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Reading the Bible Again for the First Time is Marcus Borg's follow-up to Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time. Like his earlier book, this one is written for lay people whose faith has been frustrated by their misapprehension that fundamentalism's claim to be the one true faith is valid. Borg, a professor of religion at Oregon State University, describes an alternative to fundamentalists' so-called "literal" readings of scripture. (He believes that such "literal-factual" readings do not live up to that description, and that the limitations of such readings have alienated many people who would otherwise remain part of the church.) Borg calls his alternative "historical-metaphorical" reading, a way of "taking the Bible seriously without taking it literally." Reading the Bible begins with a history of recent conflicts regarding biblical interpretation. Borg navigates the minefields of his subject with sensitivity and precision, explaining, for example, the important distinction between evangelical and fundamentalist readings of the Bible. He then offers historical-metaphorical readings of some key texts from both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. Throughout, Borg writes with calm assurance and respect for those who would disagree with him. Reading the Bible is a credible guide to the project it names. It is a faithful exercise of reason, undertaken to help Christians hear more clearly the many voices recorded in the Bible. --Michael Joseph Gross
Book Description
One of the vital challenges facing thoughtful people today is how to read the Bible faithfully without abandoning our sense of truth and history. Reading the Bible Again for the First Time provides a much-needed solution to the problem of how to have a fully authentic yet contemporary understanding of the scriptures. Many mistakenly believe there are no choices other than fundamentalism or simply rejecting the Bible as something that can bring meaning to our lives. Answering this modern dilemma, acclaimed author Marcus Borg reveals how it is possible to reconcile the Bible with both a scientific and critical way of thinking and our deepest spiritual needs, leading to a contemporary yet grounded experience of the sacred texts.
This seminal book shows you how to read the Bible as it should be examined—in an approach the author calls "historical-metaphorical." Borg explores what the Scriptures meant to the ancient communities that produced and lived by them. He then helps us to discover the meaning of these stories, providing the knowledge and perspective to make the wisdom of the Bible an essential part of our modern lives. The author argues that the conventional way of seeing the Bible's origin, authority, and interpretation has become unpersuasive to millions of people in our time, and that we need a fresh way of encountering the Bible that takes the texts seriously but not literally, even as it takes seriously who we have become.
Borg traces his personal spiritual journey, describing for readers how he moved from an unquestioning childhood belief in the biblical stories to a more powerful and dynamic relationship with the Bible as a sacred text brimming with meaning and guidance. Using his own experience as an example, he reveals how the modern crisis of faith is itself rooted in the misinterpretation of sacred texts as historical record and divine dictation, and opens readers to a truer, more abundant perspective.
This unique book invites everyone—whatever one's religious background—to engage the Bible, wrestle with its meaning, explore its mysteries, and understand its relevance. Borg shows us how to encounter the Bible in a fresh way that rejects the limits of simple literalism and opens up rich possibilities for our lives.
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"Special e-book features: This PerfectBound e-book contains an exclusive interview with Marcus Borg and in-text hyperlinks to each of his notes and to key passages in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. One of the vital challenges facing thoughtful people today is how to read the Bible faithfully without abandoning our sense of truth and history. Reading the Bible Again for the First Time provides a much-needed solution to the problem of how to have a fully authentic yet contemporary understanding of the scriptures. Many mistakenly believe there are no choices other than fundamentalism or simply rejecting the Bible as something that can bring meaning to our lives. Answering this modern dilemma, acclaimed author Marcus Borg reveals how it is possible to reconcile the Bible with both a scientific and critical way of thinking and our deepest spiritual needs, leading to a contemporary yet grounded experience of the sacred texts. This seminal book shows you how to read the Bible as it should be examined -- in an approach the author calls ""historical-metaphorical."" Borg explores what the Scriptures meant to the ancient communities that produced and lived by them. He then helps us to discover the meaning of these stories, providing the knowledge and perspective to make the wisdom of the Bible an essential part of our modern lives. The author argues that the conventional way of seeing the Bible's origin, authority, and interpretation has become unpersuasive to millions of people in our time, and that we need a fresh way of encountering the Bible that takes the texts seriously but not literally, even as it takes seriously who we have become.
Customer Reviews:
Review of M.Borg's Reading the Bible Again for the First Time.......2007-09-09
This is just an excellent book, especially for those who find traditional expressions of Christianity empty and hollow. Professor Borg states that one's experience of God today is (can be) as real as some of the stories in the Bible relate. Readers concerned about social justice and the marginalization of our poor and disabled will find the chapter on the (Hebrew) Prophets particularly interesting.
Reading the Bible Again for the First Time.......2007-07-12
In reading several of Borg's books, I find them all inviting, easily read, yet thought provoking. With this particular book, I found a wealth of information that literally changed my view of the Bible. Rather than disputing areas of the Bible, Borg adds understanding and depth with a sensitive treatment of subjects at hand. This is one of my favorite books to be given as gifts for Christians and non-Christians.
learning about the bible.......2007-07-06
i have read this book twice myself and now have sent it to friends. i think it helps you know the bible and its history without getting an agenda like you do trying to read other books written about the bible. Borg writes in an easy style and not above your head. i would recommend this book highly to anyone.
Nice to know what I learned in graduate school is still good........2007-03-31
I studied the Bible in seminary over two decades ago thought I did not go into the ministry. My "Old Testament" professor was a rabbi. This book reinforces what I learned all those years ago. While I do not agree with every conclusion the author draws I do think he is on the right track.
One of the most interesting things Marcus Borg says is that no matter what something in the Bible means now, it had to mean something to the writer at the time. While Revelations may say something to us today, understanding what it says as applying to a society that would not exist for over two thousand years as if it was only a prediction that far in the future makes no sense.
Spiritual Enlightenment.......2007-01-15
Reading the Bible for The First Time is a wonderful book for anyone seeking a deeper meaning to the scriptures through a historical and metaphorical perspective. I've found it truly enlightening and intellectually stimulating.
