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to the TopThe following is a list of selected readings from the Study Guide that you can use for further growth and understanding of the Bible, worship using the Bible, and spiritual formation..
Bible Commentaries and References
General/Introductory Biblical Studies
Atlases and Chronological Charts
Early Christianity, Church Fathers, Theology of the Early Church
Dead Sea Scrolls, Nag Hammadi Library, Other Extra-Canonical Literature
Spiritual Formation and Scripture
Bible Commentaries and References
Achtemeier, Paul J., ed. HarperCollins Bible Dictionary. rev. ed. New York: HarperCollins, 1997.
Brown, Raymond E., S.S., et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1990.
Buttrick, George A., ed. The Interpreter’s Bible. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1952-1957.
The Cambridge Companion to the Bible. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Ferguson, Everette, ed. Encyclopedia of Early Christianity. New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1990.
Laymon, Charles M., ed. The Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentary on the Bible. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1971.
Keck, Leander, ed. The New Interpreter’s Bible. 12 vols. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994. Vols. I and VIII have particularly helpful introductions.
Kohlenberger, John R., III. The NRSV Concordance Unabridged. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1991.
-----, Concise Concordance to the NRSV. New York: Oxford University Press.
Metzger, Bruce M., and Michael D.Coogan, eds. The Oxford Companion to the Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
Myers, Allen C., ed. Eerdmans Bible Dictionary. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1987.
Newsom, Carol A. and Sharon Ringe. The Women’s Bible Commentary. Philadelphia: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1992.
Richardson, Alan, ed. A Theological Word Book of the Bible. London: SCM Press, Ltd., 1957.
Throckmorton, Burton H., Jr., ed. Gospel Parallels, 4th ed. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Sons, 1979 (RSV); 5th edition (1992) uses NRSV.
General/Introductory Biblical Studies
Anderson, Bernhard W., ed. The Books of the Bible. 2 vols. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1989.
Barrett, C.K. ed. The New Testament Background: Writings from Ancient Greece & the Roman Empire that Illuminated Christian Origins. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1995.
Beasley, James R., et al. An Introduction to the Bible. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1991.
Brown, Robert McAfee. Unexpected News: Reading the Bible with Third World Eyes.
Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1984.
Brueggemann, Walter. The Bible Makes Sense. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1977.
-----. Texts Under Negotiation. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993.
Dowley, Tim, ed. Introduction to the History of Christianity, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995.
Ferlo, Roger A. Opening the Bible. Cambridge, Mass.: Cowley Publications, 1997.
Gomes, Peter. The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart, New York: William Morrow, 1996.
Keck, Leander. Taking the Bible Seriously. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1962.
Murphy, Roland. The Tree of Life: An Exploration of Biblical Wisdom Literature. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Co., 1990.
Sanders, James. From Sacred Story to Sacred Text. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1987.
Schoenhals, G. Roger, ed. Wesley’s Notes on the Bible. Grand Rapids: Francis Asbury Press, 1987.
Weber, Hans-Ruedi. Experiments with Bible Study. Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1981.
Atlases and Chronological Charts
Aharoni, Yohanan, et al., eds. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. 3rd ed. Old Tappan, N.J.: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1993.
The Collegeville Bible Study Atlas. Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press, 1990.
The Collegeville Bible Time-Line. Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press, 1993.
Jenkins, Simon. Nelson’s 3-DBible Mapbook. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Sons, 1995.
Anderson, Bernhard. Understanding the Old Testament, 4th ed. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1986.
Bialik, Hayim Nahman and Yehoshua Hana Ravnitzky, eds. The Book of Legends (Sefer Ha- Aggadah): Legends from the Talmud and Midrash. Translated by William G. Braude. New York: Schocken Books Inc., 1992.
Charpentier, Etienne. How To Read the Old Testament. New York: Crossroad Publishing Co., 1987.
Fishbane, Michael. Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel. New York: Clarendon Press, 1985.
Gottwald, Norman K. The Hebrew Bible: a Socio-Literary Introduction. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985.
Hartman, Geoffrey H. and Sandford Budick, eds. Midrash and Literature. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1986
Segal, Alan F. Rebecca’s Children: Judaism and Christianity in the Roman World. Cambridge, Mass., and London: Harvard University Press, 1986.
