Christianity Today Book Award--Biblical Studies

In a first-of-its-kind volume, The New Testament in Color offers biblical commentary that is:

• Multiethnic
• Diverse
• Contextual
• Informative
• Reflective
• Prophetic
• Inspiring

I wish someone had handed The New Testament in Color to me twenty-five years ago, and I hope many will read it now. --Nijay Gupta, bestselling author of Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church.

Historically, Bible commentaries have focused on the particular concerns of a limited segment of the church, all too often missing fresh questions and perspectives that are fruitful for biblical interpretation. Listening to scholars from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities offers us an opportunity to explore the Bible from a wider angle, a better vantage point.

The New Testament in Color is a one-volume commentary on the New Testament written by a multiethnic team of scholars holding orthodox Christian beliefs. Each scholar brings exegetical expertise coupled with a unique interpretive lens to illuminate the ways social location and biblical interpretation work together. Theologically orthodox and multiethnically contextual, The New Testament in Color fills a gap in biblical understanding for both the academy and the church. Who we are and where God placed us--it's all useful for better understanding his Word.

Andy Johnson loves fighting battles. Especially when he has his favorite sword, the Destroyer, by his side. So when Dad announces that the Johnson family is heading to the city to join a march, Andy's ready to don his battle gear and be the best soldier!

Except this isn't a march to war . . . it's a march for justice.

Join Andy and the rest of the Johnson kids as they learn how we can answer God's call for justice and how marching is one way people can fight for a world that reflects God's love and compassion--from the civil rights era up to today.

Building on the first Johnson family book, Josey Johnson's Hair and the Holy Spirit, and inspired by a conversation with his own children after taking them to a protest march, Esau McCaulley provides an accessible resource for parents and educators looking to engage kids on the topics of racism, discrimination, and social justice through a biblical and historical perspective.

Christianity Today Book Award Finalist--Bible and Devotional

Lent is inescapably about repenting. Every year, the church invites us into a season of repentance and fasting in preparation for Holy Week. It's an invitation to turn away from our sins and toward the mercy and grace of Christ.

Often, though, we experience the Lenten fast as either a mindless ritual or self-improvement program. In this short volume, priest and scholar Esau McCaulley introduces the season of Lent, showing us how its prayers and rituals point us not just to our own sinfulness but also beyond it to our merciful Savior.

Each volume in the Fullness of Time series invites readers to engage with the riches of the church year, exploring the traditions, prayers, Scriptures, and rituals of the seasons of the church calendar.

Reading Scripture from the perspective of Black church tradition can help us connect with a rich faith history and address the urgent issues of our times. Demonstrating an ongoing conversation between the collective Black experience and the Bible, New Testament scholar Esau McCaulley shares a personal and scholarly testament to the power and hope of Black biblical interpretation.

Powerful . . . McCaulley uses examples of his own family's stories of survival over time to remind readers that some paths to the promised land have detours along the way.--The Root

A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

For much of his life, Esau McCaulley was taught to see himself as an exception: someone who, through hard work, faith, and determination, overcame childhood poverty, anti-Black racism, and an absent father to earn a job as a university professor and a life in the middle class.

But that narrative was called into question one night, when McCaulley answered the phone and learned that his father--whose absence defined his upbringing--died in a car crash. McCaulley was being asked to deliver his father's eulogy, to make sense of his complicated legacy in a country that only accepts Black men on the condition that they are exceptional, hardworking, perfect.

The resulting effort sent McCaulley back through his family history, seeking to understand the community that shaped him. In these pages, we meet his great-grandmother Sophia, a tenant farmer born with the gift of prophecy who scraped together a life in Jim Crow Alabama; his mother, Laurie, who raised four kids alone in an era when single Black mothers were demonized as welfare queens; and a cast of family, friends, and neighbors who won small victories in a world built to swallow Black lives. With profound honesty and compassion, he raises questions that implicate us all: What does each person's struggle to build a life teach us about what we owe each other? About what it means to be human?

How Far to the Promised Land is a thrilling and tender epic about being Black in America. It's a book that questions our too-simple narratives about poverty and upward mobility; a book in which the people normally written out of the American Dream are given voice.

Powerful . . . McCaulley uses examples of his own family's stories of survival over time to remind readers that some paths to the promised land have detours along the way.--The Root

A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

For much of his life, Esau McCaulley was taught to see himself as an exception: someone who, through hard work, faith, and determination, overcame childhood poverty, anti-Black racism, and an absent father to earn a job as a university professor and a life in the middle class.

