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C. S. Lewis--On the Christ of a Religious Economy. II. Knowing Salvation, opens with a discussion of the Anscombe-Lewis debate (the theological issues relating to revelation and reason, Christ the Logos). This leads into Lewis on the Church (the body of Christ) and his understanding of religion: how is salvation enacted through the churches, how do we know we are saved? This concludes with, for Lewis, the question of sufferance and atonement, substitution and election, deliverance and redemption: heaven, hell, resurrection, and eternity--Christ's work of salvation on the cross. What did Lewis say of humanity in relation to God, now Immanuel, God with us, incarnate, crucified, resurrected, and ascended for humanity? What of Lewis's own death, and that of his wife? What does this tell us about the triune God of Love, who is Love? This volume forms the second part of the third book in a series of studies on the theology of C. S. Lewis titled C. S. Lewis: Revelation and the Christ. The books are written for academics and students, but also, crucially, for those people, ordinary Christians, without a theology degree who enjoy and gain sustenance from reading Lewis's work. www.cslewisandthechrist.net""Paul Brazier has given us something new . . . a full account of Lewis's theology, set out in systematic order, with attention paid to the developments in his thought and to his biography.""--Stephen R. Holmes, Senior Lecturer in Systematic Theology, University of St. Andrews, Scotland""Readers of C. S. Lewis will welcome this patient and penetrating analysis of the Christian vision he elaborated and communicated. Paul Brazier shows expertly how Lewis held reason and revelation together when deploying the Scriptures and mythology in constructing an imaginative apologetic for faith in Christ, the Revealer and Redeemer who leads us through grace to glory.""--Gerald O'Collins, Professor emeritus, Gregorian University, Rome""Much has been written about the Lewis-Anscombe debate, but Brazier succeeds in putting this exchange of ideas in perspective. His thorough analysis of Lewis's philosophical education not only places this debate in another light, but also offers new perspectives on the whole body of Lewis's writings. In addition, this volume offers a timely in-depth study of Lewis's thoughts on the church and an eminently useful exposition of Lewis on the 'last things.'""--Henk van Wingerden, Minister of the Hervormde Gemeente, Protestant Church of the Netherlands, The Netherlands""I have not found a more comprehensive, exciting, and fresh study of Lewis's theology than Paul Brazier's work. This is a delightful study of Lewis the philosophical theologian, litterateur, and evangelist. With abounding summaries, definitions of terms, illustrations, and a detailed index, this work is indispensable to all readers of Lewis.""--Salwa Khoddam, Professor of English emerita, Oklahoma City University, OklahomaP. H Brazier is an independent theologian and scholar living in London. He is the author of Barth and Dostoevsky (2008), and editor of the late Colin E. Gunton's The Barth Lectures (2007) and Revelation and Reason (2009).

Throughout ages the prophetic literature of the Old Testament has always fascinated its readers. Up to our modern times, the bold prophetic message of doom and salvation continually triggers our imagination. At the same time, the books of the prophets confront us with many questions as to their aim and theological content, challenging us to translate their message in our own actual context. The Lion Has Roared--an image used by the prophets themselves--was written to meet the need for a better understanding of the prophets.By taking into account recent trends in current scholarship on the prophetic literature in the Old Testament, this book explores the core theological message of each individual prophetic book, including the book of Daniel. This is done by viewing each book both from a historical and literary perspective. A selected bibliography on each prophetic book is also provided to guide the interested reader to further reading. This unique volume was written by sixteen Old Testament scholars from Africa, America, Asia, and Europe for use by students of theology and religious studies, pastors and preachers, and interested lay readers.

