Biblical Theology Bundle (15 vols.)

by John Stott; T. Desmond Alexander; Bruce Milne; Richard M. Cunningham

and

1 more

Publishers:

IVP; Inter-Varsity

, 1950–2017

Overview

Expand your understanding of biblical theology with this curated collection of resources covering a range of important theological topics. The Biblical Theology Bundle gathers prominent voices and examines key themes in biblical theology—adding new depth and filling gaps in your library.

Get insight from scholars including John Stott, Alexander T. Desmond, Bruce Milne, and more. See Scripture’s narrative clearly connect and develop a deeper understanding of the development of theology across the entire Bible. From a biblical theology approach to preaching, to Jesus’ servant leadership and the historical reliability of the gospels—this collection provides a full range of resources to equip your biblical studies and understanding of theological issues within a comprehensive biblical framework.

Key Features

• Presents a wide range of biblical theology resources
• Connects specific theological topics to the whole narrative of Scripture
• Draws from key voices in the field of biblical theology

Product Details

• Title: IVP UK Biblical Theology Bundle
• Publisher: IVP UK
• Volumes: 15
• Pages: 2,726
• Topic: Biblical Theology

Baptism and Fullness: The Work of the Holy Spirit Today

• Author: John Stott
• Publisher: IVP
• Publication Date: 2006
• Pages: 154

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“The Christian life is life in the Spirit,” writes John Stott. “It would be impossible to be a Christian, let alone to live and grow as a Christian, without the ministry of the gracious Spirit of God. All we have and are as Christians we owe to him.”

The Holy Spirit continues to be at work around the world, as evidenced by numerous renewal movements. Yet much confusion and controversy remain regarding the Holy Spirit’s activity. In this classic study, John Stott provides clear biblical exposition on the promise, the fruit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He offers particular guidance on the nature of “the baptism of the Spirit” and whether certain spiritual gifts and experiences should be normative for all Christians. Always irenic and gracious, Stott points the way to both greater biblical understanding and deeper fullness of spiritual life.

Basic Christianity

• Author: John Stott
• Series: IVP Classics
• Publisher: IVP
• Publication Date: 2008
• Pages: 192

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“Jesus certainly existed. His existence as an historical figure is vouched for by pagan as well as Christian writers,” says John Stott. Who was Jesus? Why was he crucified? Did he really rise from the dead? We need answers to these key questions in order to understand the basics of Christianity. The author offers a clear and full explanation, showing what it means to be a Christian today.

For fifty years Basic Christianity has exposed the backbone of the Christian faith. Its uncompromising clarity, intelligent logic and easy application make this one of the most enduring of Christian classics. In a time of ambiguity and confusion I can think of no other book I would rather recommend. Every evangelist should consider Basic Christianity a masterclass in communicating the gospel. This book is a must-read for those who are seeking God, those wishing to refresh their own faith, or those who hope to lead others into the loving arms of Jesus Christ.

—William Van Der Hart, evangelist and pastor

Lucid, clear and compelling. After Mere Christianity, perhaps no other book has helped more people come to faith. I’m thrilled that this classic has been appropriately shaped and refreshed for a modern audience without losing any of its timeless charm and persuasive brilliance. Having led and organized university missions for over twenty-five years I was sobered to be reminded of what a debt we all owe to this book and its author. ‘Christ is Christianity’ and no other book exemplifies a Christ-centered apologetic more simply and clearly.

—Richard Cunningham, director, UCCF: The Christian Unions

This was the classic forerunner of strong, balanced evangelistic books, and I am delighted it is being republished fifty years later. It led many to faith then, and it will again.

—Michael Green, theologian, Anglican priest, and apologist

John Stott’s books have helped millions around the world to a better understanding of the Christian faith. I, for one, am extremely grateful for the way in which he explains complex and difficult issues with great clarity, insight and wisdom. Basic Christianity has become a classic of our time.

