Replete with romance, political intrigue, and history, The Furious Pharisee follows the development of Saul from a young student of the Torah and the Jewish religion to a vehement opposer of the disciples of Jesus. Al Dublanko draws on historical fact while creating well developed personas of characters only hinted at in the biblical account of the early church in the book of Acts. Through vivid detail and compelling dialogue, he brings these characters and the events of the Apostolic Age to life for his readers. A year after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, His disciples are preaching the gospel and attracting the attention of the Jewish people, from the poor to the religious elite. A passionate defender of the Mosaic Law, the Pharisee Saul becomes increasingly incensed at the influence of these followers of “the Way,” and he is determined to remove their voice from the public square. When the disciple Stephen claims that Jesus is God, Saul gives his full approval to the violent execution of the peaceful man. At the end of the novel, as Saul makes his way to Damascus, he is confronted with a blinding light and a voice from heaven that shakes him to his core. Humbled by the very One he is persecuting, Saul’s life will be forever changed. Readers will anxiously await the next installment of this riveting historical fiction.

Far from being a stable situation, the historical context in the late Second Temple Era was full of conflict at the level of the empires and that of the rulers in Palestine. Ordinary people, including both Jerusalemites and villagers, periodically mounted resistance and even revolts against exploitative and/or domineering rulers. Pharisees and scribes, sometimes as retainers of the temple-state but sometimes as dissident retainers, usually attempted to mediate tensions and conflicts but also offered resistance at certain crisis points. With broader critical assessment of the sources and a clearer sense of the changing social-political context, it is possible to construct a (provisional) history of the Pharisees’ political position and role in, or in opposition to, the temple-state in Judea under imperial rule. —from the Introduction

From the experience of a lifetime of scholarship, preaching, teaching, and writing, Raymond E. Brown covers the entire scope of the New Testament with ease and clarity. He walks readers book by book through the basic content and issues of the New Testament. While a wealth of information is contained in these pages, the work’s most impressive features are the basic summaries of each book, a historical overview of the ancient Greco-Roman world, discussions of key theological issues, and the rich supplementary materials, such as illustrative tables, maps, bibliographies, and appendixes. Using this basic data, Brown answers questions raised by today’s readers, relates the New Testament to our modern world, and responds to controversial issues, such as those raised by the Jesus Seminar. Every generation needs a comprehensive, reliable Introduction to the New Testament that opens the biblical text to the novice. Raymond E. Brown's An Introduction to the New Testament is the most trustworthy and authoritative guidebook for a generation seeking to understand the Christian Bible. Universally acknowledged as the dean of New Testament scholarship, Father Brown is a master of his discipline at the pinnacle of his career. Who else could cover the entire scope of the New Testament with such ease and clarity? This gifted communicator conveys the heartfelt concern of a beloved teacher for his students, as he walks the reader through the basic content and issues of the New Testament. Those opening to the New Testament for the first time and those seeking deeper insights could not ask for more in a primer to the Christian Bible.

This work sketches the many portraits of the Pharisees that emerge from ancient sources. Based upon the Gospels, the writings of Paul, Josephus, the Mishnah, the Tosefta, and archeology, the volume profiles the Pharisees and explores the relationship between the Pharisees and the Judaic religious system foreshadowed by the library of Qumran. A great virtue of this study is that no attempt is made to homogenize the distinct pictures or reconstruct a singular account of the Pharisees; instead, by carefully considering the sources, the chapters allow different pictures of the Pharisees to stand side by side.