Unique among most debates on homosexuality, this book presents a constructive dialogue between people who disagree on significant ethical and theological matters, and yet maintain a respectful and humanizing posture toward one another.Few topics are more divisive today than homosexuality. Two Views on Homosexuality, the Bible, and the Church brings a fresh perspective to a well-worn debate. While Christian debates about homosexuality are most often dominat...

This is an alternative commentary, concise, up-to-date, readable, and engaging the biblical text as a cross-cultural encounter. It both acknowledges the distance and difference of John's Gospel from our contemporary world as well as highlighting its proximity and relevance. The commentary explores John's special emphases, imagery, and distinctive creativity in portraying Jesus' significance in a way that is able to address a universal audience. The volume includes a new translation of the ...

The culmination of a lifetime of work on the Gospel of John, William Loader's Jesus in John's Gospel explores the Fourth Gospel with a focus on ways in which attention to the structure of Christology in John allows for greater understanding of Johannine themes and helps resolve long-standing interpretive impasses.Following an introductory examination of Rudolf Bultmann's profound influence on Johannine studies, Loader turns to the central interpretive issues and debates su...

This book raises thorny questions about the themes of faith, hope, and love. Is God really like Jesus or was Jesus a temporary exception to the way God usually is? Was there forgiveness before the cross? Will God one day stop loving? What do we do with the fact that the hopes they had for change were not fulfilled? What happened to good news for the poor? Why did some replace it with something else? Does Christian freedom mean we no longer need the Law? Were early responses to rejection al...

A scholarly examination of same-sex sexuality in the Bible in the context of the ancient worldScriptural prohibitions of same-sex sexual acts (so-called "clobber passages") are often used as prooftexts to support the oppression of LGBT communities in the West today. However, such interpretation of these scant references ignores critical sociohistorical context from the ancient world.Analyzing a wealth of primary sources, Thomas Kazen brings biblical studies...

What are the main things one needs to be aware of in order to take Matthew seriously as a witness to faith? This commentary seeks to read Matthew in the context of its world without glossing over the challenges that such an open and positive critical engagement presents. It provides a careful contemporary translation and a concise, informed commentary designed as a practical resource for preachers, for people wanting an intelligent faith, and for group study and discussion. Its author, Wil...

Need a quick summary of the best insights from today's Gospel scholarship? These commentaries on the Gospels by William Loader, a leading international scholar, seek to provide just that, offering a careful contemporary translation and a concise, informed commentary, as a resource for preachers, for people wanting an intelligent faith, and for group study and discussion. Following Luke engages the text as cross-cultural, reading it in the world of its time and acknowledging distance but al...

How do you deal with disappointment? For instance, how do you feel when you offer something you cherish and you want others to cherish, and they reject your offer? How do you cope with someone rejecting your view? How do you cope with dissent? People's responses vary. They may range from "I hate you! Why don't you love me?!" to disparagement and denigration. At worst, you may embrace the hatred that generates violence and war. At best, you may engage with the other to understand and accept...

This book offers an alternative commentary--concise, up-to-date, readable, engaging the text as a cross-cultural encounter, acknowledging distance and difference from our contemporary world as well as highlighting proximity and relevance. It is written by a leading international New Testament scholar and designed for individual and group use. The commentary looks at Mark's special emphases, with attention also to its use by other Gospel writers and its use for recovering the emphases of Je...

This book comes from the playground of imagination. It is the work of a leading international specialist in New Testament studies with a passion for making the findings of New Testament research accessible for a wide readership. From children's stories to liturgies, poems to subversively provocative fantasies, it invites the reader to play, to reflect, and to be confronted. This is a book to keep coming back to, rather than one to be read from cover to cover. It invites the reader to engag...

Can myths be true? Hiding behind their unreality is often deep meaning waiting to be uncovered. This book explores four myths first found on the margins of Israel's faith. Over time these myths became major resources for understanding and articulating faith. They began as stories of wicked angels, kings claiming to be gods, and women whom men should fear. They then developed to become sources of deep insight. They helped open up our understanding of sin and suffering, of Christ as servant ...

How did the biblical authors and the people of their time view sex and sexual issues? This book takes the reader into their world. It offers a careful reading of these ancient texts and how they would have been understood in the context of their time. Did they see sex positively or as something dangerous? How did they view marriage? How do their views of marriage relate to the way most people see marriage today? What were the understandings of human nature that underpinned their discussion...