Book Description
Do you have trouble finding time to pray?So much clamors for your attention: work, school, friends, family, church--the list goes on and on. Time for God and time to pray often seem impossible to fit into packed days and nights.Six studies based on Bill Hybels's
Too Busy Not to Pray show you how to slow down, listen to God and find refreshment in his presence.
Customer Reviews:
The Power of Prayer.......2007-01-16
I highly recommend this study guide. Our small group has been using it for the past few weeks, and we are being challenged by the lesson plans. It sets forth guidelines and gives practical tips and ideas on how you can pray. I believe many people need this, because so often we feel insecure in our prayer life. I highly recommend this book and study guide.
An accurate outline to improving prayer........1998-11-11
This book was really good with great Biblical references. When I was reading the book, it showed what routines we often get into. It also outlined the importance of listening to God. Which is probably just as important but something we often fail to do.
Customer Reviews:
A Waste of My Time.......2007-06-29
Do you want to read a genuinely thoughtful book on God's Holy Scriptures? Or are you already anti-sola scriptura and just want your prejudices massaged?
Scripture and Works Defined.......2007-06-27
Any Christian apologist that defends the Church has a good basic knowledge of that arugements and responses to fundamentalist's attacks on the Church concerning the Bible. However, Sungenis a veteran of these battles provides the reader with good arguments against sola scriptura. Likewise excellent biblical arguements for Sacred Tradition are provided. The one great feature of this book is the depth to which the author goes to explain why sola scriptura when compared to the Bible plus Sacred Traditon is the truth
What Can Fallen Man Add to --- "GOD Breathed"???.......2006-09-28
.
~The Savior says:
"........You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of GOD."
It is important to point out that in the short five years, I was a Roman Catholic; their "traditional" teaching authority changed TWICE, and with it changed too, their nonessential doctrine. It also paved the way to increased confusion regarding their essential teachings in my mind because I seemed unable to pin it down for any length of time. Unlike the constant state of flux of "Tradition", I found the stability and welcome refuge in the Bible because like God, the author, the Holy Bible is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone) is quite simply the doctrine that the Holy Bible, being the Word of God, is the only infallible rule of faith and practice for Christians in the post-apostolic age. The Bible, much unlike my personal experience with "tradition," the Holy Bible is not subjected to editing on a continuum, or generational change, it does not change with the Pope, nor is it subject to man's caprice and well intended "tweaking."
As the title demonstrates, this book's parti pris is to undertake to injure the credit or reputation of Biblical authority. The book's mission resolves to supplant God's Word with that of the Roman Catholic hierarchy's teaching that THEY are that ultimate and infallible authority concerning man's fate.
There is good reason for the author's motivation. Beside baptism, there are six more sacraments in Roman Catholicism teaching plus rosaries, alms, Mary's suffering for our sins and none of these find support in sound Biblical exegesis. Therefore, it becomes an overriding issue for Roman Catholicism to sully the authority of Scriptures in order that they may displace The Word with their own authority and teachings. The Gospel According to Rome
This is why Roman Catholicism and the author are so intent on dismissing or minimally confusing God's Word, --- because it does not support the author's theology. Talking with Catholic Friends and Family: UnderstandingHow They Think and Feel, Why They Trust in Tradition, What the Bible Teaches Moreover, Mary's intercession with Christ, the merits of the saints, one's own suffering for one's sins in purgatory, etc. these too, have no Biblical support. History shows us that many of these teachings called "tradition" did not actually become part of his church teachings until hundreds of years after Christ's death on the Cross. Martin Luther's 95 Theses This is why the role of tradition is so vital to defend. The Catholic Church calls itself, "our sacrament of salvation." Preparing Catholics for Eternity
Christians have full confidence in the fidelity of the Holy Scriptures because they are "given by inspiration" or as the Scripture says, it is "God-breathed" ---- the very Word proceeding from the mouth of God.--- What "The Scriptures say" and what "God says" are the same thing. That is what Jesus believed.
As you read, my sincere prayer is that God will reveal His truth to your heart and mind. God bless you.
A good argument . . . even (maybe especially) for us Protestants to look at.......2006-04-25
Well here's one Protestant at least who's not going to bombard this book with criticisms and complaints--seeing as how these reviews are meant to discuss the book, not the plethora of beliefs held by whichever reviewer. I'm not really sure what some of these Protestant reviewers were expecting when they picked up the book.
That being said, I'm in no danger of converting, and yet I definitely think this book warrants 4 stars. Prompted by discussions with my Catholic roommate I was referred to this book. It didn't dispell all the historical and theological "myths" that Protestants propagate (most of which I would say aren't myths), but it did lay out a very solid argument from historical, theological, and biblical grounds. Any Protestant looking for a solid Catholic critique on those three grounds of the Protestant position should definitely pick this one up and be challenged by fairly solid scholarship. I especially appreciated hearing a thoughtful critique of 2 Timothy 3:16 and other scriptural passages used to defend Sola Scriptura (Chapter 3).
Bottom line, I don't think Sungenis and his companions are right, but I think he makes a good argument that Protestants need to hear and address. If you want a good and concise Catholic argument on this issue--seek no further.
Typical Romanist Attack of Christianity.......2005-02-04
This book "Not by Scripture Alone: A Catholic Critique of the Protestant Doctrine of Sola Scriptura" would be closer to the truth if it were titled "A Romanist Attack of Biblical Christianity" or something to that effect. Because this book is at it's heart just an attack of Biblical Christianity.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Book Description
What's wrong with Calvinism?Since the Reformation, Calvinism has dominated much of evangelical thought. It has been so well established that many Christians simply assume it to be the truest expression of Christian doctrine. But Calvinism has some serious biblical and theological weaknesses that unsettle laypeople, pastors and scholars alike.God is sovereign. All evangelical Christians--whether Arminians or Calvinists--have no doubt about this fundamental truth. But how does God express his sovereignty? Is God a master puppeteer, pulling our strings? Or has he graciously given his children freedom to respond to his love?In this eminently readable book, Jerry L. Walls and Joseph R. Dongell explore the flaws of Calvinist theology. Why I Am Not a Calvinist is a must-read for all who struggle with the limitations of this dominant perspective within evangelical theology.
