Why the Cultural Context of the Gospel Is So Powerful

Study the world of Jesus and the Gospels

Gain clarity in your reading of the Gospels with a study of the intertestamental period. The decline of the Persian Empire, the rise of Alexander the Great, Israel’s military engagements and religious movements—the events between the final book of the Old Testament and the first Gospel are a backdrop for Christ’s appearance and the development of Christianity. Intertestamental history clarifies the context of the New Testament for a deeper, more robust understanding of Scripture.

Get The World of Jesus and the Gospels today! Note: this is not the course featured in the video—that one isn’t finished yet. 

Read Scripture like an ancient Hebrew with The Unseen Realm

The psalmist declared that God presides over an assembly of divine beings (Psa. 82:1). Who are they? What does it mean when those beings participate in God’s decisions (1 Kings 22:19–23)? Why wasn’t Eve surprised when the serpent spoke to her? Why are Yahweh and his Angel fused together in Jacob’s prayer (Gen. 48:15–16)? How did descendants of the Nephilim (Gen. 6:4) survive the flood (Num. 13:33)? What are we to make of Peter and Jude’s belief in imprisoned spirits (2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6)? Why does Paul describe evil spirits in terms of geographical rulership (thrones, principalities, rulers, authorities)? Who are the “glorious ones” that even angels dare not rebuke (2 Pet. 2:10–11)?

The Unseen Realm presents the fruit of Dr. Heiser’s fifteen years of research into what the Bible really says about the unseen world of the supernatural. His goal is to help readers view the biblical text unfiltered by tradition or by theological presuppositions. “People shouldn’t be protected from the Bible,” Dr. Heiser says. But theological systems often do just that, by “explaining away” difficult or troublesome passages of Scripture because their literal meaning doesn’t fit into our tidy systems.

Get The Unseen Realm right now, or learn more about the book here.

Own “the flagship of American biblical scholarship”

The Anchor Yale Bible represents the pinnacle of biblical scholarship, drawing from the wisdom and resources of Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish scholars from around the world. A book-by-book translation and exegesis of the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Apocrypha that includes more than 80 volumes, this vast commentary series makes available all the significant historical and linguistic knowledge which bears on the interpretation of the Bible.

These massive commentaries have set the standard for biblical scholarship for decades—marking the beginning of a new era—by making the Bible accessible to modern readers. The Anchor Yale Bible aims to arrive at the meaning of biblical literature through exact translation and extended exposition, and to reconstruct the ancient setting of the biblical story, as well as the circumstances of its transcription and the characteristics of its transcribers. These commentaries are written with the most exacting standards of scholarship, reflecting the highest technical accomplishment. They are vital for sermon preparation, research, and advanced study of the Bible.

Own the entire 140-volume series.