From the beginning of the New Testament era, there have been disputes over what individual passages meant, who wrote them, when they were written, and whether certain sayings could be directly attributed to Jesus. McKenzie's aim is not to destroy the credibility of the New Testament, but rather to enhance belief by allowing it to rest on a foundation freed from various manmade illusions and historically inaccurate assumptions that modern biblical research has discovered from both internal and external evidence about the writings. Father McKenzie takes on a variety of topics -- the real Jesus and the Son of man; gospels and gossip; the roles of Peter and Paul; divorce; the resurrection; the meaning of the Apocalypse -- to name but a few, in this highly informative look at key themes and episodes of the New Testament.

This book, an examination of Judaism as it evolved over a period of approximately 1,500 years, is an analysis of the Hebrew Bible and other ancient Jewish writings, with special emphasis on theology and morality. By the middle of the first millennium, with the writing of Deuteronomy, the Psalms, and the works of the prophets, Judaism had embraced the idea that God is a compassionate father; that His relationship with His people is based on love rather than fear; and that His response to their commission of sins is based on the assumption that they are capable of repentance and worthy of forgiveness. In the final stage of its development—culminating in the first and second centuries AD—Judaism was understood to require its adherents to enact the will of God—specifically, to establish a community based on political, economic, and social laws that enforce the principles of justice and mercy. And that process came to be seen as inevitably dependent on human agency—the need for human beings to fulfill God’s commandments. In Judaism, loving neighbors (and strangers) came to be understood as the principal—and, for many Jews, the only—way of loving God.

Father John L. McKenzie (1910-1991), an Old Testament biblical scholar who taught at Loyola University of Chicago, University of Chicago, Notre Dame and DePaul University, is considered one of the most influential post-WWII scholars who oriented Catholic thinkers toward modern biblical scholarship. Beyond being a prolific writer of books and articles, he was the first Catholic president of the Society of Biblical Literature, and served as president for the Catholic Biblical Association and for Clergy and Laity Concerned.

In the view of many contemporary scholars, both Jesus and Judaism have been misrepresented by the church for the past two thousand years. Their main point is that Judaism was not a superficial, rigid, and outdated religion, and Jesus did not reject it. In fact, along with his disciples, he remained a Law-abiding Jew his entire life. However, as Christianity developed from a Jewish sect in the first century AD to the official religion of the Roman Empire in the fourth century, the church was transformed, Jesus was redefined, and both Jews and their religion were repudiated and marginalized. In short, both Christians and Jews were deeply affected by what many scholars now call the de-Judaization of Jesus. This book is an attempt to correct the traditional theological and scholarly misinterpretations of Jesus and Judaism that emerged over the first four centuries of the life of the church.

A four year research reconciling science and religion. Includes bibliographical references and index.

According to the commonly held view, early Christianity was a time of great harmony, and heresy emerged only at a later stage. To the contrary, Gerd Ludemann argues that the time from the first Christian communities to the end of the second century was defined by struggle by various groups for doctrinal authority. Drawing on a wealth of data, he asserts that the losers in this struggle actually represented Christianity in its more authentic, original form. Orthodoxy has been defined by the victors in this struggle and it is they who subsequently silenced alternative views and labeled them heretical. Ludemann's findings are important as well as liberating for the understanding of both Christianity and the Bible. Readers will gain a new understanding of Jesus and the early church from this compelling and controversial book.

In this, his most eloquent and far-reaching book, James Douglass explores the haunting parallels between the situation of Jesus and our situation today. Jesus, who lived in anticipation of the impending destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans and suffered from this vision, called urgently for a radical conversion to avert the tragedy. The choice then -- as now -- was between nonviolence and nonexistence. This choice is even more stark in the nuclear age. Whether describing the visions of Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Archbishop Romero, or the witness of his own community against the White Train carrying warheads across the country, Douglass can discern the sights of a second coming, a nonviolent coming of God. The possibility for a different future depends on a different kind of humanity, renewed and transformed by the nonviolent cross of Christ.

This volume invites readers to get up close and personal with one of the most respected and beloved writers of the last four decades. Carolyn J. Sharp has transcribed numerous table conversations between Walter Brueggemann and his colleagues and former students, in addition to several of his addresses and sermons from both academic and congregational settings. The result is the essential Brueggemann: readers will learn about his views on scholarship, faith, and the church; get insights into his "contagious charisma," grace, and charity; and appreciate the candid reflections on the fears, uncertainties, and difficulties he faced over the course of his career. Anyone interested in Brueggemann's work and thoughts will be gifted with thought-provoking, inspirational reading from within these pages.

The thesis of the book may be stated simply: it is an argument based upon the four prophetic texts of Jer 23:5; Zech 3:8; 6:12; and Isa 4:2 as a foundational pattern for the four Gospels. These four prophetic texts, it will be argued, mention a King Branch, a Servant Branch, a Man/Priest Branch, and a Lord God Branch. This study seeks to show how Matthew presents Jesus as the King Branch, Mark as the Servant Branch, Luke as the Priest/Man Branch, and John as the Lord God Branch. Consideration will also be given to explore the ramification of the four living Beings as described in Rev 4:6-7. Given the sum total of this sequence of literary facts, the conclusion of this book will raise a number of possible implications. One of these implications will offer the conclusion that the four evangelists could not have written their four Gospels solely on their own human unaided efforts.

The author reminds us that our Christian stories are at the heart of the faith. Without these stories, formulated doctrines and theological systems would be bereft of meaning and substance. With the breadth of bright Vision, he explains what story theology is al about; and he tells us why it is gripping the minds and hearts of so many.