Download or read book The Gospel According to Matthew written by and published by Canongate U.S.. This book was released on 1999 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The publication of the King James version of the Bible, translated between 1603 and 1611, coincided with an extraordinary flowering of English literature and is universally acknowledged as the greatest influence on English-language literature in history. Now, world-class literary writers introduce the book of the King James Bible in a series of beautifully designed, small-format volumes. The introducers' passionate, provocative, and personal engagements with the spirituality and the language of the text make the Bible come alive as a stunning work of literature and remind us of its overwhelming contemporary relevance.

Download or read book How the Gospels Became History written by M. David Litwa and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2019-08-06 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compelling comparison of the gospels and Greco-Roman mythology which shows that the gospels were not perceived as myths, but as historical records Did the early Christians believe their myths? Like most ancient--and modern--people, early Christians made efforts to present their myths in the most believable ways. In this eye-opening work, M. David Litwa explores how and why what later became the four canonical gospels take on a historical cast that remains vitally important for many Christians today. Offering an in-depth comparison with other Greco-Roman stories that have been shaped to seem like history, Litwa shows how the evangelists responded to the pressures of Greco-Roman literary culture by using well-known historiographical tropes such as the mention of famous rulers and kings, geographical notices, the introduction of eyewitnesses, vivid presentation, alternative reports, and so on. In this way, the evangelists deliberately shaped myths about Jesus into historical discourse to maximize their believability for ancient audiences.

Download or read book The Gospel According to Mark written by and published by Canongate Books. This book was released on 1999-01-01 with total page 73 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The earliest of the four Gospels, the book portrays Jesus as an enigmatic figure, struggling with enemies, his inner and external demons, and with his devoted but disconcerted disciples. Unlike other gospels, his parables are obscure, to be explained secretly to his followers. With an introduction by Nick Cave

Download or read book Blessed written by Kate Bowler and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gospels -- Faith -- Wealth -- Health -- Victory -- American blessing -- Megachurch table -- Naming names.

Download or read book A History of the Bible written by John Barton and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-08-04 with total page 642 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A literary history of our most influential book of all time, by an Oxford scholar and Anglican priest In our culture, the Bible is monolithic: It is a collection of books that has been unchanged and unchallenged since the earliest days of the Christian church. The idea of the Bible as "Holy Scripture," a non-negotiable authority straight from God, has prevailed in Western society for some time. And while it provides a firm foundation for centuries of Christian teaching, it denies the depth, variety, and richness of this fascinating text. In A History of the Bible, John Barton argues that the Bible is not a prescription to a complete, fixed religious system, but rather a product of a long and intriguing process, which has inspired Judaism and Christianity, but still does not describe the whole of either religion. Barton shows how the Bible is indeed an important source of religious insight for Jews and Christians alike, yet argues that it must be read in its historical context--from its beginnings in myth and folklore to its many interpretations throughout the centuries. It is a book full of narratives, laws, proverbs, prophecies, poems, and letters, each with their own character and origin stories. Barton explains how and by whom these disparate pieces were written, how they were canonized (and which ones weren't), and how they were assembled, disseminated, and interpreted around the world--and, importantly, to what effect. Ultimately, A History of the Bible argues that a thorough understanding of the history and context of its writing encourages religious communities to move away from the Bible's literal wording--which is impossible to determine--and focus instead on the broader meanings of scripture.

Download or read book The Historical Reliability of the Gospels written by Craig L. Blomberg and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2014-05-06 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For over twenty years, Craig Blomberg's The Historical Reliability of the Gospels has provided a useful antidote to many of the toxic effects of skeptical criticism of the Gospels. He offers an overview of the history of Gospel criticism. Thoroughly updated edition with added footnotes and two new appendixes.

Download or read book Theology and History in the Fourth Gospel written by Jörg Frey and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Fourth Gospel is deeply shaped by its remarkably high Christology. It depicts the earthly Jesus, the incarnate one, as fully divine. This unrelenting Christology has led interpreters, both ancient and modern, to question the historical value of John's Gospel. For many, the Gospel is just theology. It is to the vexed relationship between history and theology that Jörg Frey turns in Theology and History in the Fourth Gospel. John's theological obsession with Christology might suggest that history counts for little in the Gospel. But, as Frey argues, the Gospel's clear and central claim is that John narrates the story of Jesus of Nazareth, his ministry, and his death, as "factual," and that this narrated "history" is foundational for the Christian message. Frey traces the Gospel's use of the available historical tradition by chiefly drawing from Mark and the Johannine community. Even if the Gospel of John used this received witness in a remarkably free manner, replotting and renarrating traditional episodes and even creatively staging new episodes, Frey contends that the historical life and person of Jesus remain central to John's enterprise. In the end, Frey warns that Johannine interpretation will miss the intention of the Gospel and the interpretive perspective of the evangelist if it remains preoccupied merely with questions of historical accuracy. The interpretive goal is to "let John be John," and, as Frey shows, readers will always yield to the priority of theology over history in the Fourth Gospel. In John's telling of the Christ story, the significance of history lies precisely in its disclosure of theological meaning, just as the significance of the historical Jesus is only understood in the theological language of Christology.

