While on Earth, Jesus said some difficult things. He told the rich to give away all their money, and the joyful to become mourners. If you wanted to inherit the Earth, you had to be meek. If your eye offended you, no problem--as long as you plucked it out. A friend of mine said, "Can I start following Jesus on Monday? I'd like to enjoy the weekend." Obviously, the words and commandments of Jesus are pure, perfect, holy--and meant for Israelites. Jesus Himself said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24). Is it possible we have been struggling along someone else's path? What if the words in red were never meant to be our marching orders? Several months after leaving Earth, the Jewish Messiah appeared as a very non-Jewish light to a self-righteous idiot en route to Damascus to kill Christians. Up next? Not only a starling new destiny for believers (heaven instead of Earth) but a new message of pure grace for all humanity. This is that story.

"Besides Jesus, no one has kept me from despair, or taken me deeper into the mysteries of the gospel, than the apostle Paul." —John Piper No one has had a greater impact on the world for eternal good than the apostle Paul—except Jesus himself. For John Piper, this impact is very personal. He does not just admire and trust Paul. He loves him. Piper gives us thirty glimpses into why his heart and mind respond this way. Can a Christian-killer really endure 195 lashes from a heart of love? Can a mystic who thinks he was caught up into heaven be a model of lucid rationality? Can an ethnocentric Jew write the most beautiful call to reconciliation? Can a person who lives with the unceasing anguish of empathy be always rejoicing? Can a man's description of the horrors of human sin be exceeded by his delight in human splendor? Can a man with a backbone of steel be as tender as a nursing mother? If we know this man—if we see what Piper sees—we too will love him. Paul's testimony is a matter of life and death. Piper invites you into his relationship with Paul in the hope that you will know life, forever.

Letters from Heaven is a compilation of some of the Bible’s most beautiful truths. Written by the apostle Paul, these letters invite us to understand the heart of the gospel. Galatians teaches us to live in heaven’s freedom, Ephesians lays the exciting foundation for our faith, and Philippians fills our hearts with joy. In Colossians, we uncover the revelation of Christ in us, and Paul’s Thessalonian letters extend comfort and encouragement to remain faithful. To his spiritual sons Timothy and Titus, Paul offers sage advice, stirring our hearts to serve God and love him supremely. Concluding this compilation is Paul’s letter to Philemon, in which he champions forgiving love as the key to unity. It feels as if Paul himself is in the room, sharing his experiences and messages of life. We sense the Holy Spirit and the urgency to persevere through suffering so that upon his glorious return, Christ finds us passionate lovers of God. At last we have freedom, for Christ has set us free! We must always cherish this truth and firmly refuse to go back into the bondage of our past. Galatians 5:1

Annotation In this intriguing discussion of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, Dale Martin contends that Paul's various disagreements with the Corinthians were the result of a fundamental conflict over the ideological construction of the human body (and hence the church as the body of Christ). This led to differing opinions on a variety of theological viewpoints--including the role of rhetoric and philosophy in a hierarchical society, the eating of meat sacrificed to idols, prostitution, sexual desire and marriage, and the resurrection of the body. Book jacket.

The Visio Pauli and the Gnostic Apocalypse of Paul is the first modern collection of studies on the most important aspects of the Visio Pauli, the most popular early Christian apocalypse in the Middle Ages. The volume starts with a short study of the textual traditions of the Visio Pauli, its Jewish and early Christian traditions as well as its influence on later literature, such as Dante. This is followed by studies of the Prologue, the four rivers of Eden, the place of the Ocean, the relation between body and soul, the image of hell and its punishments, and the connection with fantastic literature. Finally, a codicological, comparative, and textual re-evaluation of the Coptic translation attempts to correct earlier errors and to rehabilitate the value and interest of this long neglected version of the Visio Pauli. The book is concluded with a study of the earthly tribunal in the fourth heaven of the Gnostic Apocalypse of Paul. As has become customary, the volume is rounded off by an extensive bibliography of the Visio Pauli and the Gnostic Apocalypse of Paul and a detailed index.

Most people believe the Bible teaches that we will go to either heaven or hell at death. They might be surprised at what it really says! -- Inside this booklet: -- The Biblical Truth About the Immortal Soul -- The History of the Immortal-Soul Teaching -- The Spirit in Man -- Will a Loving God Punish People Forever in Hell? -- Lazarus and the Rich Man: Proof of Heaven and Hell? -- Are Some Tortured Forever in a Lake of Fire? -- Will the Torment of the Wicked Last Forever? -- Does the Bible Speak of Hellfire That Lasts Forever? -- Is Heaven God's Reward for the Righteous? -- Ancient Pagan Belief in Heaven -- Paul's Desire to "Depart and Be With Christ" -- Did Elijah Go to Heaven? -- Was Enoch Taken to Heaven? -- The Thief on the Cross -- Are There Saved Human Beings in Heaven? -- The Resurrection: God's Promise of Life After Death -- Your Awesome Future