The Acts of the Apostles


Book Description

Acts is the sequel to Luke's gospel and tells the story of Jesus's followers during the 30 years after his death. It describes how the 12 apostles, formerly Jesus's disciples, spread the message of Christianity throughout the Mediterranean against a background of persecution. With an introduction by P.D. James




Why I Love the Apostle Paul


Book Description

"Besides Jesus, no one has kept me from despair, or taken me deeper into the mysteries of the gospel, than the apostle Paul." —John Piper No one has had a greater impact on the world for eternal good than the apostle Paul—except Jesus himself. For John Piper, this impact is very personal. He does not just admire and trust Paul. He loves him. Piper gives us thirty glimpses into why his heart and mind respond this way. Can a Christian-killer really endure 195 lashes from a heart of love? Can a mystic who thinks he was caught up into heaven be a model of lucid rationality? Can an ethnocentric Jew write the most beautiful call to reconciliation? Can a person who lives with the unceasing anguish of empathy be always rejoicing? Can a man's description of the horrors of human sin be exceeded by his delight in human splendor? Can a man with a backbone of steel be as tender as a nursing mother? If we know this man—if we see what Piper sees—we too will love him. Paul's testimony is a matter of life and death. Piper invites you into his relationship with Paul in the hope that you will know life, forever.




The Gospel According to Paul


Book Description

From Bible teacher John MacArthur, a revelatory exploration of what the apostle Paul actually taught about the Good News of Jesus. The apostle Paul penned a number of very concise, focused passages in his letters to the early church that summarize the gospel message in just a few well-chosen words. Each of these key texts has a unique emphasis highlighting some essential aspect of the Good News of Jesus Christ. The chapters in this revelatory new book closely examine those vital gospel texts, one verse at a time. John MacArthur, host of the popular media ministry Grace to You, tackles such questions as: What is the gospel? What are the essential elements of the message? How can we be certain we have it right? And how should Christians be proclaiming the Good News to the world? As always, the answers John MacArthur gives are clear, compelling, well-reasoned, easy to grasp, and above all, thoroughly biblical. The Gospel According to Paul is written in a style that is easily accessible to lay people, including those who know very little about the Bible, while being of great value to seasoned pastors and experienced ministers. The Gospel According to Paul is the third in a series of books on the gospel by John MacArthur including – The Gospel According to Jesus and The Gospel According to the Apostles. The Gospel According to Paul is also available in Spanish, Evangelio según Pablo.




Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene


Book Description

From the Publisher: Bart Ehrman, author of the bestsellers Misquoting Jesus and Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code, here takes readers on another engaging tour of the early Christian church, illuminating the lives of three of Jesus' most intriguing followers: Simon Peter, Paul of Tarsus, and Mary Magdalene.




Foxe's Book Of Martyrs


Book Description

Acts and Monuments by John Foxe, popularly abridged as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, is a celebrated work of church history and martyrology, first published in English in 1563 by John Day. Published early in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and only five years after the death of the Roman Catholic Queen Mary I, Foxe's Acts and Monuments was an affirmation of the Protestant Reformation in England during a period of religious conflict between Catholics and Protestants. Foxe's account of church history asserted a historical justification that was intended to establish the Church of England as a continuation of the true Christian church rather than as a modern innovation, and it contributed significantly to a nationalistic repudiation of the Roman Catholic Church. The sequence of the work, initially in five books, covered first early Christian martyrs, a brief history of the medieval church, including the Inquisitions, and a history of the Wycliffite or Lollard movement. It then dealt with the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI, during which the dispute with Rome had led to the separation of the English Church from papal authority and the issuance of the Book of Common Prayer. The final book treated the reign of Queen Mary and the Marian Persecutions. (courtesy of wikipedia.com)




Encyclopaedia Britannica


Book Description

This eleventh edition was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. Some of its articles were written by the best-known scholars of the time and it is considered to be a landmark encyclopaedia for scholarship and literary style.




