Recommendations based on "Future of Justification: A Response to N. T. Wright"

Devotional Classics: Revised Edition is an updated and expanded edition of Renovaré's companion to the devotional life. Edited by Richard J. Foster and James Bryan Smith, this version incorporates all six traditions, or "streams," that comprise a healthy and holistic life of Christian faith. The fifty-two selections in Devotional Classics have been organized to introduce the reader to the great Christian devotional writers over the course of one year, through an introduction and meditation by Foster, a related biblical passage, discussion questions, and individual and group exercises. Devotional Classics is indispensable for those looking for a deeper and more balanced spiritual life.

Fruitful ministry in the century must embrace the unavoidable reality of the city.  A Center Church theological vision affirms that center cities are wonderful, strategic, and underserved places for gospel ministry and recognizes that virtually all ministry contexts are increasingly shared by urban and global forces. Regardless of your particular cultural or geographical context, you will need to consider the city when forming a theological vision that engages the people you are trying to reach.    Churches and ministries that flourish in urban and cultural centers are marked by what we call “city vision.”  This eBook contains the fourth part of Center Church, “City Vision.” In it, Keller examines the characteristics that mark churches and ministries that flourish in urban and cultural centers.  He examines the key characteristics of city vision that are based in an understanding of how the city develops as a theme throughout Scripture, from its anti-God origins, to its strategic importance for mission, to its culmination and redemption in glory.  Most important, a city vision will give us a genuine love for the place we are called to reach with the gospel, rather than hostility or indifference toward it.

Jesus is always at work and active...Follow Dr. Jeremiah through the gospel of Mark in a chapter-by-chapter study that will help you understand what it meant to the people at the time it was written, and what it means to Christians today.Mark's gospel was likely the first written record of the life of Jesus Christ, and it's full of energy and action. The word immediately appears so often in the text that it's hard not to get caught up in the pace of the narrative as Jesus moves to establish his kingdom in a way that was completely unanticipated.However, Mark also begins his account with words from Isaiah the prophet, making it (immediately) clear that—had the religious leaders of the time been paying attention—they might have been a little more prepared for the arrival of the Messiah and for everything that happened next...Each of this study's twelve lessons is clearly organized to include: Getting Started: An opening question to introduce you to the lesson. Setting the Stage: A short reflection to explain the context of the study. Exploring the Text: The Scripture reading for the lesson with related study questions. Reviewing the Story: Questions to help you identify key points in the reading. Applying the Message: Questions to help you apply the key ideas to their lives. Reflecting on the Meaning: A closing reflection on the key teachings in the lesson.—ABOUT THE SERIES—The Jeremiah Bible Study Series captures Dr. David Jeremiah's forty-plus years of commitment in teaching the Word of God. In each study, you'll gain insights into the text, identify key stories and themes, and be challenged to apply the truths you uncover to your life. By the end of each study, you'll come away with a clear and memorable understanding of that Bible book.Each study also contains a Leader's Guide.

A considerable amount of public debate and media print has been devoted to the “war between science and religion.” In his accessible and eminently readable new book, Stephen M. Barr demonstrates that what is really at war with religion is not science itself, but a philosophy called scientific materialism. Modern Physics and Ancient Faith argues that the great discoveries of modern physics are more compatible with the central teachings of Christianity and Judaism about God, the cosmos, and the human soul than with the atheistic viewpoint of scientific materialism. Scientific materialism grew out of scientific discoveries made from the time of Copernicus up to the beginning of the twentieth century. These discoveries led many thoughtful people to the conclusion that the universe has no cause or purpose, that the human race is an accidental by-product of blind material forces, and that the ultimate reality is matter itself. Barr contends that the revolutionary discoveries of the twentieth century run counter to this line of thought. He uses five of these discoveries―the Big Bang theory, unified field theories, anthropic coincidences, Gödel’s Theorem in mathematics, and quantum theory―to cast serious doubt on the materialist’s view of the world and to give greater credence to Judeo-Christian claims about God and the universe. Written in clear language, Barr’s rigorous and fair text explains modern physics to general readers without oversimplification. Using the insights of modern physics, he reveals that modern scientific discoveries and religious faith are deeply consonant. Anyone with an interest in science and religion will find Modern Physics and Ancient Faith invaluable.

The authors of the New Testament regularly quote and allude to Old Testament passages that point to the presence, person, and work of Jesus. Jesus himself claimed that Moses wrote about him (John 5:46). And on the road to Emmaus, Jesus instructed the disciples from "Moses and all the prophets" regarding himself (Luke 24:27).Though Christians affirm that the Old Testament bears witness to Christ, how the Old Testament writers did this is a matter of extensive debate. Furthermore, Christian biblical scholars also debate the degree to which contemporary interpreters of the Bible can follow the hermeneutics of the New Testament authors in using the Old Testament to point to the person and work of Jesus Christ.Five Views on Christ in the Old Testament is the first book to bring together in conversation the major views on how the Old Testament points to Christ. Contributors and views include: The First Testament Priority View (John Goldingay) The Christotelic View (Tremper Longman III) The Redemptive-Historical Christocentric View (Jason DeRouchie) The Reception-Centered Intertextual View (Havilah Dharamraj) The Premodern View (Craig Carter)Each contributor presents their preferred methodology, showing readers how their interpretive approach best explains the biblical data. Additionally, authors provide case studies of various Old Testament passages that equip readers to better compare the strengths and weaknesses of each of author's approaches. This essential resource will help readers learn practical steps to help them read the Old Testament more faithfully as it testifies to Jesus the Messiah.

