Generally, Christians believe that the scriptures in the Bible-both the Old and the New Testaments-are the words of God. They believe God resides in heaven and human beings live on the planet Earth. Then the question is, in the beginning, before the Bible says God created the heaven and the earth, where had God lived? Had he been homeless before he created heaven? In the Old Testament, humans were required to offer some burnt offerings "of a sweet savor, a sacrifice made by fire," and drink offerings. Should we say, "God was homeless, hungry, and thirsty, and that was why he created heaven, humans, and animals, and required humans to offer burnt animals and drinks"? Many Bible readers believe Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, paradise, and on the planet Earth. But is that true? Let us try to locate where the paradise is. Revelation 2:7 tells us, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." Now we know "the tree of life" is in the midst of the paradise of God. Where else can we find "the tree of life" in the scripture? Genesis 2:9 tells us, "And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden." Through these scriptures, we can see that "the tree of life" is in the midst of the garden, in the midst of the paradise of God, not on the planet Earth. The scriptures also tell us that Adam and Eve were there. Could they be in physical human bodies in paradise on the planet Earth? Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:2–4: "I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." Could a person be “caught up into paradise” if the paradise was on the planet Earth? It was written in Luke 23:43, “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” The “him” in this verse was one of the thieves crucified with Jesus. Does any scripture tell us Jesus’s resurrected physical body took the hand of the thief, also in a physical human body (Jesus must have resurrected the thief’s physical human body, too), and led him into paradise, someplace on this planet Earth? No, it does not. Through all these verses, do we still believe paradise is on this planet Earth?

For many centuries, millions of people who read the Bible consider it to be the word of God. Many readers and followers of the Old and New Testaments believe that God lives in heaven and human beings live on the planet Earth. Genesis 1:1 says, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Does any Bible reader ask where God had lived before he created heaven? Had he been homeless, and that's why he had to create heaven? And readers assume that Adam and Eve were in physical bodies when they were created--but were they? The Divinely Sinful Saints explores these and other assumptions that many Christians maintain about the Bible, and author Con Trong Bui reviews the scriptures in the Bible to uncover the truth about some of the fakes, fantasies, and falsities that many people believe in as facts due to a misguided literal interpretation. What he shows is that it is important to interpret the symbols and symbolism in the Bible instead of taking each word as literal, and in doing so we can build our faith upon a solid foundation. The scriptures of the Bible contain many contradictory, nonsensical, cruel, and even immoral passages--if we interpret them literally, letter by letter. Yet knowledge of the Bible's symbolism can reconcile these contradictions and at the same time deepen our understanding of the scriptures--and most importantly, we can rely on this understanding to accomplish the will of the most high God.

Pastor Brian Zahnd began "to question the theology of a wrathful God who delights in punishing sinners, and has started to explore the real nature of Jesus and His Father. The book isn’t only an interesting look at the context of some modern theological ideas; it’s also offers some profound insight into God’s love and eternal plan." —Relevant Magazine (Named one of the Top 10 Books of 2017) God is wrath? Or God is Love? In his famous sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” Puritan revivalist Jonathan Edwards shaped predominating American theology with a vision of God as angry, violent, and retributive. Three centuries later, Brian Zahnd was both mesmerized and terrified by Edwards’s wrathful God. Haunted by fear that crippled his relationship with God, Zahnd spent years praying for a divine experience of hell. What Zahnd experienced instead was the Father’s love—revealed perfectly through Jesus Christ—for all prodigal sons and daughters. In Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God, Zahnd asks important questions like: Is seeing God primarily as wrathful towards sinners true or biblical? Is fearing God a normal expected behavior? And where might the natural implications of this theological framework lead us? Thoughtfully wrestling with subjects like Old Testament genocide, the crucifixion of Jesus, eternal punishment in hell, and the final judgment in Revelation, Zanhd maintains that the summit of divine revelation for sinners is not God is wrath, but God is love.

Origen’s On First Principles is a foundational work in the development of Christian thought and doctrine: it is the first attempt in history at a systematic Christian theology. For over a decade it has been out of print with only expensive used copies available; now it is available at an affordable price and in a more accessible format. On First Principles is the most important surviving text written by third-century Church father, Origen. Origen wrote in a time when fundamental doctrines had not yet been fully articulated by the Church, and contributed to the very formation of Christianity. Readers see Origen grappling with the mysteries of salvation and brainstorming how they can be understood. This edition presents G. W. Butterworth’s trusted translation in a new, more readable format, retains the introduction by Henri de Lubac, and includes a new foreword by John C. Cavadini. As St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Doctor of the Church, wrote: “Origen is the stone on which all of us were sharpened.”