Download or read book Revelations written by Elaine Pagels and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2012-03-06 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A startling exploration of the history of the most controversial book of the Bible, by the bestselling author of Beyond Belief. Through the bestselling books of Elaine Pagels, thousands of readers have come to know and treasure the suppressed biblical texts known as the Gnostic Gospels. As one of the world's foremost religion scholars, she has been a pioneer in interpreting these books and illuminating their place in the early history of Christianity. Her new book, however, tackles a text that is firmly, dramatically within the New Testament canon: The Book of Revelation, the surreal apocalyptic vision of the end of the world . . . or is it? In this startling and timely book, Pagels returns The Book of Revelation to its historical origin, written as its author John of Patmos took aim at the Roman Empire after what is now known as "the Jewish War," in 66 CE. Militant Jews in Jerusalem, fired with religious fervor, waged an all-out war against Rome's occupation of Judea and their defeat resulted in the desecration of Jerusalem and its Great Temple. Pagels persuasively interprets Revelation as a scathing attack on the decadence of Rome. Soon after, however, a new sect known as "Christians" seized on John's text as a weapon against heresy and infidels of all kinds-Jews, even Christians who dissented from their increasingly rigid doctrines and hierarchies. In a time when global religious violence surges, Revelations explores how often those in power throughout history have sought to force "God's enemies" to submit or be killed. It is sure to appeal to Pagels's committed readers and bring her a whole new audience who want to understand the roots of dissent, violence, and division in the world's religions, and to appreciate the lasting appeal of this extraordinary text.

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.

Download or read book The Gnostic Gospels written by Elaine Pagels and published by Random House. This book was released on 2004-06-29 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time The Gnostic Gospels is a landmark study of the long-buried roots of Christianity, a work of luminous scholarship and wide popular appeal. First published in 1979 to critical acclaim, winning the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, The Gnostic Gospels has continued to grow in reputation and influence over the past two decades. It is now widely recognized as one of the most brilliant and accessible histories of early Christian spirituality published in our time. In 1945 an Egyptian peasant unearthed what proved to be the Gnostic Gospels, thirteen papyrus volumes that expounded a radically different view of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ from that of the New Testament. In this spellbinding book, renowned religious scholar Elaine Pagels elucidates the mysteries and meanings of these sacred texts both in the world of the first Christians and in the context of Christianity today. With insight and passion, Pagels explores a remarkable range of recently discovered gospels, including the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, to show how a variety of “Christianities” emerged at a time of extraordinary spiritual upheaval. Some Christians questioned the need for clergy and church doctrine, and taught that the divine could be discovered through spiritual search. Many others, like Buddhists and Hindus, sought enlightenment—and access to God—within. Such explorations raised questions: Was the resurrection to be understood symbolically and not literally? Was God to be envisioned only in masculine form, or feminine as well? Was martyrdom a necessary—or worthy—expression of faith? These early Christians dared to ask questions that orthodox Christians later suppressed—and their explorations led to profoundly different visions of Jesus and his message. Brilliant, provocative, and stunning in its implications, The Gnostic Gospels is a radical, eloquent reconsideration of the origins of the Christian faith.

Download or read book Into Thy Word written by Richard Krejcir and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2000-12-20 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is about how to read and study the Bible. This book is about getting the non-Christian to learn how to study the Bible, and this book is for the Pastor and theologian who needs to have their "refresh" button pressed. This book is in fact for anybody desiring to know the Book of ages. If you are new to the Word or are a seasoned teacher. If you do not know where to begin, or you have tried countless times and feel overwhelmed and frustrated, this is the book for you!

Download or read book God Conversations written by Tania Harris and published by Authentic. This book was released on 2017 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do I know it's God? is one of the most commonly asked questions of new and mature Christians alike, and the aim of God Conversations is to both equip and inspire the reader and show them that hearing the voice of the Spirit is accessible to everyone who chooses to follow Jesus. Most Christians know that God speaks, yet struggle with how to recognise his voice in their everyday lives. What does God's voice sound like? How do we know if what we're hearing is from God? Stories of God talking to his people abound throughout the Bible, but we usually only get the highlights. We read; "And God said to Joseph; 'Go to Egypt'," and then; "Mary and Joseph left for Egypt." We don't get a blow-by-blow description of how God spoke. We don't receive a detailed explanation of how they knew it was God, and we don't get to see what was going on inside their heads as they acted on what they'd heard. In God Conversations, international speaker and pastor Tania Harris shares insights from her own journey about hearing God's voice. You'll get to eavesdrop on some contemporary conversations with God in the light of his communication with the ancient characters of the Bible. Part memoir, part teaching, this unique and creative collection of stories will help you to recognise God's voice when he speaks and how to respond when you do.

