dennis McKinsey. My reading of the Old Testament of the King James translation of the Bible, along with the William Buck translation of the Indian epic Mahabharata, has made me look at these ancient stories from a new and modern perspective: a perspective that the ancient scribes could not have possibly imagined and could not describe what they witnessed. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins is an exceptionally good example of an alternative view on harmful medieval religious dogma. The Bible Unearthed by ‎Israel Finkelstein challenges the fundamentalist reading and offers a controversial perspective the Bible. There is a growing interest in our ancient past, with the desire of many people to find the real truth behind the one-sided history that has been accepted and taught for far too long.




The Director’S Cut


Book Description

Believer and unbeliever alike are subtly evangelized every day of their lives by the ambient glow of Gods cinematic masterpiece. They sense something grand but are confused by the incoherent cultural edits scattered throughout the film. The Good News is that the deleted scenes are not lost but can be found in our shared human experiences, and once spliced back together reveal an epic of Biblical proportions, The Directors Cut of the Greatest Story Ever Told. Dr. Erik Strandness takes a unique bottom up approach to apologetics by investigating experiences common to all people and concluding that they can only be adequately understood through a Biblical filter. The goal is to empower lay Christians to condently share their faith in a concrete, friendly, real-world context that effectively engages the day-to-day realities of their audience. Dr. Strandness writes in a clear, engaging, and witty style, combining the thoughts of many great Christian thinkers with culturally relevant illustrations in order to make a solid real world case for the Christian worldview. Once in a while, someone manages to put ageless truth in such a fresh package that it cries out, Read on! Thats the way I felt when reviewing Erik Strandnesss book. What a pleasure it is to read! But its not just Eriks engaging word images that make it such a great read. Its the profound and timely message he is communicating in such an intelligent and winsome way. This is a book you will be telling others about. Dr. Christian Overman, Director, Worldview Matters, biblicalworldview.com




The Beauty of the End-Time Bride: Brokenness


Book Description

Today, there is a lot of discussion in Christian circles about brokenness. Most of the discussion views it as a negative to be overcome through Christ. The Beauty of the End-Time Bride: Brokenness takes a very different approach. Psalm 51:17 says there is a brokenness that God desires from you as a sacrifice, namely a broken heart and spirit. This is not damaging, but a voluntarily embraced humility. However, it is humility applied to a radical degree. It encompasses issues in your life that you might not have known required humility. Through reading this book, you will examine in depth little-explored issues that affect how you live a God-pleasing life. When was the last time you questioned how the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil governs your life today? You will then see how this mostly overlooked spiritual truth empowers deeper exploration of well-known themes like dying to the flesh. Right now, if this brokenness talk sounds like a downer, dont worry. You can discover how its the key to unlocking the full potential of the Bibles wonderful promises to us.Catch the vision of a much bigger reality to Christian life than we have previously known.