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Item Reasonable Faith Christian Truth and Apologetics(Crossway Books, 2008-08-08) WILLIAM LANE CRAIGWhat is apologetics? Apologetics (from the Greek apologia: a defense) is that branch of Christian theology which seeks to provide a rational justification for the truth claims of the Christian faith. Apologetics is thus primarily a theoretical discipline, though it has a practical application. In addition to serving, like the rest of theology in general, as an expression of loving God with all our minds, apolo getics specifically serves to show to unbelievers the truth of the Christian faith, to confirm that faith to believers, and to reveal and explore the connections between Christian doctrine and other truths. As a theoretical discipline, then, apologet ics is not training in the art of answering questions, or debating, or evangelism, though all of these draw upon the science of apologetics and apply it practically. T his implies that a course in apologetics is not for the purpose of teaching you, “If he says so-and-so, then you say such-and-such back.” Apologetics, to repeat, is a theoretical discipline that tries to answer the question, What rational warrant can be given for the Christian faith? Therefore, most of our time must be spent in trying to answer this question. Now this is bound to be disappointing to some. They’re just not interested in the rational justification of Christianity. They want to know, “If someone says, ‘Look at all the hypocrites in the church!’ what do I say?” There’s nothing wrong with that question; but the fact remains that such practical matters are logically secondary to the theoretical issues and cannot in our limited space occupy the center of our attention. The use of apologetics in practice ought rather to be an integral part of courses and books on evangelism.Item African Hermeneutics(Langham Publisher, 2019-09-09) Elizabeth Mburu|| Seco the Bible is always a challenging task. To be more precise, interpreting the Bible accurately is a challenging task. And yet the Bible is meant to be understood and applied in the daily lives of believers if it is to be a guide for faith and practice. African readers of the Bible face the additional challenge that most of the models and methods of Bible interpretation, or hermeneutics, are rooted in a Western context. This is not surprising given that Christianity came to Africa from the West, the churches and theological institutions that were founded were missionary led, and most of the theological resources are produced by Western writers. Millions of Africans therefore use “foreign” approaches to the interpretation of the Bible. This may be one of the reasons why many African Christians experience a dichotomy in their Christian lives. While the content of Christianity may be known and perhaps even understood, practice is not often consistent with this knowledge. This book is an attempt to address this problem by providing the reader with a contextualized, African intercultural approach to the study of the Bible. Part I provides a foundation for this intercultural approach by outlining principles that address the issue of this dichotomy and provide a solution through a contextualized hermeneutic. Since Bible interpretation can never be done in a vacuum, this contextualized hermeneutic begins with an exploration of African worldviews. Part I also presents a four-legged stool model that guides the reader in examining the text using four interrelated steps. Specific application of the biblical text to the African context is viewed as the logical endpoint of this process. The review questions at the end of each chapter in Part I are intended to help the reader think more critically about the African contextual issues that affect accurate interpretation of the Bible.Item Grasping God’s Word A Hands-On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible(Zondervan, 2012-12-22) J. Scott DuvallThis is a wonderful user-friendly book for serious readers who desire to journey into the world of the Bible in order better to understand and to live faithfully in today’s world. J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays have chosen an apt title: Grasping God’s Word. The metaphor of grasping is a useful one for thinking through what is involved in biblical interpretation. As you embark on that lifelong journey, as well as the shorter one of studying the present work, it may be useful to keep four senses of the term in mind. To begin with, “grasping” is an act of violence: “to seize greedily.” This is not what the present authors intended! It is, however, what many so-called “postmodern” readers think about the process of interpretation. In our disenchanted, disbelieving age, many no longer believe that there is a “meaning” in texts. Interpretation is more like a power struggle in which the reader imposes or forces his or her will on the text: This is what it means to me. In the opinion of many contemporary readers, we can never see beyond ourselves so as to attain an “objective” meaning. For these postmodern readers, there is no such thing as “correct” interpretation. Grasping God’s Word lays great emphasis on the importance of observing the small details and the overall design of biblical texts. Yet Duvall and Hays are not unaware of the current skeptical trend. They well know that the observer-reader is not an impersonal recording device, but rather a person with a speci c identity, history, and cultural background — all of which a ect what one sees. Readers are not godlike, hovering in