Esther and Her Elusive God

Esther and Her Elusive God PDF Author: John Anthony Dunne
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1620327848
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 171

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Book Description
What if the way the book of Esther has been taught to us in church and retold to us in films, cartoons, and romance novels has missed the original point of the story? Far from being models of piety and devotion, Esther and Mordecai seem indifferent to the faith of their ancestors. How then did this story become part of the Bible and gain the broad acceptance that it has? If the church should not neglect the story, how should it be read? Esther and Her Elusive God calls Christians to avoid the common attempts to make Esther more palatable and theological, and to reclaim this secular story as Scripture. Readers will be encouraged to see in Esther a profound message of God's grace and faithfulness to his wayward people.

Esther and Her Elusive God

Esther and Her Elusive God PDF Author: John Anthony Dunne
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1620327848
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 171

Get Book Here

Book Description
What if the way the book of Esther has been taught to us in church and retold to us in films, cartoons, and romance novels has missed the original point of the story? Far from being models of piety and devotion, Esther and Mordecai seem indifferent to the faith of their ancestors. How then did this story become part of the Bible and gain the broad acceptance that it has? If the church should not neglect the story, how should it be read? Esther and Her Elusive God calls Christians to avoid the common attempts to make Esther more palatable and theological, and to reclaim this secular story as Scripture. Readers will be encouraged to see in Esther a profound message of God's grace and faithfulness to his wayward people.

Esther and Her Elusive God

Esther and Her Elusive God PDF Author: John Anthony Dunne
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1725248174
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 170

Get Book Here

Book Description
What if the way the book of Esther has been taught to us in church and retold to us in films, cartoons, and romance novels has missed the original point of the story? Far from being models of piety and devotion, Esther and Mordecai seem indifferent to the faith of their ancestors. How then did this story become part of the Bible and gain the broad acceptance that it has? If the church should not neglect the story, how should it be read? Esther and Her Elusive God calls Christians to avoid the common attempts to make Esther more palatable and theological, and to reclaim this secular story as Scripture. Readers will be encouraged to see in Esther a profound message of God's grace and faithfulness to his wayward people.

Esther in Ancient Jewish Thought

Esther in Ancient Jewish Thought PDF Author: Aaron Koller
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107048354
Category : Bibles
Languages : en
Pages : 277

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Book Description
This book situates the book of Esther in the intellectual history of Ancient Judaism and provides a new understanding of its purpose.

The Book of Esther

The Book of Esther PDF Author: Emily Barton
Publisher:
ISBN: 1101904097
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 434

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Book Description
"In a counterfactual world resembling the 1930s, the state of Khazaria, an isolated nation of warriors Jews, is under attack by the Germanii. Esther, the precocious daughter of Khazaria's chief policy advisor, sets out on a quest to ensure the survival of her homeland"--

God Unseen

God Unseen PDF Author: Nathan Ward
Publisher: Deward Publishing
ISBN: 9781936341801
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 206

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Book Description
Preachers and commentators often focus on Esther as a story of divine providence. Many go so far as to say that the absence of any mention of God in Esther is proof of his presence-a tenuous foundation upon which to build a case! GOD UNSEEN argues that Esther is indeed intended to be read in a religious context and that it does speak to God's providence, but shows this by a careful comparison of the text of Esther with many other Old Testament narratives that it echoes, thus setting it squarely in a canonical context. The result of such a contextual reading will give credence to the belief that God should be seen in those silences. Esther closely parallels life in 21st-century western culture. It tells the story of people who know how to be righteous followers of God, but who are surrounded by a world of paganism and, far too often, find themselves assimilating rather than standing apart. The characters receive no special revelation from God, nor does he seem to be present at all in their lives. Many Christians today live under a similar set of circumstances, so its message is vital. GOD UNSEEN's argument that the book of Esther is religious and that God is present in the narrative will help give practical shape to modern questions of what it means to live during the apparent silence of God.

Veiling Esther, Unveiling Her Story

Veiling Esther, Unveiling Her Story PDF Author: Adam J. Silverstein
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192517740
Category : Bibles
Languages : en
Pages : 279

