Windows into the Bible: Cultural and Historical Insights from the Bible for Modern Readers

by Marc Turnage

Publisher:

Logion Press

, 2016

Overview

While many endeavor to help people read and study the Bible, few take seriously the four-dimensional approach necessary to understand God’s revelation in time and space. These four aspects must be synthesized to answer the question, “What did the Bible mean?” They function like four lenses of a camera that, when pointed and focused on an object, are adjusted until the picture comes into focus. By looking through the spatial, historical, cultural, and spiritual lenses, people can step back into the world of the Bible, as best as they are able, and hear the message as its writers intended. They find themselves at the feet of Jesus, hearing Him as His original audience did. And once people enter into the world of the Bible, they can reenter their own world and answer the question, “What does this mean today?”

Key Features

• Demonstrates a four-dimensional methodology for reading the Bible that looks through the windows of space, history, culture, and spirituality
• Provides specific examples of how the four lenses apply to interpretation
• Explores the context of biblical times including language, geography, and history

Contents

• The Land Between
• The Land and Agriculture of the Bible and Its Message
• "Sun, Stand Still at Gibeon, and Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon"
• The Galilee of Jesus’ Life and Ministry
• The Geography of the Ministry of John the Baptist
• “And It Filled All the House Where They Were Sitting”
• Armageddon: The Mountain of the Assembly
• “In the Fullness of Time”: Between the Old and New Testaments
• The Pharisees and the New Testament
• Herod the Great and the Birth of Jesus
• The Census of Quirinius and Luke 2
• Nicodemus in the New Testament and Beyond
• John the Baptist
• The Bridegroom
• The Languages of Jesus
• The Family of Jesus
• The Birth of Jesus
• The Song of the Angel
• Clothes Make the Man
• “You Are Peter and Upon This Rock . . .”
• Cornelius, the Roman Centurion at Caesarea
• The Kingdom of Heaven
• Whose Image?
• “Unless Your Righteousness Exceeds That of the Scribes and Pharisees”
• Don’t Worry
• The Good Samaritan
• “One Is Here Greater Than the Temple”
• Take Up Your Cross

Top Highlights

“His conquest turned the world on its axis. The Old Testament world was oriented between the northern powers of Mesopotamia and the southern power of Egypt. Alexander’s conquest of the Persian Empire shifted the orientation to East and West (which is how we still think of the world).” (Page 109)

“Jesus, like the Hasidim, emphasized the preeminence of a person’s relationship toward one’s fellow human beings. The quality of this relationship established the basis for one’s relationship with God.” (Page 133)

“(1) What did the Bible mean? and (2) What does it mean for me?” (Page 17)

“The geography of the land of Israel especially played an important role in shaping the biblical story. In fact, the geography is as important a character as David, Moses, Peter, and Paul. So, too, the Bible is a product of a specific time in history.” (Page 18)

“Failure to engage the first-century Jesus of Nazareth means we wind up following a Jesus we make in our own image” (Page 21)

Endorsements

Sometimes context is everything. In his brilliantly incisive way, Marc Turnage opens up for us windows into understanding the world of the Bible within its geographic, historical, and cultural contexts. In doing so, he makes God’s Word alive and relevant! I have traveled numerous times with Marc to the Holy Land. His scholarship and love for the Scriptures have affected me deeply.

—Jim Bradford, PhD, general secretary of The General Council of the Assemblies of God

This insightful book will open your eyes to a world that is both ancient and familiar. Jesus of Nazareth was full of surprises. Ironically, for many people the Bible and its world are one big mystery; yet the portrait of Jesus held by some of His followers today is too plain and predictable. For those who seek to understand the real contours of life and thought in the time of Jesus and His early followers, this accessible book helps readers see how first-century listeners would have understood the message of the Bible. Carefully researched and documented, Windows into the Bible demonstrates how ancient texts illuminate the geography, culture, and spirituality of the Bible’s world, the stage on which Jesus the Messiah revealed God’s truth for all people at all times.

—Bob Stallman, professor of Bible and Hebrew, Northwest University, Kirkland, Washington

Marc Turnage is an insightful and inspiring Bible scholar. His understanding of context brings the text of Scripture to light, to life in new ways. This book will stretch your knowledge and stretch your faith

—Mark Batterson, New York Times bestselling author of The Circle Maker, lead pastor of National Community Church, Washington DC

Product Details

• Title: Windows into the Bible: Cultural and Historical Insights from the Bible for Modern Readers
• Author: Marc Turnage
• Publisher: Logion Press
• Print Publication Date: 2016
• Logos Release Date: 2019
• Pages: 416
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Christianity; Religion; Spiritual formation
• ISBNs: 9781607314189, 1607314185
• Resource ID: LLS:WINDOWSBBL
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T03:50:19Z

About Marc Turnage

Marc Turnage holds an MA in Jewish History and New Testament Backgrounds from Jerusalem University College. He is currently finishing his PhD in the Land of Israel Studies Department at Bar Ilan University located in Ramat Gan, Israel, under the supervision of Professor Esther Eshel. Marc has taught graduate and undergraduate students at universities in the United States and abroad. He has published widely for both academic and popular audiences. His book Windows into the Bible was named by Outreach Magazine as one of its top Christian living resources. Marc is a widely sought-after speaker and a gifted teacher. He has been guiding groups to the lands of the Bible—Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy—for over twenty years. He resides in Springfield, Missouri, with his family.