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The Knowledge of the Holy: The Attributes of God: Their Meaning in the Christian Life
| | This classic of Christian testimony and devotion explores the attributes of God in words that fly straight to the heart. A superb aid to strengthening and deepening the spiritual life, each chapter begins with a prayer, lucidly discusses a divine aspect -- from God's infinity to God's love -- and relates that aspect to today's world, while pointing always to God's wonder and inscrutability.A. W. Tozer asserts that the cause of many of our modern spiritual woes is the loss in today's church of a lofty concept of God. He argues persuasively that the cure lies in our rediscovery of God's majesty. "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us," he writes. "The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man's spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God." <I>The Knowledge of the Holy</I> bearseloquent witness to the concept of God's majesty, encourages reverent meditation on the being of God, and offers a way to bring back spiritual power to our lives. | |
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Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why
| | <p> When world-class biblical scholar Bart Ehrman first began to study the texts of the Bible in their original languages he was startled to discover the multitude of mistakes and intentional alterations that had been made by earlier translators. In <i>Misquoting Jesus</i>, Ehrman tells the story behind the mistakes and changes that ancient scribes made to the New Testament and shows the great impact they had upon the Bible we use today. He frames his account with personal reflections on how his study of the Greek manuscripts made him abandon his once ultraconservative views of the Bible. </p> <p> Since the advent of the printing press and the accurate reproduction of texts, most people have assumed that when they read the New Testament they are reading an exact copy of Jesus's words or Saint Paul's writings. And yet, for almost fifteen hundred years these manuscripts were hand copied by scribes who were deeply influenced by the cultural, theological, and political disputes of their day. Both mistakes and intentional changes abound in the surviving manuscripts, making the original words difficult to reconstruct. For the first time, Ehrman reveals where and why these changes were made and how scholars go about reconstructing the original words of the New Testament as closely as possible. </p> <p> Ehrman makes the provocative case that many of our cherished biblical stories and widely held beliefs concerning the divinity of Jesus, the Trinity, and the divine origins of the Bible itself stem from both intentional and accidental alterations by scribes -- alterations that dramatically affected all subsequent versions of the Bible. </p> | |
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The HarperCollins Study Bible: Fully Revised & Updated
| | <P>The landmark general reference Bible that offers the full text of the New Revised Standard Version, now completely revised and updated by leading biblical scholars, including, new introductions and notes, diagrams, charts and maps25% revised or new material. </P><P> After 10 years of new archeological discoveries and changes in biblical studies, it was time for an overhaul of this classic reference work.</P><P> With the guidance of the Society of Biblical Literature, an organization of the best biblical scholars world wide, we have selected Dean of Yale Divinity School, Harold Attridge, to oversee the Study Bible's updating and revision. </P><P> The fundamental strengths of the first HCSB remain . . .</P><P> uptodate introductions to the Biblical books, based on the latest critical scholarship, by leading experts in the field</P><P> concise notes, clearly explaining names, dates, places, obscure terms, and other difficulties in reading the Biblical text</P><P> careful analysis of the structure of Biblical books</P><P> abundant maps, tables, and charts to enable the reader to understand the context of the Bible, and to see the relationship among its parts.</P><P> But, in this new revised edition . . .</P><P> Every introduction, essay, map, illustration and explanatory note has been reviewed and updated, and new material added. For instance,</P><P> There are newly commissioned introductory essays on</P><P> the archaeology of ancient Israel and the New Testament world, </P><P> the religion of ancient Israel, </P><P> the social and historical context of each book of the Bible, and</P><P> on Biblical interpretation</P><P> There are completely new introductions and notes for many of the books in the Bible, plus a full revision and updating of all others. </P><P> Of special interest are:</P><P> The literary history of the Pentateuch (those books between the Old and New Testament that Catholics include in their Bible)</P><P> More references to ancient nonBiblical sources which seem to parallel books in the Bible like the Gnostic gospels uncovered in Egypt or the famous scrolls found near the Dead Sea in Israel. </P><P> And, more comprehensive attention to the interrelationship of Old and New Testaments</P> | |
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Life with God: Reading the Bible for Spiritual Transformation
| | <p> Too often, our study of the Bible focuses on searching for specific information or some formula that will solve our pressing needs of the moment. But what if we approached the Bible differently, and instead of transforming the text to meet our needs, allowed it to transform <i>us</i> </p> <p> That's exactly the idea behind <i>Life with God</i>, Richard J. Foster's much-anticipated book on the Bible. Foster, bestselling author of <i>Celebration of Discipline</i> and general editor of <i>The Renovar? Spiritual Formation Bible</i>, claims that God has superintended the writing of Scripture so that it serves as the most reliable guide for Christian spiritual formation. According to Foster, the Bible is all about human life "with God." As we read Scripture, we should consider how exactly God is <i>with us</i> in each story and allow ourselves to be spiritually transformed. By opening our whole selvesmind, body, spirit, thoughts, behavior, and willto the page before us, we begin to grasp all the Bible has to teach about prayer, obedience, compassion, virtue, and grace and apply it to our everyday lives to achieve a deeper relationship with God. </p> <p> With a wealth of examples and simple yet crucial insights, <i>Life with God</i> is an indispensable guide to approaching the Bible through the lens of Christian spiritual formation, revealing that reading the Bible for interior transformation is a far different endeavor than reading the Bible for historical knowledge, literary appreciation, or religious instruction. </p> | |
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