But that narrative was called into question one night, when McCaulley answered the phone and learned that his father--whose absence defined his upbringing--died in a car crash. McCaulley was being asked to deliver his father's eulogy, to make sense of his complicated legacy in a country that only accepts Black men on the condition that they are exceptional, hardworking, perfect.

The resulting effort sent McCaulley back through his family history, seeking to understand the community that shaped him. In these pages, we meet his great-grandmother Sophia, a tenant farmer born with the gift of prophecy who scraped together a life in Jim Crow Alabama; his mother, Laurie, who raised four kids alone in an era when single Black mothers were demonized as welfare queens; and a cast of family, friends, and neighbors who won small victories in a world built to swallow Black lives. With profound honesty and compassion, he raises questions that implicate us all: What does each person's struggle to build a life teach us about what we owe each other? About what it means to be human?

How Far to the Promised Land is a thrilling and tender epic about being Black in America. It's a book that questions our too-simple narratives about poverty and upward mobility; a book in which the people normally written out of the American Dream are given voice.

Black Authors Matter Children's Book Award

Dad smiled, 'We're all different because God is creative. Each one of us is God's unique work of art.'

A celebration of God's creativity and diverse design, Josey Johnson's Hair and the Holy Spirit takes young readers on a joyful, faith-filled adventure.

Josey is spending the day with her dad, getting her hair braided at Monique's Beauty Shop and picking out a beautiful red dress for Sunday. Why? Because it's Pentecost--a day to celebrate! Along the way, she begins to wonder why people are so different from one another. Her dad explains that our differences are not a mistake; instead, they are part of God's wonderfully creative plan for the world.

With its vibrant illustrations and heartwarming story, this book beautifully showcases the diversity of God's creation, inviting children and adults alike to celebrate the beauty all around them. Included is a special note to parents and caregivers, offering practical tips for discussing the themes of the book with children, making it a meaningful read for the entire family.

Perfect for bedtime reading, Sunday school lessons, or family story time, Josey Johnson's Hair and the Holy Spirit captures the warmth of family and the joy of diversity. Order your copy now to celebrate diversity, spark meaningful conversations, and create cherished memories together!

This book explores the link between Paul's belief that Jesus is Israel's Messiah, and his interpretation of the Abrahamic Land Promise in Galatians. Countering claims that Paul replaces the Promised Land with the gift of the Spirit or salvation, Esau McCaulley argues that Paul expands this inheritance to include the whole earth; believing that, as the seed of Abraham and David, Jesus is entitled to the entire world as his inheritance and kingdom.

McCaulley argues that scholars have neglected Paul's expanded interpretation of the inheritance of the earth, rarely appreciate the role that messianism plays in Galatians, and fail to acknowledge that Second Temple authors often portrayed royal and messianic figures as God's means of fulfilling the promises made to Abraham and Israel, via the establishment of kingdoms. Through a comparison
of texts from the Pseudepigrapha, apocrypha, and the Dead Sea Scrolls with Galatians 3:1-4:7, 5:21, McCaulley argues Paul's interpretation of Jesus's death is a manifestation of Second Temple messianism because it ends the covenant curses outlined in Deuteronomy and begins the restoration of the inheritance to Abraham's offspring through the establishment of Jesus's worldwide kingdom; he concludes that Paul's interpretation of the Abrahamic inheritance is inseparable from his belief that Jesus is Israel's Messiah.

This book explores the link between Paul's belief that Jesus is Israel's Messiah, and his interpretation of the Abrahamic Land Promise in Galatians. Countering claims that Paul replaces the Promised Land with the gift of the Spirit or salvation, Esau McCaulley argues that Paul expands this inheritance to include the whole earth; believing that, as the seed of Abraham and David, Jesus is entitled to the entire world as his inheritance and kingdom.

McCaulley argues that scholars have neglected Paul's expanded interpretation of the inheritance of the earth, rarely appreciate the role that messianism plays in Galatians, and fail to acknowledge that Second Temple authors often portrayed royal and messianic figures as God's means of fulfilling the promises made to Abraham and Israel, via the establishment of kingdoms. Through a comparison
of texts from the Pseudepigrapha, apocrypha, and the Dead Sea Scrolls with Galatians 3:1-4:7, 5:21, McCaulley argues Paul's interpretation of Jesus's death is a manifestation of Second Temple messianism because it ends the covenant curses outlined in Deuteronomy and begins the restoration of the inheritance to Abraham's offspring through the establishment of Jesus's worldwide kingdom; he concludes that Paul's interpretation of the Abrahamic inheritance is inseparable from his belief that Jesus is Israel's Messiah.