Paul and Jesus


Book Description

In this “compulsively readable exploration of the tangled world of Christian origins” (Publishers Weekly), religious historian James Tabor illuminates the earliest years of Jesus’ teachings before Paul shaped them into the religion we know today. This fascinating examination of the earliest years of Christianity reveals how the man we call St. Paul shaped Christianity as we know it today. Historians know almost nothing about the two decades following the crucifixion of Jesus, when his followers regrouped and began to spread his message. During this time Paul joined the movement and began to preach to the gentiles. Using the oldest Christian documents that we have—the letters of Paul—as well as other early Chris­tian sources, historian and scholar James Tabor reconstructs the origins of Christianity. Tabor shows how Paul separated himself from Peter and James to introduce his own version of Christianity, which would continue to develop independently of the message that Jesus, James, and Peter preached. Paul and Jesus illuminates the fascinating period of history when Christianity was born out of Judaism.




Heaven & Hell: What Does the Bible Really Teach?


Book Description

Most people believe the Bible teaches that we will go to either heaven or hell at death. They might be surprised at what it really says! -- Inside this booklet: -- The Biblical Truth About the Immortal Soul -- The History of the Immortal-Soul Teaching -- The Spirit in Man -- Will a Loving God Punish People Forever in Hell? -- Lazarus and the Rich Man: Proof of Heaven and Hell? -- Are Some Tortured Forever in a Lake of Fire? -- Will the Torment of the Wicked Last Forever? -- Does the Bible Speak of Hellfire That Lasts Forever? -- Is Heaven God's Reward for the Righteous? -- Ancient Pagan Belief in Heaven -- Paul's Desire to "Depart and Be With Christ" -- Did Elijah Go to Heaven? -- Was Enoch Taken to Heaven? -- The Thief on the Cross -- Are There Saved Human Beings in Heaven? -- The Resurrection: God's Promise of Life After Death -- Your Awesome Future




Corpus Christologicum


Book Description

A compendium of approximately three hundred texts--in Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, Ethiopic, Syriac, Coptic, and other languages--that are important for the study of Jewish messianism and early Christology. In recent decades, the study of Jewish messianic ideas and how they influenced early Christology has become an incredibly active field within biblical studies. Numerous books and articles have engaged with the ancient sources to trace various themes, including "Messiah" language itself, exalted patriarchs, angel mediators, "wisdom" and "word," eschatology, and much more. But anyone who attempts to study the Jewish roots of early Christianity faces a challenge: the primary sources are wide-ranging, involve ancient languages, and are often very difficult to track down. Books are littered with citations and a host of other sometimes obscure writings, and it can be difficult to sort them all out. This book makes a much-needed contribution by bringing together the most important primary texts for the study of Jewish messianism and early Christology--nearly three hundred in total--and presenting the reader with essential information to study them: the critical text itself (with apparatus), a fresh translation, a current bibliography, and thematic tags that allow the reader to trace themes across the corpus. This volume aims to be the starting point for all future work on the primary sources that are relevant to messianology and Christology. About the Author Gregory R. Lanier (PhD, University of Cambridge) is Associate Professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida. He has written extensively on early Christology and published Old Testament Conceptual Metaphors and the Christology of Luke's Gospel (Bloomsbury, 2018); Septuaginta: A Reader's Edition (Hendrickson, 2018); and Is Jesus Truly God? How the Bible Teaches the Divinity of Christ (Crossway, 2020). He also serves as associate pastor of River Oaks Church in Lake Mary, Florida.




Baxter's Explore the Book


Book Description

Explore the Book is not a commentary with verse-by-verse annotations. Neither is it just a series of analyses and outlines. Rather, it is a complete Bible survey course. No one can finish this series of studies and remain unchanged. The reader will receive lifelong benefit and be enriched by these practical and understandable studies. Exposition, commentary, and practical application of the meaning and message of the Bible will be found throughout this giant volume. Bible students without any background in Bible study will find this book of immense help as will those who have spent much time studying the Scriptures, including pastors and teachers. Explore the Book is the result and culmination of a lifetime of dedicated Bible study and exposition on the part of Dr. Baxter. It shows throughout a deep awareness and appreciation of the grand themes of the gospel, as found from the opening book of the Bible through Revelation.