Steinsaltz, Rabbi Adin. The Talmud--The Steinsaltz Edition: A Reference Guide. New York: Random House, 1989, especially vol. 1, pp. 48-59.
Visotsky, Rabbi Burton L. Reading the Book: Making the Bible a Timeless Text. New York: Anchor Books, 1991.
Pritchard, J.B., ed. Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken Books, 1975.
Ruether, Rosemary R. Religion and Sexism: Images of Women in the Jewish and Christian Traditions. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1974.
Early Christianity, Church Fathers, Theology of the Early Church
Barrett, C.K. ed. The New Testament Background: Writings from Ancient Greece & the Roman Empire that Illuminated Christian Origins. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1995.
Bauer, Walter. Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity. Reprint ed., Mifflintown, Pa.: Sigler Press, 1996.
Chadwick, Henry. The Early Church. New York: Penguin Books, 1993.
Christie-Murray, David. A History of Heresy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.
Clark, Elizabeth. Women in the Early Church. Wilmington, Del.: Michael Glazier, 1983.
Ferguson, Everette, ed. Encyclopedia of Early Christianity. New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1990.
Fiorenza, Elisabeth Schüssler. In Memory of Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins. New York: Crossroad Publishing Co., 1989.
Frend, W.H. The Early Church. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1982.
Fredriksen, Paula. From Jesus to Christ: The Origins of the New Testament Image of Jesus. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988.
Kelley, J.N.D. Early Christian Doctrines. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1978.
Kugel, James and Rowan A. Greeg. Early Biblical Interpretation. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1986.
McDonald, Lee Martin. The Formation of the Christian Biblical Canon. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1988.
Metzger, Bruce M. The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development and Significance. New York: Clarendon Press, 1987.
Meyendorff, John. Christ in Eastern Christian Thought. Crestwood, N.Y.: St. Vladimir’s Press, 1975.
Miller, Robert J., ed. The Complete Gospels. San Francisco: HarperSanFancisco, 1994.
Niebuhr, H. Richard. Christ and Culture. New York: Harper and Row, 1956.
Norris, Richard A. and William G. Rusch, eds. The Christological Controversy. In the Sources of Early Christian Thought series. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1980.
Pelikan, Jaroslav. Jesus through the Ages. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973.
-------, The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition 100-600. Vol. 1 in The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971.
Richardson, Cyril. Early Christian Fathers. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1970.
Williams, Charles. The Descent of the Dove: A Short History of the Holy Spirit in the Church. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1976; reprint: Tacoma, Washington: Regent College, 1995.
Dead Sea Scrolls, Nag Hammadi Library, Other Extra-Canonical Literature
Barnstone, Willis. The Other Bible. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1984.
Charlesworth, James, ed. Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls. New York: Doubleday & Co., 1992.
-------, ed. The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha 1 and 2. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Co., 1985.
Crossan, John Dominic. Four Other Gospels: Shadows on the Contours of Canon. Santa Rosa, Ca.: Polebridge Press, 1994
Layton, Bentley. The Gnostic Scriptures. New York: Anchor Publishing Co., 1995.
Robinson, James M., ed. The Nag Hammadi Library. 3rd ed. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988.
Shanks, Hershel, ed. Understanding the Dead Sea Scrolls. New York: Random House, 1992.
Vermes, Geza. The Dead Sea Scrolls in English. 3rd ed. London: Penguin Books, 1987.
Wise, Michael O., Martin G. Abegg, Jr., and Edward M. Cook. The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1996.
An Inclusive-Language Lectionary: Readings for Years A, B, & C. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1986, 1987, 1988
Spiritual Formation and Scripture
Smith, Martin L. The Word Is Very Near You: A Guide to Praying with Scripture. Cambridge, Mass.: Cowley Publications, 1989.
Vest, Norvene. Bible Reading for Spiritual Growth. Nashville: Upper Room Books, 1996.
Wink, Walter. Transforming Bible Study. 2nd ed. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1989.
Winter, Miriam Therese. The Gospel According to Mary: A New Testament for Women. New York: Crossroad Publishing Co., 1993.
This Bible study is a resource from:
The Women's Division of the General
Board of Global Ministries, United Methodist Church
Women's Division E-mail
Women's
Division Website
General
Board of Global Ministries Website
