DO YOU LOVE TO TALK TO OTHERS ABOUT JESUS? DO YOU WANT TO SHARE YOUR FAITH BUT WONDER IF THE RIGHT WORDS WILL COME? Whether you love evangelism or fear it, this book is for you. John Teter offers stories from his experiences leading seeker Bible studies and witnessing to people around him that reveal how our witness is backed up by God himself, who follows through on the work he prompts us to begin. Even now God is preparing the way for you to get his Word out to those around you. Will you accept the challenge?

Karl Barth's lectures on the first chapter of the Gospel of John, delivered at Muenster in 1925-26 and at Bonn in 1933, came at an important time in his life, when he was turning his attention more fully to dogmatics. Theological interpretation was thus his primary concern, especially the relation between revelation and the witness to revelation, which helped to shape his formulation of the role of the written (and spoken) word vis-a-vis the incarnate Word. The text is divided into three sections - John 1:1-18, 19-34, 35-51, with the largest share of the book devoted to the first section. Each section begins with Barth's own translation, followed by verse-by -verse and phrase-by-phrase commentary on the Greek text. Although Barth's interpretation is decidedly theological, he does take up questions of philology and textual criticism more thoroughly than in his other works. Much has happened in Johannine scholarship since these lectures were first delivered, yet they remain valuable today - 100 years after Barth's birth - both for their insights into the gospel and into Karl Barth.

This work represents the attempts of several major scholars to respond to the historical problems presented throughout the biblical testimony and their description of what this means for reading scripture. Walter Brueggemann, for example, has written a wonderful article on various historical problems within the book of Genesis, beginning with Von Rad's and Noth's use of source criticism and his own understanding of how historically dissimilar texts can function within scripture. This book honors the work and life of Gerald Sheppard, who broke ground in biblical studies by describing what it means to read the Bible as Jewish and Christian Scripture. It distinguishes between the original historical dimensions of the text or mere redaction levels of tradition history and what Sheppard regarded as the "Scriptural Form" of the biblical testimony. It provides new and fresh ways for describing scripture as both a human testimony and also divine revelation. The Bible as a Human Witness to Divine Revelation provides examples of how major scholars have responded to the limits of the older-modern criticisms within the framework of still applying a variety of historical criticisms and paying attention to the later formation and context of the biblical book. It also helps readers understand how to hear "the word of God" through biblical text that are filled with historical dissimilarities or even contradictions. The book shows scholarly examples that respond to crises of both the pre-modern and modern eras as unfinished projects because pre-modernity tended to ignore the human dimensions of scripture and modernity tended to limit its inquiry only to that single dimension

What should Christian witness look like in our contemporary society? In this timely book, Alan Noble looks at our cultural moment, characterized by technological distraction and the growth of secularism, laying out individual, ecclesial, and cultural practices that disrupt our society's deep-rooted assumptions and point beyond them to the transcendent grace and beauty of Jesus.

Walter Kaiser questions the notion that the New Testament represents a deviation from God's supposed intention to save only the Israelites. He argues that--contrary to popular opinion--the older Testament does not reinforce an exclusive redemptive plan. Instead, it emphasizes a common human condition and God's original and continuing concern for all humanity. Kaiser shows that the Israelites' mission was always to actively spread to gentiles the Good News of the promised Messiah. This new edition adds two new chapters, freshens material throughout, expands the bibliography, and includes study questions.

A distinguished group of scholars here provides a comprehensive survey of the theology of the early church as it is presented by the author of Acts. The twenty-five articles show the current state of scholarship and the main themes of theology in Acts.

The author argues that the idea of witness is a live metaphor in the New Testament, to be understood in terms of the Old Testament legal assembly, though the Greek lawcourts are also relevant. Professor Trites contends that this idea of witness in relation to Christ and his gospel plays an essential part in the New Testament and in Christian faith and life generally.