Il puritanesimo oltre ad essere un movimento di riforma ecclesiastica, di rinnovamento pastorale e di risveglio spirituale, fu una visione del mondo, una filosofia cristiana totale; in termini intellettuali, un medievalismo protestantizzato ed aggiornato e, in termini di spiritualità, una sorta di monachesimo al di fuori del chiostro e senza voti.

In this collection of literary introductions to every book of the Bible, renowned literary scholar Leland Ryken helps readers navigate the genres and literary features found throughout Scripture. Designed as a companion volume to Ryken’sA Complete Handbook of Literary Forms in the Bible.

Helping readers understand, engage with, and enjoy the classics of Western literature, this companion volume to theChristian Guides to the Classics series answers basic questions and provides practical tips for reading some of the greatest works of the last 2,000 years.

This is the first of a projected six-volume series called Reading the Bible as Literature (the second volume being Sweeter Than Honey, Richer Than Gold). An expert at exploring the intersection of the Bible and literature, Ryken shows pastors and students and teachers of the Bible how to appreciate the craftsmanship and beauty of biblical narrative and how to interpret it correctly. Dr. Ryken goes one step further than merely explaining the genre of story—he includes exercises to help students master this rich literary treasure.Speaking of the entire series, Ryken says that “the niche that these volumes are designed to fill is the literary approach to the Bible. This has been my scholarly passion for nearly half a century. It is my belief that a literary approach to the Bible is the common reader’s friend, in contract to the more specialized types of scholarship on the Bible.”

A renowned literary scholar explains more than 250 literary forms found throughout Scripture in this alphabetically arranged handbook, offering succinct definitions, helpful illustrations, and key biblical references.

Leads readers through Bunyan’s classic Christian allegory, The Pilgrim’s Progress, offering insights into the nature of faith, the reality of temptation, and the glory of salvation. Part of the Christian Guides to the Classics series.

Guides readers through Homer’s The Odyssey and highlights the universal theme of longing for redemption as displayed in this epic tale of a man trying to find his way home. Part of the Christian Guides to the Classics series.

Guides readers through the paramount epic in the English language, Milton’s Paradise Lost, and showcases Milton’s understanding of crime and punishment in the events of creation, the fall, and redemption. Part of the Christian Guides to the Classics series.

In this updated edition of a trusted classic, two Christian education specialists provide readers with the knowledge and methods needed to effectively communicate the message of the Bible.

Throughout the history of English literature, church ministers have figured prominently in novels, plays, morality tales, and even poetry. Pastors in the Classics is a unique, unprecedented collection of relevant literary masterpieces in which the pastor's experience is a major part of the story. Part 1 is a reader's guide to twelve important classics written over four centuries and covering seven different nationalities. Each chapter not only describes and interprets the work in question, it also highlights a specific feature of pastoral ministry explored in the work. Part 2 is a handbook that defines the canon of literary masterpieces that deal with the pastor's experience, offering reading suggestions for both ministers and lovers of literature.From the familiar (The Canterbury Tales; Cry, the Beloved Country; and The Scarlet Letter) to the lesser-known (Silence, Witch Wood) to the surprising (A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man), this collection uncovers the good, the bad, and the ugly ways in which pastors have been presented to the reading public for the past half millennium.

Due specialisti, di C.S. Lewis e di letteratura inglese, prendono per mano il lettore per guidarlo nel mondo fantastico e ricco di significati del secondo episodio de 'Le Cronache di Narnia, II principe Caspian'. La guida illumina i personaggi, i risvolti di senso che Lewis ha previsto per essi, e ricostruisce la stesura di questo capolavoro della letteratura fantastica. I lettori che hanno familiarità con gli scritti di Lewis si troveranno anche a riflettere sulle implicazioni morali e spirituali delle vicende dei quattro protagonisti dell'avventura.

833 voci sull'immaginario biblico, i simboli e le metafore, gli archetipi presenti nel testo sacro, lemmi sui personaggi-tipo, scene-tipo, motivi narrativi, accorgimenti retorici, generi letterari dei singoli libri della Bibbia. Un testo di riferimento che copre vaste aree tematiche (come animali o immagini legali), mentre altri si focalizzano su aspetti ristretti (come strumenti musicali a corda o granello di senapa). Molte voci sono innovative (come pozzo, incontro al o profezia, sfuggire alla). Fornisce al lettore della Bibbia una migliorata capacità di cogliere il livello concreto della Bibbia, di dimostrare che dietro a molte delle astrazioni delle traduzioni moderne della Bibbia ci sono immagini concrete.

