Christian Canon Law E-Books: Apr 19/25

Creating the Canon
Author(s): Benjamin P. Laird
Publisher: IVP Academic
Price: $5.99       (Ends Apr 30)

Unraveling the Origins of the New Testament Canon

Despite the profound influence of the New Testament, a variety of questions related to its background and history remain common. Contemporary readers often find the subject of the canon’s origin and formation to be complicated and confusing, while scholars continue to struggle to find agreement about basic elements of the canon’s development. In this engaging study, Benjamin P. Laird explores several misunderstood, disputed, and overlooked topics in order to provide fresh insight and clarity about the canon’s creation and modern relevance. The volume addresses questions such as:

Was there a single “original autograph” of each New Testament writing?
Who exactly were the “original readers” of the New Testament writings?
Did theological controversies play a decisive role in prompting the canon’s formation?
How did such a diverse body of writings come together to form a single canonical collection?
Is there a basis for the canon’s ongoing authority?
Wide-ranging yet accessible, Creating the Canon offers an illuminating treatment of the composition, formation, and authority of the New Testament and serves as a valuable guide to those with limited prior study. Creating the Canon is perfect for anyone seeking to further understand how the church got the New Testament, and it is an ideal supplemental text for courses including biblical studies, church history, theology, or any class exploring the development and authority of the New Testament canon.

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Light of the Word
Author(s): Susan C. Lim
Publisher: IVP
Price: $3.99       (Ends Apr 30)

While Christians generally acknowledge that the Bible is God’s Word, many of us lack robust confidence in the reality of its trustworthiness. We may not be sure if we really believe what we read. But the more we understand how Scripture came to be, the more we discover its power and truth.

Historian Susan Lim unpacks how the history of the Bible bolsters our faith and anchors us through the changing tides of time. The story of Scripture, while messy and complicated at times, is also the story of how God shepherded his people throughout the centuries in and through these writings. Lim explains how Christians came to accept certain documents as inspired and not others, and how the books we now call the Bible came to be assembled and canonized as authoritative. The same Spirit of God who oversaw the writing of Scripture continues to be at work actively in us in our receiving and reading of it, to grow us in faith and maturity.

Those of us who confess that Jesus is Lord can also confess with confidence that Scripture is God’s Word. As the church through the ages has received and passed down the sacred Scriptures, so too can we receive for ourselves the living Word that God still speaks through today.

Facing Intellectual Giants

SPONSORED LISTING

Author(s): Dan Chimere-Dan
Publisher: Procross Media
Price: $2.99      

This book prepares new Christian students to handle dominant beliefs, theories and worldviews that challenge their personal faith in the modern university.

The Tinker’s Progress: The Life and Times of John Bunyan

This e-book was chosen by our readers to be placed on sale.

Author(s): Jacob Tanner
Publisher: Christian Focus Publications
Price: $2.99       (Apr 25-26)

Known primarily for his allegorical work, The Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan was also a preacher, a gifted theologian and interpreter of Scripture. Academically, he was not a learned man, but when it came to practical and experiential mastery of the Scriptures and their theology, he was as gifted as anyone. His writings have a beauty and practicality not often found. He teaches that the greater the Christian’s understanding of truth, the stronger their own passion for Jesus will be, and the greater their worship and doxology will become.

Jacob Tanner’s enlightening biography traces Bunyan’s life from his humble beginnings to his calling home to the Celestial City. From his debaucherous youth to glimpses of grace and eventual calling to ministry.

There are lessons here for any twenty–first century Christian. He can teach men to be mature, fathers to be loving, husbands to be faithful, pastors to be tender, saints to suffer well, Christians to be steadfast. One of his greatest lessons to modern Christians is how to live faithfully for Christ in a world that is antagonistic to God.

