Does your knowledge of the Old Testament feel like a grab bag of people, books, events and ideas? How many times have you resolved to really understand the OT? To finally make sense of it? Perhaps you are suffering from what Sandra Richter calls the "dysfunctional closet syndrome." If so, she has a solution. Like a home-organizing expert, she comes in and helps you straighten up your cluttered closet. Gives you hangers for facts. A timeline to put them on. And handy containers for the clutter on the floor. Plus she fills out your wardrobe of knowledge with exciting new facts and new perspectives. The whole thing is put in usable order--a history of God's redeeming grace. A story that runs from the Eden of the Garden to the garden of the New Jerusalem. Whether you are a frustrated do-it-yourselfer or a beginning student enrolled in a course, this book will organize your understanding of the Old Testament and renew your enthusiasm for studying the Bible as a whole.

An eight week study of the Book of Isaiah.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The most important distinction between us and them is culture. We must step back and allow the voices of the biblical writers to be heard in the tone in which they were originally spoken. #2 The second tendency I have come to call canonizing culture is the unspoken and usually unconscious presupposition that the norms of my culture are superior to those of someone else’s. Every culture must ultimately respond to the gospel’s critique. #3 The Bible reveals God through a specific human culture. God did not choose to reveal himself in any single culture, but in several incarnations of the same culture. We should not be about the business of canonizing the culture of ancient Israel, but we must understand it in order to understand the intent of the biblical authors. #4 The term redemption is culturally conditioned. It comes from the New Testament, but it originally came from the Old Testament. It was used to describe the laws and social customs of the ancient tribal society of which the Hebrews were a part.

ECPA Top Shelf Book Cover Award Biblical Foundations Book Award Winner Sandra L. Richter cares about the Bible. She also cares about creation. An expert in ancient Israelite society and economy as well as biblical theology, she walks readers through passages familiar and not-so-familiar, showing how significant environmental theology is to the Bible's witness. She then calls Christians to apply that message to today's environmental concerns. Richter is a master Bible scholar. Each chapter draws out a biblical mandate about humanity's responsibility to care for the land, domestic and wild creatures, and people on the margins. She is also a master storyteller. Well informed on present-day environmental challenges, Richter includes case studies that connect the biblical mandates to current issues. Though modern political alliances may tempt readers to sever Christian faith from environmental stewardship, in this concise and accessible book, Richter urges us to be driven by God's values instead.