Recommendations based on "Seven Types of Atheism"

Gain a thorough understanding of the competing views on the historicity, chronology, and theological implications of the exodus.The biblical account of the Israelite exodus from Egypt is one of the most enduring narratives ever told and is a foundational event for several world religions. It resonates across cultures with its timeless themes of redemption and deliverance. It is also the only explanation the Bible gives for Israel's origin.Despite its unique legacy, many scholars regard the exodus as fictitious or a cultural memory that may not be a historical event. Even among those who believe the exodus happened, there is no consensus regarding its date.Five Views on the Exodus brings together experts in the fields of biblical studies, Egyptology, and archaeology to discuss and debate the most vexing questions about the exodus. Each offers their own view and constructive responses to other leading views: Early Date: The Exodus Took Place in the Fifteenth Century BC (Scott Stripling) Late Date: A Historical Exodus in the Thirteenth Century BC (James K. Hoffmeier) A Hyksos Levite Led Exodus in the Time of Ramesses II (Peter Feinman) Alternative Late Date: The Exodus Took Place in the Twelfth Century BC (Gary A. Rendsburg) The Exodus as Cultural Memory: A Transformation of Historical Events (Ronald Hendel)The Counterpoints series presents a comparison and critique of scholarly views on topics important to Christians that are both fair-minded and respectful of the biblical text. Each volume is a one-stop reference that allows readers to evaluate the different positions on a specific issue and form their own, educated opinion.

In his magnificent classic, Chuck Colson shakes the church from its complacency with a penetrating look at the cost of being Christian. For those who have wondered whether there isn’t more to Christianity than what they have known—and for those who have never considered the question—Loving God points the way to faith’s cutting edge. Here is a compelling, probing look at the cost of discipleship and the meaning of the first and greatest commandment—one that will strum a deeper, truer chord within even as it strips away the trappings of shallow, cultural Christianity. “Looking for the complete volume on Christian living? This is it. And the title sums it up. If you desire life deep, rich, and meaningful, then it is simply Loving God.” Joni Eareckson Tada President, Joni and Friends

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.

Scholar and pastor Matthew Barrett retraces the historical and biblical roots of the doctrine that Scripture alone is the final and decisive authority for God's people. God's Word Alone is a decisive defense of the Bible as the inspired and inerrant Word of God.Revitalizing one of the five great declarations of the Reformation—sola Scriptura—Barrett: Analyzes what the idea of sola Scriptura is and what it entails, clarifying why the doctrine is truth and why it's so essential to Christianity. Surveys the development of this theme in the Reformation and traces the crisis that followed resulting in a shift away from the authority of Scripture. Shows that we need to recover a robust doctrine of Scripture's authority in the face of today's challenges and why a solid doctrinal foundation built on God's Word is the best hope for the future of the church.This book is an exploration of the past in order to better understand our present and the importance of reviving this indispensable doctrine for the Christian faith and church today.—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.

In 1987, an IRA bomb buried Gordon Wilson and his twenty-year-old daughter beneath five feet of rubble. Gordon alone survived. And forgave. He said of the bombers, " I have lost my daughter, but I bear no grudge . . . I shall pray, tonight and every night, that God will forgive them." His words caught the media's ears -- and out of one man's grief, the world got a glimpse of grace. Grace is the church's great distinctive. It's the one thing the world cannot duplicate, and the one thing it craves above all else -- for only grace can bring hope and transformation to a jaded world. In What's So Amazing About Grace? award-winning author Philip Yancey explores grace at street level. If grace is God's love for the undeserving, he asks, then what does it look like in action? And if Christians are its sole dispensers, then how are we doing at lavishing grace on a world that knows far more of cruelty and unforgiveness than it does of mercy? Yancey sets grace in the midst of life's stark images, tests its mettle against horrific "ungrace." Can grace survive in the midst of such atrocities as the Nazi holocaust? Can it triumph over the brutality of the Ku Klux Klan? Should any grace at all be shown to the likes of Jeffrey Dahmer, who killed and cannibalized seventeen young men? Grace does not excuse sin, says Yancey, but it treasures the sinner. True grace is shocking, scandalous. It shakes our conventions with its insistence on getting close to sinners and touching them with mercy and hope. It forgives the unfaithful spouse, the racist, the child abuser. It loves today's AIDS-ridden addict as much as the tax collector of Jesus' day. In his most personal and provocative book ever, Yancey offers compelling, true portraits of grace's life-changing power. He searches for its presence in his own life and in the church. He asks, How can Christians contend graciously with moral issues that threaten all they hold dear? And he challenges us to become living answers to a world that desperately wants to know, What's So Amazing About Grace?