 

Something Worth Doing

Author(s): Jane Kirkpatrick
Publisher: Revell
Price: $2.99       (May 1 – June 1)

In 1853, Abigail Scott was a 19-year-old school teacher in Oregon Territory when she married Ben Duniway. Marriage meant giving up on teaching, but Abigail always believed she was meant to be more than a good wife and mother. When financial mistakes and an injury force Ben to stop working, Abigail becomes the primary breadwinner for her growing family. What she sees as a working woman appalls her, and she devotes her life to fighting for the rights of women, including their right to vote.

Following Abigail as she bears six children, runs a millinery and a private school, helps on the farm, writes novels, gives speeches, and eventually runs a newspaper supporting women’s suffrage, Something Worth Doing explores issues that will resonate strongly with modern women: the pull between career and family, finding one’s place in the public sphere, and dealing with frustrations and prejudices women encounter when they compete in male-dominated spaces. Based on a true story of a pioneer for women’s rights from award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick will inspire you to believe that some things are worth doing–even when the cost is great.

 

Cloud of Witnesses

This e-book was chosen by our readers to be placed on sale.

Author(s): Jonathan W. Arnold and Zachariah Carter
Publisher: Crossway Books
Price: $2.99       (May 7-8)

A Comprehensive Anthology of Prayers and Petitions throughout Church History

Throughout history, Christians have sought guidance to bolster their spiritual walk with Christ and life of prayer. Even Christ’s disciples would ask, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). But in our current individualistic culture, it’s almost too easy to neglect the wisdom of those who came before us.

To restore a love of historic Christian tradition, theology, and practice, this comprehensive anthology combines prayers and petitions of the greatest figures throughout the formation of the church, continuing through the medieval, Reformation, and modern eras. Editors Jonathan W. Arnold and Zachariah M. Carter provide context for each prayer through expert introductions, commentary, and biographical explorations. Ultimately readers will be encouraged in their faith as they learn the importance of prayer and witness the hearts and struggles of the saints.

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Epistles of John: A New Testament Commentary

Author(s): Bob Yandian
Publisher: Harrison House Publishers
Price: $0.99      

John Examines the Power of True Bible Doctrine Through the Lens of Love

Before being exiled to the island of Patmos where he wrote the book of Revelation, the apostle John penned three letters to the church at Ephesus. The Ephesian church was the largest in the ancient world and faced, as many churches of that time did, the dangerous doctrines of Jewish legalism and Hellenistic Gnosticism. The church was also dealing with false leaders more interested in gain and fame than in spreading the truth of the gospel. In response, John, who was the church’s pastor for a time, wrote the Johannine epistles. And, as in his gospel, John addresses all of these issues through the lens of God’s love.

Bob Yandian delves into John’s letters, verse by verse, using context and his own pastoral sagacity to illuminate John’s messages. In doing so, Pastor Yandian first provides historical and biblical background—including observance of the original Greek language—to bring alive the truths in John’s three letters. Pastor Yandian then encourages modern believers to apply these truths in response to God’s pure and unfailing love.

 

What the Bible teaches about the Trinity

Author(s): Stuart Olyott
Publisher: Evangelical Press
Price: $4.99      

Do you have problems understanding what the Bible teaches about the Trinity, or have you had to try to answer people who do not believe that Jesus Christ is God and who deny that the one God is three, and that there are three who are God. Could they possibly be right? How can we answer them?

In this book Stuart Olyott shows that the doctrine of the Trinity is plainly taught in the Bible, and that it is the foundation for a true understanding of the Christian gospel. The book is written in straightforward language and is intended for the ordinary reader. Although it certainly shows up the error of the modern cults, its main purpose is to lead people to a better understanding of what God has revealed about Himself in His Word.

Stuart Olyott, born in Pakistan in 1942, was brought up in Asia, Chester and West Wales. He has held pastorates in London, Liverpool and Lausanne and served both Bryntirion College and the Evangelical Movement of Wales. He travels widely as a conference speaker and is the author of several books, including a companion to this volume (What the Bible Teaches About the Person of Christ), and four titles in the Welwyn Commentary series (Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon, Daniel, Romans, Ephesians).