From The Acts The Epistles And Revelation

From the Acts, the Epistles and Revelation is a message of meditation based on the Bible and written by James Russell Miller (20 March 1840 – 2 July 1912) was a popular Christian author, Editorial Superintendent of the Presbyterian Board of Publication, and pastor of several churches in Pennsylvania and Illinois. James Russell Miller was born near Frankfort Springs, Pennsylvania, on the banks of the Big Traverse, which according to his biographer, John T. Faris, is a merry little mill stream which drains one of the most beautiful valleys in the southern part of Beaver County. His parents were James Alexander Miller and Eleanor Creswell who were of Irish/Scottish stock. Miller was the second child of ten, but his older sister died before he was born. James and his sisters attended the district school in Hanover Township, Beaver County, Pennsylvania until, when James was about fourteen, his father moved to a farm near Calcutta, Ohio. The children then went to the district school during the short winters and worked on the farm during summer. In 1857, James entered Beaver Academy and in 1862 he progressed to Westminster College, Pennsylvania, which he graduated in June 1862. Then in the autumn of that year he entered the theological seminary of the United Presbyterian Church at Allegheny, Pennsylvania.

This is the third and final book in an informal set on the New Testament's use of the Old Testament, written by a recognized authority on the topic. The work covers several New Testament books that embody key developments in early Christian understanding of Jesus in light of the Old Testament. This quick and reliable resource orients students to the landscape before they read more advanced literature on the use of the Old Testament in later writings of the New Testament. The book can be used as a supplemental text in undergraduate or seminary New Testament introductory classes.

In clear English, using as much traditional biblical vocabulary as possible, and using between-the-verse notes where appropriate, the reader is able to discern the interaction in Acts among the Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, Herodians, Romans, native Jews, Hellenistic Jews, and Hebrew Christians, both native and Hellenistic. Peter's foundation and Paul's four journeys for the kerygma of the Kingdom of God are made easy to understand. James with his exhortive Decalogue on worldliness is shown to be the best written book in the NT. Jude, Jesus's other half brother, also shows genius as an author. John the theologian couples love to keeping God's commandments, while Peter, with authority, lays out the foundations of our faith. The multilevel metaphors of Revelation are explained in clear English. The story is shown to be the story of the Father and the Son with the power of the Holy Spirit interacting with four women: Jezebel, the wife of Yahweh, the Bride of Christ, and the Mother of Harlots. Notes reveal the reasons for and the timing of the Great Tribulation. The notes also discuss the timing of the Rapture and OT descriptions of the Anti-Christ.

One of the most prized Bible translations, the Confraternity edition of Challoner-Rheims, is presented here as a “Reader’s Bible,” offering the sacred words of Scripture in the form in which they were originally written – without all the verse numbers, section heads, comments, references, and footnotes that, although valuable to scholars, clutter up most Bibles today, drawing attention away from the meaning of the Sacred Text itself. The early Christians read “the inspired Word of God” without all those academic distractions. Now, with this Catholic Reader’s Bible, you finally can too. Instead of double columns that squeeze short lines of text up against each other, here you’ll find generous, single-column pages graced with handsome, readable type. For navigation purposes, the top of each page lists the range of verses on that page. Plus, this venerable eighteenth-century translation by Richard Challoner, Roman Catholic bishop of England, relies on the long-revered Douay-Rheims Bible and employs language that is more intelligible and familiar today – which is certainly a boon for those of us who open our Bibles not as scholars but as seekers yearning simply to come to know and to love God. If you’ve never read God’s Word in this way – as it was written – then you are in for an exciting and inspiring experience. The Catholic Reader’s Bible is perfect for brief devotional moments as well as for long, delightful hours of extended reading.

Acts is the sequel to Luke's gospel and tells the story of Jesus's followers during the 30 years after his death. It describes how the 12 apostles, formerly Jesus's disciples, spread the message of Christianity throughout the Mediterranean against a background of persecution. With an introduction by P.D. James