Religion, Ethnicity and Xenophobia in the Bible looks at some of the Bible’s most hostile and violent anti-foreigner texts and raises critical questions about how students of the Bible and ancient Near East should grapple with "ethnicity" and "foreignness" conceptually, hermeneutically and theologically. The author uses insights from social psychology, cognitive psychology, anthropology, sociology and ethnic studies to develop his own perspective on ethnicity and foreignness. Starting with legends about Mesopotamian kings from the third millennium BCE, then navigating the Deuteronomistic and Holiness traditions of the Hebrew Bible, and finally turning to Deuterocanonicals and the Apostle Paul, the book assesses the diverse and often inconsistent portrayals of foreigners in these ancient texts. This examination of the negative portrayal of foreigners in biblical and Mesopotamian texts also leads to a broader discussion about how to theorize ethnicity in biblical studies, ancient studies and the humanities. This volume will be invaluable to students of ethnicity and society in the Bible, at all levels.

In this much-needed reminder for those struggling to live faithful lives today, Steven McKenzie insists that the Bible's true message leads Christians away from the evils of racism and narrowness of bigotry to God's vision of humanity and unity.

While scholars of the New Testament and its Roman environment have recently focused attention on ethnicity, on the one hand, and gender on the other, the two questions have often been discussed separately-and without reference to the contemporary critical study of race theory. This interdisciplinary volume addresses this lack by drawing together new essays by prominent scholars in the fields of New Testament, classics, and Jewish studies. These essays push against the marginalization of race and ethnicity studies and put the received wisdom of New Testament studies squarely in the foreground.

When it comes to the ethnic divisions in our world, we speak often of seeking racial reconciliation. But at no point have all the different ethnicities on Earth been reconciled. Animosity, distrust, and hostility among people from various ethnicities have always existed in American history. Even in the church, we have often built walls--ethnic segregation, classism, sexism, and theological tribes--to divide God's people from each other. But it shouldn't be this way. God's people are the only people on earth who have experienced true reconciliation. Who better to enter into the ethnic tensions of our day with the hope of Jesus? In Intensional, pastor D. A. Horton steps into the tension to offer vision and practical guidance for Christians longing to embrace our Kingdom ethnicity, combating the hatred in our culture with the hope of Jesus Christ.

Racial discord seems to be at a fever pitch currently, and people are nervous. With a polarizing U.S. president, an explosive white supremacy rally taking place in Charlottesville, constant terror attacks all across Europe, and a new racial controversy every week, most countries seem to remain constantly on a heightened state of racial anxiety and alert. Is there a solution, or is violence and more painful strife inevitable? The Bible and Racism examines what the Bible really has to say about racism. Does the Bible actually justify racism? (No!) Does the Bible justify race-based slavery? (Not at all!) Does the Bible advocate for the segregation of races on Sunday mornings (Quite the opposite!) Does the Bible justify servanthood and bond-servants? (Yes, it does - read inside to see how that is a good thing.) This book covers comprehensively every major issue of race and gives a plain-sense answer from the Word of God. You will learn how Confederate pastors twisted Scripture to justify their abhorrent and unbiblical theology. You will see how pastors and government leaders during the 1950s-1970s sought to explain their segregationist policies by abusing the clear teachings of Scripture. Ultimately, you will see that God created all humans (no matter their ethnicity, skin color, nor nationality) in His Image. You will see that Jesus prayed for His followers (Red, Yellow, Black and White) to all be unified and together in the deepest way possible. Finally, you will see that the church in Heaven is made up of every ethnicity, skin color and nationality all worshiping on level ground together, shoulder to shoulder, and you will come to understand that Jesus has called His church on earth to reflect the reality of the unified church in Heaven! My name is Chase, and I am a white, Southern-Baptist pastor from Birmingham, Alabama, USA - the epicenter of the Civil Rights Movement. Just a few years ago, I realized that maintaining a quietly neutral attitude about race and racism wasn't going to cut it anymore. As a pastor, I thought that I could help out with racial issues by being nice to everybody, cultivating friendships with people of other races, and decrying racism from time to time on social media. That was a naive strategy, and it is not nearly enough. Jesus, in His Word, calls believers to PURSUE peace and oneness, and that pursuit is what this book is about. Racial harmony is possible and racial unity is possible, but there are many false, but old and dearly held beliefs, that will have to be crushed under the hammer of God's Word in order to get to a place of real peace. Please join me and let's see What the Bible REALLY Says about Racism!

An astonishing and revelatory history that re-presents God as he was originally envisioned by ancient worshippers—with a distinctly male body, and with superhuman powers, earthly passions, and a penchant for the fantastic and monstrous. "[A] rollicking journey through every aspect of Yahweh’s body, from top to bottom (yes, that too) and from inside out ... Ms. Stavrakopoulou has almost too much fun.”—The Economist The scholarship of theology and religion teaches us that the God of the Bible was without a body, only revealing himself in the Old Testament in words mysteriously uttered through his prophets, and in the New Testament in the body of Christ. The portrayal of God as corporeal and masculine is seen as merely metaphorical, figurative, or poetic. But, in this revelatory study, Francesca Stavrakopoulou presents a vividly corporeal image of God: a human-shaped deity who walks and talks and weeps and laughs, who eats, sleeps, feels, and breathes, and who is undeniably male. Here is a portrait—arrived at through the author's close examination of and research into the Bible—of a god in ancient myths and rituals who was a product of a particular society, at a particular time, made in the image of the people who lived then, shaped by their own circumstances and experience of the world. From head to toe—and every part of the body in between—this is a god of stunning surprise and complexity, one we have never encountered before.

Balances historical and contemporary concerns in an engaging and informative way, drawing connections between ancient and contemporary ethical problems.