How to Read the Bible Collection (4 vols.)

by Stan Guthrie; Richard L. Schultz; Mark L. Strauss

Publisher:

Baker

, 2010–2013

Overview

How do biblical prophecies impact today’s world? How can modern-day Christians correctly interpret and apply Scripture? The How to Read the Bible Collection presents four volumes on reading Scripture in its original contexts to apply its wisdom to contemporary living. It analyzes almost 300 questions asked by Jesus throughout the New Testament and introduces 60 Bible prophecies’ ancient and present-day significance. The collection illustrates the pitfalls of misinterpretation and shows Bible readers how they can avoid misreading and misapplying Scripture.

Whether you’re a student, a pastor, or a layperson, the How to Read the Bible Collection provokes you to read the Bible honestly—to let it surprise, challenge, and correct you as you apply the many steps of interpretation. By using the tools included in this collection, you’ll approach Bible study with more depth and understanding. Integrate the practical methods found in this collection with your preferred Bible, the Passage Guide, and the other Bible-study tools in Logos Bible Software—and then dive into Bible study with a vast knowledge base right before your eyes.

Key Features

• Emphasizes the importance of understanding the Bible in its original contexts
• Illustrates various ways Scripture has been misinterpreted
• Shows how to apply Scripture’s wisdom in the modern context

Product Details

• Title: How to Read the Bible Collection
• Publisher: Baker
• Volumes: 4
• Pages: 976
• Resource Type: Topical
• Topic: Hermeneutics and Interpretation

All That Jesus Asks: How His Questions Can Teach and Transform Us

• Author: Stan Guthrie
• Publisher: Baker
• Publication Date: 2010
• Pages: 352

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

More books have been written about Jesus than any other historical figure. Many of these books ask and answer questions about Jesus. Would we get a different picture of Jesus if we allowed him to ask the questions?

Covering nearly 300 questions recorded in the New Testament under 26 separate themes, All That Jesus Asks uncovers who Jesus is by examining what was important to him and what he wants us to believe. This unique and comprehensive look at the greatest figure in history will encourage and challenge you—and it just might change your life.

Stan Guthrie is one of the most incisive writers I read. I’m always informed and challenged by his thinking.

—Jerry B. Jenkins, owner, Christian Writers Guild

Atheists attempt to put Christians on the defensive by questioning the authority and goodness of God—the God whose existence they call into question. This book turns the tables by allowing Jesus to ask the questions. All That Jesus Asks will touch your head and your heart. I highly recommend it.

—Dinesh D’Souza, former president, The King’s College, New York

People’s sentiments about Jesus can run strong . . . . We prefer a sentimental picture because it requires nothing from us, neither conviction nor commitment. And because it lacks truth, it lacks power. In this new book, Stan Guthrie is out to change that picture. Using the questions that Jesus actually asked of those around him, Stan leads us into a deeper look at Christ’s humanity, authority, and mission. In All That Jesus Asks, you will discover the rugged truth about Christ and what that truth asks of you.

—Joni Eareckson Tada, founder, Joni and Friends International Disability Center

Rigorously presenting the Jesus of the Gospels as our interrogator and digging deep into the realities of discipleship as he taught it, Guthrie’s book is a landmark. I urge you to buy it and read it again and again.

—J.I. Packer, Board of Governors’ Professor of Theology, Regent College

Stan Guthrie’s All That Jesus Asks slices through the fog of culture and history to place us in an uncomfortable but privileged seat at the feet of Jesus as he teaches and confronts those who would follow him—or challenge him. Whether you worship in the congregation or stand behind the pulpit, you will find Jesus’ questions to be both spiritually inspiring and unsettling as you truly realize All That Jesus Asks.

—Chuck Colson, founder, Prison Fellowship and the Colson Center for Christian Worldview

Stan Guthrie’s All That Jesus Asks is one-of-a-kind because it is the only book to date to deal with all the questions that Jesus asked—all three hundred of them! . . . The carefully crafted discussion questions at the end of each chapter are sure to enliven study and group discussion. And the question index, which lists the entirety of Jesus’ questions according to their themes, will prove to be a unique resource to teachers and preachers alike. Thanks be to God for Stan Guthrie’s great idea and his life-giving work.

—R. Kent Hughes, senior pastor emeritus, College Church, Wheaton, IL

Stan Guthrie is an author, literary agent, and editor at large for Christianity Today. An award-winning veteran journalist and commentator on the evangelical scene, he has edited or cowritten a dozen books, and cohosts a weekly podcast for Books & Culture. Guthrie lives in Illinois.

A Concise Guide to Bible Prophecy: 60 Predictions Everyone Should Know

• Author: Stan Guthrie
• Publisher: Baker
• Publication Date: 2013
• Pages: 176

A glance at tabloid headlines reveals that we have an almost insatiable desire to see into the future. In our search to know what is to come, many turn to the Bible for answers. Both the Old and the New Testament are loaded with prophets and prophecies. Who were these people who supposedly could predict the future? Have their prophecies come true?

Now readers can get to the bottom of 60 crucial Bible prophecies quickly and easily with A Concise Guide to Bible Prophecy. This accessible handbook will help readers understand prophecies within their biblical context and avoid common misinterpretations. Author Stan Guthrie explains what each prophecy meant to those who first received it, summarizes what it means for us today, and provides verses or passages for further individual or group study.

Nothing is more exciting—or more important—than the promises and prophecies of Scripture. Nothing brings greater hope. Nothing brings greater clarity to our lives. I thank the Lord, and my good friend Stan, for this encouraging and important piece of work.

