One of the Guides' most popular religion titles, Understanding Judaism covers: The major denominations of Judaism and how modern times have changed... them A history, from ancient times to current events Threats to the religion; Israel and anti-Zionism; anti-Semitism New concerns for the 21st century, and much more. Understanding Judaism, its roots, its beliefs, and its traditions is crucial to understanding its people and its leaders. And, in light of current world events, this understanding is more important now than ever before

A unique visual history of the world’s best-selling book of all time, Bibles provides a rich snapshot of the biblical bookmaking tradition through... images from fifty rare and important Bibles. As the captivating and colorful images collected here reveal, in many ways the history of the Bible mirrors the history of the book and publishing.Presented chronologically, the Bibles provide a fascinating look into the book making techniques and characteristics of their time. From the fragile papyrus fragments of the ancient world to medieval illuminated manuscripts and glorious modern printed editions, each image is accompanied by a caption which explains its particular significance. In addition, each chapter includes a short introduction that contextualizes each book within its time period. Featuring many unusual examples—some of which have never been illustrated in print before—Bibles includes many of the great biblical texts of the Eastern and Western traditions, including the Magdalen Papyrus, the Laudian Acts, the Anglo-Saxon Exodus, St Margaret’s Gospel-book, the Douce Apocalypse, the Bible Moralisée (MS. Bodley 270b), the Kennicott Bible, the Guttenberg Bible, and the King James Bible.Drawing exclusively from one of the finest collections of Bibles in the world, which is held at the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, this book tells the remarkable story of the development of the Bible across media, language, and provenance.

The first career retrospective by the award-winning poet Elizabeth Alexander, including her poem delivered at Barack Obama's presidential inaugurationWe... crave radiance in this austere world, light in the spiritual darkness. Learning is the one perfect religion, its path correct, narrow, certain, straight.                                                    —from “Allegiance” Over twenty years, Elizabeth Alexander has become one of America’s most exciting and important poets, and her selection as the inaugural poet by President Obama confirmed her place as one of the indispensable voices of our time. Crave Radiance: New and Selected Poems 1990–2010 gathers twenty pages of new poetry, along with generous selections from her previous work. The result is the definitive volume to date by this American master.

Bible Study that Works provides an in-depth, methodical approach to understanding the most important book ever written. Here you will learn to mine the... depths of Scripture and "find a more abundant life through God's Word."

Many people spend time studying the Bible, but few are able to study the Bible systematically and inductively. In Bible Study That Works David Thompson... outlines and demonstrates a method of Bible study which is consistent in its approach and not controlled by theological presuppositions. This method, often referred to as the "Inductive Bible Study" method, was developed and taught by Wilbert Webster White at The Biblical Seminary in New York. From there the method was transplanted to several other seminaries such as Princeton and Union (Virginia), and taught around the world by organizations such as InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

Originally published in 1985, this is a short meditation by a great old man on people relating to other people who are dying, and the need for all of us... to open up.

Over the past thirty years, scholars have made significant advances in understanding how human communication functions. They have moved from looking for... meaning in texts alone to seeing texts as providing clues that lead hearers to discover the speaker's intended meaning. Hearers use other inputs as well—things they already know, information from the speech environment—as they search to understand not only what the words of the text say but also what the speaker is communicating. All this has significant implications for Bible translation. Bible Translation Basics accomplishes two things: 1) it expresses these theoretical developments in communication at a basic level in non-technical language, and 2) it applies these developments to the task of Bible translation in very practical ways. Tried and tested around the world, people with a secondary school education or higher are able to understand how communication works and apply those insights to communicating Scripture to their audiences. Bible Translation Basics helps translators work with language communities to determine the kind of Scripture product(s) that are most relevant for them, given their abilities and preferences. TABLE OF CONTENTSAcknowledgementsPrefaceIntroductionLesson 1: Why Translate the Bible?Lesson 2: How We Understand MeaningLesson 3: How We Know When We Have UnderstoodLesson 4: Processing Effort, Benefits, and RelevanceLesson 5: How We Select ContextLesson 6: Communicating with ConceptsLesson 7: Filling Out What Is SaidLesson 8: Leaving Parts of Sentences ImplicitLesson 9: Drawing the Intended ImplicationsLesson 10: Stronger and Weaker Guidance to ImplicationsLesson 11: Describing or RetellingLesson 12: Genre and TranslationLesson 13: Appropriate Scripture ProductsLesson 14: Understanding a Biblical PassageLesson 15: Identifying Mismatches in Secondary CommunicationLesson 16: Cultural ResearchLesson 17: Expressing Concepts in Another LanguageLesson 18: Adjusting Contextual MismatchesLesson 19: Translating Metaphors and MoreLesson 20: How We Connect ThoughtsLesson 21: Crafting Bible StoriesLesson 22: Different Contributions to Relevance in a TextLesson 23: Communicating Additional Layers of MeaningLesson 24: Special Issues: Names, Weights, Measures, and MoneyLesson 25: From Draft to PublicationLesson 26: Translation ProgramsAppendix 1. Glossary Appendix 2. How to Make a Back-Translation Appendix 3. Generating a First Draft: A Summary Appendix 4. Topical Indexes

Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, Editio Funditus Renovata. Contributors: G. E. Weil, K. Elliger, W. Rudolph, R. Kittel, H. Bardike, W. Baumgartner, P. A.... H. de Boer, O. Eissfeldt, J. Fichtner, G. Gerleman, J. Hempel, F. Horst, A. Jepsen, F. Maass, R. Meyer, G. Quell, Th. H. Robinson, d. w. Thomas, H. P. Ruger, and J. Ziegler. Hardcover published by Deutsche Bibelstiftung, Stuttgart. Text primarily in Hebrew.

Public interest in biblical archaeology is at an all-time high, as television documentaries pull in millions of viewers to watch shows on the Exodus,... the Ark of the Covenant, and the so-called Lost Tomb of Jesus. Important discoveries with relevance to the Bible are made virtually every year--during 2007 and 2008 alone researchers announced at least seven major discoveries in Israel, five of them in or near Jerusalem. Biblical Archaeology offers a passport into this fascinating realm, where ancient religion and modern science meet, and where tomorrow's discovery may answer a riddle that has lasted a thousand years. Archaeologist Eric H. Cline here offers a complete overview of this exciting field. He discusses the early pioneers, such as Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie and William Foxwell Albright, the origins of biblical archaeology as a discipline, and the major controversies that first prompted explorers to go in search of objects and sites that would "prove" the Bible. He then surveys some of the most well-known biblical archaeologists, including Kathleen Kenyon and Yigael Yadin, the sites that are essential sources of knowledge for biblical archaeology, such as Hazor, Megiddo, Gezer, Lachish, Masada, and Jerusalem, and some of the most important discoveries that have been made, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Mesha Inscription, and the Tel Dan Stele. Subsequent chapters examine additional archaeological finds that shed further light on the Hebrew Bible and New Testament, the issue of potential frauds and forgeries, including the James Ossuary and the Jehoash Tablet, and future prospects of the field. Biblical Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction captures the sense of excitement and importance that surrounds not only the past history of the field but also the present and the future, with fascinating new discoveries made each and every season.

Every pastor wants to have a vibrant, dynamic church. There are many popular models for church growth based on outstanding churches led by outstanding... pastors. But unfortunately, specific models are temporary and go out of style quickly. Author Gary McIntosh explores the biblical principles for church growth and applies them to today's culture. Instead of concentrating on the ephemeral how of church growth, he focuses on the unchanging why. McIntosh defines church growth as "all that is involved in bringing men and women who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ into fellowship with him and into responsible church membership." In other words, church growth is effective evangelism, not a methodology for increasing membership. According to Biblical Church Growth, growing churches always evidence a desire to fulfill the Great Commission by cooperating with God in building a faithful church. Using personal stories and current statistics as well as numerous biblical examples, the author sets forth ten basic principles that provide an eternal foundation for helping any church-large or small-achieve lasting vitality and growth.

Americans are obsessed with money, yet understand little of the workings of economics. Worst yet is the fact that what we think we know is just plain... wrong. Politicians and special interest groups benefit from this ignorance while the American people slip deeper into debt and financial slavery. Biblical Economics tells you exactly what, how and why you need to know about its topic, no more and no less. With a passing interest in the subject, you may know a few more things about economics than R.C. chooses to discuss in the book. But most of those things are not things that most of us need to know in order to live a biblically sound life. Only a few are vital, and R.C. has done us the immense favor of isolating them, explaining them in clear and simple terms, and showing how they are pertinent and in fact critical to an understanding of how Christians must live in a world that is adamant about denying the role of God in providing our daily bread. You'll find that Biblical Economics is an invaluable aid for developing your own understanding of economic principles. Read it, then give it your child to read and then talk with him about it.