What in the world are we to make of the dizzying array of grand and grotesque images 'revealed' to an early Christ-follower named John? Enter the expert scholar-teacher Greg Carey as the perfect docent through Revelation's stunning gallery. Carey orients us to a 'faithful and true' focus on the 'faithful and true' Christ--a vital corrective to fanciful and false readings of Revelation that remain wildly popular.--F. Scott Spencer, author of Salty Wives, Spirited Mothers, and Savvy Widows

What should modern readers make of the wildly fantastical Revelation to John? New Testament scholar Greg Carey offers an accessible guide to the daunting Book of Revelation, inviting us not to decode every symbol or tame every dragon, but rather to engage the urgent questions of power and loyalty.

What happens at the end of our lives and of the course of history? Will God bring about a just and peaceful world? What lies
beyond this realm, and what can we know of the beings who dwell there? In Death, the End of History, and Beyond, Greg Carey offers resources for understanding multiple, even conflicting, ways that the Bible imagines these ultimate realities. Carey opens the Scriptures with a breadth of insight that acknowledges its diversity of viewpoints about what lies beyond the veil, centering hope in God's action to bring good out of evil in our lived realities, in our personal journeys through death, and in visions of resurrection and justice restored. An appendix on preaching also invites clergy to help their communities imagine when and how eschatology can inform our lives
today.

We love stories. That's why we go to movies, read books, and listen to friends recount an experience. That's also why teachers use the technique of storytelling to make a difficult concept easier for us to process. Jesus told stories, or parables, for that very reason--and to help us understand how God wants us to live life. Sometimes, however, stories like the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son can be interpreted in more than one way. Even Bible scholars are divided on their meanings. In Stories Jesus Told, you'll explore six of Jesus' parables to learn how to read, interpret, and live them in your daily life. A DVD and Leader Guide are elements you can add to make a lively, six-week group study.

The parables of Jesus--like the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, and the Laborers in the Vineyard--make up the most distinctive element of his teaching and are essential to our common memory of Jesus. However, almost all of them open themselves to multiple interpretations, leaving interpreters to scratch their heads and argue with one another for centuries. In this book, Greg Carey explores six of Jesus' stories to understand how to read them, interpret them, and understand what they mean for our own lives today. The Leader Guide contains everything needed to guide a group through the six-week study including session plans, activities, and discussion questions, as well as multiple format options.

How did early Christians remember Jesus--and how did they develop their own Christian identities and communities? In this accessible and revelatory book, Greg Carey explores how transgression contributed to early Christian identity in the Gospels, Acts, Letters of Paul, and Revelation. Carey examines Jesus as a friend of sinners, challenger of purity laws, transgressor of conventional masculine values of his time, and convicted seditionist. He looks at early Christian communities as out of step with respectable practices of their time. Finally, he provides examples of contemporary Christians whose faith requires them to do the right thing, even when it means violating current definitions of respectability.

How did early Christians remember Jesus--and how did they develop their own Christian identities and communities? In this accessible and revelatory book, Greg Carey explores how transgression contributed to early Christian identity in the Gospels, Acts, Letters of Paul, and Revelation. Carey examines Jesus as a friend of sinners, challenger of purity laws, transgressor of conventional masculine values of his time, and convicted seditionist. He looks at early Christian communities as out of step with respectable practices of their time. Finally, he provides examples of contemporary Christians whose faith requires them to do the right thing, even when it means violating current definitions of respectability.

Carey presents an introduction to the elements of apocalyptic discourse in the Hebrew Bible, the intertestamental texts of the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, and the Jewish and Christian apocalyptic texts. He seeks to help modern readers perplexed by the rampant and somewhat outrageous depiction and interpretation of apocalyptic literature to see apocalyptic discourse as a flexible set of resources that early Jews and Christians could employ for a variety of persuasive tasks.

Every significant layer of the New Testament features the distinctive concerns of apocalyptic literature, including the expectation of a messiah, hope for a resurrection, expectation of a final judgment, and a spiritual world that includes angels and demons. Yet many contemporary readers shy away from things apocalyptic, especially the book of Revelation. This introduction considers the influence of apocalyptic literature throughout the Gospels and Acts, Paul's letters, and Revelation. It argues that early Christian authors drew upon apocalyptic topics to address an impressive array of situations and concerns, and it demonstrates--example after example--how apocalyptic discourse contributed to their ongoing work of contextual theology.

In Using Our Outside Voice, Greg Carey contends that responsible public biblical interpretation requires the ability to enter a conversation about the Bible, to understand the various arguments in play, and to offer informed opinions that others can understand. This role demands not only basic knowledge but also identifiable skills, habits, and dispositions. Carey does not suggest that public interpreters of the Bible are more insightful or more correct than are other people. But public biblical interpretation involves participating in reasoned conversations about the Bible and its significance.

People appeal to the Bible for all sorts of reasons. The work of public biblical interpretation involves a level of accountability, both scholarly and moral. Carey encourages interpreters to develop proficiency in historical, cultural, and literary modes of interpretation as well as to cultivate familiarity with a broad range of interpretive options, including those from diverse cultural locations and historical points of view. Many interpreters work within the context of particular faith traditions and are accountable for engaging those traditions in meaningful, constructive ways. Public interpreters also are accountable for the ethical implications of their work.

Using Our Outside Voice is ideal for students in biblical studies and those who teach, preach, and interpret the Bible.

Greg Carey's guide equips readers to develop their own informed assessments of Luke's Gospel. The book begins with an inductive exposition of Luke's singular approach to composing a story about Jesus, examining its use of Mark, clues to its social setting, and its distinctive literary strategies.

Recognizing that many readers approach Luke for theological and religious reasons, while many others do not, a chapter on 'Spirit' addresses Luke's presentation of the God of Israel, how the Gospel ties salvation to the person of Jesus, and how the problems of sin and evil find their resolution in the kingdom of God and in community of those who follow Jesus. A chapter on 'Practice' examines the Gospel's vision for human community. While many readers find a revolutionary message in which women, the poor, Gentiles and sinners find themselves included and blessed in Luke's Gospel, this volume calls attention to inconsistencies and tensions within the narrative. Luke does speak toward inclusion, Carey argues, but not in a revolutionary way. Could it be that the Gospel promises more than it delivers? Carey suggests that Luke speaks to people of relative privilege, challenging them toward mercy and inclusion rather than toward fundamental social change. An Epilogue reflects upon contemporary readers of Luke, most of whom enjoy privilege in their own right, and how they may respond to Luke's story.

Compiled for seminary classes at a time when interest in the so-called doomsday literature is at its peak, the essays in this collection offer solid methodological comments and specific exegetical essays on all the major apocalyptic texts, including Old Testament, New Testament, deuterocanonical, and one extracanonical.

A fresh theological encounter with the book of Revelation, informed by contemporary concerns and reading strategies

Greg Carey, a respected scholar of the New Testament and apocalyptic literature, shows how Revelation can speak meaningfully to today's readers. He highlights themes in Revelation that resonate powerfully in our current era: the person of Jesus, hope in the face of death and adversity, resistance, authority, violence, gender, wealth, and more. In so doing, Carey invites readers to reconsider old assumptions about the book of Revelation and reread the text with openness to new and surprisingly contemporary insights.

Students, teachers, and pastors will find much to ponder and discuss here. Readers will come away with a deeper understanding of Revelation's unique voice within the New Testament; an improved ability to articulate concerns and problems they may have with Revelation; and the resources they need to engage this complex book of the Bible in constructive and life-giving ways. Simply put, Carey's Rereading Revelation is a paradigm-changing book.