At the 2010 Wheaton Theology Conference, leading New Testament scholar N. T. Wright and nine other prominent biblical scholars and theologians gathered to consider Wright's prolific body of work. Compiled from their presentations, this volume includes Tom Wright's two main addresses, one on the state of scholarship regarding Jesus and the other on the state of scholarship regarding the apostle Paul. The other nine essays critically interact with these two major themes of Wright's works. Much appreciation is shown, overviews are given, perspective is provided and some pointed questions are also raised. Together these essays represent the best of critical yet charitable dialogue among serious and rigorous scholars on theological themes vital to Christian faith that will propel New Testament scholarship for the next decade to come. With essays by Jeremy Begbie Markus Bockmuehl Richard B. Hays Edith M. Humphrey Sylvia Keesmaat and Brian Walsh Nicholas Perrin Marianne Meye Thompson Kevin J. Vanhoozer

"Besides Jesus, no one has kept me from despair, or taken me deeper into the mysteries of the gospel, than the apostle Paul." —John Piper No one has had a greater impact on the world for eternal good than the apostle Paul—except Jesus himself. For John Piper, this impact is very personal. He does not just admire and trust Paul. He loves him. Piper gives us thirty glimpses into why his heart and mind respond this way. Can a Christian-killer really endure 195 lashes from a heart of love? Can a mystic who thinks he was caught up into heaven be a model of lucid rationality? Can an ethnocentric Jew write the most beautiful call to reconciliation? Can a person who lives with the unceasing anguish of empathy be always rejoicing? Can a man's description of the horrors of human sin be exceeded by his delight in human splendor? Can a man with a backbone of steel be as tender as a nursing mother? If we know this man—if we see what Piper sees—we too will love him. Paul's testimony is a matter of life and death. Piper invites you into his relationship with Paul in the hope that you will know life, forever.

At the 2010 Wheaton Theology Conference, leading New Testament scholar N. T. Wright and nine other prominent biblical scholars and theologians gathered to consider Wright's prolific body of work. Compiled from their presentations, this volume includes Wright's two main addresses plus nine other essays of critical response.

From the author of the bestselling novel The Shack and the New York Times bestsellers Cross Roads and Eve comes a compelling, conversational exploration of twenty-eight assumptions about God—assumptions that just might be keeping us from experiencing His unconditional, all-encompassing love. In his wildly popular novels, Wm. Paul Young portrayed the Triune God in ways that challenged our thinking—sometimes upending long-held beliefs, but always centered in the eternal, all-encompassing nature of God’s love. Now, in Wm. Paul Young’s first nonfiction book, he invites us to revisit our assumptions about God—this time using the Bible, theological discussion, and personal anecdotes. Paul encourages us to think through beliefs we’ve presumed to be true and consider whether some might actually be false. Expounding on the compassion fans felt from the “Papa” portrayed in The Shack—now a major film starring Sam Worthington and Octavia Spencer—Paul encourages you to think anew about important issues including sin, religion, hell, politics, identity, creation, human rights, and helping us discover God’s deep and abiding love.

The author of The Jesus Dynasty draws on St. Paul's letters and other early sources to reveal the apostles' sharply competing ideas about the significance of Jesus and His teachings while controversially demonstrating how St. Paul independently shaped Christianity as it is known today. 75,000 first printing.

Belying the assumption that there is nothing more to discover about the similarities between Jesus and the apostle Paul, Jerome Murphy-O 'Connor gives us this enticing study. Extracting his information from a variety of sources 'pagan, Jewish, and Christian 'Murphy-O 'Connor imaginatively interweaves geographical, cultural, and historical elements into configurations that reveal important parallel trajectories in the lives of Jesus and Paul. Murphy-O 'Connor begins by discussing the births, early years, and family settings of Jesus and Paul. He continues with an examination of their education, refugee status, social class, economic position, political circumstances, cultural influences, and conversion experiences. Finally, he explores details surrounding their deaths. In the end, Jesus and Paul: Parallel Lives gives us incisive comparisons that include but also go beyond the Scriptures to suggest novel ways of picturing Jesus-Paul. Readers will appreciate the labors of Murphy-O 'Connor to contextualize Jesus, the God-Man, alongside Paul, Man of God and Apostle to the Gentiles 'and will thereby have a greater appreciation for the missions of both. Jerome Murphy-O 'Connor, OP, has been a Professor of New Testament at the Ecole Biblique of Jerusalem since 1967. He has lectured throughout the world and is the author of numerous books, including the popular Oxford Press archaeological guidebook, The Holy Land, as well as Paul the Letter-Writer: His World, His Options, His Skills and St. Paul's Corinth: Texts and Archeology, both published by Liturgical Press.

This contemporary classic by renowned scholar Gordon Fee explores the Spirit's significant role in Pauline life and thought. After Fee published his magisterial God's Empowering Presence, he was asked to write a more accessible volume that would articulate Paul's priorities for experiencing the life of the Spirit in the church. Fee's bestselling introduction to Paul and the Spirit, Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God, went on to sell over 70,000 copies. This book by one of the greatest evangelical and Pentecostal New Testament interpreters of our time argues that the presence of the Spirit is, for Paul and for us, the crucial matter for the Christian life. This repackaged edition features an updated design and packaging, new study questions, and a foreword by Dean Pinter, who commends the book to a new generation of readers.