The election of Israel -- The context of 1 Peter -- The purpose of election in 1 Peter 1:1-5 -- The present implications of new birth and catalogical parenesis in 1 Peter 1:22-2:3 -- The present and missiological significance of the identity of the elect in 1 Peter 2:9-12 -- Who are the elect in 1 Peter? -- From exegesis to application in 1 Peter -- Missiological implications for the Anglican Church of Nigeria -- Theology and praxis: 21st century challenges to Nigerian Anglicanism.

A story well-told and subsequently imbibed by its recipients has the power to shape one’s beliefs, identity, and way of life. So, what happens when a person or community is swept up in such a story? In this study, Shaw draws upon the dual methodologies of Narrative Transportation and Social Identity theories to consider how 1 Peter’s use of Old Testament narratives and καλέω language serves to ‘transport’ it’s recipients into an identity defined as ‘elect sojourners’. Amidst suffering, 1 Peter ‘calls’ the Anatolian believers to a priestly ministry, blessing their antagonists as they await their eternal glory in Christ.

The Three Pillars: How Family Politics Shaped the Earliest Church and the Gospel of Mark, examines how family relationships played a key role in the earliest Christian church. By disentangling the two disparate genealogies of Jesus, the author reconstructs the families of Joseph and Mary. Presented here for the first time is the full ancestry of Jesus' mother, Mary, who was descended from the anti-Hasmonean high priest Alcimus. The author suggests that Mary and her daughter Mary played a hitherto unrecognized role in the church's earliest leadership struggle and that a composite of these two women, not Mary Magdalene, was the basis for the Gnostic Mary of later Christian works. The author next explores how this early leadership conflict shaped the Gospel of Mark, which she argues was written by Peter's son. She discusses Mark's footprint in this Gospel and how Mark's resentment of the relatives of Jesus, his ambivalence toward his father, and his anger at the disciples for ceding leadership to these relatives is at the heart of some of the most distinctive features of the Second Gospel, features that have perplexed biblical scholars and laymen for centuries. The last section examines the mysterious Beloved Disciple in the Gospel of John. The author concludes that the many unlikely elements in the account of the arrest and interrogation of Jesus can only be explained by seeing the Beloved Disciple as a close relative of the high priest Caiaphas and that this family relationship was crucial to the protection of the early Christians in Jerusalem. The book's final chapter offers reflections on how kinship played an important role in Jesus' ministry and how the high priestly-leadership responded to him in part because of his family lineage.

How the Bible Defines: Election It is not uncommon to find the word election defined in a Bible dictionary as “chosen by God for salvation” or something similar. Many dictionaries and lexicons include an alternate definition: “choice, select, best in its class.” A close look at the New Testament will reveal a number of passages where this word occurs without a clear indication of the intended definition. In these passages, how are we to determine which was the intended meaning? The Greek Old Testament is an often-overlooked resource that provides rich scriptural contexts from which to derive the meaning of key biblical words. You are cordially invited to embark on an exploration of Old Testament stories and passages that contain “election.” Along the way, you will see what the inspired writers meant when they used the word in certain stories, such as that of Korah’s rebellion and of the remnant in Isaiah’s prophecy. By the end, you just might find that one of the above definitions has no basis within the pages of scripture.

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.

The eighth volume in this series continues the exploration of women's representations and roles, constructions of gender, and attitudes toward sexuality in the early church. Jim Aageson, Judith Applegate, Warren Carter, Pamela Eisenbaum, Ruth Hoppin, Luke Timothy Johnson, Catherine Clark Kroeger, Magda Missett van de Weg, John Elliott, Betsy Bauman-Martin, and Timothy Cargal tackle a variety of complex issues involving slavery, prostitution, widows, church leadership, suffering, women's agency, and Evangelical responses to the so-called "texts of terror". This volume advances discussion on these often overlooked and misunderstood general letters.

Charles J. Ellicott Bible Commentary on the Whole for English Readers, Volume 3 of 3. Charles Ellicott wrote this exceptional Bible commentary to be used for Pastors and Students. It is written to be explained rather than to be technical so that as to reach all English readers. Charles Ellicott focuses on the English explanation rather than the Greek and addresses the expository side less than the technical since this does not contain Greek words or terminology. Dr. Charles Ellicott assembled and edited this commentary, utilizing 28 different authors, including Rev. Payne Smith, Rev. C. J. Elliott, and Rev. C. H. Waller. This is a must have for anyone desiring a greater understanding of the Bible as a whole. The scripture and commentary are on the same page making it easy to read and understand. This commentary is one that you will treasure in your library and you will not want to let this one pass you by.

Controversy rages on about God's choosing people for salvation. Are only the few elect? Rather than typically beginning with the preconceptions of systematic theologies, Dr. William Klein takes up this question by searching for a biblical theology of election. He surveys the OT contexts of God's choosing individuals--prophets, priests, kings--to serve divine purposes, and considers God's election of the nation of Israel as his special people. This OT study proposes that God's election is both individual and corporate, but not always determinative. Individuals entered the people of God by birth, but not all the people found salvation. Faith in Yahweh was required. This book traces these elective understandings through the intertestamental literature, identifying continuities and shifts. The bulk of the study, and the heart of the argument, focus on the New Testament. Klein identifies concepts of election, and relationships between writers in the gospels, the Lucan material, Paul's writings, and the rest. The new covenant, God choosing the church in Christ, emphasizes election as corporate, while the individual election of Jesus' disciples and of Paul raises the question whether such chosenness is necessarily salvific. In closing, Klein discusses the most engaging and divisive questions around God's election, and offers a real challenge to today's church.

Be Prepared to Think Theologically through Today's Most Pressing Ethical and Moral Issues In Theological Ethics theologian, pastor, and ethicist W. Ross Hastings gives pastors, ministry leaders, and students a guide designed to equip them to think deeply and theologically about the moral formation of persons in our communities, about ethical inquiry and action, and about the tone and content of our engagement in the public square. The book presents a biblical perspective and a gospel-centered framework for thinking about complex contemporary issues in ways are life-giving and that will lead readers into greater flourishing as human persons in community. This book is distinctive in presenting: A framework for theological ethics that is robustly theological and Trinitarian. Ethics isolated from the gospel and theology becomes bad news, but when it is informed by and empowered by participation in the triune God of grace, it is part of the good news of the gospel. An approach to theology and theological ethics that makes the Word of God the ultimate authority and it is therefore grounded in the biblical narrative and texts. An understanding that theological ethics are inherently missional. The church as the image of the triune God makes it the home of ethics, but in light of its missional identity, it will reverberate outwards to engage the world in ways that are humble and not power-mongering, that are gospel-based and shalom-evoking. Theological Ethics is for those who lead churches or ministries (or someday will) and who urgently need deep theological grounding as they daily encounter ethical and moral issues where they need to provide a gracious, truthful, and gospel-directed response. X