The fifteen Psalms of Ascents (Psalms 120–134) are an important collection within the Psalms that focuses on the journey towards the presence of God, a God who is at once the “maker of heaven and earth” but also encountered in a particular place and among a particular people. This book explores their rich imagery to show how they nourish a hopeful search for God’s presence in a world that includes crises and hostility, not only in the world but tragically also within the people of God. The Psalms of Ascents are a summons to a spirituality for priest and people, the powerful and the marginalized, for anyone suspended between struggle and hope on the journey towards God. While this book gives readers a focused discussion on the theology and spirituality of these psalms, it also explores their role in the whole canon of Christian Scripture. As such, the book provides a resource for studying, teaching, and preaching these fifteen Psalms, but can also serve as an entryway into the rest of the book of Psalms.

Emotions have increasingly attracted the attention of the sciences and academia. The topic is all the more timely since we have witnessed a global trend towards highly emotionalized discourses across societies and religions. Discourses are less guided by rational arguments and “facts”. Instead, narratives, sometimes manipulative, influence the thoughts and activi-ties of our societies. In this context, the authoritative texts of the monotheistic religions are experiencing a renaissance. Tanach, Bible and Qur’an do not only “emotionalize”, they also offer ancient concepts of emotions which affect the present. This book brings the interdependencies of antiquity and (post)modernity into an interdisci-plinary discussion. How should we understand feelings at all? This book explores the ap-proaches to emotions as portrayed and understood in various sources and disciplines. The contributors share their perspectives on methodological questions concerning research on the emotions. Scholars in religious studies and theology from different traditions—Jewish, Christian, Islamic—enter into dialogue with other disciplines, such as psychology, literary studies, sociology, cultural studies, philosophy, and historiography.

This Cambridge Companion offers an up-to-date and accessible guide to the fast-changing discipline of biblical studies. Written by scholars from diverse backgrounds and religious commitments – many of whom are pioneers in their respective fields – the volume covers a range of contemporary scholarly methods and interpretive frameworks. The volume reflects the diversity and globalized character of biblical interpretation in which neat boundaries between author-focused, text-focused, and reader-focused approaches are blurred. The significant space devoted to the reception of the Bible – in art, literature, liturgy, and religious practice – also blurs the distinction between professional and popular biblical interpretation. The volume provides an ideal introduction to the various ways that scholars are currently interpreting the Bible. It offers both beginning and advanced students an understanding of the state of biblical interpretation, and how to explore each topic in greater depth.

The books of Amos and Hosea witness to the breakdown of the northern kingdom of Israel as a manifestation of the justice and judgment of God. These books reveal dimensions of divine justice that encompass and interweave with divine mercy. Amos and Hosea differ in mode and emphasis, yet each brings out multifaceted relationships between God’s just judgment and merciful compassion as well as a divine commitment to the possibility of human renewal and transformation. Reading Amos and Hosea together provides a fuller portrayal of the divine response to a community indifferent to God and to one another.

This book provides a lively introduction to the exciting discipline of evangelical theology. Aligning with the global Lausanne Movement, the authors identify Scripture and mission as methodological centres of evangelical theology. Evangelical Theology highlights the key evangelical themes of atonement, conversion, justification, and sanctification, as well as recent developments around trinitarian theology and pneumatology.

In 48 separately-authored, self-contained articles by an international team of both Christian and Jewish theologians and practitioners, this Companion provides a thorough examination of the place of Christianity in the modern world.

This valuable resource introduces readers to the Old Testament books of wisdom and poetry--Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs--and helps them better understand each book's overall flow. Estes summarizes some of each book's key issues, offers an exposition of the book that interacts with major commentaries and recent studies, and concludes with an extensive bibliography. Now in paperback.

The NIV Application Commentary helps you communicate and apply biblical text effectively in today's context. To bring the ancient messages of the Bible into today's world, each passage is treated in three sections: Original Meaning. Concise exegesis to help readers understand the original meaning of the biblical text in its historical, literary, and cultural context. Bridging Contexts. A bridge between the world of the Bible and the world of today, built by discerning what is timeless in the timely pages of the Bible. Contemporary Significance. This section identifies comparable situations to those faced in the Bible and explores relevant application of the biblical messages. The author alerts the readers of problems they may encounter when seeking to apply the passage and helps them think through the issues involved. This unique, award-winning commentary is the ideal resource for today's preachers, teachers, and serious students of the Bible, giving them the tools, ideas, and insights they need to communicate God's Word with the same powerful impact it had when it was first written.

John Goldingay's three-volume commentary on the book of Psalms is now complete with this third volume. This work combines literary, historical, grammatical, and theological insights in a widely accessible manner. One of today's foremost experts on biblical theology, Goldingay covers Psalms 90-150 with his own translation of each passage, followed by interpretive comments and discussion of the theological implications. "The book of Psalms is the literary sanctuary; a holy place where humans share their joys and struggles with brutal honesty in God's presence," writes Tremper Longman III, editor of the Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms series. Pastors, seminary students, scholars, and Bible study leaders will enjoy this enriching volume. Goldingay's Psalms commentary is also available as a three-volume set.