For Christians, the issues raised by the different views on creation and evolution are challenging. Can a "young earth" be reconciled with a universe that appears to be billions of years old? Does scientific evidence point to a God who designed the universe and life in all its complexity? Three Views on Creation and Evolution deals with these and similar concerns as it looks at three dominant schools of Christian thought. Proponents of young earth creationism, old earth creationism, and theistic evolution each present their different views, tell why the controversy is important, and describe the interplay between their understandings of science and theology. Each view is critiqued by various scholars, and the entire discussion is summarized by Phillip E. Johnson and Richard H. Bube. The Counterpoints series provides a forum for comparison and critique of different views on issues important to Christians. Counterpoints books address two categories: Church Life and Bible and Theology. Complete your library with other books in the Counterpoints series.

What if the most important word is the one in the middle? We often think of doubt as the opposite of faith, but could it actually strengthen our relationship with God? According to John Ortberg, best-selling author and pastor, the very nature of faith requires the presence of uncertainty. In this refreshingly candid look at a life of faith, he traces the line between belief and unbelief: less a dividing line between hostile camps than a razor's edge that runs through every soul. His findings point us toward the relief of being totally honest. Questions can expand our understanding, uncertainty can lead to trust, and honest faith can produce outrageous hope. Written from Ortberg's own struggle with faith and doubt, this book will challenge, comfort, and inspire you with the truth that God wants all of us---including our doubts.

Renowned biblical scholar Thomas Schreiner looks at the historical and biblical roots of the doctrine of justification and offers an updated defense of this pillar of Reformed theology.Reinvigorating one of the five great declarations of the Reformation—sola fide—Schreiner: Summarizes the history of the doctrine, looking at the early church and the writings of several of the Reformers. Walks readers through an examination of the key biblical texts in the Old and New Testament that support the Reformed understanding of justification. Discusses whether justification is transformative or forensic and introduces readers to some of the contemporary challenges to the Reformation teaching of sola fide, with particular attention to the new perspective on Paul.Five hundred years after the Reformation, the doctrine of justification by faith alone still needs to be understood and proclaimed. In Faith Alone you will learn how the rallying cry of “sola fide” is rooted in the Scriptures and how to understand this doctrine in a fresh way.—THE FIVE SOLAS—Historians and theologians have long recognized that at the heart of the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation were five declarations, often referred to as the "solas." These five statements summarize much of what the Reformation was about, and they distinguish Protestantism from other expressions of the Christian faith: that they place ultimate and final authority in the Scriptures, acknowledge the work of Christ alone as sufficient for redemption, recognize that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone, and seek to do all things for God’s glory.The Five Solas Series is more than a simple rehashing of these statements, but instead expounds upon the biblical reasoning behind them, leading to a more profound theological vision of our lives and callings as Christians and churches.

America's Book shows how the Bible decisively shaped American national history even as that history influenced the use of Scripture. It explores the rise of a strongly Protestant Bible civilization in the early United States that was then fractured by debates over slavery, contested by growing numbers of non-Protestant Americans (Catholics, Jews, agnostics), and torn apart by the Civil War.This first comprehensive history of the Bible in America explains why Tom Paine's anti-biblical tract The Age of Reason (1794) precipitated such dramatic effects, how innovations in printing by the American Bible Society created the nation's publishing industry, why Nat Turner's slave rebellion of 1831 and the bitter election of 1844 marked turning points in the nation's engagement with Scripture, and why Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson were so eager to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible.Noll's magisterial work highlights not only the centrality of the Bible for the nation's most influential religious figures (Methodist Francis Asbury, Richard Allen of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Catholic Bishop Francis Kenrick, Jewish scholar Solomon Schechter, agnostic Robert Ingersoll), but also why it was important for presidents like Abraham Lincoln; notable American women like Harriet Beecher Stowe, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Frances Willard; dedicated campaigners for civil rights like Frederick Douglass and Francis Grimké; lesser-known figures like Black authors Maria Stewart and Harriet Jacobs; and a host of others of high estate and low. The book also illustrates how the more religiously plural period from Reconstruction to the early twentieth century saw Scripture become a much more fragmented, though still significant, force in American culture, particularly as a source of hope and moral authority for Americans on both sides of the battle over white supremacy-both for those hoping to fight it, and for others seeking to justify it.

Writing Under The Pseudonym Of Johannes De Silentio, Kierkegaard Uses The Form Of A Dialectical Lyric To Present His Conception Of Faith. Abraham Is Portrayed As A Great Man, Who Chose To Sacrifice His Son, Isaac, In The Face Of Conflicting Expectations And In Defiance Of Any Conceivable Ethical Standard. The Infamous And Controversial 'teleological Suspension Of The Ethical' Challenged The Contemporary Views Of Hegel's Universal Moral System, And The Suffering Individual Must Alone Make A Choice 'on The Strength Of The Absurd'. Kierkegaard's Writings Have Inspired Both Modern Protestant Theology And Existentialism.