First, there was Jesus (Yeshua), the baby born in Bethlehem. Then the baby grew up and, for one year, led an itinerant, mostly rural ministry. Fast-forward 2,000 years. Jesus' teaching has become one of the world's great religions, but it also has fragmented into countless schools of thought. Somewhere along the way, the teaching was obscured by a wide variety of conflicting religious, political, and theological forces. Who was Jesus the man, and what did he actually teach? In The Gospel of Yeshua: A Fresh Look at the Life and Teaching of Jesus, veteran journalist Skip Johnson combines ancient testimony with modern Bible research to produce a richly detailed portrait of the life and teaching of Jesus. This biography presents Jesus' teaching as his disciples would have heard and understood it, and it focuses on how anyone can attain happiness beyond human imagination, regardless of present circumstances.

Jesus was a Jew who was born, lived, and died within first-century Judaism. His lifestyle was characteristic of the Jews of that day. Since the New Testament is highly Hebraic- background, writers, culture, religion, traditions, concepts, etc.- any full understanding needs this perspective.

The 'Song of God' is a new book of scripture for a new and modern age. This revelation was brought forth by Azrael Ondi-Ahman (a.k.a., Archie Dean Wood, Sr.) who, in 1979, began receiving visitations by highly evolved, glorified human beings who identified themselves as God. After seven years of instruction, Azrael was commissioned to begin writing what would become the foundation for a new dispensation, and the restoration of gnosis for all humanity. The 'Song of God' begins with the premise that the only proper religion for mankind is humanity itself, for it is from this humanity that God first evolved -God who is our future, came from humans who are Their past. Extraordinary in depth and scope, the 'Song of God' is both radical and affirming. This modern revelation is an anthem of knowledge, myth and mystery that will sing to the heart and uplift the mind. The 'Song of God' is a grand unification of wisdom and truth, confirming with sound clarity the beauty, value and potential of humankind. This book presents a new standard, a new choice that both challenges and empowers us to let go of hurtful dogmas and move forward into an age of greater peace and understanding.

There can be no doubt that Jesus, 'a religious genius' as Geza Vermes describes him, lived and taught in Palestine some 2000 years ago. The influence he has had is incalculable. How though can we distinguish between the doctrines shaped to the needs of the burgeoning Christian church and the original views laid out by Jesus himself? How can we dig back through the additions, misinterpretations and confusions of later writers and two millennia of tradition to get back to the authentic gospel of Jesus? In his new book, Vermes subjects all the sayings of Jesus to brilliantly informed scrutiny. The result is a book of unique value and novelty--scraping aside the accretions of centuries to come as close as we can hope to be to the true Jesus.

Sometimes we get so caught up in the power of Jesus shouting from the cross, "It is finished!" that we forget that Jesus started something too. Uncovering the inner dynamics of Jesus's work with the disciples, veteran church planter Steve Addison reminds us that Christianity is a movement with a unique design for expansion.

When world-class biblical scholar Bart Ehrman first began to study the texts of the Bible in their original languages he was startled to discover the multitude of mistakes and intentional alterations that had been made by earlier translators. In Misquoting Jesus, Ehrman tells the story behind the mistakes and changes that ancient scribes made to the New Testament and shows the great impact they had upon the Bible we use today. He frames his account with personal reflections on how his study of the Greek manuscripts made him abandon his once ultraconservative views of the Bible. Since the advent of the printing press and the accurate reproduction of texts, most people have assumed that when they read the New Testament they are reading an exact copy of Jesus's words or Saint Paul's writings. And yet, for almost fifteen hundred years these manuscripts were hand copied by scribes who were deeply influenced by the cultural, theological, and political disputes of their day. Both mistakes and intentional changes abound in the surviving manuscripts, making the original words difficult to reconstruct. For the first time, Ehrman reveals where and why these changes were made and how scholars go about reconstructing the original words of the New Testament as closely as possible. Ehrman makes the provocative case that many of our cherished biblical stories and widely held beliefs concerning the divinity of Jesus, the Trinity, and the divine origins of the Bible itself stem from both intentional and accidental alterations by scribes -- alterations that dramatically affected all subsequent versions of the Bible.

Jesus or Yeshua: Exploring the Jewish Roots of Christianity It has taken 2000 years for the Jewish roots of Christianity to be yanked out of its Hebraic origins. The Jewish or Gentile follower of Jesus who reads Jesus or Yeshua: Exploring the Jewish Roots of Christianity will discover that much of the everyday Christian terminology is strongly connected to the original Jewish background of the establishment of Christianity. For the inquisitive seeker Lapides fills in many blanks to help gain a deeper understanding of the messinaic faith. Lapides takens into account typical Christian lingo can confuse both Jewish and Gentile newcomers to Christianity. His goal in compiling this brief 32 page guide is to help Gentile believers recognize certain "Christian" terms that have been historical stumbling blocks to Jewish seekers. In addition, Lapides aims to help Jewish people gain an appreciation for the deeper meaning of various Christian expressions.