The first, Paul and Scripture (the Hebrew Scriptures/OT) appeared in 2010, and was followed by Jesus and Scripture in 2011. Moyise has now completed the third book, which available for sale, in the informal series and covers Acts, Hebrews, the catholic epistles, and Revelation and is entitled The Later New Testament and Scripture. Each book is historically and text-focused tracing similar language, quotations, and historical questions. These, of course, have theological implications but Moyise’s work is not primarily theological in orientation. Each of these makes an excellent introductory aid to the field and will help you access more advanced literature.

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$5.99!

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First, Serene Jones takes a fresh look at Calvin’s masterpiece Institutes of the Christian Religion and draws a compelling portrait of Calvin as a Christian teacher engaged in the classical art of rhetoric. According to Jones, this art was used knowingly and skillfully by Calvin to persuade and challenge his diverse audiences. Thus, she offers a theological-rhetorical reading of the first three chapters of Calvin’s Institutes. What emerges is a truly original interpretation of Calvin as a working theologian concerned to craft Christian character and piety.

$7.99!

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Second, John Calvin’s Old Testament Exegesis shows the great interpreter’s hermeneutical approach to be quite from many of his contemporaries. He rejected much of the traditional Christian exegesis of the Old Testament that attempted to to explain it in terms of the New Testament revelation of Christ. He also rejected much of the traditional Jewish exegesis of the Old Testament that favored a more so-called historical approach to the writings. Instead he offered a middle way to interpret the Old Testament scripture with respect to both traditions. Puckett’s work examines this often-neglected area of study of John Calvin’s exegetical reasoning in this comprehensive and fascinating analysis.

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In The Division of Christendom, revered historian Hans J. Hillerbrand details the events and ideas of the sixteenth century and contends that the Protestant Reformation must be seen as an interplay of religious, political, and economic forces in which religion played a major role.

Hillerbrand tells the fascinating story of the ways in which theological disagreements divided the centuries-old Christian church and the roles that leading characters such as Luther, Zwingli, Anabaptists, and Calvin played in establishing new churches, even as Roman Catholicism continued to develop in its own ways.

The book covers all significant aspects of this period and interprets these important events in their own context while reflecting on the consequences of the Reformation for later periods and for today.

Perhaps the most enigmatic figure among the Reformers, Martin Bucer’s life, theology, and reforms are vital for gaining a global perspective on the European reformations. Many of the Reformers lives and teachings are all too easily detached from their socio-political context. Not so with Bucer.  Bucer’s life is intricately tied to his context, and Greschat does an excellent job of illuminating him within his historical milieu. A one-of-a-kind resource for students, and a great read for anyone interested in the Reformation.

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Good Monday folks! This is going to be a special week for all of you out there who are interested in the Reformation. Each day this week I’ll be posting bargain priced books on the movement and its most important figures. Today, T.H.L. Parker’s classic biography on John Calvin is just $2.99! Parker is one of the today’s foremost Calvin scholars, having written extensively on the great reformer’s preaching, commentaries, and theological thought. All of that comes together in this stunning portrait of Calvin, widely held to be among the best treatments of Calvin ever written. Quantities are limited!

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Archaeological headlines often tantalize as much as they mislead. But how can anyone who is not a specialist really know just what the evidence is or what it means? This is why I wanted to interview Craig Evans about his new book Jesus and His World: The Archaeological Evidence. How can we discern good archaeology from the bad? What recent discoveries are worthy of note? What are the implications for understanding Jesus and his life better?

In accordance with the interview, CBD is offering Evans’ Jesus and His World, at a new special price of $14.99 (good through 4/14)! 

Today’s interview is split into four, 8-15 minute segments. As a unit they are quite valuable for grasping a wide-angle view of Jesus’ life context. Individually, the segments provide insightful commentary on the questions I listed above and much more!

Segment 1:
Here Evans discusses the book’s intended audience, why it will be helpful to lay readers, and points to the thoughtful discussions questions available as a free PDF document.

Segment 2:
What Evans describes in this segment constitutes, perhaps, a significant “game change” in how we understand the formation of books in the 1st Century, and consequently, how we understand the origins of the biblical text.