Description:C. S. Lewis--The Work of Christ Revealed focuses on three doctrines or aspects of Lewis's theology and philosophy: his doctrine of Scripture, his famous mad, bad, or God argument, and his doctrine of christological prefigurement. In each area we see Lewis innovating within the tradition. He accorded a high revelatory status to Scripture, but acknowledged its inconsistencies and shrank away from a theology of inerrancy. He took a two-thousand-year-old theological tradition of aut Deus aut malus homo (either God or a bad man) and developed it in his own way. Most innovative of all was his doctrine of christological prefigurement--intimations of the Christ-event in pagan mythology and ritual. This book forms the second in a series of three studies on the theology of C. S Lewis titled C. S. Lewis, Revelation, and the Christ (www.cslewisandthechrist.net). The books are written for academics and students, but also, crucially, for those people, ordinary Christians, without a theology degree who enjoy and gain sustenance from reading Lewis's work.Endorsements:""P. H. Brazier's comprehensive study details Lewis's Christology and reveals that what Lewis thought about Christ was what he thought about everything. This insightful, thorough, and learned exposition of the quintessence of Lewis's theology also suggests a reading of his fiction and literary theory, bringing readers back to Lewis again and again.""--Sørina Higgins, book review editor of Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal""A groundbreaking treatment demonstrating C. S. Lewis's depth and originality, reinforcing him as one of the twentieth century's greatest Christian thinkers. Crucially, for those evangelicals undecided on aspects of Lewis's theology, Brazier's masterful examination of Lewis on Christology and revelation offers welcome reassurance. This substantial and nuanced volume is a must-read, not only for evangelicals, but any student of the life and thought of C. S. Lewis.""--Calvin L. Smith, author of Pentecostal Power""Serious investigations into the theology of C. S. Lewis have been long in coming. . . . [T]he fact that Lewis was not a professional theologian has led to his being overlooked by those who were most able to engage critically and creatively with his writings. Fortunately . . . a new generation of scholars has taken up the task. Paul Brazier's latest contribution to this is a most welcome accomplishment that will leave an indelible impression on our understanding of--and appreciation for--Lewis's remarkable theological contributions.""--Dr. Grayson CarterAssociate Professor of Church HistoryFuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CaliforniaEditor of Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal""In this rigorous and searching study of the theology of C. S. Lewis, Paul Brazier locates Lewis within the wider context of theological scholarship and shows him to be a theologian to be reckoned with in his own right, rather than simply a popularizer of Christian faith. This most welcome volume in a proposed three-volume series will surely prove invaluable in the assessment of Lewis's legacy.""--Dr. Murray RaeProfessor and Head of the Department of Theology and ReligionUniversity of Otago, New ZealandAbout the Contributor(s):P. H Brazier is an independent theologian and scholar living in London. He is the author of Barth and Dostoevsky (2008), and editor of the late Colin E. Gunton's The Barth Lectures (2007) and Revelation and Reason (2009).

The doctrine of divine simplicity has long played a crucial role in Western Christianity's understanding of God. It claimed that by denying that God is composed of parts Christians are able to account for his absolute self-sufficiency and his ultimate sufficiency as the absolute Creator of the world. If God were a composite being then something other than the Godhead itself would be required to explain or account for God. If this were the case then God would not be most absolute and would not be able to adequately know or account for himself without reference to something other than himself. This book develops these arguments by examining the implications of divine simplicity for God's existence, attributes, knowledge, and will. Along the way there is extensive interaction with older writers, such as Thomas Aquinas and the Reformed scholastics, as well as more recent philosophers and theologians. An attempt is made to answer some of the currently popular criticisms of divine simplicity and to reassert the vital importance of continuing to confess that God is without parts, even in the modern philosophical-theological milieu.

Applying an ecological hermeneutic developed in the Consultation on Ecological Hermeneutics of the Society of Biblical Literature, and in conjunction with intertextual and theological hermeneutics, Jeffrey Lamp creatively reads the Letter to the Hebrews from the perspective of Earth. The author of Hebrews engages in an extended argument that reinterprets features of the old covenant in terms of the Son in order to demonstrate that the new covenant instituted by the Son is superior to the old. In such an argument, the voice of Earth is understandably absent. The author of the letter is frequently understood as denigrating the temporal order, of which the old covenant is a part, while praising the eternal order, of which the new covenant is a part. An ecological reading of Hebrews demonstrates that, despite the rhetorical concerns of the author, embedded in the argument are textual clues, derived primarily from the christological affirmations of the argumentation, connecting Hebrews with the larger biblical concern for the integrity and care of the created order.

