Academic

Pre-order: This item is scheduled for release January 9, 2012. For an additional 20% discount on this item during the pre-order period, use the coupon code PRE at checkout.

When you hear the words “in the original text it says” or “in the original text this means,” it’s time to be wary. Those words often provide the introduction to misleading information. But how can the hearer discern just what is correct and what is misleading? How can pastors avoid giving their congregations misleading information?

“In the Original Text It Says” takes a look at word-study fallacies and how you can avoid them. Author Ben Baxter gives an introduction to word meaning and how word meaning differs between languages. He then examines a series of fallacies, errors that people make in assigning meaning to words in the original languages of the Bible.

But he doesn’t leave it with that theoretical examination. After providing the basis for how to understand Biblical words, he examines the discussion of specific words and phrases from passages in both the Old Testament and the New. He takes these examples from commentaries commonly used by pastors and teachers in sermon and lesson preparation. With each example, he shows how one might misunderstand the linguistic evidence provided, and also how one can properly apply this information.

This book is designed for readers who have had some contact with Greek or Hebrew, but will also be useful to those who have more language skill, but may not have studied linguistics or looked carefully at how to apply their knowledge in teaching.

(Put me on a waiting list for this book! You will be notified when the book begins shipping.)

What is the Kingdom of God? What does it mean to be part of the kingdom? These are questions that should occupy the mind of every Christian. But we frequently shy away from the full meaning of God’s rule.

In Christian Archy, Dr. David Alan Black examines the New Testament to find the truly radical and all-encompassing claims of God’s kingdom. In doing so, he discovers that the character of this kingdom is widely different from what is commonly contemplated today. Its glory is revealed only through suffering — a point that Jesus’ disciples, then and now, have been slow to understand. This truth has tremendous implications for church life. The kingdom of God is in no way imperialistic. It has no political ambitions. It conquers not by force but by love. It is this humble characteristic of the kingdom that is a stumbling block to so many today. Christ’s claim to our total allegiance is one we seek to avoid at all costs. But there is only one way to victory and peace, and that way is the way of the Lamb.

This is the first volume in the new Areopagus Critical Christian Issues Series from Energion Publications. We believe it is an appropriate way to begin that series by addressing this foundational question of who we are as part of the Christian church, and why it is important for us to immerse ourselves in God’s word.

Except for Fornication is a brief study, less than 80 pages, of statements in the Gospels relating to divorce and remarriage. Dr. Parunak examines the background and context of the statements of Jesus regarding divorce, and relates them to the Old Testament commands on which Jesus was commenting. This historical depth and detailed linguistic analysis will prove useful to Bible students, whether or not they ultimately agree with the author’s conclusions.

This investigation is laid out as a mystery, with each aspect examined carefully in the light of historical and contextual clues. The author examines texts in the original languages and discusses the use of key words in the relevant literature.

Pastors and lay readers alike will benefit from this thorough study.

Subtitle: Recollections of a Journey

Finding My Way in Christianity: Recollections of a Journey is a story of dealing with the differences within the Christian community that is both personal and theologically reflective. With a diverse cross-cultural background, exceptional theological education, and fascinating personal experience, author Dr. Herold Weiss is uniquely qualified to write about this topic.

This notable book outlines the author’s experiences starting in Montevideo, Uruguay and moving through various educational experiences and teaching positions. It is no accident that the chapter titles reflect geographical locations, as the journey through space provides an illuminating metaphor for the faith journey that accompanies it.

Some of the people you meet in this book will make you angry. Others will make you thankful to be a Christian. Some will evoke your sympathy even as you seek to understand why they acted as they did. All of them will help give you some insight into what goes into a successful journey of faith. You can read Finding My Way in Christianity either as an interesting story or as theological reflection. The author’s experiences will resonate with many of us who have experienced the divisions within the Christian community and dealt with those who would silence dissent. Dr. Weiss’ story comes primarily within one denomination, but it follows outlines that will be familiar to many.

If you find yourself on a journey of faith, you owe it to yourself to read Finding My Way in Christianity.

John Piper is known for his support of missions. Many of his books devote sections to the advancement of missions, and almost all of his works have missions implications. Piper’s understanding of missions is based on his understanding of God’s glory, which flows from God’s righteousness. He sees Calvinistic theology as amplifying the themes of God’s glory and righteousness. Piper believes God glorifies himself in missions through individual, unconditional election. Piper states the “essential nature” of God is “to dispense mercy . . . on whomever he pleases, apart from any constraint originating outside his own will.” Piper also believes that God glorifies himself in missions through universal love. He states that God’s “righteousness demands that He be a God of love … love is at the very heart of God’s being.”

In Piper’s understanding of the glory of God in missions, involving a combination of individual, unconditional election with universal love, he reconciles the two seemingly opposing emphases of particularity and universality with the promotion of the “Two Wills of God Thesis.” He distinguishes between what God “would like to see happen” and what God “wills to happen.” God has a revealed will and a secret will; he desires to save all (revealed will), while he elects individuals unconditionally (secret will). Piper’s understanding of God’s glory, seen through the Two Wills of God Thesis, is the motivator and dictator of his missiology.

