Throughout the history of the Christian church there have been moments of significant theological crisis, and we are currently in the midst of another. But our pressing question is not "Who is Jesus?" (as it was in the fourth century) nor "How can we be saved?" (as it was in the sixteenth). Now it is, "What is a human being?" In many communities that claim the name "Christian," even people who can provide correct answers to the first two questions are currently confused when it comes to th...

The Old Testament is often maligned as an outmoded and even dangerous text. Best-selling authors like Richard Dawkins, Karen Armstrong, and Derrick Jensen are prime examples of those who find the Old Testament to be problematic to modern sensibilities. Iain Provan counters that such easy and popular readings misunderstand the Old Testament. He opposes modern misconceptions of the Old Testament by addressing ten fundamental questions that the biblical text should--and according to Provan do...

The Eeerdmans Commentary on the Bible presents, in nontechnical language, the best of modern scholarship on each book of the Bible, including the Apocrypha. Reader-friendly commentary compliments succinct summaries of each section of the text and will be valuable to scholars, students, and general readers.Rather than attempt a verse-by-verse analysis, these volumes work from larger sense units, highlighting the place of each passage within the overarching biblical story. C...

A lo largo de la historia de la iglesia cristiana ha habido momentos de crisis teologica significativa, y actualmente nos encontramos en medio de otra. Pero nuestra pregunta mas urgente no es: «¿Quien es Jesus?» (como lo fue en el siglo IV), ni «¿Como podemos ser salvos?» (como lo fue en el siglo XVI). Ahora es: «¿Que es un ser humano?» En muchas comunidades que se identifican como "cristianas", incluso personas que pueden dar respuestas correctas a las dos primeras preguntas estan hoy con...

Concise, student-friendly introduction to GenesisIain Provan here offers readers a compact, up-to-date, and student-friendly introduction to the book of Genesis, focusing on its structure, content, theological concerns, key interpretive debates, and historical reception.Drawing on a range of methodological approaches (author-, text-, and reader-centered) as complementary rather than mutually exclusive ways of understanding, Discovering Genesis encourages s...

The NIV Application Commentary helps you communicate and apply biblical text effectively in today’' context.To bring the ancient messages of the Bible into today's world, each passage is treated in three sections:Original Meaning. Concise exegesis to help readers understand the original meaning of the biblical text in its historical, literary, and cultural context.Bridging Contexts. A bridge between the worl...

The Understanding the Bible Commentary Series helps any reader navigate the strange and sometimes intimidating literary terrain of the Bible. These accessible volumes break down the barriers between the ancient and modern worlds so that the power and meaning of the biblical texts become transparent to contemporary readers. The contributors tackle the task of interpretation using the full range of critical methodologies and practices, yet they do so as people of faith who hold the text in t...

The question of the good life--what it looks like for people and societies to be well ordered and flourishing--has universal significance, but its proposed solutions are just as far reaching. At the core of this concern is the nature of the good itself: what is "right"? We must attend to this ethical dilemma before we can begin to envision a life lived to the fullest.With Seeking What Is Right, Iain Provan invites us to consider how Scripture--the Old Testament in...

The NIV Application Commentary helps you communicate and apply biblical text effectively in today's context.To bring the ancient messages of the Bible into today's world, each passage is treated in three sections:Original Meaning. Concise exegesis to help readers understand the original meaning of the biblical text in its historical, literary, and cultural context.Bridging Contexts. A bridge between the worl...

Many today find the Old Testament a closed book. The cultural issues seem insurmountable and we are easily baffled by that which seems obscure. Furthermore, without knowledge of the ancient culture we can easily impose our own culture on the text, potentially distorting it. This series invites you to enter the Old Testament with a company of guides, experts that will give new insights into these cherished writings. Features include • Over 2000 photographs, drawings, maps, diagrams and char...

This extract from the Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible provides Provan's introduction to and concise commentary on Daniel. The Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible presents, in nontechnical language, the best of modern scholarship on each book of the Bible, including the Apocrypha. Reader-friendly commentary complements succinct summaries of each section of the text and will be valuable to scholars, students, and general readers.Rather than attempt a verse-by-verse an...

The contemporary world has been shaped by two important and potent myths. Karl Jaspers' construct of the "axial age" envisions the common past (800-200 BC), the time when Western society was born and world religions spontaneously and independently appeared out of a seemingly shared value set. Conversely, the myth of the "dark green golden age," as narrated by David Suzuki and others, asserts that the axial age and the otherworldliness that accompanied the emergence of organized religion ri...