Michael Bird
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Jesus And The Powers
$22.99Add to cartAn urgent call for Christians everywhere to explore the nature of the kingdom amid the political upheaval of our day.
Should Christians be politically withdrawn, avoiding participation in politics to maintain their prophetic voice and to keep from being used as political pawns? Or should Christians be actively involved, seeking to utilize political systems to control the levers of power?
In Jesus and the Powers, N. T. Wright and Michael F. Bird call Christians everywhere to discern the nature of Christian witness in fractured political environments. In an age of ascending autocracies, in a time of fear and fragmentation, amid carnage and crises, Jesus is king, and Jesus’s kingdom remains the object of the church’s witness and work.
Part political theology, part biblical overview, and part church history, this book argues that building for Jesus’s kingdom requires confronting empire in all its forms. This approach should orient Christians toward a form of political engagement that contributes to free democratic societies and vigorously opposes political schemes based on autocracy and nationalism. Throughout, Wright and Bird reflect on the relevance of this kingdom-oriented approach to current events, including the Russian-Ukraine conflict, the China-Taiwan tension, political turmoil in the USA, UK, and Australia, and the problem of Christian nationalism.
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Gods Israel And The Israel Of God
$28.99Add to cartPaul and Jewish identity after Christ
Paul believed Israel’s Messiah had come. But what does this mean for Israel? Debate rages over Paul and supersessionism: the question of whether–and if so, to what extent–the new covenant in Christ replaces God’s old covenant with Israel. Discussion of supersessionism carries much historical, theological, and political baggage, complicating attempts at dialogue.
God’s Israel and the Israel of God: Paul and Supersessionism pursues fruitful discussion by listening to a variety of perspectives. Scot McKnight, Michael F. Bird, and Ben Witherington III consider supersessionism from political, biblical, and historical angles, each concluding that if Paul believed Jesus was Israel’s Messiah, then some degree of supersessionism is unavoidable. Lynn H. Cohick, David J. Rudolph, Janelle Peters, and Ronald Charles respond to the opening essays and offer their own perspectives.
Readers of God’s Israel and the Israel of God will gain a broader understanding of the debate, its key texts, and the factors that shaped Paul’s view of Israel.
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Ascension Of Christ
$15.99Add to cartThe Ascension is essential to the gospel
The good news of Jesus includes his life, death, resurrection, and future return–but what about his ascension? Though often neglected or misunderstood, the ascension is integral to the gospel.
In The Ascension of Christ, Patrick Schreiner argues that Jesus’ work would be incomplete without his ascent to God’s right hand. Not only a key moment in the gospel story, Jesus’ ascension was necessary for his present ministry in and through the church. Schreiner argues that Jesus’ residence in heaven marks a turning point in his three-fold offices of prophet, priest, and king. As prophet, Jesus builds the church and its witness. As priest, he intercedes before the Father. As king, he rules over all.
A full appreciation of the ascension is essential for understanding the Bible, Christian doctrine, and Christ’s ongoing work in the world.
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Honoring The Son
$15.99Add to cartBefore the New Testament or the creeds of the church were written–the devotional practices of the earliest Christians indicate that they worshipped Jesus alongside the Father.
Larry W. Hurtado has been one of the leading scholars on early Christology for decades. In Honoring the Son: Jesus in Earliest Christian Devotional Practice, Hurtado helps readers understand early Christology by examining not just what early Christians believed or wrote about Jesus, but what their devotional practices tell us about the place of Jesus in early Christian worship.
Drawing on his extensive knowledge of early Christian origins and scholarship on New Testament Christology, Hurtado examines the distinctiveness of early Christian worship by comparing it to both Jewish worship patterns and worship practices within the broader Roman–era religious environment. He argues that the inclusion of the risen Jesus alongside the Father in early Christian devotional practices was a distinct and unique religious phenomenon within its ancient context. Additionally, Hurtado demonstrates that this remarkable development was not invented decades after the resurrection of Christ as some scholars once claimed. Instead, the New Testament suggests that Jesus–followers, very quickly after the resurrection of Christ, began to worship the Son alongside the Father. Honoring the Son offers a look into the worship habits of the earliest Christians to understand the place of Jesus in early Christian devotion.
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Heirs Of Promise
$15.99Add to cartWhat is the relationship between the Church and Israel? And how does that influence our understanding of the Old Testament?
In Heirs of Promise, P. Chase Sears answers these questions by taking a biblical-theological approach to the book of Romans. He argues that Paul views the Church as the new Israel-not a replacement of Israel, but rather the continuation of Israel reconstituted in Christ. As the Son of God, Jesus is the true Israel, through whom all of God’s purposes for Israel and creation are realized. Through faith in Christ, the Church becomes God’s new covenant people and heirs of all his saving promises.
Sears examines how people united to Jesus find their identity in him. He explains how Old Testament promises made to Israel are being fulfilled in the Church. And he shows how Paul applies descriptions of Israel to all those who believe the gospel. These themes from Romans demonstrate that Paul considers the Church to be the new Israel, and thus Heirs of Promise.