Customer Reviews:
Fair and factual.......2007-07-23
The author is not in the attack mode although this book will make a 5 point calvinist hyper-ventilate. Facts about calvinism are presented in a fair and biblical way by a writer who writes like a genleman in presenting his views.I would recommend this book to anybody who is interested in calvinism pro or con since it is always nice to get a sane civil view on any subject.
A Sinful Waste of Time and This Is Why.......2007-04-14
Look even the arminiest reviewer says:
"As an Arminian, I read this book hoping to find a solid evangelical stance of Arminianism that made a strong defense of Biblical Arminianism. As pointed out below.. This book has two major problems--
1. The chapters on philosophy truly did help clarify the various highly confusing Calvinist positions, and possible alternatives, however, the case must be won in the Bible not by philosophy, and this book is more philosophy than Bible. ..."
Exactly, this book instead of showing why or why not Calvinism is right or wrong instead goes into fluffy clouds reasoning. I don't understand how Christians can dare to put out reasoning like that. Who cares about opinions? It's not as if these men are like the apostle Paul. I'll point out the "blahs" of this book:
Page 219: "The doctrine of the Trinity above all shows that God exists in an eternal relationship of perfect love."
Hello? What happened to perfect hate and justice? Yeah, you arminiests know God HATES sin, even if you can't admit he hates sinners as well, you all know he feels hatred for sin so intense he will put you in hell for all eternity. Yet the authors, in their fluffy cloud reasoning dwell on "love" alone. Why? The authors said soon after that:
"Because he has such a nature he genuinely loves all persons..."
So because God loves himself he loves everyone else???????? WHAT STUPID REASONING! STUPID! CHILDISH! SINFUL!
Why not say "Because God hates sin he hates us all" that makes just as much sense, or how about "bananas taste good therefore humans love all food" that sounds just as logical.
It's dumb, the authors think this way based on a speculation that Calvinists don't understand the trinity perfectly, which is pure stupidity because 1. All you have to do is see what they believe, and they sure did look 2. They could go about asking Calvinists what they believe about it. Their stupid speculation and slanderous implication is that Calvinists don't recognize the trinity correctly because they see God more as ruler and king then lover. Stupid, stupid, stupid. And their evidence for this is cuz they believe all Calvinists believe God controls the will directly. That's dumb either way because again, all you have to do is ask what it is a Calvinist believes and watch their behavior vs arminiests (and you'll see a big difference in general; Calvinists are more peaceful and loving). 3. Also, I still have not found any source in which Calvin said he believed the will is directly controlled, and even if he believed it, so what, does that mean all Calvinists do?
On 218: "if God determined everything none would be lost (1 Tim 2:4; 2 Pet 3:9)"
1. That is stupid logic: If God as these authors would deceive you into believing, did not predestine people to hell, THEN NEITHER WOULD HE PREDESTINE THINGS SO THAT SIN WOULD APPEAR. So their logic is flawed: Their fluffy cloud reasoning = "but God is love he wouldn't let bad stuff happen." Guys, take a look around.
2. Let's check out those verses they cited:
1 Tim 2:4 - the word for "will" includes the definition "to desire" and as Scripture teaches, what God DESIRES is not always fulfilled. Rather his PURPOSE is, and that is conveyed in "Matthew 6:1" which says "your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." that word "will" in Mat 6:1 is not the same as in 1 Tim 2:4 and does not have the meaning of "desire" in it. As for 2 Pet 3:9 again that word "wanting" includes the definition "desire". And using the authors' infantile logic God is failure as his will is not going to be accomplished and has not been as 1. Men sinned. 2. They keep on sinning. 3. According to Revelation billions will end up in hell with no chance of every getting out. So then what becomes of God's patience and will? Using the author's logic God's an untrustworthy failure and man can get outa hell on his own, hence why arminiasm is a heresy. Don't believe it? Check out what the author's believe about predestination in their book; THEY BELIEVE IT. Contradiction eh?
On 218 they said, "we agree that God could have created a world in which he precisely controlled and determine all things, including the choices of human hearts. But we believe such a world would make true human love impossible" and cutting the author's off... WHO CARES WHAT YOU BELIEVE. What's the Bible say though? But moving on they said, "True human love requires libertarian freedom." UM, say what about fluffy clouds? Let's get high!
On 219: "When love is subordinated to will, then the fatherhood of God, which is emphasized in the Trinity..."
Excuse me? What magical verses are they citing? 1. Jesus was not always God's son. So what, God was unfatherly and unloving at that point? What sickening ranting. 2. Again, where is the recognition of God's eternal hate and disgust for sin? Fluffy clouds, let's all get high and forget that God hates sin. 3. Got nothing to do with a misunderstanding of the trinity except by the author's misunderstanding of it and whoever else believes their nonsense.
You can instantly tell this book is a failure by going to the index to look up Tulip, which incredibly, their book which is anti-Calvin themed DOES NOT MENTION. I wonder why?: Because their is nothing wrong with Tulip and they know it.
Another stupid tactic they used, very stupid, was to pick on R.C. Sproul's "vague", they said, explanation about God's control or flawed. Dudes, who cares. People make mistakes that includes people on your side and ours, Christians don't explain things perfectly, big duh, again, what's the Bible say. Sproul didn't write the Bible, let's go to the Bible okay guys?
Page 219 (from the same sentence as the one I quoted last): "takes a back seat to the image of God as King or Ruler." *Shakes head negatively*. See, arminiasts admitted it. Always goes back to the focus on their hatred of God as King and Ruler, always. They detest the thought that God is King and Ruler. And Jesus' response?:
"But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them--bring them here and kill them in front of me." - Luke 19:27
Want to die a shameful death. Want to be condemned as a divider of the brethren, as divisive? Not me.
