Christian Biblical Reference Books

Here is one volume in a series of brief reference books for laypeople designed to be read in units of one or two pages

The Books of Wisdom and Poetry, the third book in the six-volume Guiding Word Series, takes readers through five books of the Old Testament, from J...

A great deal of biblical scholarship is written for academics and fails to edify readers or strengthen their Christian ministry. Yet, Christians ne...

A great deal of biblical scholarship is written for academics and fails to edify readers or strengthen their Christian ministry. Yet, Christians ne...

In this signficant book an eminent theologian challenges the reader to give heed to a most important portion of the Scriptures, Paul?

James the Just was, in the time between Jesus' resurrection and James's death, the most prominent and widely respected leader in Christendom. These...

At the beginning of 1 and 2 Kings, Solomon's reign brought peace, prosperity, dynamic international trade and a magnificent center of worship. At t...

The message of Peter's first letter turned the world upside-down for his readers. He saw the people of the young church of the first century as str...

'Affluence, exploitation and the profit motive were the most notable features of the society which Amos observed and in which he worked... Standard...

Fullness and freedom - two aspects of Christian life that we all want to share. Paul wrote about them at length (and depth) in his letter to the Ch...

The Old Testament book of Daniel contains well-known stories: Daniel in the den of lions, his three companions in a fiery furnace, and the strange ...

Vanity of vanities', says the Preacher, 'Vanity of vanities! All is vanity'. Is that what life is? A wisp of vapour, a puff of wind, a mere breath ...

The whole story of the Old Testament book of Exodus is a covenant narrative; in Moses' story, the pledges that God made to Abraham are honoured and...

This prophetic biblical book was written in a land awash with false gods and groaning under all kinds of social evil. Eventually, the inevitable ha...

Times were hard for the first readers of the letter to the Hebrews. Many had been exposed to fierce persecution. They had been assaulted, their hom...

"Go and marry a prostitute." These are the first words God spoke to his prophet Hosea. Why would he ask this of one of his special spokesmen? Becau...

Who do humans think they are?! A cacophony of answers in the face of global challenges - like climate change, artificial intelligence, racism, nati...

The book of Isaiah is outstanding in its brilliance of style, its poetic power, and its foretaste of the hope of the gospel. It tells us how God hi...

As a good communicator, James addressed his readers directly and pointedly, with vivid images from ordinary life and attention-gripping statements....

The Prophet Jeremiah addressed the people of Judah and Jerusalem over a forty-year period leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC. The...

Joel, Micah and Habakkuk - these ancient prophets have urgent relevance for a church and world at the beginning of a new millennium. They emphasise...

The 'great fish' has probably made Jonah the best known of the twelve minor prophets of the Old Testament. The book bearing his name, comprising ju...

The destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 587 BC is the likely setting for the book of Lamentations. This was the most traumatic event in ...

Love Ð such a deceptively simple and popular little word.It is almost universally agreed that we need love in order to live and flourish as human b...

Luke the Physician was fascinated by people - rich and poor, Jews and Gentiles, men and women, rulers and slaves. In his Gospel he delights to port...

The book of Malachi sits aptly in Christian Bibles as the last book of the Old Testament, which it assumes, summarizes and applies, as it also look...

The Gospel according to Matthew is perhaps the most important single document of the New Testament, for in it we have the fullest and most systemat...

OBADIAH, NAHUM AND ZEPHANIAH are probably among the least-read books of the Bible, and rarely preached. However, Gordon Bridger encourages us to st...

The Apostle Paul was bound by prison chains when he wrote to the church at Philippi. Despite his loss of liberty, and opposition from fellow-worker...

Despite the centuries which separate us from the authors of these proverbs, the everyday realities of human existence remain: making friends, copin...

What is the book of Revelation? Does it describe in veiled language events of its writer's own day, or is it largely a prophecy of events still to ...

Paul's letter to the young church in Rome has dramatically influenced Christians through the ages. It has been described as a 'gateway into heaven'...

Jesus Christ was very clear: one day He will return, and we must know the signs of the times, remain watchful, and be ready for when He comes again...

The followers of Jesus are to be different,' writes John Stott, 'different from both the nominal church and the secular world, different from both ...

In unrivalled poetic language, the Song of Songs explores the whole range of emotions experienced by its two lovers as they work out their commitme...

n the small province of Yehud in the sixth century BC, Zechariah the prophet was thoroughly engaged with the realities of his own day, but never cl...

Never before translated into English, these two massive volumes narrate the exciting story of the amazing spiritual transformation that affected Wa...

A leading figure in the Evangelical Revival in eighteenth-century England, John Wesley (1703–91) is the founding father of Methodism and, by extens...

Nothing in Shakespeare's England was as important as religion. Questions of faith informed everything from history and politics to love and family,...