Christopher J. H. Wright

A Light for the Pathway

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

Foreword

“David Atkinson’s book helps us to explore and appreciate the breadth and depth of this wonderful world of biblical worship that embraces all human life, all creation, and the ultimate future.”

A Light to the Nations

Theology

“It is so encouraging to see the revived interest in missional interpretation of the Bible flourishing and bearing fruit. This marvelous book by Mike Goheen moves the discipline significantly forward. It roots our understanding of the church’s role and mission in the whole of the Scriptures, showing how formative the Old Testament was for Jesus and his New Testament followers and remains for us. The nourishing meat of rich biblical reflection is sandwiched between a historical analysis of the cultural roots of the contemporary church and a challenging conclusion as to how a church today can be truly missional and biblical. This is biblical theology in the service of the mission of God through God’s people for the sake of God’s world.”

After Shock

Christian Living

“It is hard to explain how I can say that this is a truly beautiful book, when it comes out of a background of such horror. But that was my dominant emotion as I finished it. Beautiful, perhaps, because up-close honesty is beautiful where the clichés of certainty-at-a-distance are repellant. Beautiful because it touches depths of reality where the beauty of God glimmers through the inexplicable darkness of suffering and the desperation of faith, love and hope. Of course, it is also a deeply disturbing book. But if its brutal honesty upsets you, or if the questions it throws before God with baffled anger and gritty trust seem too irreverent, perhaps you have not really spent enough time in the company of Jeremiah, Job, the psalmists--andJesus. This is a book to read alongside the author at the foot of the cross, and at the empty tomb, where knowing, loving and trusting God make sense, even when understanding his world does not.”

Altogether Lovely

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“With sure-footed exegesis and sensitive literary appreciation, Dharamraj engages in a close intertextual reading of the Song alongside comparable texts from Hosea, Isaiah, and Ezekiel. Her intention is to show how, though the one portrays the ideal joy of perfect love and the others the misery and potential savagery of betrayed love, their literary, thematic and theological mirroring produces a rich composite effect that is spiritually fruitful in the canonical portrayal of the relationship between God and God’s people. Her appreciation of biblical poetics is matched by the lively clarity of her own writing, which manages to reflect her texts, from the playful and allusive intimacies of the Song to the visceral pornographic coarseness of Ezekiel. With her mastery of comparable ANE texts, as well as early Jewish and Christian interpretation of these biblical texts, she connects her material to its original cultural context, and explores its potential through the eyes of early interpreters. And her own South Asian identity and context brings further illuminating cultural perspectives. Dharamraj has provided an insightful and rewarding contribution to both biblical literary studies and biblical theology.”

An Invitation to Joy

Christian Living

Foreword

(wrote the foreword)

Basic Christianity

Apologetics

Foreword

(wrote a foreword)

Bearing God's Name

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

Foreword

“Carmen Joy Imes is helping us to relish once again the wondrous depths of truth and challenge that are there for us Christians in that great epic narrative of Old Testament Israel—whether those stories are familiar to us already or not. . . . I trust that reading this book will give you a deeper and more biblical understanding of what it ought to mean to bear God's name, and not to bear it in vain.”

Becoming a Missionary Church

Theology

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend’ (Prov. 27:6). This saying came to mind repeatedly as I read this appraisal of three contemporary efforts to reenergize the church in its missionary identity and mandate. There is warm appreciation for how all these ‘friends’ (for they are, especially the highly esteemed Tim Keller) long to reach and impact our culture for Christ and the gospel, combined with sharp but respectful critique of shortcomings and dangers that become apparent in the wider light of the whole Bible narrative and its implications. The authors’ exposition and application of the missionary life and theology of Lesslie Newbigin is a master class of clarity and illumination, repeatedly offering eye-opening insights as to how we have come to be where we are in the Western world (and wherever the toxins of Western idolatries have penetrated). Any church that is praying for a fruitful missionary encounter with their surrounding culture will find here a rich resource of biblically rooted priorities, characteristics, and practices that align with the whole-Bible gospel, center on the cross and resurrection of Christ, and glorify the God of all creation.”

Bloody, Brutal, and Barbaric?

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“After reading through this book—the fruit of fourteen years of research—I find myself echoing the authors themselves in their concluding chapter: 'Our hearts are not nearly as heavy nor our minds as perplexed as when we first started this project.' This is the most biblically comprehensive, ethically nuanced, and persuasively argued case that I have yet encountered on one of the most troubling parts of the Bible. Writing out of profound theological reflection and deep personal suffering, the authors neither dismiss the problem ('God just commanded it; there is no problem') nor weaponize it ('We must reject a "God" who could command such things'). Instead they offer, in great detail but with constant clarity and summation of each stage of their argument, a thoroughly fresh way of addressing the issue in the light of both the Ancient Near Eastern context of Old Testament Israel and the whole canonical narrative, including the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, and the eschatological hope of perfect rectifying justice in the new creation. A magnificent gift for all of us who, as lovers of God and his Word, still struggle with texts that match the book's title.”

Called into the Mission of God

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“Roji T. George's application of a missional hermeneutic to the Thessalonian correspondence is substantially valuable and fruitful, while his exploration of its relevance to the church in India carries salutary lessons for the wider global church. With close attention to the text and its original context, he illuminates the subversively counter-cultural meaning and power of the gospel, the missional nature of the church's existence and the Holy Spirit's presence, and the crucial importance of ethical formation within Christian communities.”

