On November 4, 1995 the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin left Israeli society shocked and bewildered by the reemergence of religiously motivated political violence in an age of secularism. In Zealotry and Vengeance Samuel Peleg analyzes the social, political, and structural motivations and conditions that have encouraged this resurgence of religious violence. It profiles the rise of the Zionist messianic movement from protest and activism to assassination, and asks whether the killing of Rabin was a fluke or a harbinger of things to come--based on Israeli society's extensive support for the proclivity to violence. The book provides students of political behavior and participation with both a scientific study of the extremist state of mind and an acute analysis of the cycle of violence and tolerance threatening to once again engulf the Middle East.

No one but Jesus would entrust His Twelve to go into the entire world to reveal the good news of the Kingdom of Heaven! What a high calling, and what a mixture of culture, background, schooling and beliefs there were among these men""a tax collector, fishermen, an assassin, seekers of truth""all in one close-knit group who were together twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week. It could not have been easy, but little by little they bonded into a united flock as they listened to Him, and followed their Shepherd every day, witnessing miracles too numerous to count. Their vision was transforming them to embrace their future, and those who distrusted each other became friends and those who were hesitant were drawn in. In this Bible-based fictional account we watch as these men walk with Jesus and see the miraculous every day? Yet there were also various obstacles to pierce and prod them, and their tempers flared and their hearts repented as they journeyed through the process of becoming united into one heart and one mind for the Kingdom of Heaven. Gradually, His Word of Life became the very core of their character, and their dedication, commitment and fiery love for the Kingdom became a powerful force leaving behind them an eternal bold blaze of glory to shine for all eternity! (Not including Judas Iscariot.) Perhaps the transformation of the Twelve was His greatest miracle of all.

In AD 57 or 58, the apostle Paul sent his faithful coworker and patron Phoebe on an eight-hundred-mile journey to deliver a letter to all the Christians in Rome. He was concerned about racial, lifestyle, and political tensions in the house-church groups there. Some believers were more conservative, some more liberal. How could they live in unity and help Paul in his mission? Today we have Paul's letter but know little about its historical context. Yet similar tensions still trouble churches. Too often Romans has been misused to divide Christians from Jews, or Christians from each other. Finger claims we cannot understand Romans for our day unless we grasp its original setting. She guides users of the book to re-create house churches as in first-century Rome. Participants assume various roles and hear Phoebe proclaim Paul's message afresh. They will not all agree on what Paul means. Where they do catch his meaning, they may not accept it. How does Jesus' gospel teach them to get along together when they can't agree? This book will also benefit individual readers, and the learning through simulation is adaptable to groups of many ages and levels of education, biblical awareness, and spiritual maturity. Diversity stimulates and enhances discussion! The goal is to hear and apply the message of Romans to our lives today -- and have fun in the process!

While it is true the Bible does relate important episodes in the history of the Jewish people, it is thought of as being much more than a history book. This is why many question the Bible's rationale for including a book such as Numbers, one that seems to be little more than a history book. In comparison, Genesis as a history book makes sense. It tells of the creation of the heavens and earth and the foundational stories of the Jewish people. Even Exodus, which relates the departure of the Jewish people from Egypt, has many legal sections. This thus begs the question: what exactly is the Book of Numbers, and what role does it play in the overall narrative of the Bible? Presenting Numbers as the book of character development is the major guiding principle of the pedagogical approach set forth in this book for teaching Numbers. This approach can also be used for teaching Genesis. However, the characters in Genesis are portrayed as either "very good" or "evil." Not so in Numbers, whose main personalities can and should be viewed in hues of grey, making it a very appropriate vehicle for teaching character development to high school students.

The divine commandment to exterminate all the Amalekites - men, women, children, and even animals who have no free will - is in contemporary terms no less than genocide. Louis Feldman helps us to understand how three ancient Jewish commentators on the Bible - Philo, Pseudo-Philo, and Josephus - wrestled with the issues involved in this divine command, especially its provisions that an entire people must be punished for all time for the misdeeds of their ancestors. Feldman broadens the issue by examining several biblical parallels where God commands the destruction of whole groups of people - namely, in the Great Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, the plague of the first-born Egyptians, and the seven Canaanite nations. In addition, he examines several instances of mass destruction of entire groups of people where there was no specific divine commandment - the annihilation of the nations of Sihon and Og, the complete destruction of the inhabitants of Jericho, and the extermination of the priests of Nob. Phineas for his zealotry in bypassing the law when he put to death a Jew and a non-Jew for their immorality. All of these biblical passages raise difficult questions, to which, Feldman demonstrates, there are no simple answers.