Philip O. Hopkins looks at John Piper’s background and thoroughly examines his written works to provide a clear and thorough discussion of Piper’s missiology and its foundation.

Rite of Passage for the Home and Church – D. Kevin Brown ($13.99) An examination of the New Testament to find the truly radical and all-encompassing claims of God’s kingdom. In doing so, Dr. Black discovers that the character of this kingdom is widely different from what is commonly contemplated today. Its glory is revealed only through suffering — a point that Jesus’ disciples, then and now, have been slow to understand. This truth has tremendous implications for church life. There is only one way to victory and peace, and that way is the way of the Lamb.

Ultimate Allegiance (Areopagus Series) – Dr. Robert D. Cornwall ($9.99) In Ultimate Allegiance, Dr. Bob Cornwall takes us to the Lord’s Prayer, a short and simple prayer that is well-known and often recited. But in each of its major petitions, he finds deep meaning that challenges us to think and to change. In fact, this prayer of Jesus brings us to the ultimate question of just where we should place our ultimate allegiance.

The Jesus Paradigm – Dr. David Alan Black ($17.99) The church is in disarray. Theologians and commentators speak of the demise of evangelicalism. Are they alarmists? Is Christianity as we know it in the process of dying? To make the church and its members true servants of Jesus Christ again, we need to change our entire paradigm-to The Jesus Paradigm.

Areopagus Critical Christan Issues

As the body of Christ, the church has a prophetic role in the world. Prophets have always spoken clearly to people in power. They have been willing to challenge the decisions made by people who thought they were not accountable to anyone. Sometimes the prophets were respected, sometimes persecuted, but they were never ignored or regarded as irrelevant. So why is it that the church today cannot speak truth effectively to power?

In The Politics of Witness, Dr. Allan R. Bevere asks these questions and proposes an answer. The church has come to depend too much on temporal power and has thus forgotten its divine authority. In finding this answer he goes back to the founding of the church and how it first became dependent on the state. He examines those who have followed, mostly building a political theory that takes the responsibility of ministry from the church and gives it to the state.

You’ll find some names in this that might surprise you. Any discussion of Christianity and the state will involve Emperor Constantine, but what about his modern lieutenants, such as Locke, Jefferson, Franklin, and others?

While the theology applies to the church in any country, Dr. Bevere takes a particular look at the peculiarly American view that the United States of America is somehow God’s chosen people, a nation of destiny in accomplishing the gospel mission.

This book balances brevity with a broad intellectual and historical reach. You will be taken from the founding and foundation structure of Christian theology today to a proposal for how we, as the Church can reclaim our prophetic witness.

Pre-order: This item is scheduled for release January 23, 2012. For an additional 20% discount on this book during the pre-order period, use coupon code PRE2 at checkout.

A questioning approach lies at the heart of our relationship with God. That’s how God engages us. In fact, questioning (or free inquiry), is central to our being human. Yet the major monotheistic religions vary markedly on this matter. In The Questioning God, Dr. Greenham examines the three major monotheistic religions, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, to see how they relate to questioning, both the questions that God asks us, and the questions that we ask about God. His goal is to develop a biblical theology of questioning, avoiding a loss of direction and focus that results from selective questioning, and also a loss of humanity that results from bypassing our questions through an inappropriate submission.

The examination is wide ranging, including chapters on questioning in Islam, Judaism, evangelical and mainline Christianity, along with an examination of the consequences of a non-questioning culture. He ends the book with a proposal for a biblical theology and a look at the practical implications–just what does it mean to pursue this questioning culture.

The author finds that questions are not just valuable, they are essential for serious human interaction. “As questioning beings,” he concludes, “there is no limit to what we might ask, but our questions must always be anchored in the questioning God’s enduring concern to engage us.”

(Put me on a waiting list for this book! You will be notified when the book begins shipping.)

“Prayer changes things.” It’s a common saying, and too often Christian discussion of prayer deals only with how we can change other things and other people through prayer. But what if prayer is much more that we imagine? What if it is also the means of correcting our relationship to the Creator and at the same time of changing our relationships with one another? Perhaps prayer can ultimately help transform our theology, what we believe about God, into character and action.

In Ultimate Allegiance, Dr. Bob Cornwall takes us to the Lord’s Prayer, a short and simple prayer that is well-known and often recited. But in each of its major petitions, he finds deep meaning that challenges us to think and to change. In fact, this prayer of Jesus brings us to the ultimate question of just where we should place our ultimate allegiance.

In Why Four Gospels? noted Greek and New Testament scholar David Alan Black, concisely and clearly presents the case for the early development of the gospels, beginning with Matthew, rather than Mark. But this is much more than a discussion of the order in which the gospels were written. Using both internal data from the gospels themselves and an exhaustive and careful examination of the statements of the early church fathers, Dr. Black places each gospel in the context of the development of the early church.

Though Markan priority is the dominant position still in Biblical scholarship, Dr. Black argues that this position is not based on the best evidence available, that the internal evidence is often given more weight than it deserves and alternative explanations are dismissed or ignored. If you would like an outline of the basis for accepting both early authorship of the gospels and the priority of Matthew, this book is for you.