"In this original and insightful book, Dorothy Jonaitis offers a refreshing alternative to the popular view of biblical apocalyptic writing as gloom-and-doom, fire-and-brimstone literature. Rather, she presents it as literature of hope and its authors as people who knew how to use their creative imaginations to communicate their hope-filled messages. The reader will come to see the apocalyptic authors of both the Old and the New Testaments as dramatists and will learn to preach, teach, and imagine their writings as dramatic messages to be applied in contemporary times of crisis."--BOOK JACKET.

"An appreciation for the rich diversity of literary genres in Scripture is one of the positive features of evangelical scholarship in recent decades." —David M. Howard Jr., series editor At one time, Old Testament apocalyptic literature was relegated to the more obscure reaches of biblical scholarship, acceptable to occasionally refer to, but too thorny to delve into deeply. However, in recent decades it has moved to the forefront of research. The rich veins of insight to be mined in the book of Daniel and other apocalyptic texts are being rediscovered. Richard A. Taylor has crafted a handbook to explore those riches and uncover a way to understand apocalyptic literature more fully. Taylor begins with a helpful introduction to the genre; surveys the purpose, message, and primary themes of Old Testament apocalyptic literature; and then discusses critical questions and key works for further study. He also provides guidelines for interpreting apocalyptic texts, followed by Old Testament passages that serve to illustrate those guidelines. While primarily written for pastors and graduate students, Interpreting Apocalyptic Literature is nonetheless accessible to those who simply want to study the texts more deeply than previously possible.

Johannine Writings and Apocalyptic provides a wide-ranging and thorough annotated bibliography for John's Gospel, the Johannine letters, Revelation, and apocalyptic writings pertinent to these books. More inclusive than many other bibliographies, this volume provides reference to over 1300 individual entries, often including references to multiple works with a given description. Annotations are designed to provide guidance to a wide range of readers, from students wishing to gain entry to the subject to graduate students engaging in research to professors needing ready access to useful materials. The volume is topically organized and indexed for easy access.

A Guide to Biblical Commentaries and Reference Works, by John F. Evans, summarizes and briefly analyzes all recent and many older commentaries on each book of the Bible, giving insightful comments on the approach of each commentary and its interpretive usefulness especially for evangelical interpreters of the Bible. A Guide to Biblical Commentaries and Reference Works is essentially an annotated bibliography of hundreds of commentators. More scholarly books receive a longer, more detailed treatment than do lay commentaries, and highly recommended commentaries have their author’s names in bold. The author keeps up on the publication of commentaries and intends to update this book every three to four years.

The New Interpreter’s Handbook of Preaching is a major reference tool for preaching, with articles on every facet of Christian sermon preparation and delivery. This resource is both scholarly and practical. It focuses on the most distinctive feature and greatest strength of homiletics as a discipline: It is rooted in interdisciplinary scholarship and it develops theory geared to practice. Its theory arises out of the study of both excellent preaching past and present and actual sermon preparation and composition. When theory and practice critique each other, it is possible to produce guidelines that assist greater excellence and economy in preaching the gospel. Excellence in standards is an area in which homiletics needs to grow, and this project will be both a means to encourage and develop it. A guiding question throughout will be, Will it preach? The answers will be offered in the sense that “here is something that works well,” rather than “here is something to try.” Preachers will turn to this resource with the expectation that they will find scholarly treatment of topics, brief bibliographies of relevant key books and articles, along with practical methodological suggestions for preachers to employ. The contributors are homileticians, preachers, and writers in various disciplines who are committed to the pulpit through practice.

This book is a practical guide for preachers, both ordained and layleaders alike. Sermons That Illuminate explores the various genres of Scripture and examines methods and models of preaching from “the greats.” It also looks inward to consider the importance of wellness and self-care, with some suggestions for moving toward healthy preaching. Whether you’re a veteran preacher or preaching your first sermon, you’ll be invigorated as you explore the art of preaching.

The book is a commentary on preaching from the book of Revelation. Working through the book of Revelation verse by verse, the commentary seeks to help the preacher recognize what the book (with its apocalyptic theology) invited people in antiquity to believe and do. . . . The book of Revelation communicates through a series of word-pictures. Allen explains each word-picture in light of its ancient setting. The commentary brings the viewpoint of the book of Revelation into conversation (through mutual critical correlation) with contemporary theology, especially process thought. The work aims to help the preacher to help the congregation identify what they can genuinely believe and confidently do. Believing that the best preaching arises from the local context, the volume does not include full sermons, but, rather, seeks to raise issues and questions that might be thought-provoking.