—Nicky Gumbel, vicar, Holy Trinity Brompton

Becoming a Christian

• Author: John Stott
• Publisher: IVP
• Publication Date: 2016
• Pages: 32

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Stott describes conversion in this updated booklet. He describes the fundamental human problem. Next, Stott outlines the Christian answer to it and shows readers how to respond to God’s truth. This useful volume provides a helpful overview for evangelism or for personal devotion.

“But I Say to You”: Christ the Controversialist

• Author: John Stott
• Publisher: IVP
• Publication Date: 2013
• Pages: 224

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Jesus Christ has a way of cutting right across our logic and opinions, just as he did while on earth. Who God is, the authority of Scripture, the way of salvation, morality, and worship are just some of the areas where he turns things on their heads. Are you willing to follow this controversialist Christ?

Every thoughtful Christian ought to read this classic exposition of evangelical essentials. Though written more than forty years ago, its central message stands and is needed today more than ever. John Stott expounds persuasively, generously, lucidly, and with penetrating insight, what it means to be faithful to Jesus Christ. This is a brilliant book.

—Christopher Ash, director, Cornhill Training Course

I vividly recall reading this book in its earliest version forty years ago, and it contained the stand-out set of arguments that persuaded me to commit my life to Christ later that year. Thank you, John, for all that has meant to me since.

—Andrew Fergusson, author and former Head of Communications, Christian Medical Fellowship

This is vintage Stott—clear, biblical, passionate, thoughtful and Christ-centred. A magisterial defence of biblical historic evangelical Christianity. By brilliant analysis of the debates of Jesus with the Pharisees and Sadducees of his day, he highlights modern versions of the same distortions. Profound, lucid and compelling, this book is as relevant to current debates as when it was first published.

—John Wyatt, professor of neonatal paediatrics, University College London

Calling Christian Leaders: Rediscovering Radical Servant Ministry

• Author: John Stott
• Publisher: IVP
• Publication Date: 2002
• Pages: 160

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John Stott found on his many travels that contemporary models of Christian leadership were often shaped more by culture than by Christ. In stark contrast, he urges that our view be determined by our view of the church, not the other way round. Focusing on 1 Corinthians 1–4, he demonstrates the centrality of the theme of “power through weakness.” He explains the role of the Holy Spirit in God’s revelation, and examines four of Paul’s most striking models of ministry, each of which is an aspect of humility. Over against seductive styles of leadership being advocated by the wisdom of the world, he urges Christian leaders to be characterized above all else by “the meekness and gentleness of Christ.”

Pearls are to be found on every page.

—Mark Meynell, senior associate minister, All Souls Langham Place

The Cross of Christ

• Author: John Stott
• Edition: 20th anniversary
• Publisher: IVP
• Publication Date: 2006
• Pages: 380

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“I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross . . . In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it?” With compelling honesty John Stott examines the centerpiece of the Christian faith in this classic study. He explores a crucial question: why should an object of Roman distaste and Jewish disgust be the emblem of our worship and the axiom of our faith? And what does it mean for us today?

A contemporary restatement of the meaning of the cross, this is theology at its readable best. At the cross Stott finds the majesty and love of God disclosed, as well as the sin and bondage of the world exposed. Written with great warmth and insight, Stott’s work is the product of a uniquely gifted pastor, scholar, and Christian statesman. More than a study of the atonement, this book brings Scripture into living dialogue with Christian theology and the twentieth century. And what emerges is a powerful pattern for Christian life in worship, hope, and mission. The richness of this masterwork is sure to feed both heart and mind

There are not many ‘must read’ books—books that belong on every minister’s shelf, and on the shelves of thoughtful laypersons who want a better grasp of what is central in Scripture—but this is one of them.

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

John Stott rises grandly to the challenge of the greatest of all themes. All the qualities that we expect of him—biblical precision, thoughtfulness and thoroughness, order and method, moral alertness and the measured tread, balanced judgment and practical passion are here in fullest evidence. This, more than any book he has written, is his masterpiece.