disembodied fashion over literary creations; no, readers, like authors, are rooted in particular historical situations — in what our authors call “towns.”Item Fighting for Your Marriage Positive Steps for Preventing Divorce and Preserving a Lasting Love(JOSSEY-BASS, 2001-01-11) Howard J. MarkmanThings change. Because of that simple fact, we’ve updated our work in order to bring you what we consider to be an even more practi- cal and potent version of Fighting for Your Marriage. What you hold in your hand is a major revision of the book we published in 1994. We wrote the original version to help couples build and nurture happy and strong marriages. This book is based on PREP®, which stands for the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program. PREP is based on over twenty years of research at the University of Denver as well as on research from universities around the world. PREP is a program we developed to help couples beat the odds. PREP workshops use specific steps and exercises to teach couples the skills and attitudes associated with good relationships. Because of its roots in solid research and its straightforward approach, PREP has received a great deal of attention from couples across the coun- try, professionals in the field of marital counseling, and the media. PREP is one of the most extensively researched programs for cou- ples ever developed. The strategies in PREP are based on our study of the key risks couples face as well as the most promising avenues for helping couples lower the risks. Marriage in our culture is risky business, and the costs of marital failure are staggering. The good news is that there are proven strategies that can help you preserve a lasting love. Whether or not you ever take a PREP workshop, this book presents the core of our thinking and strategies for couples.Item Faith-Based Organizations and Legislative Advocacy: A Qualitative Inquiry(M. Lori Thomas, 2008-08-08) Marye LorelleA dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2008 Major Director: F. Ellen Netting, Professor, School of Social Work Since the early 1990s, religion and matters of faith and spirituality have become a focal point in numerous arenas beyond the individual and traditionally sacred. With President George W. Bush’s White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives of 2001, the Charitable Choice provision of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act that preceded it in 1996, and the myriad of legal challenges that followed, matters of religion have become paramount in political discourse regarding social welfare. The viability of faith-based social service provision and the organizations providing the direct services have been the focus of speculation, debate, and a growing amount of research. Few studies, however, have explored the role of faith-based advocacy or lobbying organizations in shifting the social welfare climate, in proposing or opposing policy changes in the social welfare system, or in defining social welfare. Little is empirically known about the organizational dynamics of religious advocacy groups whose attempts at structural influence are, in part, affected by theological positions and religiously-informed values.Item Fervent: A Woman's Battle Plan for Serious Specific, and Stategic Prayer(B&H Publishing Group Nashville, Tennessee, 2015-05-05) Priscilla ShirerCouple of things to mention here, though, before we start to develop some intentional strategies of devil-busting prayer, designed to counteract his specific strategies against us. Whenever the conversation of demonic activity comes up in a book like this, most people scatter to one of two extremes. Either they overestimate Satan’s influence and power, living with an inflated, erroneous perspective of his abilities. Or they underestimate him. They don’t assign him any credit at all for the difficulties he’s stirring up beneath the surface of their lives. One extreme leaves you saddled with undue fear and anxiety; the other just makes you stupid—(too blunt to say it like that? sorry)—unaware and completely open to every single attack. Which of these categories do you fall into or lean toward? Either? Let’s be clear, no matter which way you gravitate, Satan is not God. And he is not God’s counterpart or peer. They’re not even on the same playing field. His influence, authority, and power don’t even touch the fringe of what our Lord is capable of doing. Read ahead to Revelation 19 and 20 sometime, the so-called titanic clash of end-time foes in what’s commonly known as the battle of Armageddon. Know what it really is? More like the devil and his demons getting all dressed up with no place to go. It’s over before it even starts. The only thing that makes it a war is that he becomes a prisoner of war. Satan is nothing but a copycat, trying desperately to convince you he’s more powerful than he actually is. Because remember: he does have limitations—boundaries he cannot cross no matter how much he desires or how hard he tries. For instance . . . He can’t be everywhere at once (only God is omnipresent). He can’t read your mind (only God is omniscient). He is merely an illusionist, using cunning trickery to deceive and mislead (only God can work flat-out, unmistakable miracles).Item Fighting for Your Marriage Positive Steps for Preventing Divorce and Preserving a Lasting Love(Jossey Bass, 2001-01-11) Howard J. MarkmanThings change. Because of that simple fact, we’ve updated our work in order to bring you what we consider to be an even more practi- cal and potent version of Fighting for Your