This collection bundles the entire 3 volumes of Jerry Jenkins’ popular Underground Zealot series together in one e-book, for one low price! #1 Soon Paul Stepola, an agent working for the National Peacekeeping Organization (NPO), has been assigned to enforce compliance with the world government’s prohibition on religion. Paul relishes his job and is good at it. He is determined to expose underground religion—flush it out, expose it, and kill it—until his life is turned upside down and he is forced to look at life in a different way. As Paul begins to unravel the truth about what he has found, events taking place around the world are starting to make sense. Something big is coming—something that can’t be stopped. And it is coming soon. #2 Silenced Enter the continuing story of double agent Paul Stepola as he works to protect his fellow believers from the government that is trying to eliminate Christians. The underground church is in mortal peril following the apocalyptic events in Los Angeles, which have only cast further suspicion upon Christians. Meanwhile, Paul struggles with how to tell his family about his newfound faith without raising the suspicions of his ruthless father-in-law. A gripping, futuristic thriller that will keep you glued to the page. #3 Shadowed After God intervenes with a miracle of global proportions, the tide is turned on international atheism and the National Peace Organization (NPO). The underground church has grown to the extent that Christians are becoming the majority. Agent Paul Stepola and his wife Jae are exposed and forced to become international fugitives. The NPO will stop at nothing to capture Paul and eliminate the underground church—until God intervenes and the final judgment is at hand.

"Comradery goes awry. Restless young men are separated in the political angst of Roman rule over Judea. One seeks vengeance to satiate his demons. The other is taken into the underbelly of Holy Jerusalem"--

This is the second book of the anticipated 10-volume Mesorah Matrix series and is called: Tikun Olam; Repair/Perfect the World: Judaism, Humanism and Transcendence. Mesorah Matrix is a major - and potentially landmark - intellectual-spiritual-philosophical endeavor. The plan well-underway is to publish 10 separate books - each on a very focused Jewish theme - under the Mesorah Matrix umbrella.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A lucid, intelligent page-turner” (Los Angeles Times) that challenges long-held assumptions about Jesus, from the host of Believer Two thousand years ago, an itinerant Jewish preacher walked across the Galilee, gathering followers to establish what he called the “Kingdom of God.” The revolutionary movement he launched was so threatening to the established order that he was executed as a state criminal. Within decades after his death, his followers would call him God. Sifting through centuries of mythmaking, Reza Aslan sheds new light on one of history’s most enigmatic figures by examining Jesus through the lens of the tumultuous era in which he lived. Balancing the Jesus of the Gospels against the historical sources, Aslan describes a man full of conviction and passion, yet rife with contradiction. He explores the reasons the early Christian church preferred to promulgate an image of Jesus as a peaceful spiritual teacher rather than a politically conscious revolutionary. And he grapples with the riddle of how Jesus understood himself, the mystery that is at the heart of all subsequent claims about his divinity. Zealot yields a fresh perspective on one of the greatest stories ever told even as it affirms the radical and transformative nature of Jesus’ life and mission. Praise for Zealot “Riveting . . . Aslan synthesizes Scripture and scholarship to create an original account.”—The New Yorker “Fascinatingly and convincingly drawn . . . Aslan may come as close as one can to respecting those who revere Jesus as the peace-loving, turn-the-other-cheek, true son of God depicted in modern Christianity, even as he knocks down that image.”—The Seattle Times “[Aslan’s] literary talent is as essential to the effect of Zealot as are his scholarly and journalistic chops. . . . A vivid, persuasive portrait.”—Salon “This tough-minded, deeply political book does full justice to the real Jesus, and honors him in the process.”—San Francisco Chronicle “A special and revealing work, one that believer and skeptic alike will find surprising, engaging, and original.”—Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power “Compulsively readable . . . This superb work is highly recommended.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)