—J.I. Packer, board of governors’ professor of theology, Regent College

I have no hesitation in saying that this is the most enriching theological book I have ever read . . . I found that it edified and challenged me, thrilled me with the glory of the cross, and equipped me to answer some of the questions non-Christians and skeptics ask about the cross.

—Ajith Fernando, teaching director, Youth for Christ, Sri Lanka

In our world of war and terror, there is nothing more important to contemplate than the cross of Christ. May Stott’s reflections give us the courage to fight, with all the love within us, the war of the slaughtered Lamb. The cross teaches us there is something worth dying for but nothing worth killing for, that we can conquer evil without mirroring it. So grab this book and get ready to live real good and get beat up real bad. It is the story of our faith.

—Shane Claiborne, author of The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical

John Stott is loved and revered in our home. We have all of his writings. . . and in the honored center place in our bookshelf sits The Cross of Christ. Chapter six alone—“Self-Substitution of God”—is worth the whole of this rich, God-honoring, Christ-exhausting, devotional, biblical, ever-so-balanced, theologically sane and clear book.

—Luis Palau, founder, The Next Generation Alliance

John Stott (1921–2011) was one of the foremost Christian figures of the twentieth century. He was educated at Cambridge, studying French and theology for a double first, and then training to be an Anglican cleric. He served as rector of All Souls Church in London for 25 years, where he carried out an effective urban pastoral ministry. He became known worldwide as a preacher, evangelist, and communicator of Scripture.

A leader among evangelicals in Britain, the United States and around the world, Stott was a principal framer of the landmark Lausanne Covenant in 1974. His many books, including Why I Am a Christian, Basic Christianity, Your Mind Matters: The Place of the Mind in the Christian Life, Between Two Worlds: The Challenge of Preaching Today, and The Living Church: Convictions of a Lifelong Pastor, have sold millions of copies around the world, translated into dozens of languages. Stott was honored by Time magazine in 2005 as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World.”

Dynamic Diversity: The New Humanity Church for Today and Tomorrow

• Author: Bruce Milne
• Publisher: IVP
• Publication Date: 2006
• Pages: 185

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From the footpaths of our cities to the chat rooms of the Internet, people are connecting today as never before. As the planet shrinks through the multiple forces of immigration, travel, electronic communication and more fluid employment patterns, we will find ourselves increasingly forced into contact with those who are significantly different from ourselves. Sadly however, the stranger is often a threat to be resisted rather than a friend to be embraced.

In this context of in-your-face diversity, it is time to revisit the heart of the New Testament, with its claim that in Jesus Christ a new quality of human relationship is possible. In his letter to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul claims that Christians are a new kind of people, part of a new community: a “new humanity” in Christ (Ephesians 2:15). We exist not in isolation, but in relationship.

Dynamic Diversity contends that all Christian congregations everywhere are called to be bridging places, centres of reconciliation, where the major diversities separating human beings are overcome through the presence of God’s Holy Spirit.

Bruce Milne presents a biblical model for today and tomorrow where the diversities of gender, generation, ethnicity, colour and socio-economic status present exciting and challenging opportunities to demonstrate practical oneness. When this happens, churches become wonderfully alive. In Christ we can be one people, one new humanity, one life.

This is an invaluable, scholarly and accessible tool for all leaders and thinking Christians who want to grapple with the challenges and privileges of holding unity in diversity.

—Joel Edwards, general director, Evangelical Alliance

Bruce Milne is a well-respected pastor and theologian who pastored at First Baptist Church in Vancouver, Canada, for eighteen years until he retired in 2001.

Excellence in Preaching: Studying the Craft of Leading Preachers

• Author: Simon Vibert
• Publisher: IVP
• Publication Date: 2011
• Pages: 173

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What is it that makes a highly effective preacher so effective? In Excellence in Preaching, pastor and author Simon Vibert examines this question in depth. This highly readable book is the result of a thorough study of some of the best preachers in the world, providing insight on how to do what Vibert states good preachers do: “make you strive for Christlikeness and value the great things that God is doing in his church.” Throughout this text he demonstrates how it pays to stop and examine: what are good preachers doing well? And what can we learn from them?

