Bible for Normal People Book

Paul's letter to the Roman church is one of the most widely read, rigorously discussed and minutely dissected epistles ever written. What more could there be to say? Plenty, it turns out. In this highly engaging, perceptive and accessible commentary, J. R. Daniel Kirk situates Romans firmly in its first-century context, redirecting our attention from a modern-day concern with individual salvation towards the theological questions that consumed the apostle, Paul. Questions such as what are the Jews and Gentiles to make of one another? Practically, how are they to live, worship and be community together in the right here and now? And, most importantly for Paul, how can God be faithful if God's great act of salvation excludes God's own chosen people: the covenantal community to whom all promises had been made? By approaching the text from a first-century perspective, Kirk illuminates a letter and its writer deeply concerned with the day-to-day lives of its readers. A letter written not to provide answers and rules, but encouragement and inspiration. A writer concerned less with waiting for the new creation, than living it. And a God intent on inviting outsiders into a worldwide family. “Romans for Normal People” is an invitation to lay down everything you think you know about Romans and discover the text as it is. And, in doing so, encounter a letter as relevant today as it was some 2000 years ago.

For millennia the psalms have been whispered in prayer, lifted in song, and recited in worship. They are among the most well-known and beloved writings in the Bible. And yet... Our familiarity with ancient Israel's sacred songs can obscure their strangeness. Their otherness. Their... well... ancientness. Join Joshua T. James as he unpacks the biblical scholarship surrounding this enduring collection of poetry and songs, from the ancient psalmists' cultural, political and theological contexts to the key movements in Psalms' scholarship. By illuminating the oddities hiding in plain sight, James unveils the wonder and mystery inherent in the psalms and makes a compelling case for their relevance today.