Is our gospel witness too small? Should the gospel be proclaimed in words only? Or should we preach the gospel in deeds—and when necessary use words? Or are we missing something in playing the witness of words against deeds? If you are concerned about evangelizing the post-Christian West or the world beyond, you have probably debated this issue. And evangelical instincts drive us to Scripture. ...

What significance does the New Covenant have for life and ministry? Foundational to the New Testament understanding of Jesus is Jeremiah's promise of a "new covenant"--that God will transform our hearts. In this important new study, David Peterson expounds Jeremiah's oracle and its influence on the New Testament, as well as the relevance of the New Covenant for life today. Peterson demonstrates ...

Preaching Survey of the Year's Best Books for Preachers

The appeal of biblical theology is that it provides a "big picture" that makes sense of the diversity of biblical literature. Through the lens of biblical theology the Bible ceases to be a mass of unconnected texts, but takes shape as a unified metanarrative connecting the story of Israel with that of Jesus. ...

Ever since Brevard Childs's 1970 declaration of the crisis in biblical theology, the discipline has faced rumors of its imminent demise. But the patient refuses to die. The doctors continue to argue over how to proceed with treatment and even over whether treatment is worth pursuing, but the patient hangs on. The turn of the millennium appears to be a good time for a fresh assessment of the discipline, ...

Among the several prominent themes in the Bible, the story of Israel is one that has attracted recent attention and study. The biblical story of Israel--in its election, sin, exile and restoration--is a finely articulated drama of the glory and the plight of the universal story of humanity and creation. And the story of Jesus, born from the womb of Israel as its Messiah and true seed of Abraham, ...

From the patristic period until today, John's Gospel has served as a major source for the church's knowledge, doctrine and worship of the triune God. Among all New Testament documents the Fourth Gospel provides not only the most raw material for the doctrine of the Trinity, but also the most highly developed patterns of reflection on this material—particularly patterns that seek to account in some ...

The book of Jonah is arguably just as jarring for us as it was for the ancients. Ninevah's repentance, Jonah's estrangement from God and the book's bracing moral conclusion all pose unsettling questions for today's readers. For biblical theologians, Jonah also raises tough questions regarding mission and religious conversion. Here, Daniel Timmer embarks on a new reading of Jonah in order to secure ...

Preaching magazine Year's Best Book for Preachers

One of humanity's most basic and common practices—eating meals—was transformed by Jesus into an occasion of divine encounter. In sharing food and drink with his companions, he invited them to share in the grace of God. He revealed his redemptive mission while eating with sinners, repentant and unrepentant alike.

Jesus' ...