In each chapter Vibert outlines how world-renowned preachers like Tim Keller, John Piper, Mark Driscoll, John Ortberg and others do especially well, and how they accomplish it practically. This text covers issues such as being aware of cultural and philosophical challenges to the Gospel, inspiring a passion for the glory of God, letting the Bible speak with simplicity and freshness, teaching with directness, challenge and relevance, exposing all of God’s Word to all of God’s people, and much more.

Many things will help raise the standard of preaching around the world, but one of the most significant—and underrated—is the need for good models. Simon Vibert provides compelling examples of what constitutes good preaching, not that we emulate superstars, but that we learn from the dynamic interplay of the Word, the Spirit, the congregation, and the rich variety of human personality. This is an illuminating read for preachers and listeners alike, and I warmly commend it.

—Jonathan Lamb, director of Langham Preaching, Langham Partnership International

This is an imaginative and encouraging book, demonstrating how the best of the best of preachers actually do it. Fresh, stimulating, and constantly challenging, it made me want to start preparing a sermon immediately! I can’t imagine any preacher not being inspired to pick up the task with new courage and at the same time to give thanks for the privilege.

—John Pritchard, Bishop of Oxford

Simon Vibert studies some of today's most effective preachers and shows us what makes their preaching so powerful. These elements, interestingly, aren't always immediately apparent. Yes, preaching is a performance art, ‘truth through personality,’ but Vibert identifies elements that are transferable from these marquee pulpiteers to the rest of us. Excellence in Preaching gives us ‘ears to hear’ what we wouldn’t have heard otherwise.

—Marshall Shelley, editor in chief, Leadership Journal

Simon Vibert is vice principal and director of the School of Preaching at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He previously served as chairman of the Fellowship of Word and Spirit and has two decades of experience in parish ministry. As one of John Stott’s Langham Trainers, Vibert has equipped pastors in Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Serbia, and Haiti. Vibert studied at Oak Hill College in London, Glasgow University in Scotland, and Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida, where his thesis was on the preaching of John Piper. He is also the author of Lives Jesus Changed and The Diamond Marriage.

From Eden to the New Jerusalem: An Introduction to Biblical Theology

• Author: T. Desmond Alexander
• Publisher: IVP
• Publication Date: 2008
• Pages: 208

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T. Desmond Alexander explores the Bible’s story by beginning in the final chapters of the book of Revelation. Anticipating the creation of a new earth and a new heaven, these chapters bring to fulfilment a process that began with the creation of the earth, as described in the opening chapters of Genesis. These passages frame the entire biblical “meta-story.”

This stimulating study outlines some of the central themes that run through the Bible, with broad brush strokes designed to show the general shape of the meta-story. Seeing the big picture helps us appreciate the details more clearly; and since the themes were an integral part of the biblical authors’ world, appreciating may significantly alter our reading of individual books.

This is thematic biblical theology at its best. Dr Alexander has done us all a great service in providing this succinct, inspirational and compelling examination of some of the great themes of the Bible. In doing so he gathers up many different threads in the biblical story and shows with skill their inter-relatedness, their fulfilment in Christ, and their consummation in the New Jerusalem. Rich pickings in a short space!

—Graeme Goldsworthy, former lecturer, Moore Theological College, Sydney, Australia

T. Desmond Alexander is director of Christian training at Union Theological College in Belfast, Northern Ireland. From 1980 to 1999, he was lecturer in Semitic studies at the Queen’s University of Belfast. His main field of research is the Pentateuch, about which he has written extensively in academic journals and books. Alexander also has a special interest in the relationship between the Old and New Testaments. He is the author of From Paradise to the Promised Land: An Introduction to the Main Themes of the Pentateuch and Abraham in the Negev, and he is a coeditor (with Brian S. Rosner) of the New Dictionary of Biblical Theology (IVP, 2000), available from Logos.