Segment 3
In this shorter segment, Evans discusses the relevance of archaeology for the exegetical task while drawing out the significance of recent archaeology in understanding Jesus’ Galilean context.

Segment 4
The Jerusalem Ossuaries. They’ve been all over the news–here what the archaeology community really feels about them.

We have 60 copies and have listed them for an astounding $39.99 each, 50% off retail. Get yours before they’re gone! Oh, and one more thing: this will make an exquisite graduation gift for seminary or college student studying the New Testament! Read more about the book and its features below…

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Yes, it is the same NA27 you remember. Complete with marginal notes, the standard NA27 text-critical apparatus, introductions in German and English, and 5 appendices including the following:

• Codices Graeci Et Latini (a listing of all manuscripts used in this edition)
• Variae Lectiones Minores explicit account of all paranthetically cited manuscriptsin the textual apparatus)
• Editonum Differentiae (survey of differences between the 27th edition and the most important modern editions)
• Loci Citati Vel Allegati (list allusion by NT writers to the OT and other biblical texts)
• Signa, Sigla Abbreviationes (symbol glossary)

Produced in the same style and format of other NA27 editions, this particular volume is bounded in rich black genuine leather. The leather binding is supplemented by a European-style boarded frame to ensure durability and stability. The size of this volume matches that of the standard edition of the NA27, and thus the type-setting will remain familiar to anyone acquainted with that edition.

This is truly a handsome, rare volume which anyone who makes use of Greek often will enjoy and which ministers will find to be a long-lasting companion in their study of the New Testament.

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Who wasn’t intimidated the first time they cracked Calvin’s Institutes, Schleiermacher’s Christian Faith, or Barth’s Dogmatics? Unlike Biblical Studies or History, Theology often does not have specific material reference points around which its ideas converge. But it does have conceptual reference points.

Mapping Modern Theology, just issued by Baker Academic, takes advantage of those key reference points in order to orient readers to theological development in the modern era. Bruce McCormack, who orients the book’s discussion in his essay On “Modernity” as a Theological Concept, notes the significant shift that occurred in modernity that, perhaps, only now as we enter the late-modern period we are beginning to come to terms with fully. McCormack states:

‘Modern’ theology emerged, in my view, at the point at which (on the one hand) church-based theologians ceased trying to defend and protect the received orthodoxies of the past against erosion and took up the more fundamental challenge of asking how the theological values resident in those orthodoxies might be given an altogether new expression, dressed out in categories for reflection. It was the transition, then, from a strategy of “accomodation” to the task of “mediation” that was fundamental in the ecclesial sphere. In philosophy, as it relates to the theological enterprise (on the other hand), the defining moment that effected a transition entailed a shift from a cosmologically based to an anthropologically based metaphysics of being. 

 

 Read Bruce McCormack’s full essay
“On Modernity as a Theological Concept“

McCormack, along with Kelly Kapic, lead a list of contributors who are not only experts in the field, but who are helping redefine the topics they have written on in this book. Each presents classical theological issues within the context and trajectory of modern thought noting how its new categories has influenced how we understand these topics. Each writer is broadly evangelical.

• Fred Sanders on “The Trinity“
• Stephen R. Holmes on “Divine Attributes“
• Daniel J. Treier on “Scripture and Hermeneutics“
• Katherine Sonderegger on “Creation“
• Kelly M. Kapic on “Anthropology“
• Bruce L. McCormack on “The Person of Christ“
• Kevin J. Vanhoozer on “Atonement“
• John Webster on “Providence“
• Telford Work on “Pneumatology“
• Richard Lints on “Soteriology“
• Brian Brock on “Christian Ethics“
• Richard R. Osmer on “Practical Theology“
• Veli-Matti Kdrkkdinen on “Ecclesiology“
• Michael Horton on “Eschatology“

It is my experience that most Modern Theology courses focus on the developments in the Enlightenment that gave the impetus to this field–and quite rightly so. However, we also need to trace the affect of the new ways modernity has impacted theological discussion on specific topics and this book accomplishes that goal. It bring a step closer to not only understanding someone like Barth or Schleiermacher, but also understanding how their framework impacted the way they, and consequently we, talk about theology.

