Sex and religion in the Bible

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Matthew D. Jensen

"The first letter of John is commonly understood to contain no reference to Jesus's resurrection. Matthew D. Jensen argues that, far from this being absent from the theology of 1 John, the opening verses contain a key reference to the resurrection which undergirds the rest of the text and is bolstered by other explicit references to the resurrection. The book goes on to suggest that the author and the readers of this epistle understand themselves to be the authentic Israel from which faithless Jews had apostatized when they denied that Jesus was 'the Christ' and left the community. Jensen's interpretation calls for a new understanding of the historical context in which 1 John was written, particularly the question of Jesus' identity from the perspective of his fellow Jews. An innovative and provocative study, of interest to scholars and advanced students of New Testament studies, Johannine theology and Jewish history"--

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Richard Horsley

Debate over whether or not Jesus can be best interpreted within an "apocalyptic scenario" has continued to dominate historical Jesus studies since Schweitzer and Bultmann. In this work the author shows that the apocalyptic scenario, with its supposed expectation of "the end of the world," the fiery "last judgment," and "the parousia of the Son of Man", is a modern scholarly construct that obscures the particulars of texts, society, and history. Drawing on his wide-ranging earlier scholarship, he refocuses and reformulates investigation of the historical Jesus in a thoroughly relational-contextual approach. He recognizes that the sources for the historical Jesus are not separate sayings, but rather the sustained Gospel narratives of Jesus' mission. His approach finds Jesus the popular prophet engaged in a movement of renewal, resistance, and judgment against Roman imperialism, Jerusalem rulers, and the Pharisees.

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James D.G. Dunn

Drawing upon ten years of research experience, the master scholar James D. G. Dunn presents a book on a major issue in the study of Christian origins: what were the attitudes toward Jewish law within earliest Christianity? This volume not only gathers the author's significant contributions to date but also includes new material. Divided into nine parts, it is set in the wider context of a living dialogue and debate. The introduction maps out Dunn's extensive work in Pauline and Markan studies. The final chapter, "The Theology of Galatians," serves as a summary of Dunn's current position on Paul and the law and brings the volume to a convincing conclusion -- PUBLISHER DESCRIPTION.

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Russell Kirk

Attorney Hugh Logan leaves Canada for Scotland to negotiate the purchase of Carnglass Island and the castle Old House of Fear for his employer, Duncan MacAskival. Logan is continually thwarted and threatened on his journey. But no matter how bad his travels, his arrival onto the island brings much worse trouble. Carnglass is under the control of evil genius Dr. Edmund Jackman, a Soviet-educated political revolutionary convinced that Logan is a spy who must die. Will Jackman's plot be thwarted? Will Logan be able to rescue the lovely niece of the noble owner of Old House? Will anyone get off the island alive?