The Incomparable Christ

• Author: John Stott
• Edition: First
• Publisher: IVP
• Publication Date: 2001
• Pages: 264

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“Regardless of what anyone may personally think of him or believe about him, Jesus of Nazareth has been the dominant figure in the history of western culture for almost twenty centuries.” —Jaroslav Pelikan

Jesus Christ has been the center of history for 2,000 years, and his birth the pivot of our calendar. He is the focus of Scripture: as Luther declared, the entire Scripture deals only with Christ everywhere. He is the heart of mission, the message that countless Christians cross land and sea, continents and cultures, to deliver. In masterly surveys, John Stott looks at the New Testament witness, at the way the church has portrayed Christ down the centuries, at the influence Christ has had on individuals over the last 2,000 years. Finally, turning to the book of Revelation, he asks what Jesus Christ should mean to us today.

Here is the fruit of a lifetime of biblical study, rigorous Christian thought, and devotion to the person of Christ.

This is a book to treasure, to stretch our minds and to be a helpful resource in years to come. Above all else, it lifts up Jesus Christ, just as John Stott has done in his lifetime of ministry.

—Martin Turner, Methodist recorder

The Living Church: Convictions of a Lifelong Pastor

• Author: John Stott
• Publisher: IVP
• Publication Date: 2007
• Pages: 180

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What exactly is a living church? Author John Stott explains, “We need more radically conservative churches: ‘conservative’ in the sense that they conserve what Scripture plainly requires, but radical in relation to that combination of tradition and convention that we call ‘culture.’ Scripture is unchangeable, but culture is not.”

The Living Church brings together a number of characteristics of what the author calls “authentic” or “living” church. The marks, being clearly biblical, are timeless and need to be preserved. We are encouraged to become learning churches, caring churches, worshipping churches, and evangelising churches. John Stott unpacks the Bible’s wisdom rigorously with a teacher’s skill and applies it faithfully with a pastor’s heart. Becoming a living church is not an impossible goal.

I really enjoyed reading it. It was vintage Stott—with all his familiar qualities: faithful, rigorous biblical exposition; crystal clarity; challenging contemporary applications with plenty of punch; great wisdom—not least in holding to the balances of scripture without blunting its edges. I am delighted he took the church as his theme. There are very few accessible introductory books on the subject that are thoroughly biblical and evangelical. I would happily give this book to anyone at St. Ebbe’s. Its simplicity makes it accessible to young Christians, but there is also much to challenge the thinking and practice of mature believers.

—Vaughan Roberts, rector, St. Ebbe’s Church, Oxford

For many Christians church has become a meeting to attend rather than an essential identity. So it is great to have John Stott looking at the Christian community with his typical clarity. He makes the Scriptures speak with immediacy to our contemporary challenges. This is a timely book with so many people considering the future shape of the church, offering, as it does, biblical parameters for the discussion within a trinitarian framework.

—Tim Chester, pastor, The Crowded House, Sheffield

In a time of questioning and turmoil around what a real church should look like in the 21st century The Living Church is a beautifully written, inspiring and thoughtful book. The reader is given a vision for a church whose roots are deeply biblical and whose touch reaches a dying world. As I read I laughed, cried and ended up on my knees before God. I wholeheartedly commend this book.

—Amy Orr-Ewing, director of programs, Oxford Center for Christian Apologetics

The Radical Disciple: Wholehearted Christian Living

• Author: John Stott
• Publisher: IVP
• Publication Date: 2010
• Pages: 144

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So many of us avoid radical discipleship by being selective, choosing rather those areas in which commitment is appealing, and steering well clear of areas where it will be costly. But because Jesus is Lord, we have no liberty to pick and choose. The author looks at eight characteristics of Christian discipleship, which are commonly neglected yet deserve to be taken seriously.

A farewell book from one of the giants of our generation.

