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Centered On Jesus: A Lenten Devotional From The Faculty Of Bethel University, Christopher Gehrz, Esther Shull, Carl Albing, Rebekah Bain, Andy Bramsen, Susan Leigh Brooks, Jeannine K. Brown, Michael Crawford, Julie Anne De Haan, Joy Doan, Dale Durie, Julie Finnern, Barrett Fisher, Joel Frederickson, Laura Gilbertson, Rhonda Gilbraith, Ann Holland, Stephen Hunt, Rachel Jorgensen, Patricia Kelly, Denise Muir Kjesbo, Marion H. Larson, Erik Leafblad, Elisabeth E. Lefebvre, Jim Lewis, Joyce Lemay, Alison Lo, Gary A. Long, Christopher Moore, Katherine Nevins, Pauline E. Nichols, Meredith Nyberg, Chad Osgood, Jeanine Parolini, Richard Peterson, Dan Ritchie, Matt Runion, Robin Rylaarsdam, Kristin E. Sandau, Sara L. H. Shady, Angela Shannon, Marta Shaw, Paula A.G. Soneral, Peter T. Vogt, Laura Wennstrom, Gloria Wiese, Brandon Winters, Yu-Li Chang Zacher, Nick Zeimet

Faculty Books

For the 2022 season of Lent, Bethel faculty and staff members collaborated to pen Centered on Jesus: A Lenten Devotional from the Faculty of Bethel University. The daily devotionals in Centered on Jesus are intended to help the Bethel community and anyone interested recenter before the cross during Lent. And the devotionals show how faculty across Bethel—each from his or her unique discipline—approach what it means to be a university centered on Jesus.

This collection of 47 devotionals written by 48 Bethel faculty and staff members span from Ash Wednesday through Holy Week and Easter. These contributions represent over …

Stay Curious : How Questions And Doubts Can Save Your Faith, Stephanie Williams O'Brien

Faculty Books

Most of us are going through the motions when it comes to faith, either believing we've found all the relevant answers to life's questions or believing none can be found. We shy away from our deepest questions about God because we fear the uncertainty on the other side. But when we make certainty and correct belief the end goal of faith, we miss out on the chance to know God more deeply and to participate in God's work in the world. In "Stay Curious" Pastor Steph shows us how to lean into our questions and embrace a life of curiosity. …

Studies In The History Of The Greek Text Of The Apocalypse : The Ancient Stems, Josef Schmid, Juan Hernández Jr., Garrick V. Allen, Darius Müller

Faculty Books

Josef Schmid’s landmark publication, Studien zur Geschichte des Griechischen Apokalypse-Textes, has been the standard work for understanding Revelation’s Greek manuscript tradition and textual history for more than sixty years. Despite the fact that most major studies on the book are based on Schmid’s work, the work itself has long been out of print, making it difficult for the broader scholarly community to reassess Schmid’s conclusions in light of recent manuscript discoveries and technological advances. This new translation of the work makes Schmid’s detailed review of the history of textual scholarship; his comprehensive examination of the origin, history, and development of …

From Bubble To Bridge: Educating Christians For A Multifaith World, Marion H. Larson, Sara L. H. Shady

Faculty Books

Summary: In a world of deep religious strife and increasing pluralism it can seem safer to remain inside the "bubble" of our faith community. Many Christians worry that engaging in interfaith dialogue will require watering down their faith and accepting other religions as equally true. Marion Larson and Sara Shady not only make the case that we can love our religious neighbors without diluting our commitment, but also offer practical wisdom and ideas for turning our faith bubbles into bridges of religious inclusion and interfaith engagement.

Contents: Why interfaith engagement? A civic imperative: The world is a really big place …

Re-Imagining African Christologies: Conversing With The Interpretations And Appropriations Of Jesus Christ In Contemporary African Christianity, Victor I. Ezigbo

Faculty Books

"Who do you say that I am" (Mark 8:29) is the question of Christology. By asking this question, Jesus invites his followers to interpret him from within their own contexts-history, experience, and social location. Therefore, all responses to Jesus's invitation are contextual. But for too long, many theologians particularly in the West have continued to see Christology as a universal endeavor that is devoid of any contextual influences. This understanding of Christology undermines Jesus's expectations from us to imagine and appropriate him from within our own contexts. In Re-imagining African Christologies, Victor I. Ezigbo presents a constructive exposition of the …

Scribal Habits And Theological Influences In The Apocalypse : The Singular Readings Of Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, And Ephraemi, Juan Hernández Jr.

Faculty Books

Modelled on the respective studies of Ernest C. Colwell and James R. Royse, Juan Hernández Jr. offers a fresh and comprehensive discussion of the Apocalypse's singular readings in Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, and Ephraemi. Moreover, the singular readings of the Apocalypse are also assessed in light of the work's reception history in the early church. The author shows that the scribes of these three manuscripts omitted more often than they added to their texts, were prone to harmonizing, and, in the case of at least one scribe, made significant theological changes to the fourth century text of the Apocalypse. The author also …

Jesus Is Enough: Love, Hope, And Comfort In The Storms Of Life, Claudia May

Faculty Books

When stormy trials hit us, our recollection of Jesus' faithfulness can fade as worry, anger, jealousy, fear, sickness, stress, and unforgiveness threaten to rob us of the love and hope that can be found in Jesus. And yet we can experience comfort in the womb of these stormy seasons. Pondering on the stories surrounding Jesus' life presents us with practical wisdom on how to respond to the turbulent episodes we encounter. Jesus' teachings can rejuvenate and instill within us a sense of hope in his love. If we allow him, Jesus can be enough for us, in and out of …

Epistemology As Theology : An Evaluation Of Alvin Plantinga's Religious Epistemology, James K. Beilby

Faculty Books

Alvin Plantinga is arguably one of the most influential philosophers of our time. Much of his career has been devoted to explaining and defending the intellectual acceptability of Christian belief. Recently he has developed a comprehensive, rigorous, and distinctively Christian religious epistemology. This book presents the development of Plantinga's religious epistemology before considering Plantinga's mature religious epistemology in detail. Locating Plantinga's most recent work in the context of his theological assumptions, his previous work on religious epistemology, and in the context of the current debate over how knowledge should be characterized, Beilby blends theological and philosophical discussion to offer a …