Books published by publisher Eerdmans

Lively, well-informed portrait of the complex figure who was the apostle Paul Though Paul is often lauded as the first great Christian theologian and a champion for Gentile inclusion in the church, in his own time he was universally regarded as a strange and controversial person. In this book Pauline scholar Michael Bird explains why. An Anomalous Jew presents the figure of Paul in all his complexity with his blend of common and controversial Jewish beliefs and a faith in Christ that brought him into conflict with the socio-religious scene around him. Bird elucidates how the apostle Paul was variously perceived — as a religious deviant by Jews, as a divisive figure by Jewish Christians, as a purveyor of dubious philosophy by Greeks, and as a dangerous troublemaker by the Romans. Readers of this book will better understand the truly anomalous shape of Paul’s thinking and worldview.

Foreword by Gabriel Fackre Will God one day save all people through Christ's atoning work? That is the question at the heart of the debate in this volume -- a debate sure to challenge readers, whatever their current perspective. Featuring evangelical writers of exceptional insight and sensitivity, Universal Salvation? offers a conversation worth everyone's attention. The volume opens with a rigorous three-part defense of Christian universalism by philosopher Thomas Talbott, who argues that Scripture teaches the ultimate salvation of all people, including those in hell. Gabriel Fackre in his foreword calls Talbott's work "the most thoughtfully wrought argument for universalism to date from within the contemporary evangelical community." The rest of the book gathers incisive responses to Talbott by Christian scholars from different disciplines, who evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of Talbott's arguments, take his thought in new directions, or explain why they think he is mistaken. Talbott then responds to his critics. The aim of this volume is not to persuade people that universalism is true but to open up a fairer debate on a controversial subject of continuing importance to theologians and nontheologians alike. By exploring universal salvation from biblical, philosophical, theological, and historical perspectives, the book helps readers think through the issues more carefully than has been possible with resources previously available.

The Dead Sea Scrolls from Qumran provide the oldest, best, and most direct witness we have to the origins of the Hebrew Bible. Prior to the discovery of the Scrolls, scholars had textual evidence for only a single, late period in the history of the biblical text, leading them to believe that the text was uniform. The Scrolls, however, provide documentary evidence a thousand years older than all previously known Hebrew manuscripts and reveal a period of pluriformity in the biblical text prior to the stage of uniformity. In this important collection of studies, Eugene Ulrich, one of the world's foremost experts on the Dead Sea Scrolls, outlines a comprehensive theory that reconstructs the complex development of the ancient texts that eventually came to form the Old Testament. Several of the essays set forth his pioneering theory of "multiple literary editions," which is replacing older views of the origins of the biblical text.The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Origins of the Bible represents the leading edge of research in the exciting field of Scrolls studies.

A timeless, little-known literary classic to engage a new generation of readers As the Black Death ravaged London in 1608, in the midst of societal chaos and tragedy, playwright Thomas Dekker wrote Four Birds of Noah’s Ark, a book containing fifty-six prayers for the people of London and all of England. The prayers in this book bear witness to Dekker’s deep faith with a power and poignancy that few written prayers in English literature achieve. Bringing Dekker’s devotional classic back into print for the first time since 1924, editor Robert Hudson has annotated the prayers and modernized their language without sacrificing their enchanting beauty and simplicity. Hudson’s substantive and illuminating introduction is a gem in itself.

Engaging feminist hermeneutics and philosophy in addition to more traditional methods of biblical study, Salty Wives, Spirited Mothers, and Savvy Widows demonstrates and celebrates the remarkable capability and ingenuity of several women in the Gospel of Luke. While recent studies have exposed women's limited opportunities for ministry in Luke, Scott Spencer pulls the pendulum back from a negative feminist-critical pole toward a more constructive center. Granting that Luke sends somewhat "mixed messages" about women's work and status as Jesus' disciples, Spencer analyzes such women as Mary, Elizabeth, Joanna, Martha and Mary, and the infamous yet intriguing wife of Lot -- whom Jesus exhorts his followers to "remember" -- as well as the unrelentingly persistent women characters in Jesus' parables.