The theological reflections of Virgilio Elizondo and Gustavo Gutierrez are examples of the ecclesial fruitfulness of the second half of the twentieth century. Following the directives of Pope John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council, Elizondo and Gutierrez present the Gospel message in relevant terms to their own people by engaging the world as the Church of the poor. Inspired by this moment in Church history, while at the same time recognizing the plight of their people in their poor and marginal existence, Elizondo and Gutierrez discovered a new way of doing theology by asking a specific set of questions based on their local context. By investigating where God is present in the border crossers of the southwestern United States and the poorest of the poor in Latin America, both theologians have uncovered a hermeneutical lens in rereading Scripture and deepening our understanding of ecclesial tradition.Elizondo's mestizaje and Gutierrez's preferential option for the poor arose out of a theology of context, a theological method that takes seriously the contextual circumstances of their locale. By utilizing the common loci theologici of Scripture and tradition in conjunction with context and their own experience, Elizondo and Gutierrez illustrate through their theologies how every group must embrace their own unique theological reflection.

Many Christians who practice believer baptism struggle to answer basic questions about it, such as: What does it mean to be baptized? How does baptism relate to faith? What does God do through baptism?In Waters of Promise, Brandon Jones seeks to answer these questions by drawing from Scripture, theology, history, and church practice. The resulting recovery of the link between covenant theology and believer baptism may change not only how you think about baptism but also how your church practices it.

In this volume, Richard Hiers challenges the popular assumption that the Bible has a low view of women and that biblical law either ignores women or requires them to be subject and subservient to men. He does so by identifying and carefully examining hundreds of biblical texts and allowing them to speak for themselves. Among the findings: - that biblical tradition generally represents women positively, as strong and independent persons; - that no text represents wives as subject to their husbands and that no biblical law requires such subjection; - that biblical laws provide many protections for women's rights and interests--in several instances, rights equal to those enjoyed by men. The book focuses particularly on the Old Testament and Old Testament law, and argues that Old Testament laws and their underlying values provide important resources for Christian ethics and social policy today.

Understanding Religious Conversion begins with emphasis on the value of respecting religious/theological interpretations of conversion while coordinating social scientific studies of how personal, social, and cultural issues are relevant to the human transformational process. It encourages us to bring together the perspectives of psychology, sociology, anthropology, and religious studies into critical and mutually-informing conversation for establishing a richer and more accurate perception of the complex phenomenon of religious conversion. The case of St. Augustine's conversion experience superbly illustrates the complicated and multidimensional process of religious change. By critically extending the contributions of the literature within Lewis Rambo's interdisciplinary framework, Dong Young Kim presents a more integrated picture of how personal, social, cultural, and religious/theological components interact with one another in the process of Augustine's conversion. In doing so, he has struggled with how to relocate more effectively and practically the conversion narrative of Augustine within the context of pastoral care and ministry (and the field of the academy)--in order to facilitate a better understanding of the conversion stories of the church members as well as to enhance the experiences of religious conversion within the Christian community.

What if the story of Eve and Adam was not meant to be a story about creation and the origin of life? What if Eve and Adam were not personifications of all women and men? What if the curse on the woman had nothing to do with the physical pain of giving birth? What if working by the sweat of the brow was a description of the slavery that existed under the monarchy? What if being cast out of the garden of Eden was a metaphor for the deportation of people from Judah to Babylon?The author of this book takes readers on a journey of inquiry leading to the conclusion that the story of Eve and Adam was authored by the theological school of Jeremiah in order to dissuade the Judean people never to reinstate the monarchy after their return from Babylon--a monarchy that previously was responsible for so much infant mortality, subjugation of women, and enslavement of its own people. At the heart of this journey is the discovery that Eve and Adam actually are metaphors for Israel and Judah--two nations that chose to have a king like other nations and suffered the consequences.