Nice treatment of the debate.......2007-03-15
Buy Why I Am Not an Arminian to balance the debate. We used both books as textbooks in a Bible study class.
The Philosophy of Calvinism.......2007-01-20
'Why I Am Not A Calvinist' is not so much a statement of Arminian theology as it is a flat-out rebuttal to Calvinism (hence, the title).
A number of reviewers have complained against an "over-philosophising" current which they seem to sense is present in this book. Some may be shocked, however, to discover that the Calvinian system is built on, and supported by, numerous philosophical dogmas. The authors of this title seek to expose this, recognising the essentiality for the student of the Arminian/Calvinian debate to truly grasp the "blik" (ie, a basic presupposition or stance) that reinforces both theologies.
The first chapter, "Approaching the Bible", (p. 21-43) is a most fitting introduction to the book. The main problem is, as another reviewer has previously mentioned, it is simply too long (especially for a two hundred twenty page book).
Chapter ii, "Engaging the Bible", contains an excellent overview of an Arminian interpretation, (but by no means the only Arminian interpretation), of Romans ix through xi. The authors also treat their readers with a splendid analogy of prevenient grace earlier in the chapter.
In chapter iii, "Calvinism and the Nature of Human Freedom", co-author Jerry L. Walls examines the philosophical undergirdings of Arminianism, and specifically Calvinism, regarding the nature of free will (particularly the competing models of compatibilism and libertarian freedom of will). While some may object to this approach, Walls believes that understanding this is pivotal to grasping the key differences that lie between Calvinism and Arminianism. I think he is correct.
In the fourth chapter, the authors spell out a Calvinian conception of divine sovereignty, along with some of the implications that it entails.
Chapter v exposes a great deal of Calvinian double-talk and their inconsistencies, especially how many Calvinists tend to conveniently interchange between compatibilist and libertarian free will to suit their purpose at the moment on a given subject (eg, Adam's sin and subsequent fall).
In the sixth and final chapter, Walls and Dongell write of the practical implications of Calvinian theology. They argue that one's theology ought to work out also very practically in one's life, for what one believes ought to affect what one does, and so on (take the profession of being a pastor, for example). The authors then proceed in demonstrating how many Calvinists oftentimes do not quite "live up" to their theology in practise, or everyday life.
Overall, this is a very engaging book, but again, I recommend it more as a polemical (yet irenic) work against Calvinism than an apologetic for, or statement of, Arminianism. For an acute and concise presentation of Arminianism, 'Arminian Theology' by Roger E. Olson has already ably accomplished the task, by providing an excellent source for those in the dark regarding Arminianism.
GREAT Book!!!.......2006-10-25
This book is excellent! Not only are a number of compelling biblical reasons provided against Calvinism, a number of relevant philosophical arguments are raised against it as well. I've noticed that a number of the reviews impugn the value of such philosophical reflections, insisting that everything be settled on biblical exegetical grounds. Despite the high view of the Bible such an insistence demonstrates, I think that's a little simple-minded, in all honesty. Suppose the Bible told us to lie. Should our attitude in such a case be that lying is okay? Should we ignore our moral intuitions to the contrary just because the Bible said so? How would we ground our conviction in the truth of the Bible when it shows such disregard for the truth? On what principled grounds would we choose to believe in the Bible before some other piece of alleged revelation? God presumably gives us adequate evidence and philosophical resources to be justified to believe in scriptural authority. But if so, why not believe he can also help us interpret the Bible correctly by giving us the right philosophical assumptions to bring to our study? If exegesis reveals contradictions in scripture or teachings that stand at odds with inviolable moral intuitions, then either the exegesis is wrong or we have grounds for rejecting the veracity of the Bible.
Calvinism is based on a bad reading of the Bible. Little wonder C.S. Lewis characterized it as sneaking a bad god in through the back door. And no mystery why Calvinism can be shown predicated on such bad philosophy as the following: continuing to call God "good" when he unconditionally elects some to hell; and such a "good God" COULD have saved everyone without violating anyone's free will on their view!; Calvinists call "biblical tensions" or paradoxes what are just the contradictory elements in their own faulty interpretations of scripture; Calvinists engage in the most egregious forms of equivocation, stretching language beyond its breaking point, by calling their conceptions of God good when there's nothing recognizably good about it; Calvinists say we deserve hell while at the same time casting God as the sufficient cause of all of our actions....in other words.....they embrace a compatibilist view of freedom, notoriously inadequate to undergird ascriptions of deep moral responsibility, yet they think it adequate for someone to be relegated to an eternal hell! Example after example of confusion, evasion, and dishonesty characterize Reformed theology.
It's a shame that segments of the church refuse to see this and insist on embracing such a warped view of God. It's clear that Augustine overstated the implications of divine sovereignty in his debates with the Pelagians, yet his mistake has become virtually sacrosanct theology in the minds of Calvinists today. (And ironically, the Calvinist refusal to believe God has the prerogative to grant human beings real libertarian freedom LIMITS God's sovereignty!) What's at issue isn't the Christian standing of Calvinists. Nonetheless, hard-edged Calvinism is horrible theology that's done untold damage to the witness of the church in this world, casting God as nothing less than monstrous, rendering Gospel preaching irrelevant, making God the author of sin, however much Calvinists bristle at such charges.
Defenders of Calvinism need to answer this book, not act like they can neatly avoid bringing to bear our deepest moral intuitions and philosophical reflections in exegesis. Their own biblical analysis is rife with philosophical assumptions of their own, few of which can be defended with much cogency. This book serves as both a powerful, gracious biblical and philosophical corrective to such theology.
Book Description
The veil has been lifted.
Discover the Gospel truth about the most myth-understood woman of the New Testament. Was Mary Magdalene a prostitute? An adulteress? The wife of Jesus? An ancient goddess? Liz Curtis Higgs, best-selling author of Bad Girls of the Bible and Really Bad Girls of the Bible, combines heartfelt contemporary fiction with extensive biblical research to bring to life the real Mary Magdalene of the Bible.
