Lectio Divina

Title: Lectio Divina: Renewing the Ancient Practice of Praying the Scriptures
Author: M. Basil Pennington
Publisher: Crossroad Publishing
ISBN: 9780824517366

From the publisher: Lectio divina is "letting our Divine Friend speak to us through his inspired and inspiring Word," according to M. Basil Pennington, the late priest, retreat master, and prominent lecturer in the Centering Prayer movement. This ancient Christian practice requires faith, humility, openness, and fidelity. Father Pennington sets the process of praying the Scriptures in the context of meditation, contemplation, compassion, and action. He calls it "a way of friendship" wherein we pay attention to "the love letters from the Lord."

Speaking Christian

Title: Speaking Christian
Author: Marcus J. Borg
Publisher: SPCK Publishing
ISBN: 9780281065080

From the publisher: As with French, German or Spanish, learning the basic vocabulary of Christianity is a vital first step in understanding what it means and how it works. We think of words like ‘faith’, ‘forgiveness’, ‘salvation’, ‘sin’ and ‘heaven’. But how can we be sure that we understand them correctly? Over the centuries all sorts of different meanings have grown up around these words, and sometimes those meanings can obscure or distort the way the words were originally used in the Bible.

In Speaking Christian, Marcus Borg takes some of the key words in the Christian dictionary and exposes the negative and unhelpful connotations they still carry today. At the same time, he goes back to the Bible and unpacks their meaning in a way that is both more faithful to the teaching of Jesus and more relevant to his followers today.

In The Beginning

Title: In The Beginning
Author: Karen Armstrong
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 9780099555476

From the publisher: The foundation stone of Jewish and Christian scriptures, the power of the Book of Genesis lies in its stories - Creation, the Fall, Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham, Jacob and Joseph. These ancient tales illuminate some of our most enduring and profound problems: cowardice, the struggle with evil, the difficulty of facing past mistakes, achieving a true understanding of our innermost selves. Karen Armstrong traces the themes and meanings of these stories, examining what they can still tell us about the human quest for meaning.

The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Bible Lands

Title: The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Bible Lands
Author: Caroline Hull & Andrew Jotischky
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9780141026879

From the publisher: Taking in such important themes as the powerful early city-states that dominated the plains, the technological developments that led to terrace farming and population growth in the highlands and the origins and influence of the Philistines, The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Bible Lands will explore the relationship between the books of the Bible and the land from which they came. Including detailed maps on topics ranging from the wanderings of Abraham to Modern Jerusalem, a comprehensive timeline comparing developments in Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt, Asia Minor, Greece and Rome and a gazetteer of Biblical place-names.

Coverage of the familiar events of the world's greatest book is supplemented by features on the alphabet, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Zionist movement as the book's scope continues beyond the Biblical period to explore the Islamic conquests, the crusades, the British Mandate and the current struggles between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Sisters Of Sinai

Title: Sisters Of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Found the Hidden Gospels
Author: Janet Soskice
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 9780099546542

From the publisher: Sisters of Sinai tells an extraordinary tale of nineteenth century exploration; how two Scottish sisters made one of the most important ancient manuscript finds of the age. Hidden in a cupboard beneath the monastic library at St Catherine’s in the Sinai desert the twins discovered what looked like a palimpsest: one text written over another. It was Agnes who recognized the obscured text for what it was – one of the earliest copies of the Gospels written in ancient Syriac. Once they had overcome the stubborn reluctance of Cambridge scholars to authenticate the find and had lead an expedition of quarrelsome academics back to Sinai to copy it, Agnes and Margaret – in middle years and neither with any university qualifications – embarked on a life of demanding scholarship and bold travel.

In this enthralling book, Janet Soskice takes the reader on an astonishing journey from the Ayreshire of the sisters’ childhood to the lost treasure trove of the Cairo genizah. We trace the footsteps of the intrepid pair as they voyage to Egypt, Sinai and beyond, Murray’s guide book in hand, coping with camels, unscrupulous dragomen, and unpredictable welcomes. We enter the excitement and mystery of the Gospel origins at a time when Christianity was under attack in Europe.Crucially this is the story of two remarkable women who, as widows, were undeterred in their spirit of adventure and who overcame insuperable odds to become world class scholars with a place in history.

Whose Bible Is It?

Title: Whose Bible Is It? A History of the Scriptures through the Ages
Author: Jaroslav Pelikan
Publisher: Penguin Books
ISBN: 9780141022680

From the publisher: The Bible is among the world's most influential and important books - and the most controversial. It affects not just religious beliefs but every aspect of our culture, including the very language we speak. But how did it become the book we know it to be?

In this superbly written history, Jaroslav Pelikan charts its evolution from oral tales via Hebrew texts, Greek, and Latin translations, to its many different forms today, offering a new insight into the history of the last three thousand years. This is an enduring work of scholarship and a fascinating read.

Bible

Title: Bible: The Story of the King James Version 1611-2011
Author: Gordon Campbell
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 978-0-19-955759-2

From the publisher: This is a history of the King James Version of the Bible (known in Britain as the Authorised Version) over the four hundred years from its remote beginnings to the present day.

Gordon Campbell, expert in Renaissance literatures, tells the fascinating and complex story of how this translation came to be commissioned, of who the translators were, and of how the translation was accomplished. The story does not end with the printing of that first edition, but introduces the subsequent generations who edited and interacted with the text. The present text of the King James Version differs in thousands of small details from the original edition. Campbell traces the textual history from 1611 to the establishment of the modern text by Oxford University Press in 1769.

Attitudes to the King James Version have shifted through time and territory, ranging from adulation to deprecation and attracting the attention of a wide variety of adherents. It is more widely read in America today than in any other country, and its particular history in there is given due attention.

Generously illustrated with reproductions taken from early editions, this volume helps to explain the enduring popularity of the King James Version throughout the world today.