In this book, Paul Walaskay discusses Luke's description of the early church, its leadership, and its struggles as a people of God amid competing religious claims. He helps the reader understand Luke and his contemporaries and examines the first-cent...

Paul's influence on Christian thought has been powerful and formative. The deuteropauline epistles, attributed to but not written by Paul, were actually authored by early Christians in an attempt to apply Pauline insights to particular challenges not...

The book of Daniel is concerned with religious persecution. Daniel's message in this apocalyptic text, however, assures that God will deliver those who trust God, refuse to worship other Gods, and keep Jewish tradition in the face of persecution. C. ...

Deuteronomy, Thomas Mann notes, is more than a relic of ancient history. It is a living document that deals with issues that have relevance for the modern-day reader, including justice and the vision of the Great Society, individual responsibility ve...

David Rensberger shows here how the Epistles of John spoke to the emerging concerns of an early Christian community that cherished John's Gospel. The Epistles apply many of the themes of the Gospel to new situations. In particular the Elder, who writ...

The book of Exodus is literally a story about "going out," and as such, it touches on something all of us have in common: each of our lives is marked by different kinds of goings out and comings in. J. Gerald Janzen reads the Exodus story as both the...

The book of Ezekiel was written during a tumultuous time in Israel's history. It follows a period that began with Ezekiel's warning of Jerusalem's fall and his prediction of the destruction of the temple--a sanctuary regarded as so holy that its dest...

According to this well-known author, today's readers find much that is familiar in Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, including the message of God's faithfulness in the face of prejudice, sexism, and patriarchy.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion serie...

In this volume, a part of the Westminster Bible Companion series, Paul Hooker suggests that First and Second Chronicles is not a "history of Israel," but rather a theological reflection on the story of Israel's faith. The Chronicler, according to Hoo...

Old Testament scholar Terence Fretheim identifies the theology in the dramatic accounts of the books of Kings, which chronicles the reigns of more than forty kings over a period of nearly four hundred years. Interspersing theological reflections thro...

Fred B. Craddock examines the letters of First and Second Peter and Jude, asking, what kind of literature is it? who wrote the letter? to whom was the letter written? and for what purpose was the letter written? Craddock's answers let us draw from th...

The power of story as God's word to the community of faith is never more clear than in the books of Samuel. Emotion, drama, complexity of character, and mystery fill the pages of these two biblical books. Eugene Peterson's commentary emphasizes the r...

Not only does the book of Genesis begin our Bible, but it also can serve to begin the discussion of a variety of important topics as well: the question of origins, tensions between genders and between siblings, the reality of sin, the saga of human f...

For believers who have grown weary or disillusioned with their Christian commitment, the letter to the Hebrews offers much practical assistance. In this day of dwindling church attendance and clergy burnout, a new reading of Hebrews offers an encoura...

Often called "minor prophets," these first great classical prophets spoke to issues that dominated their times--love, redemption, fidelity, renewal, authority, justice, righteousness, and inclusivity--and that continue to have great relevance today.B...