Download or read book The Kingdom Agenda written by Tony Evans and published by Moody Publishers. This book was released on 2013-07-26 with total page 439 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: God’s kingdom isn’t just about theology and church. It isn’t just a quaint religious idea or an obscure theological concept. It is about a whole new way of seeing the world and your place in it. Tony Evans' legacy work, The Kingdom Agenda offers a fresh and powerful vision that will help you think differently about your life, your relationships, and your walk with God. When you start with a Kingdom agenda, living in relationship with the true King, and embracing your place in His Kingdom, nothing will ever be the same. In these pages we’ll explore how, under God, this kingdom vision: Helps you find greater purpose for your life. Guides your family toward Him. Deepens your understanding of God’s use of the church. Changes the way you think about politics, culture, and philosophy. Join Dr. Tony Evans, one of the greatest Bible teachers of our time, as he unfolds this biblical and practical approach to life—an approach that has the power to change people, families, neighborhoods, churches, and even nations. Discover the power of the Kingdom agenda.

Download or read book The Book of Revelation written by G. K. Beale and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 1999 with total page 1318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This monumental new study of the book of Revelation, part of The New International Greek Testament Commentary, will be especially helpful to scholars, pastors, students, and others who wish to interpret the Apocalypse for the benefit of the church.

Download or read book Revelations written by Elaine Pagels and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2013-02-26 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A profound exploration of the Bible's most controversial book—from the author of Beyond Belief and The Gnostic Gospels The strangest book of the New Testament, filled with visions of the Rapture, the whore of Babylon, and apocalyptic writing of the end of times, the Book of Revelation has fascinated readers for more than two thousand years, but where did it come from? And what are the meanings of its surreal images of dragons, monsters, angels, and cosmic war? Elaine Pagels, New York Times bestselling author and "the preeminent voice of biblical scholarship to the American public" (The Philadelphia Inquirer), elucidates the true history of this controversial book, uncovering its origins and the roots of dissent, violence, and division in the world's religions. Brilliantly weaving scholarship with a deep understanding of the human needs to which religion speaks, Pagels has written what may be the masterwork of her unique career.

Download or read book The Cross in the Shadow of the Crescent written by Erwin W. Lutzer and published by Harvest House Publishers. This book was released on 2013-02-01 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Islam is on the rise all over the West, including America. In this compelling new book, bestselling author Erwin Lutzer urges Christians to see this as both an opportunity to share the gospel and a reason for concern. We have now reached a tipping point—the spread of Islam is rapidly altering the way we live. These changes are cause for alarm, for they endanger our freedoms of speech and religion. At the same time, this opens an incredible door of ministry for Christians, for Muslims normally do not have access to the gospel in their own lands. In The Cross in the Shadow of the Crescent, readers will discover helpful answers to these questions and more: How does Islam’s growing influence affect me personally? In what ways are our freedoms of speech and religion in danger? How can I extend Christ’s love to Muslims around me? A sensitive, responsible, and highly informative must-read!

Download or read book Reading Revelation Responsibly written by Michael J. Gorman and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reading Revelation Responsibly is for those who are confused by, afraid of, and/or preoccupied with the book of Revelation. In rescuing the Apocalypse from those who either completely misinterpret it or completely ignore it, Michael Gorman has given us both a guide to reading Revelation in a responsible way and a theological engagement with the text itself. He takes interpreting the book as a serious and sacred responsibility, believing how one reads, teaches, and preaches Revelation can have a powerful impact on one's own--and other people's--well-being. Gorman pays careful attention to the book's original historical and literary contexts, its connections to the rest of Scripture, its relationship to Christian doctrine and practice, and its potential to help or harm people in their life of faith. Rather than a script for the end times, Gorman demonstrates how Revelation is a script for Christian worship, witness, and mission that runs counter to culturally embedded civil religion.

Download or read book The Lamb s Agenda written by Samuel Rodriguez and published by Thomas Nelson Inc. This book was released on 2013 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Lamb's Agenda Samuel Rodriguez offers a blueprint for Christian rejuvenation, a prophetic call to orient our lives at the nexus of the cross.