With her own eyes, she saw him.
With her own ears, she heard him.
With her own hands, she touched him.
Unveiling Mary Magdalene opens with the fictional journey of Mary Margaret Delaney, a madwoman adrift in modern Chicago. Her moving story, closely paralleling the biblical account, is followed by a verse-by-verse study of the first-century Mary Magdalene and her life-changing encounters with the Christ.
“Liz has done it again! What hope and promise this will bring.”
— Kay Arthur
“The unforgettable portrait of a courageous woman.”
— Rebecca St. James
Customer Reviews:
A dose of encouraging reality.......2007-01-11
Wow! This book is fabulous. Written with typical Liz humor and deep insight, this book is a must for anyone who wants to really understand Mary Magdalene. Liz lets us know why most of our perceptions about Mary Magdalene are erroneous. She also has that wonderful ability to modernize the story for us. We see a fictional modern woman and situation juxtaposed against the scriptural Mary. This really brings Mary to life. If you've read the DaVinci Code, you'll want to compare the two Marys represented.
I can also recommend Bad Girls of the Bible and Really Bad Girls of the Bible by the same author, who describes herself as a "former bad girl." Funny, moving, and meaningful.
terrific two-part combo.......2004-05-28
?The Story?. On an icy Chicago day, Pastor Jake Stauros of Calvary Fellowship sees the desperate mumbling woman in her Goodwill wardrobe struggling to walk so he offered her help. Mary Margaret Delaney pretends to ignore his kindness and just keeps slipping, and incoherently saying ?Luna?. Jake truly wants to help her, but wonders how to reach Mary Margaret without a miracle as she acts as if demons possess her mind, and soul. Yet with God?s help he has assisted several rag tag muffins now part of the Calvary Fellowship. He will continue to pray for Mary Margaret, show her she is not alone, and optimistically hope she will join them. Mary Margaret?s story is a brilliantly written modern day parable paralleling that of Mary Magdalene so that readers can place a contemporary context on perhaps the bible?s ?baddest girl?.
?The Study?. Will the real Mary Magdalene stand up? Was she a courageous individual who followed Jesus and quickly became more than just a believer, but the person who was honored with being the first to see his reappearance? Was she a prostitute, Jesus? earthly lover or was that bad PR by a male dominated medieval church? Was she possessed by demons? Liz Curtis Higgs answers all the above and more with a thought provoking, well researched look at the New Testament. Using specific references that are easy to follow, Ms. Higgs furbishes a powerful intriguing case of who was the real Mary Magdalene.
UNVEILING MARY MAGDALENE is a terrific two-part combo that provides a wonderful novelette with an insightful biblical study that enables the audience to come away with a full understanding of one of the bible?s ?goodest? girls.
Harriet Klausner
Average customer rating:
- Here's 37 books you won't find in your NT
- Beyond Christ
- Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament
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Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament
Bart D. Ehrman
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ASIN: 0195141822 |
Book Description
We may think of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament as the only sacred writings of the early Christians, but this is not at all the case. Lost Scriptures offers an anthology of up-to-date and readable translations of many non-canonical writings from the first centuries after Christ--texts that have been for the most part lost or neglected for almost two millennia. Here is an array of remarkably varied writings from early Christian groups whose visions of Jesus differ dramatically from our contemporary understanding. Readers will find Gospels supposedly authored by the apostle Philip, James the brother of Jesus, Mary Magdalen, and others. There are Acts originally ascribed to John and to Thecla, Paul's female companion; there are Epistles allegedly written by Paul to the Roman philosopher Seneca. And there is an apocalypse by Simon Peter that offers a guided tour of the afterlife, both the glorious ecstasies of the saints and the horrendous torments of the damned, and an Epistle by Titus, a companion of Paul, which argues page after page against sexual love, even within marriage, on the grounds that physical intimacy leads to damnation. In all, the anthology includes fifteen Gospels, five non-canonical Acts of the Apostles, thirteen Epistles, a number of Apocalypes and Secret Books, and several Canon lists. Ehrman has included a general introduction, plus brief introductions to each piece. Lost Scriptures gives readers a vivid picture of the range of beliefs that battled each other in the first centuries of the Christian era. It is an essential resource for anyone interested in the Bible or the early Church.
Customer Reviews:
Here's 37 books you won't find in your NT.......2007-06-28
The Greek Old Testament has a number of books not included in the Hebrew because Jews excluded them believing they were not divine. These books are referred to as Apocrypha and I have a Revised Standard Version (RSV) with these books. I've read them and its not hard to see why they were excluded but I was not aware the same thing happened in the New Testament. These books were excluded because the Catholic Church considered them not Christian. I was curious about what they may have said so I bought this book to find out and if you're like me I would definitely recommend it. Ehram notes in his General Introduction this book is just a reference for it contains the biblical books excluded from the New Testament in his book "Lost Christianities: The Battle For Scriptures And The Faiths We Never Knew" he goes into the history and the people that surrounded these non-canonical texts and what happened to them. I think Amazon allows you to buy both as a set I only bought this text because I was curious about what these texts said.
Ehram's book contains around 37 non-canonical scriptures and he includes an English translation of the texts where he can and some of these are his own work. A complete text is provided for: the gospel according to Thomas, Peter, Mary, Philip, and the gospel of the Saviour which is mostly untranslatable. He can't include the text for the books of the Gospel of Nazareans, Ebionites, Hebrews, Egyptians, and the Unknown gospel because its been lost but he compares and contrasts them with other books. I like how he doesn't judge the text he just tells us what they say and how they differ. The Secret Gospel of Mark is interesting because it seems to be additions to the standard gospel since there is two to three endings I was not surprised. There are many other books but you can see them all by using Amazon's "Search inside this book feature" although its for an older edition this book has the same books that are in that edition.
