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Familiar Stranger by Michael McClymond is a very readable introduction to that elusive figure known as "the historical Jesus" -- his life, his world, his sayings and doings, accounts of his death and resurrection, and his followers' efforts to understand him.Three features set Familiar Stranger apart from the many other available books on Jesus. First, it's targeted to general readers but doesn't dumb down in its attempt to inform them. Second, it's ideologically balanced, exhibiting a refreshing lack of agenda or ulterior motive beyond the desire to genuinely present what we can and cannot know about Jesus today. Third, it brings together the two most fruitful models for understanding Jesus and his mission -- Jesus the "moral sage" and Jesus the "eschatological prophet." The result is a truly well-rounded picture of Jesus.Marked by concision, clarity, and thoroughness, McClymond's Familiar Stranger is ideal for classrooms, study groups, and individuals in search of an up-to-date, trustworthy guide to the historical Jesus. Readers familiar with Jesus may well find him becoming stranger to them through these pages, and, conversely, those to whom Jesus is a stranger may well discover a growing familiarity with him.

This Eerdmans Critical Commentary volume is Shalom Paul's comprehensive, all-inclusive study of the oracles of an anonymous prophet known only as Second Isaiah who prophesied in the second half of the sixth century B.C.E. Paul examines Isaiah 40-66 through a close reading of the biblical text, offering thorough exegesis of the historical, linguistic, literary, and theological aspects of the prophet's writings. He also looks carefully at intertextual influences of earlier biblical and extrabiblical books, draws on the contributions of medieval Jewish commentators, and supports the contention that Second Isaiah should include chapters 55-66, thus eliminating the need to demarcate a Third Isaiah.

The key to Williams'' mystically oriented theological thought, Descent into Hell (arguably Williams'' greatest novel) is a multidimensional story about human beings who shut themselves up in their own narcissistic projections, so that they are no longer able to love, to ''co-inhere.'' The result is a veritable hell.

This book brings together Jewish and Christian scholars engaged in fresh thinking about the relation of their respective covenant communities. Speaking theologically and ecumenically, the contributors introduce readers to current attempts to construct a Jewish theology of Christianity and a Christian theology of Judaism.

Against contemporary trends that conceive of Christian worship primarily as entertainment or sheer celebration, Walter Sundberg argues that repentance is the heart of authentic worship. In Worship as Repentance Sundberg outlines the history of repentance and confession within liturgical practice from the early church to mid-twentieth-century Protestantism, advocating movement away from the "eucharistic piety" common in mainline worship today and toward the "penitential piety" of older traditions of Protestant worship.

As immediate and relevant as today's headlines, this book sets forth a bold argument with direct implications for political life in America and around the world. Combining incisive cultural analysis and keen religious insight, Robert Jewett and John Shelton Lawrence maintain that American crusading - so powerfully embodied in popular entertainments - has striking parallels with Islamic jihad and Israeli militancy.According to Jewett and Lawrence, American civil religion has both a humane, constitutional tradition and a violent strand that is now coming to the fore. The crusade to rid the world of evil and "evildoers" derives from the same biblical tradition of zealous warfare and nationalism that spawns Islamic and Israeli radicalism. In America, where this tradition has been popularized by superheroic entertainments, the idea of zealous war is infused with a distinctive sense of mission that draws on secular and religious images. These crusading ideals are visible in such events as the settling of the western frontier, the World Wars, the Cold War, the Gulf War, and America's present war on terrorism.In exploring the tradition of zealous nationalism, which seeks to redeem the world by destroying enemies, the authors provide a fascinating access to the inner workings of the American psyche. They analyze the phenomenon of zeal - the term itself is the biblical and cultural counterpart of the Islamic concept of jihad - and address such consequential topics as the conspiracy theory of evil, the problem of stereotyping enemies, the mystique of violence, the obsession with victory, and the worship of national symbols such as flags.This critical book, however, is also immensely constructive. As Jewett and Lawrence point out, the same biblical tradition that allows for crusading mentalities also contains a critique of zealous warfare and a profound vision of impartial justice. This tradition of prophetic realism derives from the humane side of the biblical heritage, and the authors trace its manifestations within the American experience, including its supreme embodiment in Abraham Lincoln. Isaiah's "swords into plowshares" image is carved on the walls of the United Nations building, thus standing at the center of a globally focused civil religion. Grasping this vision honored by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam alike includes recognizing the dangers of zealous violence, the illusions of current crusading, and the promise of peaceful coexistence under international law.Instructive, relevant, and urgent, Captain America and the Crusade against Evil is sure to provoke much soul-searching and wide debate.

Over twenty-five years in the making, this much-anticipated commentary promises to be the standard study of Proverbs for years to come. Written by eminent Old Testament scholar Bruce Waltke, this two-volume commentary is unquestionably the most comprehensive work on Proverbs available.Grounded in the new literary criticism that has so strengthened biblical interpretation of late, Waltkebs commentary on Proverbs demonstrates the profound, ongoing relevance of this Old Testament book for Christian faith and life. A thorough introduction addresses such issues as text and versions, structure, authorship, and theology. The detailed commentary itself explains and elucidates Proverbs as btheological literature.b Waltkebs highly readable style -- evident even in his original translation of the Hebrew text -- makes his scholarly work accessible to teachers, pastors, Bible students, and general readers alike.