A fresh, deeply biblical account of God's expanding grace and mercy, tracing how the Bible's narrative points to the full inclusion of LGBTQ people in Christian communitiesDiscussions of the Bible and human sexuality often focus on a scattered handful of specific passages. But arguments about this same set of verses have reached an impasse, two leading biblical scholars believe; these debates are missing the forest for the trees.In this learned and beautifully written book, Richard and Christopher Hays explore a more expansive way of listening to the overarching story that scripture tells. They remind us of a dynamic and gracious God who is willing to change his mind, consistently broadening his grace to include more and more people. Those who were once outsiders find themselves surprisingly embraced within the people of God, while those who sought to enforce exclusive boundaries are challenged to rethink their understanding of God's ways.The authors--a father and son--point out ongoing conversations within the Bible in which traditional rules, customs, and theologies are rethought. They argue that God has already gone on ahead of our debates and expanded his grace to people of different sexualities. If the Bible shows us a God who changes his mind, they say, perhaps today's Christians should do the same. The book begins with the authors' personal experiences of controversies over sexuality and closes with Richard Hays's epilogue reflecting on his own change of heart and mind.

Understand What Scripture Says and How To Live It Today A new commentary for today's world, The Story of God Bible Commentary explains and illuminates each passage of Scripture in light of the Bible's grand story. The first commentary series to do so, SGBC offers a clear and compelling exposition of biblical texts, guiding everyday readers in how to creatively and faithfully live out the Bible in their own contexts. Its story-centric approach is ideal for pastors, students, Sunday school teachers, and laypeople alike. Each volume employs three main, easy-to-use sections designed to help readers live out God's story: LISTEN to the Story: Includes complete NIV text with references to other texts at work in each passage, encouraging the reader to hear it within the Bible's grand story. EXPLAIN the Story: Explores and illuminates each text as embedded in its canonical and historical setting. LIVE the Story: Reflects on how each text can be lived today and includes contemporary stories and illustrations to aid preachers, teachers, and students.   —1 & 2 Thessalonians— Paul's letters to the Thessalonians hinge thematically on the ongoing need for them to put their hope in God. Like us, the Thessalonians were living in difficult circumstances—living in the tension between death and the promise of Jesus' final return and triumph. "In-between living" requires daily hope, and Paul infuses his letters with hope without overlooking the challenges of the day. Edited by Scot McKnight and Tremper Longman III, and written by a number of top-notch theologians, The Story of God Bible Commentary series will bring relevant, balanced, and clear-minded theological insight to any biblical education or ministry.

The Divine Conspiracy has revolutionized how we think about the true meaning of Christian discipleship. In this classic work of spiritual formation, one of the most brilliant Christian thinkers of our times and author of the acclaimed The Spirit of Disciplines, Dallas Willard, skillfully weaves together biblical teaching, popular culture, science, scholarship, and spiritual practice, revealing what it means to "apprentice" ourselves to Jesus. Using Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount as his foundation, Willard masterfully explores life-changing ways to experience and be guided by God on a daily basis, resulting in a more authentic and dynamic faith. In this profound exploration of Christian living, you’ll discover: The Kingdom of God: Why the kingdom is not just a future promise but a present reality, offering a practical resource for living an abundant life right now. The Sermon on the Mount: A masterful unpacking of Jesus’s core teachings that reveals an intelligent and deeply relevant guide for your daily existence. A Curriculum for Christlikeness: How to move beyond mere "sin management" and become a true apprentice of Jesus, transforming your character from the inside out. Entering Eternal Life Now: A paradigm-shifting look at what "eternal life" truly means and how to begin experiencing its power today, not just after death.

AND GOD SAID... Neale Donald Walsch didn't claim to be special or spiritually gifted. He was just a frustrated man who sat down one day with pen in his hand and some tough questions in his heart. As he wrote his questions to God, he realized that God was answering them--directly--through Walsch's pen. And the result was a series of witty, provocative, and profound books that have changed the lives of readers around the world. Here in one handsome volume, with new introductions and afterwords, are the second two books in the "Conversations with God "series. In "Conversations with God 2, "Neale Donald Walsch and God continue their discussion and move on to larger topics than the personal issues addressed in "Conversation with God 1." The pair discusses time, space, and politics. It is an honest look at some of the broad issues important to all of us on the planet."Conversations with God 3," the final book of the original three-book series, contains "universal truths of the highest order, and the challenges and opportunities of the soul." In this volume, the dialogue expands to include more about the nature of God, about love and fear, about who we are and who we may become. Here is also a profound dialogue about the culture, philosophy, and spirituality of highly evolved beings in other realms of the universe and how they have learned to view life, love, and the pursuit of happiness.

Philip Yancey probes the very heartbeat of our relationship with God: prayer. What is prayer? Does it change God's mind or ours or both? This book is an invitation to communicate with God the Father who invites us into an eternal partnership through prayer. Polls reveal that 90 percent of people pray. Yet prayer, which should be the most nourishing and uplifting time of the believer's day, can also be frustrating, confusing, and fraught with mystery. Writing as a fellow pilgrim, bestselling author Philip Yancey probes such questions as: Is God listening? Why should God care about me? If God knows everything, what's the point of prayer? Why do answers to prayer seem so inconsistent? Why does God sometimes seem close and sometimes seem far away? How can I make prayer more satisfying? In this powerful read, Yancey tackles the tough questions and, in the process, comes up with a fresh new approach to this timeless topic. "I have learned to pray as a privilege, not a duty," he says, and he invites you to join him on this all-important journey.