Marriage. What you hold in your hand is a major revision of the book we published in 1994. We wrote the original version to help couples build and nurture happy and strong marriages. This book is based on PREP®, which stands for the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program. PREP is based on over twenty years of research at the University of Denver as well as on research from universities around the world. PREP is a program we developed to help couples beat the odds. PREP workshops use specific steps and exercises to teach couples the skills and attitudes associated with good relationships. Because of its roots in solid research and its straightforward approach, PREP has received a great deal of attention from couples across the coun- try, professionals in the field of marital counseling, and the media. PREP is one of the most extensively researched programs for cou- ples ever developed. The strategies in PREP are based on our study of the key risks couples face as well as the most promising avenues for helping couples lower the risks. Marriage in our culture is risky business, and the costs of marital failure are staggering.Item A Survey of the New Testament(Zondervan, 2012-02-12) Robert H. GundryA textbook surveying the New Testament should bring together the most salient items from New Testament background, technical intro duction, and commentary. Nearly all surveys of the New Testament suffer, however, from a deficiency of comments on the biblical text. As a result, study of the survey textbook often nudges out a reading of the primary and most important text, the New Testament itself. Reading the New Testament Itself Since many beginning students have never read the New Testament sys tematically or thoroughly, if at all, the present survey prompts them to read it in its entirety, passage by passage, and carries on a dialogue with each passage in the form of brief commentary. By tracing the flow of thought from passage to passage, students will gain a sense of narratival and logical progression. Thus it has proved possible to move at least some of the background material concerning intertestamental history, Judaism, and other matters — which seem tortuous to many students — from the first part of the book to later parts, where such material elucidates the bib lical text directly. This procedure reduces the discouragingly long intro duction to the typical academic course in New Testament survey, better enables students to see how background material helps interpret the text, and above all keeps the textbook from supplanting the New Testament.Item A History of the Ancient Near East(Wiley Blackwell, 2016-06-16)In the year 334 BC, a young king from Macedon and his well-trained army crossed from Europe into Asia, confronted the vast empire of Persia, and conquered it in the course of a decade. Alexander's troops marched through an antique world that contained the remains of thousands of years of earlier history. Their previous encounter with Greece could not have prepared them for what they saw in the Near East and Egypt. They entered cities like Uruk that had existed for three millennia, and visited pyramids and temples that had stood for almost as many years. This was a world steeped in history, not a world in decline, waiting for fresh inspiration. The city-dwellers knew their traditions were so ancient that they claimed they dated from the beginning of time itself. People wrote in scripts that had been used for almost thirty centuries, they read and copied texts that were hundreds of years old. These were not idle claims, as for a long time their lands had indeed been home to the most advanced cultures in the world, well before Greece had developed its great classical civilization. It is in the Near East and northeast Africa that many of the elements we associate with advanced civilization first originated, including agriculture, cities, states, writing, laws, and many more. Because this region lies at the juncture of three continents, practices and concepts from numerous and diverse people came together there, inspired and complemented one another, and were used by the inhabitants to manipulate their surroundings. They created their environment rather than reacting to it.Item A hand book of New Testament Exegisis(Baker Academic, 2010-10-20) Craig L. Blomberg“This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Those who do not do what is right are not God’s children; nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters” (1 John 3:10). This sounds pretty cut and dried, but don’t most people fall somewhere in between doing what is right and not doing so? “Son though he [Jesus] was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him” (Heb. 5:8–9). Christ had to learn to obey God? He was made perfect? Wasn’t he God from all eternity past and therefore always perfect? And doesn’t this passage, like the last one, clearly teach salvation through obedience to God’s commandments? Isn’t salvation entirely by grace through faith? “But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety” (1 Tim. 2:15). Good grief! Now half the human race is saved not only by good works but by one particular deed— having kids? What about all those women who can’t or don’t have children? “Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’” (Acts 2:38). Here it sounds like all people, including women and men alike, must be baptized to be saved. At least that’s easier than having children. Moreover, then we’ll receive a gift from the Spirit. Hmm, I wonder which gift it is. The Scriptures certainly seem confusing.