Download or read book Apostolic History and the Gospel written by Frederick Fyvie Bruce and published by Paternoster. This book was released on 1970 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Acts of the Apostles written by P.D. James and published by Canongate Books. This book was released on 1999-01-01 with total page 93 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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

Download or read book The Gospel of the Lord written by Michael F. Bird and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-22 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, through a distinctive evangelical and critical approach, Michael Bird explores the historical development of the four canonical Gospels. He shows how the memories and faith of the earliest believers formed the Gospel accounts of Jesus that got written and, in turn, how these accounts further shaped the early church. Bird's study clarifies the often confusing debates over the origins of the canonical Gospels. Bird navigates recent concerns and research as he builds an informed case for how the early Christ followers wrote and spread the story of Jesus -- the story by which they believed they were called to live. The Gospel of the Lord is ideal for students or anyone who wants to know the story behind the four Gospels. Watch an interview with Michael Bird from our Eerdmans Author Interview Series:

Download or read book The Lost Gospel Q written by Marcus Borg and published by Ulysses Press. This book was released on 1999-03-15 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents the original teachings of Jesus written by his contemporaries and early followers

Download or read book The Historical Jesus of the Gospels written by Craig S. Keener and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2012-04-13 with total page 870 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The earliest substantive sources available for historical Jesus research are in the Gospels themselves; when interpreted in their early Jewish setting, their picture of Jesus is more coherent and plausible than are the competing theories offered by many modern scholars. So argues Craig Keener in The Historical Jesus of the Gospels. In exploring the depth and riches of the material found in the Synoptic Gospels, Keener shows how many works on the historical Jesus emphasize just one aspect of the Jesus tradition against others, but a much wider range of material in the Jesus tradition makes sense in an ancient Jewish setting. Keener masterfully uses a broad range of evidence from the early Jesus traditions and early Judaism to reconstruct a fuller portrait of the Jesus who lived in history.

Download or read book Why John Wrote a Gospel written by Tom Thatcher and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2012-11-01 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nineteen hundred years ago, someone called the Beloved Disciple told stories about Jesus and his days on earth, including reports of what Jesus did and said. These stories had been todl for decades, but then someone took the stories and wrote them down, turning them from oral tradition into the book we know as the Gospel of John. Scholars have long concentrated on the content of this Fourth Gospel, analyzing how it differs from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke and wondering how the different Gospels relate to the Jesus of history.Thatcher builds on all this previous scholarship to as new and exciting questions: Why was this Gospel written? Why would these followers of Jesus turn the oral stories into written Gospel? In exploring the reason for writing the Fourth Gospel, Thatcher focuses on how stories and written texts operate to reflect and to create memory with in groups of people. He uncovers how early Christians strove to remember Jesus in the decades after his ministry and how Christians came into conflict with one another about which memories were best.With this interest in the social memory of early Christians, Thatcher provides original insights into the Gospel of John and shows new answers to old questions. Writing in an engaging and accessible style, Thatcher uses numerous diagrams and modern parallels to show how Gospel texts shape the memory and identity of Christian communities, not only in the ancient world but today as well.

Download or read book History and Theology in the Fourth Gospel written by James Louis Martyn and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2003-01-01 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume, a part of the New Testament Library series, surveys the scholarly work that has been done concerning the book of John. J. Louis Martyn also provides his own reading of the forth Gospel. The New Testament Library offers authoritative commentary on every book and major aspect of the New Testament, as well as classic volumes of scholarship. The commentaries in this series provide fresh translations based on the best available ancient manuscripts, offer critical portrayals of the historical world in which the books were created, pay careful attention to their literary design, and present a theologically perceptive exposition of the text.

Download or read book From Jesus to Christ written by Paula Fredriksen and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2008-10-01 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Magisterial. . . . A learned, brilliant and enjoyable study."—Géza Vermès, Times Literary Supplement In this exciting book, Paula Fredriksen explains the variety of New Testament images of Jesus by exploring the ways that the new Christian communities interpreted his mission and message in light of the delay of the Kingdom he had preached. This edition includes an introduction reviews the most recent scholarship on Jesus and its implications for both history and theology. "Brilliant and lucidly written, full of original and fascinating insights."—Reginald H. Fuller, Journal of the American Academy of Religion "This is a first-rate work of a first-rate historian."—James D. Tabor, Journal of Religion "Fredriksen confronts her documents—principally the writings of the New Testament—as an archaeologist would an especially rich complex site. With great care she distinguishes the literary images from historical fact. As she does so, she explains the images of Jesus in terms of the strategies and purposes of the writers Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John."—Thomas D’Evelyn, Christian Science Monitor

Download or read book The Gospel of Jesus written by James M. Robinson and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-10-13 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We know Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but what was the gospel of Jesus? “The message is intense and simple . . . a valuable addition to the Jesus canon.” —Booklist Is it possible to know what Jesus’s original audience heard as “the good news?” Jesus’s gospel has been lost from sight, hidden behind the version preferred by the church. In The Gospel of Jesus, James M. Robinson, acclaimed expert on early Christian studies, gets to the true historical message of Jesus. The Gospel of Jesus draws on a combination of the most ancient and authentic texts to reveal what Jesus really said and to illuminate what he may still have to say to us today. Robinson not only reconstructs the good news Jesus preached and practiced two thousand years ago, but also shows how relevant that message still is—and how we can apply it to our lives. The Gospel of Jesus offers one of the most authentic and stirring accounts ever written of the message preached by Christ. “A dramatic account of the original messages of Jesus of Nazareth, before honorific titles were applied to him and dogmatic statements were formulated about him . . . a book of wisdom, insight, and passion.” —Marvin Meyer, author of The Gnostic Gospels of Jesus “The distillation of a distinguished career devoted to the exploration of Christian origins . . . a succinct account of what the historical Jesus taught. Robinson’s reconstruction of ‘Q,’ the sayings source underlying Matthew and Luke, provides the script on which he builds his judicious—and moving—portrait of Jesus.” —Harold Attridge, Dean, Yale Divinity School

Download or read book Revelation written by and published by Canongate Books. This book was released on 1999-01-01 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The final book of the Bible, Revelation prophesies the ultimate judgement of mankind in a series of allegorical visions, grisly images and numerological predictions. According to these, empires will fall, the "Beast" will be destroyed and Christ will rule a new Jerusalem. With an introduction by Will Self.