Encountering Paul

The Apostle Paul remains one of the most fascinating, enigmatic, and controversial figures of the early Christian Church. While much of his writing is liberating and inspiring, his words have also been used to support slavery, male domination, and religious exclusivism. Drawing on the literary and historical insights that have revolutionized contemporary Paul scholarship, Tatha Wiley skillfully separates the apostle's different voices, illuminating the authentic, historical Paul. Encountering Paul is a compelling look at this key figure in Christian history and belief.

Fascinating, controversial, yet enigmatic_the figure of the apostle Paul looms large in Christian history. But which Paul is the true one? Is it the Paul who proclaims our freedom in Christ or the Paul who demands that slaves obey their masters? The Paul who works closely with women evangelists, or the Paul who instructs women to submit to the rule of their husbands? Is it the deeply Jewish Paul or the Paul who rejects the Law? Drawing on the literary and historical insights that have revolutionized contemporary Paul scholarship, Tatha Wiley skillfully separates these different voices of Paul and their liberating and oppressive legacies. In her well-crafted work, Wiley not only illumines the authentic, historical Paul but also accounts for his influence in the history of slavery, male domination, and religious exclusivism. Encountering Paul is a welcome addition to the Come and See series.

In this updated edition of his successful textbook, a leading evangelical New Testament scholar offers a guide to the book of Romans that is informed by current scholarship and written at an accessible level. The new edition has been updated throughout and features a new interior design. After addressing introductory matters and laying the groundwork for reading Romans, Douglas Moo leads readers through the weighty argument of this significant book, highlighting key themes, clarifying difficult passages, and exploring the continuing relevance of Romans. As with other volumes in the well-received Encountering Biblical Studies series, this book is designed for the undergraduate classroom and includes pedagogical aids such as photos and sidebars. A test bank for professors is available through Baker Academic's Textbook eSources.

Personal, experiential faith is seldom given a seat at the table of academic theology and biblical studies. David Crump, however, with the assistance of Sren Kierkegaard's religious philosophy, claims that "authentic understanding, and thus authentic Christian commitment, can only arise from the personal commitment that is faith." Examining the various biblical, historical, cultural, theological, and academic hurdles demanding a truly Kierkegaardian leap of faith before one can meet the resurrected Jesus, Crump's Encountering Jesus, Encountering Scripture provides a very insightful discussion of key New Testament texts and issues revealing how Truth is discovered only through the subjectivity of faith.

Humans are lovers, and yet a good deal of pedagogical theory, Christian or otherwise, assumes an anthropology at odds with human nature, fixed in a model of humans as "thinking things." Turning to Augustine, or at least Augustine in conversation with Aquinas, Martin Heidegger, the overlooked Jesuit thinker Bernard Lonergan, and the important contemporary Charles Taylor, this book provides a normative vision for Christian higher education. A phenomenological reappropriation of human subjectivity reveals an authentic order to love, even when damaged by sin, and loves, made authentic by grace, allow the intellectually, morally, and religiously converted person to attain an integral unity. Properly understanding the integral relation between love and the fullness of human life overcomes the split between intellectual and moral formation, allowing transformed subjects--authentic lovers--to live, seek, and work towards the values of a certain kind of cosmopolitanism. Christian universities exist to make cosmopolitans, properly understood, namely, those persons capable of living authentically. In other words, this text gives a full-orbed account of human flourishing, rooted in a phenomenological account of the human as basis for the mission of the university.

The Bible includes any number of "tyrannical texts" that have proved to be profoundly oppressive in the lives of many people. Among them are Pauline texts that have circumscribed the lives and ministries of women throughout Christian history. What are people who honor Scripture to do with such texts, and what does it mean to speak of biblical authority in their presence? In Encountering God in Tyrannical Texts, Frances Taylor Gench provides strategies for engaging such texts with integrity- that is, without dismissing them, whitewashing them, or acquiescing to them-and as potential sources of edification for the church. Gench also facilitates reflection on the nature and authority of Scripture. Encountering God in Tyrannical Texts provides access to feminist scholarship that can inform preaching and teaching of problematic Pauline texts and encourages public engagement with them.

As a New Testament character of note, the Apostle Paul is second only to Jesus. In this companion volume to Encounters with Jesus, Ben and Ann Witherington draw on the biblical text and deep knowledge of historical context to bring alive the reactions of several contemporaries to the famous apostle and his words and deeds. Here we hear from friends and companions as well as passing acquaintances and outright enemies of Paul. Including many photos and illustrations, this book helps us to see Paul from many vivid points of view that all up add to a compelling and revealing portrait.

This bestselling textbook by leading missionary scholars offers an engaging introduction to the work of missions in the contemporary world. It provides a broad overview of the biblical, theological, and historical foundations for missions. It also considers personal and practical issues involved in becoming a missionary, the process of getting to the mission field, and contemporary challenges a mission worker must face. Sidebars, charts, maps, and numerous case studies are included. This new edition has been updated and revised throughout and features a full-color interior. Additional resources for professors and students are available online through Baker Academic's Textbook eSources.