Hard Sayings of the Bible

by Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Peter H. Davids, F. F. Bruce, Manfred Brauch

Overview

Are you grappling with a difficult verse in the Bible? And are you looking for a short, easy—to—read answer that really makes sense without explaining away the verse?

Hard Sayings of the Bible is the handy reference book you need. Here you will find explanations of over five hundred of the most troubling verses to test the minds and hearts of Bible readers. Four seasoned scholars, all with a notable gift for communicating with people in the pew, take you behind the scenes to find succinct solutions to a wide variety of Bible difficulties, ranging from discrepancies about numbers to questions about God's justice.

Historical, cultural and linguistic backgrounds shed light on these passages and not only help explain what they meant in biblical times but also show how they are relevant today.

Now carefully cross—referenced with over one hundred new verses explained, as well as a dozen new introductory articles on chronology, miracles, archaeology, prophecy and more, Hard Sayings of the Bible offers the combined resources of five previous volumes that have over 250,000 copies in print.

If you find yourself tied up in scriptural knots, here's the book that will help you cut through them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780830815401
Publisher:	InterVarsity Press
Publication date:	05/11/2010
Series:	The Hard Sayings Series
Pages:	811
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

Walter C. Kaiser Jr. is president emeritus and Colman M. Mockler Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Gordon—Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts.

Peter H. Davids is a professor of Christianity at Houston Baptist University and part—time professor at Houston Graduate School of Theology. He has taught biblical studies at Regent College (Vancouver, British Columbia) and Canadian Theological Seminary (Regina, Saskatchewan), and he continues to teach in theological schools in Europe. He is the author of commentaries on James and 1 Peter.

F. F. Bruce (1910—1990) was known worldwide as the "dean of evangelical scholarship"—a reputation earned by a lifetime of scholarship, teaching, and writing. Trained in classics at the University of Aberdeen and Cambridge University, he taught at the Universities of Edinburgh, Leeds, and Sheffield before serving for nearly twenty years as the Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis at the University of Manchester in England. During his distinguished career, he wrote many outstanding commentaries and books, including Paul, Apostle of the Heart Set Free; Israel and the Nations; New Testament History; The Books and the Parchments: How We Got Our English Bible; Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament; and The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? He also served as general editor of The New International Commentary on the New Testament.

Manfred T. Brauch (Ph.D., McMaster University) is retired professor of biblical theology and past president of Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (now Palmer Theological Seminary) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is the author of Set Free to Be and Hard Sayings of Paul and a contributor to Hard Sayings of the Bible.

Table of Contents

Publisher's Preface
How to Use This Book
Abbreviations
General Introduction
1. How Do We Know Who Wrote the Bible?
2. Can We Believe in Bible Miracles?
3. Why Does God Seem So Angry in the Old Testament Loving in the New?
4. Why Don't Bible Genealogies Always Match Up?
5. Aren't Many Old Testament Numbers Wrong?
6. Do the Dates of the Old Testament Kings Fit Secular History?
7. Does Archaeology Support Bible History?
8. When the Prophets Say, "The Word of the Lord Came to Me," What Do They Mean?
9. Are Old Testament Prophecies Really Accurate?
10. Why Doesn't the New Testament Always Quote the Old Testament Accurately?
11. Are the New Testament Accounts of Demons True?
12. Why Are There Four Different Gospels?
Old Testament
New Testament
Subject Index
Scripture Index
Who Wrote What
About the Authors