Making use of his scholar's understanding, yet writing in an approachable and anecdotal style, Tom Wright captures the verve and sparkle of these letters. Paul wrote the letters while in prison facing possible death, but their passion and energy are undimmed. They reveal Paul's longing to see young churches grow in faith and understanding, rooted in Jesus himself, and to see this faith worked out in practice. Wright's stimulating comments are combined with his own fresh and inviting translation of the text. Tom Wright has undertaken a tremendous task: to provide guides to all the books of the New Testament, and to include in them his own translation of the entire text. Each short passage is followed by a highly readable discussion with background information, useful explanations and suggestions, and thoughts as to how the text can be relevant to our lives today. A glossary is included at the back of the book. The series is suitable for group study, personal study, or daily devotions.

The letters Paul wrote to the Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon, have one feature in common that distinguishes them from the other letters he wrote: in them, Paul calls himself a prisoner. This thought-provoking study examines closely the metaphorical and literal meaning of Paul's "bonds and chains". Through analysis of the letters themselves, Caird considers whether Paul was actually behind bars when he wrote them (and if so, in which prison or prisons), whether he may have been referring to himself figuratively as a "prisoner of Jesus Christ," and whether he was the actual author of all four letters. In assessing these issues, Caird outlines each letter's intended audience, vocabulary, style, historical setting, literary references, and theology.

The starting point for the book is the following anomoly: If Jesus lived as has been supposed at the beginning of the 1st century AD, the only NT documents written by a near contemporary, the Epistles of St Paul, make no mention of him as an historical figure, neither do they record any of his sayings, but rather they talk of him as a vision or mystical experience of the risen Christ. Further, the same is true of the earliest Christian non-NT texts, such as the Epistles of St Clement, roughly contemporary with Paul. Furthermore, contemporary records of the region from non-Christian sources, such as those by the Jewish historian Josephus, fail to mention Jesus at all where we would expect them to; the mentions that there are have recently been shown to be later interpolations by medieval Christian apologists - the gospel accounts of Jesus and his millieu are inaccurate in all major respects e. g. the relative dates of Herod and Pilate, if contemporary Roman and Jewish historians, who had no theological axe to grind, are taken as measure. By comparative textual studies, the author shows that the gospel accounts of Jesus' life and sayings were written approximately 100 years after Jesus is supposed to have lived, and so 100 years later than alleged contemporaries such as Paul, Clement, Josephus etc.

Letters from Prison, Part Two provides an in-depth investigation of Paul’s letters to the Colossians and Ephesians, two letters with a great deal in common. Besides being written from prison, both letters address Gentile communities learning to live faithful Christian lives. Exploring themes such as God’s eternal plan, the unity of the church, and the fullness of life in Christ, these letters offer a sweeping and still relevant vision of faith in Christ and the church as his body.

From the depths of a Roman prison, words of encouragement and instruction from the great Apostle Paul were sent in a series of letters to communities throughout the Roman Empire. St. Paul may have been fettered and shackled to a series of Roman guards, but the Word he preached remained unfettered and free.This volume contains commentaries on the epistles that St. Paul wrote while in prison to the Philippians, Ephesians, Colossians and Philemon.About the Orthodox Bible Study Companion Series:This commentary was written for your grandmother. And for your plumber, your banker, and the girl who serves you French Fries at the nearby McDonald's. That is, it was written for the average layperson, for the nonprofessional who feels a bit intimidated by the presence of copious footnotes, long bibliographies, and all those other things which so enrich the lives of academics. It is written for the pious Orthodox layman who is mystified by such things as Source Criticism, but who nonetheless wants to know what the Scriptures mean.

A beautiful commemorative edition of Dr. Martin Luther King's essay "Letter from Birmingham Jail," part of Dr. King's archives published exclusively by HarperCollins. With an afterword by Reginald Dwayne Betts On April 16, 1923, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., responded to an open letter written and published by eight white clergyman admonishing the civil rights demonstrations happening in Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. King drafted his seminal response on scraps of paper smuggled into jail. King criticizes his detractors for caring more about order than justice, defends nonviolent protests, and argues for the moral responsibility to obey just laws while disobeying unjust ones. "Letter from Birmingham Jail" proclaims a message - confronting any injustice is an acceptable and righteous reason for civil disobedience. This beautifully designed edition presents Dr. King's speech in its entirety, paying tribute to this extraordinary leader and his immeasurable contribution, and inspiring a new generation of activists dedicated to carrying on the fight for justice and equality.

From National Book Award–winning author Martin Marty, the surprising story of a Christian classic born in a Nazi prison cell For fascination, influence, inspiration, and controversy, Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Letters and Papers from Prison is unmatched by any other book of Christian reflection written in the twentieth century. A Lutheran pastor and theologian, Bonhoeffer spent two years in Nazi prisons before being executed at age thirty-nine, just a month before the German surrender, for his role in the plot to kill Hitler. The posthumous Letters and Papers from Prison has had a tremendous impact on both Christian and secular thought since it was first published in 1951, and has helped establish Bonhoeffer's reputation as one of the most important Protestant thinkers of the twentieth century. In this, the first history of the book's remarkable global career, National Book Award-winning author Martin Marty tells how and why Letters and Papers from Prison has been read and used in such dramatically different ways, from the cold war to today. In his late letters, Bonhoeffer raised tantalizing questions about the role of Christianity and the church in an increasingly secular world. Marty tells the story of how, in the 1960s and the following decades, these provocative ideas stirred a wide range of thinkers and activists, including civil rights and antiapartheid campaigners, "death-of-God" theologians, and East German Marxists. In the process of tracing the eventful and contested history of Bonhoeffer's book, Marty provides a compelling new perspective on religious and secular life in the postwar era.

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ stands as the most important event in human history. The Gospel writers understood this, devoting a proportionally large amount of space to Jesus's arrest, trial, crucifixion, and empty tomb. But how do the four Gospel accounts fit together? What really happened and what does it all mean? Combining a chronological arrangement of the biblical text with insightful commentary from Andreas J. Köstenberger, one of evangelicalism's brightest scholars, along with Justin Taylor, a well-known leader and blogger, this book offers readers a day-by-day guide to Jesus's final week on earth. Complete with a handy, quick-reference glossary and numerous maps illustrating key biblical locations, The Final Days of Jesus will help readers understand the geography, timeline, and background of Jesus's final days while serving as a devotional guide for meditating on the most important week in human history.

Acts is the sequel to Luke's gospel and tells the story of Jesus's followers during the 30 years after his death. It describes how the 12 apostles, formerly Jesus's disciples, spread the message of Christianity throughout the Mediterranean against a background of persecution. With an introduction by P.D. James