Akenson brings to light critical similarities among three politically troubled nations: South Africa, Israel, and Northern Ireland.

Retells twenty-two stories from the Old Testament, including "Noah and the Flood," "Jacob's Ladder," "Samson and Delilah," and "Esther Speaks for Her People."

This book examines in depth and at length what the Old Testament and the New Testament hold about the salvation of God's 'other peoples'. The Bible repeatedly witnesses to the universal scope of the divine love for all human beings and the chances of salvation that are available to them. Since the Israelites experienced for many centuries, both at home and abroad, the religion and culture of numerous other peoples, the Old Testament texts have much to say, both positively and negatively, about the religious prospects and destiny of these peoples. In its second half this book scrutinizes what Jesus, the evangelists, Paul and the Letter to the Hebrews indicate about God's loving designs for all human beings. At the end, the book breaks new ground by developing the universal presence of the risen Jesus (along with the Holy Spirit) and his role as universal Wisdom, and the full teaching of the Letter to the Hebrews on the possibility of faith for all people.

Throughout the Civil War, soldiers and civilians on both sides of the conflict saw the hand of God in the terrible events of the day, but the standard narratives of the period pay scant attention to religion. Now, in God's Almost Chosen Peoples, Li

Called to Be God's People is an introduction to the Old Testament designed for those who wish to have a comprehensive guide to the contents, theology, and important passages of the Old Testament. Written from a Lutheran perspective, this book is especially designed for those within that tradition and others who seek a guide to the canonical books of the Old Testament that consciously presents the Scriptures' message of Law and Gospel as well as the traditional Christian messianic understanding of Moses and the Prophets that points to Jesus as the fulfillment of God's promises to Israel. This book is an ideal condensed handbook for university students and other Christian adults who seek to expand their knowledge of the background, content, and message of the Old Testament and its importance for Christian faith and life. It introduces important background information on each book of the Old Testament along with a general discussion of contents and theology. Included are illustrations, maps, tables, charts and sidebars. A concluding chapter on the centuries between the Old and New Testaments overlaps with a similar treatment contained in the New Testament volume in this series, Called by the Gospel, allowing for a smooth transition to the study of the rest of the Christian Scriptures.

Cesari argues that both religious and national communities are defined by the three Bs: belief, behaviour and belonging. By focusing on the ways in which these three Bs intersect, overlap or clash, she identifies the patterns of the politicization of religion, and vice versa, in any given context. Her approach has four advantages: firstly, it combines an exploration of institutional and ideational changes across time, which are usually separated by disciplinary boundaries. Secondly, it illustrates the heuristic value of combining qualitative and quantitative methods by statistically testing the validity of the patterns identified in the qualitative historical phase of the research. Thirdly, it avoids reducing religion to beliefs by investigating the significance of the institution-ideas connections, and fourthly, it broadens the political approach beyond state-religion relations to take into account actions and ideas conveyed in other arenas such as education, welfare, and culture.

Overly concerned about what people think of you? Edward T. Welch uncovers the spiritual dimension of people-pleasing—what the Bible calls fear of man—and points the way through a true knowledge of God, ourselves, and others.