George MacDonald (1824-1905), the great nineteenth-century innovator of modern fantasy, influenced not only C. S. Lewis but also such literary masters as Charles Williams and J. R. R. Tolkien. Though his longer fairy tales Lilith and Phantastes are particularly famous, much of MacDonald’s best fantasy writing is found in his shorter stories. In this volume editor Glenn Sadler has compiled some of MacDonald’s finest short works―marvelous fairy tales and stories certain to delight readers familiar with MacDonald and those about to meet him for the first time.

Rare has been the president whose life blended the individual drive that propels one to high office with the social responsibility of being an exemplary person. Gerald R. Ford (1913-2006) was one of those rare men.In this biography Hendrik Booraem traces the early life of Gerald Ford in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to his high school graduation in 1931, showing how he developed the outlook and ideals that he brought to the White House. Ford's childhood offers telling glimpses of family and school, sports and recreation, and Western Michigan life in the Jazz Age and the Depression. Amply illustrated with photos from the 1920s and '30s, Young Jerry Ford shows the 38th President of the United States in a new and colorful light.

George MacDonald (1824-1905), the great nineteenth-century innovator of modern fantasy, influenced not only C. S. Lewis but also such literary masters as Charles Williams and J. R. R. Tolkien. Though his longer fairy tales Lilith and Phantastes are particularly famous, much of MacDonald's best fantasy writing is found in his shorter stories. In this volume editor Glenn Sadler has compiled some of MacDonald's finest short works--marvelous fairy tales and stories certain to delight readers familiar with MacDonald and those about to meet him for the first time.

Simms Sylvanus is nine years old and enormously wise. He knows more about active volcanoes than his father knows about business, and more about electromagnetic fields than anyone in his class. His ideas to improve things are amazing! Yet nobody — not even his parents — will listen to him. Cricket is living a lonely life beneath the floorboards in Simms' room. His bride-to-be has left him after a fight, and he doesn't know how to help the other creatures who live underground and fear for their lives. Everything changes one winter's day when Simms and Cricket discover they can communicate with each other. Through Morse Code, the two tell of their troubles, listen to each other's ideas, and together learn that it's sometimes difficult to do the right thing. Reissued with charming new illustrations, this beloved classic is sure to delight a new generation of readers.

Flannery O'Connor once wrote that "to the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost-blind you draw large and startling figures." Some of the twenty-one well-known writers included in this book prefer to "shout," as O'Connor did, while others offer what Doris Betts calls "whispering hope." Shouts and Whispers contains a fascinating array of reflections on topics surrounding the often-perilous intersection of writing and faith. The authors all agree that literature can help us to be more faithful, yet they approach the subject in ways as diverse as their biographies. Some, like Katherine Paterson and Frederick Buechner, propose models of how literature and belief can fruitfully intersect. Several authors offer insightful metaphors for the experience of doing faith-filled writing, while others speak of writing as finding hope in the midst of brokenness. Finally, in essays by Madeleine L'Engle, Thomas Lynch, and others, readers are encouraged to make the connection between writing and embodiment, translating words into actions. While the essays, addresses, and interviews in Shouts and Whispers are by no means the final word, they will provoke rich and nuanced reflection on the dynamic relationship between faith and writing.Interviews with: Joy Kogawa Anne Lamott Kathleen Norris Paul SchraderEssays by Doris Betts Frederick Buechner Will Campbell Betty Smartt Carter Elizabeth Dewberry David James Duncan Ron Hansen Silas House Jan Karon Madeleine L'Engle Bret Lott Thomas Lynch Katherine Paterson James Calvin Schaap Luci Shaw Barbara Brown Taylor Walter Wangerin Jr.