After breaking a record by scoring over one million on the Starfighters video game, Alex is recruited by beings from the planet Rylos to fight in a war to save the universe.
The stories of Hagar, Dinah, and Tamar stand out as strangers in the ancestral narrative. They deviate from the main plot and draw attention to the interests and fates of characters who are not a part of the ancestral family. Readers have traditionally domesticated these strange stories. They have made them "familiar"--all about the ancestral family. Thus Hagar's story becomes a drama of deselection, Shechem and the Hivites become emblematic for ancestral conflict with the people of the land, and Tamar becomes a lens by which to read providence in the story of Joseph. This study resurrects the question of these stories' strangeness. Rather than allow the ancestral narrative to determine their significance, it attends to each interlude's particularity and detects ironic gestures made toward the ancestral narrative. These stories contain within them the potential to defamiliarize key themes of ancestral identity: the ancestral-divine relationship, ancestral relations to the land and its inhabitants, and ancestral self-identity. Perhaps the ancestral family are not the only privileged partners of God, the only heirs to the land, or the only bloodline fit to bear the next generation.
Faith in the Future addresses some of the major themes of our time: the fragmentation of our common culture, the breakdown of family and community life, the lack of moral direction, and the waning of religious belief. How, Sacks asks, can we construct a humane social order that honors human dignity and difference, one in which we can be both true to ourselves and a blessing to others? In the confusing state of postindustrial societies in the post-Cold War situation, can we give those who come after us a coherent map of hope? In treating such questions, Faith in the Future is structured in four parts. In the first, The Moral Covenant, Sacks touches on the broadest of issues: morality, the family, and the importance of communities in the life of society. In the second, Living Together, he asks how we can co-exist while remaining faithful to our distinctive identities and traditions. In the third, Jewish Ethics and Spirituality, he sketches some of Judaism's leading themes. There is such a thing, says, as an ecology of hope, and it lies in restoring to our culture a sense of family, community, and religious faith.
In the Hebrew Bible and stories loyal to it, Goliath is the stereotypical giant of folklore: big, brash, violent, and dimwitted. Goliath as Gentle Giant sets out to rehabilitate the giant’s image by exploring the origins of the biblical behemoth, the limitations of the “underdog” metaphor, and the few sympathetic treatments of Goliath in popular media. What insights emerge when we imagine things from Goliath’s point of view? How might this affect our reading of the biblical account or its many retellings and interpretations? What sort of man was Goliath really? The nuanced portraits analyzed in this book serve as a catalyst to challenge readers to question stereotypes, reexamine old assumptions, and humanize the “other.”
In this powerful and timely book, one of the most admired and authoritative religious leaders of our time tackles the phenomenon of religious extremism and violence committed in the name of God. If religion is perceived as being part of the problem, Rabbi Sacks argues, then it must also form part of the solution. When religion becomes a zero-sum conceit—i.e., my religion is the only right path to God, therefore your religion is by definition wrong—and when individuals are motivated by what Rabbi Sacks calls “altruistic evil,” violence between peoples of different beliefs appears to be the inevitable outcome. But through an exploration of the roots of violence and its relationship to religion, and employing groundbreaking biblical analysis and interpretation, Rabbi Sacks shows that religiously inspired violence has as its source misreadings of biblical texts at the heart of all three Abrahamic faiths. By looking anew at the book of Genesis, with its foundational stories of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Rabbi Sacks offers a radical rereading of many of the Bible’s seminal stories of sibling rivalry: Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers, Rachel and Leah. Here is an eloquent call for people of goodwill from all faiths and none to stand together, confront the religious extremism that threatens to destroy us all, and declare: Not in God’s Name.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is constantly in the news, but what about the people who live through it? Their lives are often overlooked, their stories ignored. This is especially true of Israelis and Palestinians who follow the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, and seek to meet with each other and reconcile in the context of brotherly and sisterly love. But they do exist, and they do have a story to tell. They have chosen to seek reconciliation by participating in activities organized by Musalaha, an organization which facilitates Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation, and this book, skillfully written by Jonathan McRay, is an attempt to allow their voices and their stories to be heard. This collection of stories is an excellent introduction to some of the many issues faced by these followers of Christ on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide, and chronicles the journey toward reconciliation they have chosen to take. The road to reconciliation is long and difficult, and the struggle is vividly portrayed in these narratives. Reading these stories, and the reflection pieces that follow them, leaves one with a picture of real human interaction which goes beyond the stereotypes and caricatures, and offers an authentic glimpse at the lives of Israeli and Palestinian believers, the lives they live, they challenges they face, their fears and their hopes. The stories told in this book are at times difficult to read, as they indicate how much distance still needs to be covered. But they also inspire hope; the brave example of those few who are working toward reconciliation proves that coexistence is possible, and can serve as a model for the future.
The crisis in the Middle East is not a political issue. It's a spiritual issue. Rapidly unfolding events in the Middle East will shape the future, not just of Israel but of our entire world. This insightful commentary by Rabbi Jonathan Bernis combines historical, biblical, and prophetic teaching to help you understand what's happening and how Believers should respond to these events. Drawing from the perspective of a Jewish Believer in Jesus, this book provides a biblical understanding of the complex issues continuing to unfold in the Middle East today and how they relate to key prophecy in Scripture. Discover why there is constant upheaval in the Middle East, what to watch for in the days ahead, and whether peace is really possible. Other books by Rabbi Jonathan Bernis include: Unlocking the Prophetic Mysteries of Israel A Hope and A Future
This is my story, a journey of the heart and mind. It's a journey from introspection and emotional turmoil to a life enjoyed before our loving heavenly Father. More than my story, it is instructive as well, a stream of my thoughts on different subjects that relate to our walk before God, one that I trust reflects the Father's heart and brings encouragement to the downtrodden, one that inspires His children to walk fully in all He has prepared in advance for us to walk in. I trust that through these pages many will be stirred in their passion for God and be set free to receive the love of our Father, to love and enjoy God and be enthralled by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to appreciate the wondrous work of His Spirit in our hearts, to run the great race set before each of us. Finally, one of the purposes of this book is to encourage believers from different tribes of the body of Christ to embrace one another and engage one another from a place of honor - heart and mind. This embrace of one another includes the acceptance of the different emphases each of us brings to the body. The embrace of mystery and the contentment with not having to fully comprehend the truths of Scripture, is key to us maturing and learning to hear one another and welcome each other's unique contribution. It is a place of security in our heavenly Father, free from the fear of error, where we will be truly free to listen to one another, and even be taught by one another, with His Spirit guiding us into all truth to a mature bride, to the full measure of the stature of Christ. Jonathan Gale in The Joy of Thinking with You gets it. He communicates with spirit, clarity and passion. Those who read this powerful witness carefully can have their own walk with God changed forever. I wouldn't be surprised if this book outlives us a hundred years. Robert G. Tuttle, Jr. Ph.D. Emeritus Professor of World Christianity Asbury Theological Seminary JONATHAN GALE is a practicing scientist and former university chemistry professor. The oldest son of medical missionaries in Costa Rica, he now resides in Massachusetts with his wife of thirty years with five grown children. A church elder, he enjoys Bible teaching and writing, his first book being In Your Name We Glory: An Inspiration Guide and Complete Reference to the Names and Titles of God
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