Hermeneutics is the work of Hermes, the Greek demigod, a messenger from the gods and from the dead. Simon Perry sets out to explore the contemporary face of Hermes through a reading of Jesus' parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). This parable has one distinguishing feature that marks it out from other ancient stories following the same basic storyline: that a visitor from the dead is not granted leave to return with a message to the land of the living. In order for Scripture to be heard, Hermes is not necessary.Where does this leave the role of hermeneutics? Perry looks to philosophers, ethicists, and theologians for an answer.

Is church discipline really necessary? One sixteenth-century Anabaptist reformer certainly thought so. A contemporary of Luther and Zwingli, Balthasar Hubmaier believed that church discipline was so important that he included the doctrine in every major area of his theology. Not only did church discipline appear in his doctrine of humanity, salvation, and the church, as a theoretical construct, but he also included practical instructions regarding its implementation in the life of the church. In this book Goncharenko examines Hubmaier's teaching on discipline and considers its relevance to the church today.

In this practical book every occurrence of astheneia and its cognates in the Pauline Epistles is examined, both in its immediate context and in its relation to Pauline thought as a whole. The analysis begins, first, by examining both secular and Septuagintal Greek usages of astheneia as well as its usage in the non-Pauline New Testament writings. It then proceeds, secondly, by defining Paul's astheneia termini from letter to letter and context to context. All the passages in the Pauline literature where the words appear undergo a detailed exegetical examination. The Pauline weakness motif is then summarized, with the conclusion that the concept of weakness is foundational to Paul's anthropology, Christology, and ethics.

Lesslie Newbigin was one of the most significant missionary strategists and theologians of the twentieth century. With the breakdown of confidence in some of the central philosophical and theological paradigms that have been shaped and sustained by the culture of modernity, Newbigin's approach to a genuinely missionary theology offers fresh insights and approaches, providing something of a prophetic model for the global Christian community in new and challenging times.In this collection of essays, scholars and practitioners from around the world engage with aspects of Newbigin's continuing legacy. They explore Newbigin's approach to theological method, his theological and philosophical account of Western culture in the light of the gospel, and some of the implications of his thought for global mission in the third millennium.This collection is essential reading not just for Newbigin enthusiasts but also for all who are concerned to develop a genuinely missionary encounter with contemporary culture.Contributors: Ian Barns, John G. Flett, Michael W. Goheen, Kenneth D. Gordon, Eleanor Jackson, Veli-Matti Karkkainen, David J. Kettle, J. Andrew Kirk, Mark Laing, Murray Rae, Jurgen Schuster, Wilbert Shenk, Jenny Taylor, Geoffrey Wainwright, Ng Kam Weng, and Paul Weston.

Scripture, like any performance, aims for transformation of its audience. In this new study Jeanette Mathews demonstrates how literature from the diverse field of performance studies can be applied to the prophetic book of Habakkuk in order to draw out themes and features that are common to both. Mathews offers a fresh new translation of Habakkuk that emphasizes and celebrates its intrinsic dramatic features. This translation provides the "script" for the performance of Habakkuk. The attitudes and actions of the "actors" in the performance become models for their "audience," such that the audience members are drawn into the performance and do not remain impartial spectators. The context of crisis that forms the book's "setting" is of crucial importance, ensuring that genres such as complaint and lament are taken seriously as expressions of faith in the midst of traumatic experience. The open-ended script makes explicit the drama of faithfulness in the midst of cultural trauma and public crises--a faithfulness that is ready to be reenacted in our own settings.

