Echoes Of Jesus

New York Times bestselling books have taken the view that the oldest New Testament documents paint a very different picture to later copies. Others are of the opinion that the original gospel accounts were never intended to be historically accurate. Many people assume that the bias of the original New Testament authors distorted their recollections of Jesus, and Jesus' words were not put into written form for several decades, allowing distortion to occur. What would you say? What do you believe and why? Were Jesus' words recorded accurately by the gospel writers during Jesus' life & the making & copying of the New Testament? This highly readable journey of discovery considers gospel textual criticism, Christian historiography, archaeology, literacy & more. See evidence for the reliability of the recounting of Jesus as found in the Bible. This Christian apologetic book provides evidence in an engaging manner, following along a logical journey of discovery. When you've purchased and read this book you will: - understand how literate and historically aware the ancient civilisations were - appreciate how it was possible for the first disciples to accurately record Jesus' life and teachings - have a highly readable explanation of early Greek New Testament documents and know what they have to say about accuracy in copying - know the content and credibility of non-Christian ancient literature that comment on Jesus and the first Christians.

How did the words of Jesus influence the writing of 1 Peter? That is the question that is at the heart of this study. Of course, the answer is complicated by the fact that 1 Peter nowhere directly references the words of Jesus. Nevertheless, the impact of his words are evident throughout the letter. The first third of the book lays the foundation for answering the question by giving clear and concise criteria for identifying places where 1 Peter uses the words of Jesus. The rest of the book walks through the text of 1 Peter section by section, submitting each potential echo of Jesus's words to the criteria previously developed. The book concludes by considering how the words of Jesus influenced the themes and content of the letter.

The exodus—the story of God leading his chosen people out of slavery in Egypt—stands as a pivotal event in the Old Testament. But if you listen closely, you will hear echoes of this story of redemption all throughout God's Word. Using music as a metaphor, the authors point us to the recurring theme of the exodus throughout the entire symphony of Scripture, shedding light on the Bible's unified message of salvation and restoration that is at the heart of God's plan for the world.

The Levitical Day of Atonement was a day of penitence, confession, and judgment for Israelites of loyal character and a day of covenant renewal for the nation of Israel. On this day, sin was removed from the tabernacle through the application of sacrificial blood to its altars and compartments, as well as by the dismissal of the goat for Azazel, which carried all the community’s sin to a “barren land.” As it became ingrained in the veil of Jewish consciousness, the Day of Atonement underwent a “process of abstraction” over many centuries leading up to Second Temple times, when the Most Holy Place lay devoid of the ark of the covenant and its mercy seat. Continuing to reverberate in the Jewish imaginaire, the Day of Atonement was received by the authors of the New Testament, including John of Patmos, to whom its sacrificial typology provided irresistible motifs which they used to proclaim “the Christ event.” By utilizing a coherent intertextual approach, this book explores how John wove the Day of Atonement into the colorful literary tapestry of Revelation.

Journey back to the world of Jesus' day and take a historically- sound, culturally-accurate look at the Man, His ministry, and His message.

Are Jesus' words reflected in the pages of the New Testament? Many find it impossible to believe Jesus' words were recorded accurately because he did not write the New Testament himself and there were no mechanical or electronic methods of recording his teachings. Furthermore, surely the hand-copying over the centuries must have distorted the original manuscripts. This book presents evidence showing that the New Testament is an accurate portrayal of the life and teachings of Jesus, freeing the reader to accept the reliability of the message. The startling findings are covered in depth, yet without assuming the reader is familiar with Christianity or has significant background knowledge. Extensive research reveals the evidence itself, so that the reader can decide if the conclusions are reasonable. Echoes of Jesus is unique because it: · illustrates how literate and historically aware the ancient civilisations were before and during the life of Jesus * explains how it was possible for the first disciples to accurately record what Jesus taught and did * provides a highly readable explanation of ancient New Testament documents and what they have to say about accuracy in copying over the hundreds of years * discusses the content and credibility of non-Christian ancient literature that comment on Jesus and the first Christians.

The claim that the events of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection took place "according to the Scriptures" stands at the heart of the New Testament's message. All four canonical Gospels declare that the Torah and the Prophets and the Psalms mysteriously prefigure Jesus. The author of the Fourth Gospel states this claim succinctly: in his narrative, Jesus declares, "If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me" (John 5:46). Yet modern historical criticism characteristically judges that the New Testament's christological readings of Israel's Scripture misrepresent the original sense of the texts; this judgment forces fundamental questions to be asked: Why do the Gospel writers read the Scriptures in such surprising ways? Are their readings intelligible as coherent or persuasive interpretations of the Scriptures? Does Christian faith require the illegitimate theft of someone else's sacred texts? Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels answers these questions. Richard B. Hays chronicles the dramatically different ways the four Gospel writers interpreted Israel's Scripture and reveals that their readings were as complementary as they were faithful. In this long-awaited sequel to his Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul, Hays highlights the theological consequences of the Gospel writers' distinctive hermeneutical approaches and asks what it might mean for contemporary readers to attempt to read Scripture through the eyes of the Evangelists. In particular, Hays carefully describes the Evangelists' practice of figural reading--an imaginative and retrospective move that creates narrative continuity and wholeness. He shows how each Gospel artfully uses scriptural echoes to re-narrate Israel's story, to assert that Jesus is the embodiment of Israel's God, and to prod the church in its vocation to engage the pagan world. Hays shows how the Evangelists summon readers to a conversion of their imagination. The Evangelists' use of scriptural echo beckons readers to believe the extraordinary: that Jesus was Israel's Messiah, that Jesus is Israel's God, and that contemporary believers are still on mission. The Evangelists, according to Hays, are training our scriptural senses, calling readers to be better scriptural people by being better scriptural poets.

"Paul's letters, the earliest writings in the New Testament, are filled with allusions, images and quotations from the Old Testament. This book investigates Paul's appropriation of Scripture from a perspective based on recent literary-critical studies of intertextuality."--Amazon.com.