Download or read book Reading Revelation Responsibly written by Michael J. Gorman and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume deals with the varied forms of shame reflected in biblical, theological, psychological and anthropological sources. Although traditional theology and church practice concentrate on providing forgiveness for shameful behavior, recent scholarship has discovered the crucial relevance of social shame evoked by mental status, adversity, slavery, abuse, illness, grief and defeat. Anthropologists, sociologists, and psychologists have discovered that unresolved social shame is related to racial and social prejudice, to bullying, crime, genocide, narcissism, post-traumatic stress and other forms of toxic behavior. Eleven leaders in this research participated in a conference on The Shame Factor, sponsored by St. Mark's United Methodist Church in Lincoln, NE in October 2010. Their essays explore the impact and the transformation of shame in a variety of arenas, comprising in this volume a unique and innovative resource for contemporary religion, therapy, ethics, and social analysis.

Download or read book Revelation written by Ben Witherington (III) and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2003-09-15 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Table of contents

Download or read book How Jesus Became God written by Bart D. Ehrman and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2014-03-25 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New York Times bestselling author and Bible expert Bart Ehrman reveals how Jesus’s divinity became dogma in the first few centuries of the early church. The claim at the heart of the Christian faith is that Jesus of Nazareth was, and is, God. But this is not what the original disciples believed during Jesus’s lifetime—and it is not what Jesus claimed about himself. How Jesus Became God tells the story of an idea that shaped Christianity, and of the evolution of a belief that looked very different in the fourth century than it did in the first. A master explainer of Christian history, texts, and traditions, Ehrman reveals how an apocalyptic prophet from the backwaters of rural Galilee crucified for crimes against the state came to be thought of as equal with the one God Almighty, Creator of all things. But how did he move from being a Jewish prophet to being God? In a book that took eight years to research and write, Ehrman sketches Jesus’s transformation from a human prophet to the Son of God exalted to divine status at his resurrection. Only when some of Jesus’s followers had visions of him after his death—alive again—did anyone come to think that he, the prophet from Galilee, had become God. And what they meant by that was not at all what people mean today. Written for secular historians of religion and believers alike, How Jesus Became God will engage anyone interested in the historical developments that led to the affirmation at the heart of Christianity: Jesus was, and is, God.

Download or read book The Antichrist Agenda written by Danny Shelton and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The powers of an unseen world are promoting an agenda to vanquish Gods authority, and veil Bible truths about end-time events. What part do the Ten Commandments play in the antichrist agenda? Why is the spotlight suddenly spinning back to the Decalogue? As we approach the closing trials of earths history, the Ten Commandments loom large on the horizon of the immediate future.This compelling 200-page book will move you beyond prophetic theory and popular fiction back to the Bible, where all answers are provided. The authors present a careful study and faithful interpretation of prophecy that agrees with the early Christian Church fathers.Drawing on the Bible only, they identify the antichrist power and the agenda that has succeeded in pointing the finger of prophecy away from the real mark of the beast. So, too, is the truth of Christs Second Coming unveiled from Scripture.This book will help every Christian experience the inner peace of Christ in assurance of His truth as they face the forces of evil in earths final battle.The Antichrist Agenda Ten Commandments Twice Removed is a dynamic reference resource for your personal library, a valuable tool for group studies, and the perfect giveaway for outreach projects. In fact, because we want this message to blanket the earth like the leaves of autumn, the book is specially priced for sharing.

Download or read book Revelation written by M. Eugene Boring and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2011-08-26 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout the history of Christianity, the book of Revelation has had an enormous influence in religion, history, and culture, and it still has an urgently needed message for the church. M. Eugene Boring's critical assessment of Revelation enlightens readers as to just what that message is. Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching is a distinctive resource for those who interpret the Bible in the church. Planned and written specifically for teaching and preaching needs, this critically acclaimed biblical commentary is a major contribution to scholarship and ministry.

Download or read book Revelation written by Jacob Neusner and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2004-04-15 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Here is a superb resource for all who wish to deepen their understanding of Judaism and Christianity and the relationship between these two great traditions. The authors compare and contrast the paramount theological categories of Judaism and Christianity, specifically Torah, God, and Israel for Judaism, and Bible, God, and church for Christianity. 'Revelation' is the first of three volumes in support of this effort. It consists of a conversation between the Torah and its authoritative representation in the Talmud of Babylonia (a complete and exhaustive statement of God's will for Judaism) and the Christian Bible (Hebrew Scriptures and New Testament), including the interpretation of scripture within the primitive church as the foundation of Christian authority. Within this conversation the authors do not sidestep profound disagreement in favor of proposing obscure theological difference. Each believes in his tradition and its affirmations, and each seeks to grasp the rationality of the views of the other.