I was shocked and fascinated by this book. Its really exciting to be able to see what the first to second century Christians believed and how they perceived Christ. I thank Ephram for this book and in retrospect I am so glad I bought it. Out of all the books he includes in this volume I would have to say my favorite was the gospel according to Thomas I don't know why the Christian Church chose to exclude this book because I think it really should be in the Holy Bible. What I liked so much about Thomas' gospel is that it sort of summarizes the teachings of Jesus and I am disappointed now that I've read it that this text was left out of the Holy Bible.
Beyond Christ.......2007-05-18
Admittedly I am a conspiracy theorist by nature so given the depth of this book and the controversial (and somestimes contradictive) writings of these books I can understand the Vatican and Roman Catholic Churches reasoning for denying entry of some of these books into the King James Version of the Bible. However, I believe these books only help to DEEPEN my beliefs and BROADEN my understanding, NOT dis spell or deny them. As the good book says, "seek the truth and truth will find you."
Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament.......2007-05-16
It is a very interesting book. There's a reason many of these books aren't in the New Testament but other books are of great value
Good Book.......2007-03-29
If you have an interest in the scriptures and as I do in what we are not told this is a good starting point. I have not read the whole book from cover to cover but have picked my way through choosing what interested me. Spin is not a twenty-first century phenomena it would seem that it was very much part of the formation of the Bible as we know it today, this book gives you an insight and possibly an idea that the Christen religion could have been very different not to mention the world in which we live in today.
Good book.......2007-03-05
This book was very good. Some of the texts I found a bit boring,others were facinating. I recommend this book as a way to better understand and enrich your faith
Book Description
Nobody understands the issues women face better than dynamic Bible teacher and national speaker Paula White, host of a national television program, who crosses multiracial and gender lines with her messages. Many of these listeners are women who identify with Paula's straight-forward and candid approach as she shares from what she has experienced in life. Her openness, integrity, and honesty are what draw men and women to her. In this book, Paula highlights 10 women in the Bible and shows how God transformed their lives and can transform anyone's life who is seeking Him and the answers he provides throughout Scripture.
Customer Reviews:
Paula White is the antithesis of true Christianity....................................2007-09-25
Were you able to sum up Paula White's understanding of God it would actually form a black hole sucking up knowledge from those nearby. Jesus spoke of her in scripture noting that she takes away the keys to knowledge and is willing to cross land and sea to make disciples, then makes them twice the daughter of hell that she is. For those of you who are willingly sucked into her lust for material wealth know this: You are culpable before God for following this woman. For those not yet deceived by her, heed this warning seriously. She leads you on the paths of destruction.
Paula and Randy to Divorce.......2007-09-15
Paula and Randy White recently announced that they would be divorcing. Please pray for them and continue to support Paula White Ministries.
Anyhow, this book was written when Paula and Randy were happily married (and has no information about their divorce). The book is excellent and very well written. I have read through the entire work book for "Deal With It" and am now reading the book. It's excellent, fascinating, entertaining, and makes a lot of great points. Putting the past behind us is mandatory if we are to press forward and succeed. For those reviewers who are giving this book bad reviews, you are obviously looking at it with a negative perspective. The whole purpose of the book is to get you out of "living in your past" and moving on to "the plan that God has for your life." This book is very well written, there isn't anything misleading about it, Paula is honest, and if you will read this book without having a pre-judgment against it because you think Paula White is rich and famous, then maybe you would actually get something out of it. Paula works hard, she deserves everything she has, and just because you are jealous that you aren't rich does not mean that you should give Paula's book a bad review. If you would quit being negative and started being positive, may all of you who gave this book a bad review could actually get somewhere in life.
Deal with it?.......2007-08-26
How about Paula's marriage? Couldn't she deal with that? Apparently not, seeing how she is getting divorced. Malachi 2:16 clearly says that God hates divorce. Matthew 5:32 and 19:9 says that Paula White has now become an adulteress. 1 Timothy 3:2 says that a pastor should be blameless. The Bible is also clear that a woman is never to have the role of pastor (1 Corinthians 14:34-35 and 1 Timothy 2:11-12).
That being said, Mrs. White should resign her position immediately and leave the ministry full-time. If she stays, which I'm sure she will find some justification to do so, she will be a disobedient pastor. What a shame that someone who professes Christianity would let her pride get in the way of what God says.
Consumer False Christianity.......2007-05-20
Paula White is but another "peddler" of the pseudo-Gospel (that is false Gospel for the fools who read her book) in America. The false Gospel that thinks Jesus is some cosmic genie in the sky, or a slot machine waiting for his lever to be pulled.
But the people who listen to false teacher such as Paula White are those who are consumed by a truncated and narccistic world view that does not recognize that God is with the poor in their card board boxes, God is with the poor 2 billion in our world who don't have clean drinking water. God is not interested in you have a happy life. God is interested in you following his Son, Jesus, who is Lord over the whole cosmos. This Jesus calls all who would follow to a discipleship that is marked by a path of suffering, joy, desperation, confidence, and most of all a way of living that pours oneself out to the abandoned and vulnerable of the world.
People were not crucified in the 1st century for preaching a gospel about individual hapiness. The problem is that most of American citizens are ignorant fools, drunk on materialism. READ Matthew 24 and 25 and then look at Paula's false Gospel!
Just what I expected.......2007-01-15
Paula White is a dyanmic minister and her book did not dissapoint. It is a must read for women of all walks of life and men to.
Book Description
Moloney's literary-historical commentary offers a close reading of the final section of the Gospel of John, taking the reader on a journey through Jesus' final night and his ministry's climax in passion, death, and resurrection. Concluding his unique trilogy, Moloney shows how the reader is led on a journey of faith by the Gospel writer, culminating in belief in Jesus Christ and having life in his name, despite his absence.
