In Greek, the language of the New Testament, there are four words for love--agape, philia, storge, and eros--but no matter what the Greek word is, the English equivalent is always love. The most used Greek word for love in the NT is agape, the noblest word for self-sacrificial love. The second-most used word for love in the NT is philia, brotherly or sisterly affectionate love between equals. The third word for love in Greek is storge, which refers to love that is based in one's nature, su...

Living Parables: Today's Versions presents parables in updated language and images. Biblical parables are culture-bound; they are embedded in images that were well-known to a Jewish culture. Jesus was a first-century, Jewish, Galilean peasant, and his concerns, speech, and idioms belong to that culture. His milieu is far removed from ours today. The images found in parables carried meaning that is lost on modern audiences. A simple example will suffice. In the Jewish world of the first cen...