Description:The Pentecostal mission in Palestine is a virtually unknown episode in the history of Pentecostalism. Its story begins in 1906 at the Azusa Street Revival, from which missionaries were sent to Palestine. In its first thirty years, the Pentecostal mission in Palestine gained a foothold in Jerusalem and expanded its reach into Jordan, Syria, and Iran. It was severely tested and lost traction during the tumultuous period of the Arab Revolts, World War II, and the Partition Crisis. With the catastrophic war of 1948, the Pentecostal missionaries fled as their Arab clients were swept away in the Palestinian Diaspora. After 1948, a valiant attempt was made to revive the mission, but only with relative success. Although the Pentecostal missionaries failed in their objective of converting Jews and Muslims, they were eyewitnesses of the formative events of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Newberg argues that the Pentecostal missionaries functioned as brokers of Pentecostal Zionism. He offers a postcolonial assessment of the Pentecostal missionaries, crediting them for advocating philosemitism, yet bringing them up short for disregarding the civil rights of Palestinian Arabs, espousing Islamophobia, and contributing to the forces working against peace in the Holy Land.Endorsements:""Newberg is a historian, theologian, and gifted storyteller who has crafted a fascinating account of the Pentecostal mission in Palestine. This book is the first historical account of Pentecostal missionaries to Jews and Muslims; it is the first theological portrayal of Pentecostal Zionism; and it is an astute contribution to peace and justice that should be read beyond the realm of the Pentecostal movement.""--Wolfgang VondeyAssociate Professor of Systematic Theology, Regent UniversityAuthor, Beyond Pentecostalism: The Crisis of Global Christianity and the Renewal of the Theological Agenda (2010)""Students of global events know the importance of the Middle East. Pentecostals have often been well intentioned in their support of Jewish people, based upon the promise in Genesis 12:3. Yet, their embrace of Zionism has often been naive and uncritical. Newberg outlines this Pentecostal-Zionist history, including the Arab side of this story. This important retelling challenges current Pentecostal participation in Islamophobia, human rights abuses, and a languishing peace process. It begs for a thoughtful Pentecostal response.""--Cecil M. Robeck Jr.Professor of Church History and Ecumenics and Director of the David du Plessis Center for Christian Spirituality, Fuller Theological Seminary""Eric Newberg sets a new and exceedingly high standard for Pentecostal historiography in a late modern and postcolonial context. The hagiographic propensities of earlier 'insider' accounts are here replaced by a sophisticated and sympathetic, but yet not uncritical, examination that sheds light on and interrogates both Pentecostal mission history and contemporary global Pentecostal attitudes to Jerusalem, Israel, and the Middle East. Historians and all others interested in the present Arab-Israeli crisis are urged to read this groundbreaking book.""--Amos YongJ. Rodman Williams Professor of Theology, Regent UniversityAuthor, The Spirit of Creation: Modern Science and Divine Action in the Pentecostal-Charismatic Imagination (2011)""This is an excellent work that should be read and used widely, especially by those who desire peace with justice for both Israelis and Palestinians.""--Paul AlexanderProfessor of Social Ethics, Palmer Theological Seminary, Eastern UniversityAuthor, Peace to War: Shifting Allegiances in the Assemblies of God (2009)About the Contributor(s):Eric N. Newberg is Associate Professor of Theological and Historical Studies at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa.

In the spring of 1946, Jean Danielou published an article by the title of "Les orientations presents de la pensee religieuse" for Etudes. Danielou's article--at least according to his critics--set the program for what would be later referred to as la nouvelle theologie. Though Danielou's influence was definitive at the inception of the movement (loosely understood) and continued up until Vatican II and after it, relatively little (especially compared to his close associate Henri de Lubac) has been written about Danielou in English even in the recent resurgence of interest in nouvelle theologie. This book seeks to fill that gap in part by providing an overview of his theology with extensive reference to his vast corpus of writings by highlighting what seems to be the key to his thought: that all human beings were made for contemplation and that one is only truly human when one exercises this innate calling in a Trinitarian fashion.