Amazon.com
God Was in This Place & I, I Did Not Know is about seven different ways to read the Bible verse quoted in its title (Genesis 28:16). The titular verse is Jacob's exclamation upon awakening from his vision of angels ascending and descending a ladder to heaven. For centuries, readers have tried to imagine what the angels were trying to tell Jacob; Rabbi Lawrence Kushner has now surveyed some of the most illuminating reflections on that question. The book's sources range from Shmuel bar Nachmnani in third-century Palestine, to Hannah Rachel Werbermacher of Ludomir, who lived in 18th-century Poland. Kushner blends these rabbinic interpretations with his own reflections on Jacob's vision in a strong, impassioned style. God Was in This Place is not only about the Jacob story, however; it is, most importantly, a brilliant book about the way that Scripture offers meaning: "Biblical words shatter and rearrange themselves before our sustained gaze," Kushner writes. "As we read in Jeremiah, 'My word is like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that shatters the rock.'" --Michael Joseph Gross
Book Description
Who am I? Who is God? Kushner creates inspiring interpretations of Jacob s dream in Genesis, opening a window into Jewish spirituality for people of all faiths and backgrounds.
Jacob lies down in the desert and dreams that angels are ascending and descending a ladder to heaven. For thousands of years, people have tried to listen to what messengers told Jacob in one of the great mystical encounters in Western religion. In a fascinating blend of scholarship, imagination, psychology, and history, seven Jewish spiritual masters ask and answer fundamental questions of human experience.
Customer Reviews:
Poetic and Intelligent.......2006-04-08
Kushner walks us through the exegetical vantage points of seven different rabbis, each looking at the same text. Jacob awakes from a dream about a ladder (Gen 28:16), and declares that he has experienced God. Kushner then poetically imagines the seven rabbis ascending and descending the ladder to teach us how to read the text. What results is a beautifully poetic look at the biblical text itself, a clever mode of teaching us Jewish history and midrash, and a fully postmodern system of acknowledging the existence of multiple perspectives. As with Kushner's other works (cf. Jewish Spirituality) it evolves into a mystical climax in which the reader and text are equated.
The seven are:
1. Rashi (Rabbi Shelomo ben Yitzhaki, @1050). He calls us to focus on the literal text without distraction, without background noise. He says that the real miracle of the burning bush required Moses to pay attention for more than a minute to realize that it was not burning (p. 24).
2. Kotzk (Menachem Mendl of Kotzk, 1787-1859). He said that we needed to destroy our egos and should begin by calling ourselves liars (p. 38, 54). We should do this through gemilut hasidim, acts of selflessness (p. 51). Kotzk later in life condemned himself to solitude, only occasionally stepping onto his balcony to yell into the crowd, "You are all liars!"
3. Ludomir (Hannah Rachel Werbermacher, 1805-1892). The only woman on the list, she called us to see that God was there even in the midst of evil. Teaching men through a half open door (p. 58), she taught them that God does not intervene in human affairs without human agency (p. 62). In fact, we are to assume that the fall in the garden was an act of God. God was present with Jacob in the angel that wrestled with him.
4. Mezritch (Dov baer of Mezritch, d. 1772). He says that the goal of the religious life is devekut, cleaving to God (p. 84). Forced to follow a monk whose job it is to wash dishes (p. 87), he discovers that the purpose of life is to escape self-reflection to throw one's self whole-heartedly into one's role. Otherwise, as in a game of racquetball (p. 89), the self is always distracted when it focuses on anything other than its purpose. The self then becomes fragmented, with one part looking back at the rest to analyze its existence. "Too much concentration can be worse than none at all" (p. 90). We should be like the husband whose quest it is to find the right food for the pregnant wife in the middle of the night (p. 103). The "I did not know" of the Genesis text really refers to not paying attention to the "I."
5. Nachmani (Samuel bar Nachmani, late 3rd c.). He sees in the story the issue of Jacob needing to become part of history, to take hold of history and enter into it.
6. De Leon (Moses be Shem Tov de Leon, 1240-1305). De Leon wrote out a book called the Zohar (p. 130), and though he attributed it to a long-dead rabbi, he seems to have produced it himself. He says that the we are to accept who we are and put aside the veil of deceptive pseudo-identities. God's primary activity is to free us from the slavery to those self-deceptions. If God had a business card, the subline would read, "Frees slaves," and then "Call anytime" (p. 144). God is the sense of self, the "I," the Anochi, which is free.
7. Ostropol (Shimson ben Pesach Ostropoler, d. 1648). He would say that it should be read, "God was in this place and I did not know it was i." We are somehow an indispensable part of God (p. 173). To look at your own hands is to look at the hands of God (p. 174). Somehow Abraham's father Terah was redeemed by the activities of Abraham himself. There is an old legend of Abraham smashing Terah's idols, and the conclusion is that the idolatries are redeemed by the son who is a part of him.
The conclusion is that the text can be read legitimately through multiple lenses, and as we do so, our eyes are increasingly opened by and to the text. God may speak in any number of ways through our interaction with the text.
It's a brilliant book, unlike most, both poetic and intelligent.
A Recommendation for Christians.......2006-02-10
I discovered this book in a search for something new about the story of Jacob to enhance a short sermon. The book drew me into the world of 2500 years of Torah scholarship; into its great traditions of exposition, argument and story telling.
The clear way in which Rabbi Kushner presents great thoughts of Torah scholars, his writing style, and love of their wisdom, allow the reader to "be" at once a yeshiva student and a friend worthy of intimate conversation. The chapter on De Leon - Rabbi Luria - which presents the 10 commandments as a circular system, offers unique insight.
Rabbi Kushner's longing for the Messiah, which is so evident in his writing has added much to my understanding of my own faith.
Rabbi Kushner's liberal use of story to explain on many levels that which is difficult to explain at all sheds a new light on the "parables" of Jesus
I eagerly seek out any word of a new book. It is a blessing that when other baby boomers were rejecting their faith and their heritage, Lawrence Kushner was embracing his, and doing all the hard work with the result that his readers are drawn to the Light. He is my most precious spiritual mentor.
Jewish Spirituality for Anyone!!.......2005-03-07
Jewish Spirituality is a place that many of the emerging churches are exporing. This book was not written to give answeres but to prod you to ask more questions. It also causes one to not think that there is only one interpretation of a text. There are many, so explore them all and see what God shows you.