This book gives students of the Bible a quick overview of every book in the Bible. Leland Ryken's distinctive trait is a literary approach to the Bible—understanding the Bible as literature. The three authors help shed light on understanding the Bible as the inspired Word of God and as literature by looking at the Bible's different literary genres: poetry, narrative, wisdom literature, story, parables, and more.

The Christian Imagination brings together in a single source the best that has been written about the relationship between literature and the Christian faith. This anthology covers all of the major topics that fall within this subject and includes essays and excerpts from fifty authors, including C.S. Lewis, Flannery O'Connor, Dorothy Sayers, and Frederick Buechner.

A Christianity Today 1999 Book of the Year!Every reader of the Bible has encountered the powerful, comforting and sometimes puzzling imagery of Scripture. These concrete pictures with their hidden force have struck sharp and lasting impressions on our minds. Their imprint has etched itself on the language and grammar of Christian faith and Western culture.Why then do traditional Bible dictionaries and reference works offer so little help to explorers of the Bible's galaxy of verbal pictures? They excel in describing the climate, borders and location of Galilee or Sinai. But they are often blind to the artistic expressions and deaf to the musical meanings that echo from within the world of the biblical text.The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery is the first contemporary reference work dedicated to exploring the images, symbols, motifs, metaphors and literary patterns found in the Bible. More than that, it examines the Bible's universal archetypes or master images--including the plot motifs and character types that recur throughout life, literature and the Bible.This unique dictionary explores the dazzling variety in which the Word of God comes dressed in clothes of everyday life. It traces the trail of images from Eden to the New Jerusalem. It captures the plotted patterns of biblical narrative. It surveys the imaged texture of each book of the Bible. In short, The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery is an inviting, enlightening and indispensable companion to the reading, study, contemplation and enjoyment of the Bible.

The EditorsLeland Ryken Wheaton College (Illinois) Tremper Longman III Westminster Theological Seminary The Authors Fredrick Buechner Novelist John Sailhamer Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Wilson G. Baroody (deceased) Arizona State UniversityWilliam F. Gentrup Arizona State UniversityKenneth R.R. Gros Louis Indiana University Willard Van Antwerpen Indiana University Nancy Tischler The Pennsylvania State University V. Philips Long Covenant Theological Seminary Michael Hagan North American Baptist Seminary Richard L. Pratt, Jr. Reformed Theological Seminary Douglas Green Yale University Wilma McClarty Southern College Jerry A. Gladson First Christian Church, Garden Grove, California Raymond C. Van Leeouwen Calvin Theological Seminary G. Lloyd Carr Gordon College Richard Patterson Liberty University James H. Sims The University of Southern Mississippi Branson L. Woodard, Jr. Liberty University Amberys R. Whittle Georgia Southern University John H. Augustine Yale University Michael Travers Grand Rapids Baptist College Marianne Meye Thompson Fuller Theological Seminary John W. Sider Westmont College Carey C. Newman Palm Beach Atlantic CollegeWilliam G. Doty The University of Alabama/Tuscaloosa Chaim Potak Novelist Gene Warren Doty University of Missouri-Rolla Sidney Greidanus Calvin Theological Seminary

A survey of the kinds of literature found in Scripture combines the author's Words of Delight and Words of Life. The author clearly explains and offers numerous examples.

'Ryken's Worldly Saints offers a fine introduction to seventeenth-century Puritanism in its English and American contexts. The work is rich in quotations from Puritan worthies and is ideally suited to general readers who have not delved widely into Puritan literature. It will also be a source of information and inspiration to those who seek a clearer understanding of the Puritan roots of American Christianity.' -Harry Stout, Yale University '...the typical Puritans were not wild men, fierce and freaky, religious fanatics and social extremists, but sober, conscientious, and cultured citizens, persons of principle, determined and disciplined excelling in the domestic virtues, and with no obvious shortcomings save a tendency to run to words when saying anything important, whether to God or to a man. At last the record has been put straight.' -J.I. Packer, Regent College 'Worldly Saints provides a revealing treasury of primary and secondary evidence for understanding the Puritans, who they were, what they believed, and how they acted. This is a book of value and interest for scholars and students, clergy and laity alike.' -Roland Mushat Frye, University of Pennsylvania 'A very persuasive...most interesting book...stuffed with quotations from Puritan sources, almost to the point of making it a mini-anthology.' -Publishers Weekly 'With Worldly Saints, Christians of all persuasions have a tool that provides ready access to the vast treasures of Puritan thought.' -Christianity Today 'Ryken writes with a vigor and enthusiasm that makes delightful reading-never a dull moment.' -Fides et Historia 'Worldly Saints provides a valuable picture of Puritan life and values. It should be useful for general readers as well as for students of history and literature.' -Christianity and Literature