The Complete Topical Guide to the Bible

Martin H. Manser, Alister E. McGrath, J I Packer & Donald J. Wiseman

Baker Books 

Description: The Complete Topical Guide to the Bible provides Scripture references, definitions, and cross-references for the study of the Bible by topic. The topical approach differs significantly from the lexical approach of a concordance, and a topical guide is an essential supplement to a concordance. While a concordance is limited to the connection of biblical passages in which the same word appears, the topical approach identifies and connects all of the underlying concepts related to a topic. A concordance would not yield John 3:16 for a study of grace because the word grace does not appear in the verse, but The Complete Topical Guide to the Bible includes John 3:16 for grace because it's an essential verse on the topic. The topics in this resource include biblical, doctrinal, and historical subjects, and they are organized into nine major categories: God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, creation, humanity, sin and salvation, God's people, the life of the believer, and the last things. In addition to the great themes of the biblical message, practical issues of Christian living are also included.

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About The Authors: Martin Manser has compiled and edited Bible reference material and English-language dictionaries for nearly thirty years. He lives in Aylesbury, England. He and his wife have two children.

Scientist, and former atheist, turned internationally-regarded theologian and prolific author, Revd Professor Alister McGrath, (D.Phil (Oxon), earned D.D. (Oxon) has been appointed to the newly created Chair in Theology, Ministry and Education at King's College, London. Formerly he was Professor of Historical Theology, and Senior Research Fellow at Harris Manchester College, Oxford.
He is a world-renowned theologian, and is the author of numerous bestselling titles including The Christian Theology Reader; Theology; Christianity: An Introduction; A Brief History of Heaven, and Dawkins' God .
McGrath is an Evangelical on the cutting edge of the interface between Theology and Science, and Theology within post-modern culture as indicated by his most recent publications A Fine-Tuned Universe? Anthropic Phenomena and Natural Theology(2009),The Dawkins Delusion? Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine and The Open Secret: A New Vision for Natural Theology.

James Innell Packer was born in Gloucester, UK, in 1926, the son of a clerk for the Great Western Railway. Packer won a scholarship to Oxford University, where he obtained a BA (1948), MA (1954), and PhD (1954). It was at Oxford that Packer attended lectures by C.S. Lewis, whose teachings would become a major influence in his life. In a meeting of the Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union, Packer committed his life to Christian service.

After briefly teaching Greek at Oak Hill College in London, Packer entered Wycliffe Hall to study theology and was ordained in the Anglican Church, becoming a presbyter in 1953. From the 1950s through the 1970s, Packer held several academic positions at Tyndale Hall, Bristol and Oxford. During this time, he became recognized as a leader in the evangelical movement in the Church of England. In 1978, he signed the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, which affirmed the conservative position on inerrancy, although he is not a literalist with regard to the creation narratives of Genesis. On the matter of ministry roles in the church, Packer is a complementarian. His theology is Reformed, though he is open to ecumenical rapprochement with Anglo-Catholics, which has drawn sharp criticism from some quarters. He famously parted ways with Martyn Lloyd-Jones over this issue in the late 1960s.

In 1979, Packer moved to Vancouver, BC, Canada, to take up a position with Regent College, where he would become Professor of Theology, a position he retains beyond the age of 90, even though his vision is now seriously impaired. Since 2009, Packer has been theologian emeritus of the Anglican Church in North America.

During a ministry career spanning over six decades, and through his prolific written output, Packer has distinguished himself as one of the leading theologians and church historians of our time. His book Knowing God (1973) has become a modern classic, and he has done much to stimulate wider interest in the great works of Puritan spirituality - a great passion of his. He has been a frequent contributor to and an executive editor of Christianity Today. Packer served as general editor for the English Standard Version of the Bible (2001), an evangelical revision of the Revised Standard Version of 1971. His other books include, A Quest for Godliness, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, Growing in Christ, and Rediscovering Holiness.

Packer and his wife Kit have three adopted children. Packer rises early at four in the morning, and until he lost his eyesight wrote by means of his old manual typewriter. He loves seriously hot and spicy food, and his favourite book of the Bible is Ecclesiastes.

Donald J. Wiseman (Ph.D., University of London) is emeritus professor of Assyriology at the University of London in England. He worked on excavations in Iraq and Turkey with Sir Max Mallowan and Sir Leonard Woolley. He has published many Akkadian texts and written numerous scholarly and general books on the ancient Near East.
After working as Keeper of Western Asiatic Antiquities, the British Museum he became Professor of Assyriology at the University of London in 1962, a position he held until his retirement.
Professor Wiseman has many honours including an O.B.E.. He is a fellow of the British Academy and he was awarded a D. Litt. His publications include 1 & 2 Kings (Tyndale Old Testament Commentary), New Bible Atlas, Nebuchadrezzar and Babylon, Peoples of Old Testament Times and Persia and the Bible.

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Pages: 656

Publication Date: April 2017