Twenty-four scholars join their efforts to congratulate David Lee Balch for a long career of dedication to scholarship and teaching. Topics range from the life of early Christian house churches to the kinds of challenges that early Christians needed to negotiate in their artistic and literary worlds as they established their own identity.ContributorsEdward AdamsFrederick E BrenkWarren CarterJohn R. ClarkeEverett FergusonJohn T. FitzgeraldRichard A. FreundRonald F. HockRobin M. JensenDavina C. LopezMargaret Y. MacDonaldAbraham J. MalherbeAliou Cisse NiangPeter OakesTodd PennerLeo G. PerdueTurid Karlsen SeimDennis E. SmithYancy W. SmithStephen V. SprinkleHal TaussigOliver Larry Yarbrough

The story of the Garden of Eden is one of the most familiar in the Bible. But if we read it without preconceptions, we discover a narrative as its original audience would have heard it, as its author intended. Robbins explores why the man was created first, and the woman for and from him. She elucidates the reason for the particular punishments, and why the storyteller gave a woman the starring role. She does all this by highlighting the importance of wordplay in the Garden of Eden story. This book introduces not only a wordsmith but, above all, a supreme storyteller who is bound to become a personal favorite.

Most New Testament scholars today agree that Jesus used an enigmatic self-designation, bar nasha (""the Son of Man""), translated into Greek as ho huios tou anthropou in the Synoptic Gospels. In contrast, Paul, the earliest New Testament writer, nowhere mentions the phrase in his letters. Does this indicate that the Gospel writers simply misunderstood the generic sense of the Aramaic idiom and used it as a christological title in connection with Daniel 7, as some scholars claim?Paul demonstrates explicit and sophisticated Adam Christology in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15. In contrast, there is no real equivalent in the Synoptic Gospels. Does this indicate that Adam Christology in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15 was essentially a Pauline invention to which the Evangelists were oblivious?In this study Yongbom Lee argues that in addition to the Old Testament, contemporary Jewish exegetical traditions, and his Damascus Christophany, Paul uses the early church tradition--in particular, its implicit primitive Adam-Jesus typology and the Son of Man saying traditions reflected in the Synoptic Gospels--as a source of his Adam Christology.

This book draws Soren Kierkegaard and Luce Irigaray into conversation on the nature and ethics of sexual difference. While these two initially seem like doubtful dialogue partners, the conversation between them yields a rich and compelling account of intersubjectivity between man and woman--an account that moves beyond the limited and tired debate over egalitarianism vs. complementarianism. Through engagement with Irigaray and Kierkegaard, this book develops a constructive, theological ethics of sexual difference that focuses on an epistemological and subjective gap that sets man and woman at a decisive distance from each other. They are a mystery to each other. Yet it is also an ethical framework that allows woman and man to encounter one another in ways that respect the independence, subjectivity, and becoming of each. Above all, this is a theological ethics of sexual difference that centers on Jesus Christ, who is defined as the middle term in every relationship and whose love command defines the encounter between man and woman in difference.

The Liberating Mission of Jesus deals with the central message of the Gospel of Luke, provocatively arguing that the liberating mission of Jesus has two central themes: the universality of the love of God and the special love God has for the defenseless of society. Both of these pillars form the bedrock of Luke's theological vision, animate his Gospel throughout, and summarize the good news of the reign of God in subversive and radical form. This book shows how the liberating message announced by Jesus, as well as his liberating practice, is manifested throughout the Gospel and its implications for Christian life today. Through this thorough treatment, the full depth of Luke's vision of the liberating mission of Jesus is shown to be a paradigm for the personal and collective witness of believers, regardless of the social, political, cultural, or religious boundaries that try to inhibit them from giving witness to the God of life.

Paul's letter to Titus is one of the most neglected letters of the New Testament. Many have contended that it is an incoherent letter devoid of a theological message and purpose. This study proposes otherwise, presenting an entirely new structure for Titus that demonstrates how the theme "Exhort and Reprove to Commendable Works according to the Hope of Eternal Life" unfolds through the chiastic structures in the letter. Jeon not only demonstrates the unity of the letter but also invites the reader to explore other ways chiasms can be used to enhance New Testament interpretation. Any intrigued by Titus, and the Pastoral Letters as a whole, will discover herein a unique approach to the letter and a fresh and invigorating interpretation of its underlying message.

