Leaving Egypt

Author and theologian Chuck DeGroat shows how our wilderness journey helps us face our fears, receive our new identity, experience transformation, and live into our newfound freedom.

"The Exodus story is your story. The Israelites' liberation from Egypt and journey to the promised land is one the Bible's most compelling narratives. But the Exodus isn't just a long-ago Bible story. We each find ourselves enslaved: to work, to destructive relationships, to food, to spending ... but beyond our personal Egypt lies God's promised land. Chuck DeGroat shows how our wilderness journey helps us face our fears, receive our new identity, experience transformation, and live into our newfound freedom. Discussion questions follow each chapter."--Publisher's website.

This richly colored memoir chronicles the exploits of a flamboyant Jewish family, from its bold arrival in cosmopolitan Alexandria to its defeated exodus three generations later. In elegant and witty prose, André Aciman introduces us to the marvelous eccentrics who shaped his life--Uncle Vili, the strutting daredevil, soldier, salesman, and spy; the two grandmothers, the Princess and the Saint, who gossip in six languages; Aunt Flora, the German refugee who warns that Jews lose everything "at least twice in their lives." And through it all, we come to know a boy who, even as he longs for a wider world, does not want to be led, forever, out of Egypt.

Biblical theology attempts to explore the theological coherence of the canonical witnesses; no serious Christian theology can overlook this issue. The essays in the present volume illustrate the complexity and richness of the conversation that results from attentive consideration of the question. In a time when some voices are calling for a moratorium on biblical theology or pronouncing its concerns obsolete, this collection of meaty essays demonstrates the continuing vitality and necessity of the enterprise. Richard B. Hays, George Washington Ivey Professor of New Testament, The Divinity School, Duke University, USA This volume on biblical theology jumps into the fray and poses the right kind of questions. It does not offer a single way forward. Several of the essays are quite fresh and provocative, breaking new ground (Bray, Reno); others set out the issues with clarity and grace (Bartholomew); others offer programmatic analysis (Webster; Bauckham); others offer a fresh angle of view (Chapman, Martin). The success of this series is in facing the challenge of disarray in biblical studies head-on and then modeling a variety of approaches to stimulate our reflection. Christopher Seitz, Professor of Old Testament and Theological Studies, St. Andrews University, UK

The Hebrew Scriptures consider the exodus from Egypt to be Israel’s formative and foundational event. Indeed, the Bible offers no other explanation for Israel’s origin as a people. It is also true that no contemporary record regarding a man named Moses or the Israelites generally, either living in or leaving Egypt has been found. Hence, many biblical scholars and archaeologists take a skeptical attitude, dismissing the exodus from the realm of history. However, the contributors to this volume are convinced that there is an alternative, more positive approach. Using textual and archaeological materials from the ancient Near East in a comparative way, in conjunction with the Torah’s narratives and with other biblical texts, the contributors to this volume (specialists in ancient Egypt, ancient Near Eastern culture and history, and biblical studies) maintain that the reports in the Hebrew Bible should not be cavalierly dismissed for ideological reasons but, rather, should be deemed to contain authentic memories.

One woman's journey out of lesbianism

A fitting tribute to the life and achievements of Donald P. Hansen, this collection includes contributions by Z. Bahrani, R. A. Fazzini, R. E. Freed, P. O. Harper, J. and D. Oates, D. O'Connor, E. L. Ochsenschlager, E. Holmes-Peck, W. H. Peck, H. Pittman, M. Van de Mieroop, M. S. Venit, K. Wilson, I. J. Winter, and many others.