—Amy Boucher Pye, writer and speaker

I always wanted to enter more fully into what Eugene Peterson calls ‘the unforced rhythms of grace.’ This is the book I will turn to repeatedly for help with this.

—Brian Draper, associate lecturer in culture, London Institute for Contemporary Christianity

Penetrative biblical wisdom on what discipleship means in today’s world.

—Ajith Fernando, national director, Youth for Christ, Sri Lanka

A rare and personal glimpse of the sacrificial discipleship that has marked John Stott’s life so deeply.

—Peter Harris, founder, A Rocha

We enthusiastically recommend this unique book, filled with fascinating recollections amassed over a lifetime of wisdom, combined with insightful scholarship and a deep love for the body of Christ across the world.

—Amy and Frog Orr-Ewing, speakers and authors

Inspires us to embrace deep conversion.

—Dominic Smart, minister, Gilcomston South Church of Scotland, Aberdeen

Serving the Church, Reaching the World: Essays In Honour Of Don Carson

• Editor: Richard M. Cunningham
• Publisher: IVP
• Publication Date: 2017
• Pages: 188

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A Festschrift in honour of Don Carson's 70th birthday. One of Don's greatest gifts has been his focus on mission. This collection edited by Richard Cunningham features some of the leading theologians writing at their best about mission and the challenges facing the church.

Serving the Church, Reaching the World is a collection of powerful and timely essays that will inspire and resource church leaders and all thinking Christians to attempt this vital task. Timothy Keller, Jim Packer, John Piper, and Mike Ovey are among the contributors to this volume, which has been published in appreciation for the life, work, and ministry of Don Carson.

Richard Cunningham has gathered a select group of theologians, friends, and colleagues to produce a book that covers a wide range of stimulating and challenging topics, such as the priority of truth, the importance of winning hearts and minds for the gospel in a secular age, and the centrality of Christians working together in evangelism and truth without compromise.

Richard M. Cunningham is married to Ruth and they have five children. He is an ordained Anglican minister and member of the Church of England College of Evangelists. After working for churches in London and Oxford, he became Director of the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship (UCCF) in 2004.

Why I Am a Christian

• Author: John Stott
• Publisher: IVP
• Publication Date: 2003
• Pages: 149

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In a dark little chapel many years ago, a solitary schoolboy went in search of God and later gave his life to Christ. It turned out to be the most significant step he was ever to take. If it were not for Christ, he reflects, his would have been on the scrapheap of wasted and discarded lives. Instead, his life was used to lead countless others around the world to that same new life, and into a deeper understanding of the One who gave his life that we might live.

John Stott tells his spiritual story, and gives the reasons for his first life-changing step of faith. It was not so much that he found Christ, as that Christ, the relentless Hound of Heaven, pursued and found him. Not because the Christian faith is attractive, but because it is true. Not because he deserved to be saved, but because Christ took his sins, and ours, on himself. It is because the answer to the paradox at the heart of our humanness, because the key to true freedom and fulfilment, are to be found in Jesus Christ alone. And he who extends the greatest of all invitations to each one of us waits patiently for our response.

Why I Am a Christian is easy to read and presents the essentials of Christianity clearly. The book can be read devotionally by Christians with much profit. It can also be given as a gift to non-Christians interested in learning about Christianity

—The Christian Librarian

Your Mind Matters: The Place of the Mind in the Christian Life

• Author: John Stott
• Publisher: IVP
• Publication Date: 2006
• Pages: 93

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“Knowledge is indispensable to Christian life and service,” writes John Stott. “If we do not use the mind which God has given us, we condemn ourselves to spiritual superficiality.”

While Christians have had a heritage of rigorous scholarship and careful thinking, some circles still view the intellect with suspicion or even as contradictory to Christian faith. Many non-Christians are quick to label Christians as anti-intellectual. In this classic introduction to Christian thinking, John Stott responds to this criticism with a forceful appeal for Christian discipleship that engages the mind as well as the heart.