Hermeneutical Theology and the Imperative of Public Ethics is a groundbreaking attempt to present constructive missional theology in an integrative and interdisciplinary framework as it provocatively utilizes and contextualizes Reformation theology and hermeneutics concerning ethical theology embedded within the wider horizon of World Christianity. Mission as constructive theology is explored and refined in an hermeneutical and interdisciplinary fashion, underlying a new horizon of postcolonial theology and mission in light of God's act of speech. Missional church founded up God's grace of justification and Christ's diakonia of reconciliation becomes ethically oriented public church as it is engaged in mutireligious diversity of people's lives and lifeworld in the postcolonial context of World Christianity.

Four years after John Bunyan released his instantly popular journey allegory The Pilgrim's Progress, he published The Holy War--a battle allegory and companion volume. His first book explores salvation of the individual Christian; the second portrays the battle for sanctification. While Christian struggles with questions about assurance of salvation, the collective Mansoul labors with the challenges of being led by and filled with the Holy Spirit.The Pilgrim's Progress focuses on the individual's struggle against sin; The Holy War portrays the Church in a corporate struggle against systemic evil. Bunyan wrote that The Holy War originates in ""the same heart, and head, fingers and pen"" as The Pilgrim's Progress. Both books present separate dimensions of Bunyan's spiritual journey.Taken together, the journey allegory and the battle allegory capture the full range and depth of the biblical message that consumed Bunyan's imagination. He credits his own salvation to these two things: The grace of God and tenacious, continual, holy warfare. The Holy War is testimony to a spiritual battle he fought, and won.This edition provides annotations that clarify Bunyan's first edition language and message for readers in a post-Puritan world.

Scholarly readings of John Chrysostom's Christology seldom examine the intimate relationship that exists between his doctrinal, sacramental, and praxeological views. The vital correlation between exegesis and praxis in patristic thought must be taken into consideration in any evaluation of christological positions. Chrysostom's doctrine of Christ is intricately bound to life in the church. Within this conceptual framework, Chrysostom's commentaries on John's Gospel and Hebrews are examined. The christological portrait that emerges from this oeuvre is a depiction of the personal continuity of the divine Son in Christ; his sacramental presence in the church, the body of Christ; and his transforming work in the Christian, to the likeness of Christ. This persuasive study demonstrates that Chrysostom's view of the Christian life is the outworking of his exegetically informed and pastorally rich christological doctrine.

When Jesus overturned the carts of the merchants in the temple, he was just the latest in a long line of people who decried the activities that took place there. To understand his actions better, one must go back in history to the eighth century BCE, to the first two prophets to criticize the temple cult: Amos and Isaiah. Their criticism of all worship activities came as a result of the people setting wrong priorities in their lives. What happens in the temple should extend into regular everyday activities in the home, in the market, in business dealings, at work, and at the city gate. Amos and Isaiah present similar oracles that address the prioritization of worship over real life. This book looks closely at their oracles, comparing and contrasting them, and analyzes what they were trying to teach the people.

Readers of the Gospels are typically attuned to the words of Jesus while paying comparatively little attention to what other characters in the narratives say about him. This innovative study of John's Gospel looks at the text through the lens of a routinely misunderstood mode of speech, namely, gossip. Focusing on talk about Jesus in John, the author unpacks the intricate relationship between gossip and various social dynamics of Jesus' world, demonstrating how they collude to construct Jesus' identity. Ultimately, it is suggested that John presents a Jesus whose identity is elusive to both outsiders like the Pharisees and insiders like his disciples, and thus models the importance, if not the sheer necessity, of the ongoing public discourse around the question "Who is Jesus?"