In Do Historical Matters Matter to Faith: A Critical Appraisal of Modern and Postmodern Approaches to Scripture several preeminent historians and biblical scholars answer this question definitively. They argue that the Bible’s historical accounts are trustworthy, and that traditional evangelical faith requires them to be so in order to maintain orthodoxy.

Nevertheless, rather than rehearsing old arguments the contributors to this volume produce fresh and robust arguments that address the necessity of accurate history in the Bible per its authority and attempt to establish such necessity in specific Scriptural narratives. This book is required reading for anyone interested in the methodologies feeding the current discussion and the contents of arguments on specific passages.

Read the Preface & the first essay by Thomas H. McCall Religious Epistemology, Theological Interpretation of Scripture,
and Critical Biblical Scholarship: A Theologian’s Reflections

In addition to a distinguished team of contributors that includes:

• Richard S. Hess
• Eckhard J. Schnabel
• Allan Millard
• Craig Blomberg
• Graham Cole
• Michael Haykin
• Robert Yarbrough
• Darrell Bock
• Willem A. Vangemeren

the editorial leadership of this book is provided by two highly internationally recognized historians:

• James K. Hoffmeier
• Dennis R. Magary

Those blessed with an eBook device of whatever sort might also take a look at the eBook edition. Crossway, as always, has priced it aggressively at $9.59; a hefty discount off the print edition which lists for $35.00, and which CBD sells for $22.49.

Some Endorsements

To the credit of its editors and authors, this book is not so much a reaction to the recent statements of Peter Enns and Kenton Sparks on biblical inerrancy, which called it forth, but an apologetic response to their works. To that effect, it is not a monument to the doctrine, but rather an advancement of its method and intent.”
-C. Hassell Bullock,
Franklin S. Dyrness Professor of Biblical Studies Emeritus,
Wheaton College

This is a timely work, both in the sense that it addresses an emerging issue—a loss of confidence in the historicity of the Bible—and in the sense that its authors are conversant in the current state of the debate. The topics discussed include all the essentials: the foundational theological issues, the major source-critical and historical-critical questions, and matters arising from archaeology. This book will be a valuable resource for both scholars and students.
-Duane A. Garrett,
Professor of Old Testament,
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

This is a book that has been sorely needed. The Bible has long been under attack from those outside evangelical faith, and now more recently from those supposedly inside. Here in one volume the questions are addressed in a comprehensive way, including theological, historical-critical, and archaeological issues. Written with an irenic tone—and yet confronting the questions directly—this book will surely take a prominent place on the shelves of all those who love the Bible and look for solid answers to give to its detractors. The editors are to be commended for bringing the book to fruition and for their breadth of vision in organizing it.
-John Oswalt,
Distinguished Professor of Old Testament,
Asbury Theological Seminary

Standing athwart the tide of strident voices currently demanding that we abandon confidence in the truthfulness and reliability of the Bible, the chapters in this volume constitute a defense of historic Christian confessionalism on the nature of Scripture. Mercifully, however, they are not mere regurgitations of past positions. Rather, they are informed, competent, and sometimes creative contributions that urgently deserve the widest circulation. In months and years to come, I shall repeatedly refer students and pastors to this collection.
-D. A. Carson,
Research Professor of New Testament,
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

The goal of this book is to present what I regard as the most important archaeological discoveries pertaining to Jesus of Nazareth in a way that can be accessed by non-experts.

He continues…

[The book] is not written to prove that Jesus really lived or that he really was Jewish after all. It’s not a book written for internet skeptics, whose pseudo-criticism is not guided by the norms of genuine research and scholarship. Rather it is written for those who want to know what light contemporary archaeology sheds on Jesus and his world; who want to know what aspects of Jesus’ teaching and activities we have come to understand better thanks to archaeological discoveries.

Some of the hot questions Evans tackles include:

• What was the village of Nazareth actually like in the time of Jesus?
• Did synagogues really exist, as the Gospels say?
• What does archaeology tell us about the ruling priests who condemned Jesus to death?
• Has the tomb of Jesus really been found, as has been claimed?
• How literate were people in Jesus’ world?

Though not quite available yet, Evans’ book should be ready for order very soon. Sign up to receive an email notification of its arrival in our warehouse, or place a pre-order.