According to the Bible, Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) is a divine person who for the redemption of humanity became, for a brief moment in history, a human being. He has undoubtedly had more influence on the world's population than any other individual! Although information about Yeshua is abundant, beginning in antiquity, recent discoveries such as the Dead Sea Scrolls have provided a treasure-trove of new and exciting information. This book begins with an examination of the ancient and recent sources and produces a portrait of Yeshua within the context of the Second Temple Era and with new light shed on the person, teachings, extraordinary works, and associations of the Savior. The title of this work is "Yeshua: He Will Be Called A Nazarene." It has long been believed that Matthew 2:23 asserts only that Yeshua was a resident of the town of Nazareth, and therefore was known as a Nazarene. However, a careful study of the historical evidence and the Greek text of the New Testament reveals that the term "Nazarene" was a reference to a sect of Judaism. This sect known as the Nazarenes was a branch group of the Essenes of Dead Sea Scrolls fame! Yeshua's association with this group sheds new light on many of his beliefs, practices, and teachings! Those who followed Yeshua constituted a body of believers that came to be known as the Christian Church (Acts 11:26); but before they were graced with this Greek designation, they were known by other Hebrew names such as "The Way" (Acts 9:2) and, perhaps most significantly: "The Sect of the Nazarenes!" (Acts 24:5). After the destruction of Israel and Jerusalem along with its Temple in the year 70 of the common era, one sect of Judaism, the Pharisees, survived, prospered, and eventually developed into modern day Rabbinic Judaism. At the same time, the sect of the Nazarenes also survived and, in the wake of many changes, has evolved into the largely Gentile Christian Church. Though these two great world religions developed along parallel historical paths, they have traditionally been separated by hatred, prejudice, and ignorance. However, in recent times, individuals in these groups have drawn close to each other. Jewish people are coming to faith in Yeshua as their Messiah and Savior. The Messianic Jewish movement has grown in amazing, even miraculous ways in just a generation! At the same time, traditional Christians are discovering that Jesus was Jewish! Excitement over newly discovered historical information has led many Christians to explore the Jewish Roots of their own Christian faith! We are indeed living in exciting times! Yeshua's dream of creating from diverse races, cultures, and belief systems "one new man" (Ephesians 2:15) is once again becoming a reality!

Nothing is more important than what a person believes about Jesus Christ. To understand Christ correctly is to understand the very heart of God, Scripture, and the gospel. To get to the core of this belief, this latest volume in the Foundations of Evangelical Theology series lays out a systematic summary of Christology from philosophical, biblical, and historical perspectives—concluding that Jesus Christ is God the Son incarnate, both fully divine and fully human. Readers will learn to better know, love, trust, and obey Christ—unashamed to proclaim him as the only Lord and Savior. Part of the Foundations of Evangelical Theology series.

This comprehensive classic textbook represents the most recent approaches to the biblical world by surveying Palestine's social, political, economic, religious and ecological changes from Palaeolithic to Roman eras. Designed for beginners with little knowledge of the ancient world, and with copious illustrations and charts, it explains how and why academic study of the past is undertaken, as well as the differences between historical and theological scholarship and the differences between ancient and modern genres of history writing. Classroom tested chapters emphasize the authenticity of the Bible as a product of an ancient culture, and the many problems with the biblical narrative as a historical source. Neither "maximalist" nor "minimalist'" it is sufficiently general to avoid confusion and to allow the assignment of supplementary readings such as biblical narratives and ancient Near Eastern texts. This new edition has been fully revised, incorporating new graphics and English translations of Near Eastern inscriptions. New material on the religiously diverse environment of Ancient Israel taking into account the latest archaeological discussions brings this book right up to date.

Is the Bible the word of God? This classic of atheistic literature has the answer, and it's a loud and profound NO! American writer JOSEPH WHELESS (1868-1950) employs all the tools of the logician, from the self-evidence of reason to the words of the very proponents of the attitudes he strives to dismiss, to condemn Christianity as nonsense. Wheless roundly debunks. . the patriarchs and the covenants of Yahweh . the wonders of the Exodus . the forty years in the wilderness . the "ten commandments" and the "law" . the "conquest" of the promised land . the holy priests and prophets of Yahweh . the "prophecies" of Jesus Christ . the inspired "harmony of the Gospels" . the Christian "plan of salvation" . and more. This is a highly provocative work, one that should be explored by believers and doubters alike. ALSO AVAILABLE FROM COSIMO: Wheless's Forgery in Christianity

The NIV is the world's best-selling modern translation, with over 150 million copies in print since its first full publication in 1978. This highly accurate and smooth-reading version of the Bible in modern English has the largest library of printed and electronic support material of any modern translation.

It's obvious that Jesus fulfilled prophecies about the promised Messiah - or so the gospels make it seem. But the real story is more complex, and more compelling. In hindsight we can see that Jesus had help fulfilling prophecy. The gospel writers skillfully manipulated prophecies - carefully lifting them out of context, creatively reinterpreting them, even rewriting them - to match what Jesus would do in fulfilling them. The evangelists also used the prophecies themselves to shape the very stories that show their fulfillment. This book describes in detail how Christian authors helped Jesus fulfill prophecy. Studies of Greek oracles, the Dead Sea Scrolls, translations of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek and Aramaic, and the writings of Josephus explore the interpretive techniques that paved the way for the New Testament's manipulation of prophecy. This book analyzes how the belief that Jesus fulfilled prophecy became an argument to justify a new notion: the view that Christians had replaced Jews as God's chosen people. An aggressive anti-Judaism is analyzed in chapters on patristic theologians such as Justin Martyr and Augustine, who embedded it into the argument from prophecy. The book concludes with an ethical argument for whyChristians should retire the argument from prophecy.