In this new addition to the BECNT series, respected New Testament scholar Robert Stein offers a substantive yet highly accessible commentary on the Gospel of Mark. The commentary focuses primarily on the Markan understanding of the Jesus traditions as reflected in this key New Testament book. For each section in Mark, the author analyzes how it fits the immediate and larger context of the Gospel; offers verse-by-verse comments on the words, phrases, sentences, and themes found in the section; and explores what Mark is seeking to teach. As with all BECNT volumes, Mark features the author's detailed interaction with the Greek text. It combines academic sophistication with pastoral sensitivity and accessibility to serve as a useful tool for pastors, church leaders, students, and teachers.

The New York Times bestselling author of The Benedict Option draws on the wisdom of Christian survivors of Soviet persecution to warn American Christians of approaching dangers. For years, émigrés from the former Soviet bloc have been telling Rod Dreher they see telltale signs of "soft" totalitarianism cropping up in America--something more Brave New World than Nineteen Eighty-Four. Identity politics are beginning to encroach on every aspect of life. Civil liberties are increasingly seen as a threat to "safety". Progressives marginalize conservative, traditional Christians, and other dissenters. Technology and consumerism hasten the possibility of a corporate surveillance state. And the pandemic, having put millions out of work, leaves our country especially vulnerable to demagogic manipulation. In Live Not By Lies, Dreher amplifies the alarm sounded by the brave men and women who fought totalitarianism. He explains how the totalitarianism facing us today is based less on overt violence and more on psychological manipulation. He tells the stories of modern-day dissidents--clergy, laity, martyrs, and confessors from the Soviet Union and the captive nations of Europe--who offer practical advice for how to identify and resist totalitarianism in our time. Following the model offered by a prophetic World War II-era pastor who prepared believers in his Eastern European to endure the coming of communism, Live Not By Lies teaches American Christians a method for resistance: • SEE: Acknowledge the reality of the situation. • JUDGE: Assess reality in the light of what we as Christians know to be true. • ACT: Take action to protect truth. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn famously said that one of the biggest mistakes people make is assuming totalitarianism can't happen in their country. Many American Christians are making that mistake today, sleepwalking through the erosion of our freedoms. Live Not By Lies will wake them and equip them for the long resistance.

This useful and practical book provides the college student, seminarian, church study group, and interested lay person with a much-needed introductory guide on the "how" (method) and the "what" (message) of Jesus' teachings. In this revised edition, Robert Stein updates his classic work, adds a new bibliography, and introduces use of the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, bringing this important text to a new generation of students.

'Exegetical Essays' is a collection of thirteen biblical studies. The purpose of each is to fill a gap in New Testament research or to offer alternate understandings of familiar passages. The second edition of these 'Essays' incorporates corrections and updated documentation, and presents three new studies. The order of the articles follows as closely as possible the canonical biblical text. The book commences with a consideration of the biblical-theological method, followed by an Old Testament essay, and then proceeds through the Gospels, Paul and Revelation, and concludes with review articles of two recent notable books.