Climbing the rungs.......2003-06-06
The title of this book, `God was in the Place, & I, i Did not Know', may seem a bit cumbersome (and even, to some, looks like it has a typographical error. However, Rabbi Lawrence Kushner draws this title from the Torah, the book of Genesis to be precise. It is the exclamation of Jacob who, upon waking from his dream about the ladder connecting heaven and earth, makes a startling realisation about the reality of the seemingly mundane and ordinary place where he had stopped for the night.
In the prologue, Kushner develops an exegesis and hermeneutic of Genesis 28:16 more fully, and in so doing, illustrates many of the problems we regularly encounter, both in reading scripture as well as in interpreting daily life experience. He places this story in strong connection with the ordinary, even relating the angels on the ladder to common humanity:
`There is another, even more obvious interpretation. The angels did not reside in heaven at all. They lived on earth. They were ordinary human beings. And, like ordinary human beings, they shuttled back and forth between heaven and earth. The trick is to remember, after you descend, what you understood when you were high on the ladder.'
Kushner examines the way in which sages have interpreted this passage, and provides insights into history, psychology, philosophy, and scriptural study in the process. Each interpretation has had what one might call a personal conversation and experience with Jacob. In fact, each of these interpreters is portrayed as being on the ladder, rising and descending. The text is structured in this way. The interpreters are:
+Rashi
Schelomo ben Yitzhaki, Rashi
The key word for this interpretation is awareness. This is very important for making the kind of realisation that Jacob made. It is very important for us as we perceive the presence of God in our own lives.
If I had known God was here, I wouldn't have gone to sleep.
+Kotzk
Menachem Mendl of Kotzk
The key concept here is egotism. Only by stripping away the ego can one begin to understand the presence and the personality of God.
God was here because I was able to subdue my ego.
+Ludomir
Hannah Rachel Werbermacher, the Maid of Ludomir
A remarkable woman, a teacher of the Hasidim (who listened to her teaching through a half-open door, so as to preserve distance, and perhaps preserve a fiction that they were not in fact being taught by a woman), whose insight gave her access to the other side, or the many other sides, of stories being considered.
God is present, even in the midst of evil.
+Mezritch
Dov Baer, the Maggid of Mezritch
The word Maggid means 'storyteller'. Through the stories, here the key is self-reflection, to find meaning in the innermost being, to find that still, small voice that can only speak in silence and the absence of our own activity.
God was here because I stopped being aware of myself.
+Nachmani
Shmuel bar Machmani
Who was Jacob, and why should he know this? Who is God, and why should God do this? These are questions that are historical as much as theological or psychological, and it is in our history and God's history that we find meaning and identity.
I could have climbed this ladder of history.
+De Leon
Moses ben Shem Tov de Leon
A remarkable book, lost for a time, whose existence was denied even by Moses de Leon's widow, the Zohar, gives astonishing insight into the interior of God, reality, and our selves, and how to find a deep connection that is always present and never finished. Attributed to another author, Shimon bar Yohai, Kushner speculates that perhaps they shared the same soul. The completeness of the self of the universe connects through Jacob's story here.
I is the Lord your God
+Ostropol
Shimshon ben Pesach Ostropoler
Beyond the question and awareness of the self of God and the self of the universe is the self, basic and simple, complex and intricate. Rabbi Shimshon put names to the kelipot, the broken shards of creation. We are all a part of a whole, a broken piece in and of ourselves. Our awareness of this helps begin the process of reunion.
I didn't know that my name was part of God's name
Each interpreter's chapter stands on its own merits, but each is connected to the other, and to a wider body of interpretation and scholarship, by the use of side notes and references done in (what I would describe as being) a proto-talmudic structure. The Talmud has been described by some as one of the world's first hypertexts, with cross-links and chains that lead through the text -- this book does similar linking.
Rabbi Kushner concludes by linking all the stories to the reader:
`Each person has a Torah, unique to that person, his or her innermost teaching. Some seem to know their Torahs very early in life and speak and sing them in a myriad of ways. Others spend their whole lives stammering, shaping and rehearsing them. Some are long, some are short. Some are intricate and poetic, others are only a few words, and still others can only be spoken through gesture and example. But every soul has a Torah.'
The relative place of self (both as an I and as an i) in God's life and universe becomes more apparent through these stories. Human beings are important, yet who can be important in relation to God? Yet, who is not important in relation to God? May this work help you discern where God is in your life, and what you are called to be.
The hand of God.......2001-07-16
As you have gathered from the main review, this book focuses on the meaning of just one verse in Genesis, when Jacob awoke from the ladder dream. Usually Rabbis pick up on a verse just a couple verses back where "the Angels of God were going up and down the ladder". The focus is that they start on Earth and go to Heaven - not the other way around.
This book is great because it is like there is a dialog accross the space-time continuumn with 7 Rabbis in different locations and centuries arguing about their 7 different interpretations.
One interpretation based on the fact that there are two "I's" in the verse spelled differently in Hebrew. It is that my Godlike "I" did not know God was present because my ego "i" was in the way. Jacob's chance to experience God was diminished because the ego "i" was ragiling off its commentary. This concept is similar to Buddism.
Kushner adds an 8th interpretaion in his prolouge - which I won't spoil by going into detail. I heard Kushner talk at a Synagouge in Austin, Texas and he summarized his interpretation by finishing, "Hold up your hands before your eyes. You are looking at the hands of God."
A great book on modern Jewish mystism.
Book Description
Is God a gay-hating ogre? This author\'s research demonstrates that the Bible does not condemn homosexuality as a consensual life-style. Find out what the Bible really says about homosexuality.
Customer Reviews:
God Is Not A Homophobe.......2007-05-20
The book is very informative and objective allowing you to either agree on the facts or disagree. I am well pleased with the book and have recommended it to others who need to know how to study the Bible properly and understand what is written in the context that it is written.
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