Confronting Old Testament Controversies

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“In this book Tremper Longman III is courageous, clear, charitable, and confessional. He is courageous in tackling subjects that arouse intense controversy as well as baffled distress. Any time I teach the Old Testament, someone will raise one or another of these issues. Longman writes with pleasurable clarity, making his deep scholarship available with lightness and warmth. His disagreements with other scholars, including evangelical friends, are expressed with respect and without vitriol. Above all he writes out of clear evangelical conviction on the inspiration, trustworthiness, and moral authority of the canon of Scripture. This book will be a blessing and resource for those wrestling with these contentious issues in honesty and faith.”

Corporal Punishment in the Bible

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“What does it mean to be 'biblical'? Bill Webb exposes just how easy it is for people to claim this without paying close attention to what the Bible actually says. He provides a case study in the redemptive-movement method of discerning and applying the ethical challenge of Old Testament texts. Since the corporal punishments of the Old Testament are among its more morally disturbing features, his reflection on this issue is both thorough and courageous. If none of us, one hopes, is doing or advocating 'what the Bible actually says' in exercising parental discipline, then how can we reach a principled theory and practice in that area that can still be defended as 'biblical' with interpretive integrity? This is a book that is both theologically challenging and yet realistically earthed in the mundane and moving experience of the Webb family. It describes a personal hermeneutical journey shared with fellow parents, as well as a hermeneutical conclusion offered to the academy. At both levels it deserves careful listening and response.”

Covenant

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“While completely familiar with every nuance of critical scholarship, Block refreshingly allows the Bible to speak for itself without detours and debates. Every chapter is enriching, with illuminating exegesis from all over Scripture—a feast of good things to which the only adequate response is the last word of the book: ‘Hallelujah!”

Deserting the King

Christian Living

“In this excellent survey, David Beldman does three things. He sets the book of Judges meaningfully within the overarching creational and redemptive narrative of the whole Bible; he clarifies and illuminates the structure of the book and the intrinsic (but easily overlooked) message that structure carries; and he offers penetrating reflections on the relevance of the book to contemporary cultures. To do all this in such a simply-written and easy-to-read short volume, and to do it for one of the more challenging and neglected books in the Bible, is a most commendable achievement. Church and student groups, preachers and teachers, will all find this book opens their eyes and feeds their faith.”

Deuteronomy

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“Vintage Fernando. Like all of his preaching, this book is a model of the wonderful gift that God has given to Ajith Fernando for simple, clear, and challenging exposition of the Word of God. Without evading the more difficult questions and problems that scholars have wrestled with in the book of Deuteronomy, he does not allow them to dominate but stays close to the thrust of the text, patiently explaining and applying it step by step. The rich infusion of illustrations that are mostly drawn from the challenges and stresses, joys and sorrows of his own experience in ministry add a wonderful earthy texture to the whole book as we constantly weave between the Biblical world and today’s world in a way that listens to and engages with both. This book is a deep well of Biblical study, ethical challenge, practical advice, pastoral wisdom, and spiritual warmth. It breathes love for God, God’s Word, God’s world, and God’s people.”

Did Adam and Eve Really Exist?

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“It is not often that a book in this controversial field of human origins takes seriously both the Bible (in terms of textual exegesis, literary form, and theological coherence) and science (in terms of its findings and its theoretical possibilities). Jack Collins does both with graciously applied scholarship, conviction, and humility, making very clear where biblical faithfulness requires us to be uncompromisingly affirmative, and where there is room for varying opinion over possible scenarios that could be consistent with such biblical conviction.”

Did God Really Command Genocide?

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“As a full-scale follow-up to the excellent popular treatment of the topic in Is God a Moral Monster?, this book provides the most thorough and comprehensive treatment of the problem of violence in the Old Testament that I have encountered. The authors tackle the aggressive charges of the new atheists, as well as other equally sceptical but less strident critics of ‘the God of the Old Testament.’ And they do so with a blend of careful biblical exegesis and incisive moral argumentation. The book reaches deep, but remains readable, and the summaries at the end of every chapter are a great help in following the case as it is steadily built up. All of us who, in teaching or preaching the Old Testament, are constantly bombarded with ‘But what about the Canaanites?’ will be very grateful for these rich resources for a well-informed, gracious, and biblically faithful reply.”

Excellent Preaching

Church Leadership & Ministry

“Standing in the tradition of John Stott, with his passion for preaching that was both faithful to the biblical text and relevantly applied to the contemporary context, Craig Bartholomew argues persuasively and passionately for a revival of exactly that quality of preaching in today's church. In a short space he combines deep biblical scholarship with acute cultural analysis. Pastors who long to be effective in their primary calling - to preach the Word of God - will find encouragement, vindication and ongoing challenge in this book.”

Exclusion and Judgment in Fellowship Meals

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“This thorough study is as fascinatingly illuminating of a whole range of sociocultural practices around fellowship meals in the ancient world as it is exegetically sure-footed and discerning in its handling of the biblical text. Lanu Jamir brings the world of Paul's troublesome young church in Corinth vividly to life against a well-painted background. At the same time, we are led through some challenging theological and ethical insights into what it means to belong to those who share the privilege and the responsibility of eating and drinking at the table of the Lord.”

Globalizing Theology

Theology

“What a privilege it is to be living in an era when God's promise to Abraham, that he would bring blessing to all peoples and nations, is being so remarkably fulfilled in the phenomenal growth of the global church. And for such a time as this--the global church engaged in global mission among all cultures--we need the kind of global thinking that fills this book. These are rich resources for that urgent task.”