Theology: New Testament and Related Literature: Biblical World Sources

Here, in one impressively illustrated volume, leading scholars offer compelling glimpses into the biblical world, the world in which prophets, poets, sages, and historians created one of our most important texts--the Bible. For more than a century, archeologists have been unearthing the tombs, temples, texts, and artifacts of the ancient Near East and the Mediterranean world. Using new approaches, contemporary scholars have begun to synthesize this material with the biblical traditions. The Oxford History of theBiblical World incorporates the best of this scholarship, and in chronologically ordered chapters presents the reader with a readable and integrated study of the history, art, architecture, languages, literatures, and religion of biblical Israel and early Judaism and Christianity in their largercultural contexts. The authors also examine such issues as the roles of women, the tensions between urban and rural settings, royal and kinship social structures, and official and popular religions of the region. Readers will find that 200 photographs, line drawings, and maps as well as an insertcontaining 25 color photographs vividly illustrate the history discussed. Understanding the biblical world is a vital part of understanding the Bible. Broad, authoritative, and visually engaging, The Oxford History of the Biblical World will illuminate for any reader the ancient world from which the Bible emerged.

Offering a wealth of reliable information, The Oxford Guide to People and Places of the Bible provides more than 300 articles that cover everyone from Adam and Eve to Jesus Christ and everywhere from the Garden of Eden to Golgotha and Gethsemane. Readers will find fascinating, informative entries on virtually every major figure who walked across the biblical stage. Here are Hebrew Bible figures such as Cain and Abel, Noah and Methuselah, Abraham and Isaac, David and Goliath, Solomon and Sheba, Moses and Aaron, Naomi and Ruth, andSamson and Delilah. The New Testament is likewise well covered, with pieces on Peter and Paul, John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene, the apostles (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), Pontius Pilate and Judas Iscariot, and of course Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Articles also define groups of people whofigure in the Bible, such as Angels, Archangels, and Demons, the Magi, the Tribes of Israel, and Women. Entries on the significant places of the Bible, both ancient and modern, include kingdoms and countries (Egypt, Assyria, Mesopotamia) and cities (Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Sodom and Gomorrah), as wellas geographical features such as the Sea of Galilee and Mount Hebron. The guide includes a detailed index for ease of use, and 14 pages of color maps, providing an accurate, detailed portrait of the biblical world. Here then is the first place to turn to find factual information on the people and places of Holy Scripture. Written by an international team of noted biblical experts, it is an essential addition to any family library as well as a useful, reliable resource for scholars and students.