—Luis Palau, world evangelist

Stan Guthrie is a cogent thinker and graceful writer I love to read. While A Concise Guide to Bible Prophecy happens to cover an area of personal interest for me, Stan can draw me into any subject simply by the way he examines and explains it. Every Guthrie book is a treat.

—Jerry B. Jenkins, owner, Christian Writers Guild

Bible prophecy is a subject that’s often been smothered by fantasy, confusion, and outright distortion. Stan Guthrie addresses it with lucidity, humility, and a deep love for God’s Word.

—John Wilson, editor, Books & Culture

Stan Guthrie is an author, literary agent, and editor at large for Christianity Today. An award-winning veteran journalist and commentator on the evangelical scene, he has edited or cowritten a dozen books, and cohosts a weekly podcast for Books & Culture. Guthrie lives in Illinois.

How to Read the Bible in Changing Times: Understanding and Applying God’s Word Today

• Author: Mark L. Strauss
• Publisher: Baker
• Publication Date: 2011
• Pages: 288

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

How can words written thousands of years ago in different times and cultures apply to us today? Why do Christians obey certain commands in the Bible and ignore others? Some say commands to greet one another with a kiss or not to eat pork are merely “cultural” but then insist that commands related to divorce, homosexuality, or the roles of women and men apply for all time. Are we just picking and choosing what we want to obey and what we want to ignore? Or are there consistent principles for interpreting and applying the Bible?

How to Read the Bible in Changing Times shows you how to interpret and apply the Scriptures regardless of time and culture. It develops a heart-of-God approach that provides guidelines to

• Determine the meaning of the text in its original context
• Analyze cultural features
• Discern what the Bible teaches about God, his will, and his purposes
• Apply the truths discovered to contemporary life situations

If you have ever struggled to see the connection between this ancient document and your world today, you will treasure this insightful book.

With a keen scholar’s mind, a pastor’s compassionate heart, and a teacher’s clarity, Mark Strauss has penned a much-needed resource for understanding the Bible today. Your study of Scripture will be enriched and enhanced by this valuable book!

—Lee Strobel, author, journalist, pastor

The books on how to interpret the Bible are many. Some are so technical that their readership is severely limited; others are so popular that their accuracy and depth are sacrificed for easy rhetoric. Mark Strauss weaves his way between these two extremes to give us a book that is careful, understated, and filled with a great deal of good sense. No one will agree with everything he has written: the subject is too complex for that. But this is a good place to start.

—D.A. Carson, research professor, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Mark L. Strauss (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is professor of New Testament at Bethel Seminary. He is the author of several books, including Distorting Scripture? The Challenge of Bible Translation and Gender Accuracy and Four Portraits, One Jesus. His professional associations include the Evangelical Theological Society, the Institute for Biblical Research, and the Society of Biblical Literature. He lives in California.

Out of Context: How to Avoid Misinterpreting the Bible

• Author: Richard L. Schultz
• Publisher: Baker
• Publication Date: 2012
• Pages: 160

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Are you guilty of interpretive malpractice? Here’s how to prevent it from happening again. Although 92 percent of American households own at least one Bible, only 59 percent read it occasionally—and an even smaller percentage actually study it. It is no wonder that even those of us who value the Scriptures often don’t understand them!

In Out of Context, veteran Bible professor Richard L. Schultz uses contemporary examples of “interpretive malpractice” to explain how biblical interpretation can go wrong—and how to get it right. He introduces you to the important concepts of context, word meaning, and genre, and the differences between the world of the Bible and our own. With the expert help in interpreting and applying Scripture shared in this book, you’ll find your Bible reading more rewarding than ever before.

Richard Schultz has produced a most compelling and winsome discussion of some of the wrong turns that are often made in interpreting Scripture. While he rightfully expresses his concern for those who properly desire to apply these texts to our contemporary scene, he also tries to guide lay readers and professionals in a better way to accomplish the same task when their attempts go wrong. This book is a delightful read that will bring both tears and outbursts of laughter as examples of poor interpretations are shared. Here is a book that is a must for all readers of the Bible, which I recommend for each person’s enlightenment and enjoyment.

—Walter C. Kaiser Jr., president emeritus, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

Having a correct view of God and living a faithful life are dependent on hearing God’s voice accurately, and Schultz helps sort out the good, the bad, and the ugly in the world of interpretation and application. He exposes the inherent danger of misusing Scripture and leads us into a more careful approach to interpreting and applying Scripture in a way that is faithful to the text’s original meaning and context. This book will help wean us off of the false conclusions of sloppy interpretation and will help us sort out the confusion that is so prevalent in so many Christian circles. It is a book that will inspire and teach at the same time, leading us to hunger and thirst for God’s Word all the more.

—Eric J. Bargerhuff, author, The Most Misused Verses in the Bible

The authority of the Bible is under attack from many quarters today. Sadly, much of this is the result of self-inflicted wounds—Christians misreading and misapplying God’s Word. Richard Schultz’s Out of Context is a clarion call for greater attention to the meaning of the text in its original context. His dozens of examples from popular Christian literature provide not only warnings against the errors of the past but also positive principles for gleaning God’s truth from Scripture today. This is must reading for Christian teachers, preachers, and writers

—Mark L. Strauss, professor of New Testament, Bethel Seminary

Out of Context is a readable, understandable, and persuasive plea for Christians in all walks of life to raise the standard of biblical interpretation by demanding it in the books we read and providing it in the books we write and publish.

—Julie Ackerman Link, editor, author, Bible study leader

Richard L. Schultz (PhD, Yale University) is the Blanchard Professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College. He is a regular contributor to scholarly journals and theological and biblical dictionary projects. He lives in Wheaton, Illinois.