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Book Description
Veiling Esther, Unveiling Her Story: The Reception of a Biblical Book in Islamic Lands examines the ways in which the Biblical Book of Esther was read, understood, and used in Muslim lands, from ancient to modern times. It focuses on case studies covering works from various periods and regions of the Muslim world, including the Qur'an, pre-modern historical chronicles and literary works, the writings of a nineteenth-century Shia feminist, a twentieth-century Iranian encyclopaedia, and others. These case studies demonstrate that Muslim sources contain valuable materials on Esther, which shed light both on the Esther story itself and on the Muslim peoples and cultures that received it. Adam J. Silverstein argues that Muslim sources preserve important pre-Islamic materials on Esther that have not survived elsewhere, some of which offer answers to ancient questions about Esther, such as the meaning of Haman's epithet in the Greek versions of the story, the reason why Mordecai refused to prostrate before Haman, and the literary context of the 'plot of the eunuchs' to kill the Persian king. Throughout the book, Silverstein shows how each author's cultural and religious background influenced his or her understanding and retelling of the Esther story. In particular, he highlights that Persian Muslims (and Jews) were often forced to reconcile or choose between the conflicting historical narratives provided by their religious and cultural heritages respectively.

Women's Divination in Biblical Literature

Women's Divination in Biblical Literature PDF Author: Esther J. Hamori
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300178913
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
Divination, the use of special talents and techniques to gain divine knowledge, was practiced in many different forms in ancient Israel and throughout the ancient world. The Hebrew Bible reveals a variety of traditions of women associated with divination. This sensitive and incisive book by respected scholar Esther J. Hamori examines the wide scope of women's divinatory activities as portrayed in the Hebrew texts, offering readers a new appreciation of the surprising breadth of women's “arts of knowledge” in biblical times. Unlike earlier approaches to the subject that have viewed prophecy separately from other forms of divination, Hamori's study encompasses the full range of divinatory practices and the personages who performed them, from the female prophets and the medium of En-dor to the matriarch who interprets a birth omen and the “wise women” of Tekoa and Abel and more. In doing so, the author brings into clearer focus the complex, rich, and diverse world of ancient Israelite divination.

Jerusalem Maiden

Jerusalem Maiden PDF Author: Talia Carner
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062079522
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 466

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Book Description
“Talia Carner is a skillful and heartfelt storyteller who takes the reader on journey of the senses, into a world long forgotten.” —Jennifer Lauck, author of Blackbird “Exquisitely told, with details so vivid you can almost taste the food and hear the voices….A moving and utterly captivating novel that I will be thinking about for a long, long time.” —Tess Gerritsen, author of The Silent Girl “Talia Carner’s story captivates at every level, heart and mind.” —Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean The poignant, colorful, and unforgettable story of a young woman in early 20th-century Jerusalem who must choose between her faith and her passion, Jerusalem Maiden heralds the arrival of a magnificent new literary voice, Talia Carner. In the bestselling vein of The Red Tent, The Kite Runner, and A Thousand Splendid Suns, Jerusalem Maiden brilliantly evokes the sights and sounds of the Middle East during the final days of the Ottoman Empire. Historical fiction and Bible lovers will be captivated by this thrilling tale of a young Jewish woman during a fascinating era, her inner struggle with breaking the Second Commandment, and her ultimate transcendence through self-discovery.

The Elusive Presence

The Elusive Presence PDF Author: Samuel Terrien
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1579103359
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 541

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Book Description
A study of the presence of God throughout biblical history.

A Year of Biblical Womanhood

A Year of Biblical Womanhood PDF Author: Rachel Held Evans
Publisher: Thomas Nelson Inc
ISBN: 1595553673
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 349

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Book Description
New York Times Bestseller. With just the right mixture of humor and insight, compassion and incredulity, A Year of Biblical Womanhood is an exercise in scriptural exploration and spiritual contemplation. What does God truly expect of women, and is there really a prescription for biblical womanhood? Come along with Evans as she looks for answers in the rich heritage of biblical heroines, models of grace, and all-around women of valor. What is "biblical womanhood" . . . really? Strong-willed and independent, Rachel Held Evans couldn't sew a button on a blouse before she embarked on a radical life experiment--a year of biblical womanhood. Intrigued by the traditionalist resurgence that led many of her friends to abandon their careers to assume traditional gender roles in the home, Evans decides to try it for herself, vowing to take all of the Bible's instructions for women as literally as possible for a year. Pursuing a different virtue each month, Evans learns the hard way that her quest for biblical womanhood requires more than a "gentle and quiet spirit" (1 Peter 3:4). It means growing out her hair, making her own clothes, covering her head, obeying her husband, rising before dawn, abstaining from gossip, remaining silent in church, and even camping out in the front yard during her period. See what happens when a thoroughly modern woman starts referring to her husband as "master" and "praises him at the city gate" with a homemade sign. Learn the insights she receives from an ongoing correspondence with an Orthodox Jewish woman, and find out what she discovers from her exchanges with a polygamist wife. Join her as she wrestles with difficult passages of scripture that portray misogyny and violence against women.