When It Comes to Spreading the Gospel, Relevance Is Irrelevant · A thoroughly biblical approach to social witness and the transformation of souls · Reminds us that while we have a part to play in evangelism, it is God who Gives the increase Some fight to recover Christian culture; others abandon any hope of transforming culture. Both mindsets are at odds with the early church. The apostles weren't seeking to convert cultures but people, because God's word cultivates its own culture--the culture of the word. When the word is sown, the culture is grown. Our mission remains the same today: a stubborn commitment to proclaim God's word.
In The Culture of God's Word, Harold L. Senkbeil and Lucas V. Woodford reclaim the biblical approach to transformation and social witness. By returning to the apostles' own example in the book of Acts, we are reminded of the power of the gospel. God's word embraces broken hearts and broken lives and transforms them in Christ Jesus. The church is born of God's word and grows by God's word. The pursuit of relevance has failed. The culture wars distract from the mission. But God's word cultivates a faith that endures in a chaotic world.
"Neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth." --1 Corinthians 3:7
Fall '26 Required FLS textbook for Principles of Pastoral Theology course taught by Dr. James Molstre, Dean of FLS.
This textbook on how to read the Gospels well can stand on its own as a guide to reading this New Testament genre as Scripture. It is also ideally suited to serve as a supplemental text to more conventional textbooks that discuss each Gospel systematically. Most textbooks tend to introduce students to historical-critical concerns but may be less adequate for showing how the Gospel narratives, read as Scripture within the canonical framework of the entire New Testament and the whole Bible, yield material for theological reflection and moral edification.
Pennington neither dismisses nor duplicates the results of current historical-critical work on the Gospels as historical sources. Rather, he offers critically aware and hermeneutically intelligent instruction in reading the Gospels in order to hear their witness to Christ in a way that supports Christian application and proclamation.
Fall '26 Required FLS textbook for Synoptic Gospels course taught by Dr. Jarrod Hylden, Professor of New Testament.
This survey textbook by two respected New Testament scholars is designed to meet the needs of contemporary evangelical undergraduates. The book effectively covers the New Testament books and major topics in the New Testament, assuming no prior academic study of the Bible. The authors pay attention to how the New Testament documents fit together as a canonical whole that supplements the Old Testament to make up the Christian Scriptures. They also show how the New Testament writings provide basic material for Christian doctrine, spirituality, and engagement with culture. Chapters can be assigned in any order, making this an ideal textbook for one-semester courses at evangelical schools.
This is the first volume in a new series of survey textbooks that will cover the Old and New Testaments. The book features full-color illustrations that hold interest and aid learning and offers a full array of pedagogical aids: photographs, sidebars, maps, time lines, charts, glossary, and discussion questions. Additional resources for instructors and students are available through Textbook eSources.
Fall '26 Required FLS textbook for Synoptic Gospels course taught by Dr. Jarrod Hylden, Professor of New Testament.
Textual Criticism of the Bible provides a starting point for the study of both Old and New Testament textual criticism.
In this book, you will be introduced to the world of biblical manuscripts and learn how scholars analyze and evaluate all of that textual data to bring us copies of the Bible in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that can be used for translating the Bible into modern languages. Textual Criticism of the Biblesurveys the field, explains technical terminology, and demonstrates in numerous examples how various textual questions are evaluated. Complicated concepts are clearly explained and illustrated to prepare readers for further study with either more advanced texts on textual criticism or scholarly commentaries with detailed discussions of textual issues.
You may not become a textual critic after reading this book, but you will be well prepared to make use of a wide variety of text-critical resources.
Fall '26 Required FLS textbook for Intermediate Greek I course taught by Dr. Jarrod Hylden, Professor of New Testament.
Mark 1-8: A Handbook on the Greek Text offers teachers and students a comprehensive guide to the grammar and vocabulary of Mark. A perfect supplement to any commentary, this volume's lexical, analytical, and syntactical analysis is a helpful tool in navigating New Testament literature. Rodney J. Decker leads students toward both a greater understanding of the Greek text and an appreciation for the textual and rhetorical intricacies not available in English translations.
Fall '26 Recommended FLS textbook for Synoptic Gospels course taught by Dr. Jarrod Hylden, Professor of New Testament.
Mark 1-8: A Handbook on the Greek Text offers teachers and students a comprehensive guide to the grammar and vocabulary of Mark. A perfect supplement to any commentary, this volume's lexical, analytical, and syntactical analysis is a helpful tool in navigating New Testament literature. Rodney J. Decker leads students toward both a greater understanding of the Greek text and an appreciation for the textual and rhetorical intricacies not available in English translations.
Fall '26 Recommended FLS textbook for Synoptic Gospels course taught by Dr. Jarrod Hylden, Professor of New Testament.
A thorough introduction to the four biblical Gospels and their subject—the life and person of Jesus.
Like different artists who render the same subject using unique styles and points of view, the Gospels paint four distinctive portraits of the same Jesus of Nazareth. To Christians worldwide, he is the centerpiece of history, the object of faith, hope, and worship. Even those who do not follow him admit the vast influence of his life.
With clarity and insight, biblical scholar Mark Strauss illuminates these four books, addressing the following important areas:
The nature, origin, methods for study, and historical, religious, and cultural backgrounds of each of the Gospels.
A closer study of the narratives and themes found in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; and their contribution to our understanding of Jesus.
A detailed examination of what the Gospels teach about Jesus' ministry, message, death, and resurrection—with excursions into the quest for the historical Jesus and the historical reliability of the Gospels.
For anyone interested in knowing more about Jesus, study of the four biblical Gospels is essential.
This fully-updated textbook—together with its workbook, video lectures, and laminated sheet—gives students everything they need for a thorough and enriching study of Jesus and the Gospels.
Fall '26 Recommended FLS textbook for Synoptic Gospels course taught by Dr. Jarrod Hylden, Professor of New Testament.
Christians sometimes approach the Old Testament with a mixture of awe and bewilderment, knowing that it contains pearls of wisdom, but unsure how to dive for them ... especially when it comes to the Prophets.In The Message of the Prophets, author J. Daniel Hays offers a scholarly, yet readable and student-friendly survey of the Old Testament prophetic literature that presents the message of each prophet in its historical and its biblical context and then tracks that message through the New Testament to challenge readers with what it means for them today. Hays focuses on synthesizing the message of the prophets, which enables students to grasp the major contours of the prophetic books clearly and concisely. Hundreds of colorful pictures help to illustrate the historical and cultural background of the prophets. After identifying what the message meant for ancient Israel, Hays helps the readers to move toward theological application today, helping readers to gain a better understanding of God and the relationship between God and his people. The Message of the Prophets is essential for professors, students, and others seeking to understand the role that the OT prophets play in the Christian faith.
Fall '26 Required FLBC textbook for Minor Prophets course, taught by Dr. Brent Olson, professor of Old Testament.
As the city of Ephesus prepares for a religious festival in honor of the emperor Domitian, a Christian landowner feels increasing pressure from the city's leaders to participate. Can he perform his civic duties and remain faithful to his Lord? Or has the time come for a costly choice?
In this historical novel, biblical scholar David deSilva brings to life such compelling struggles faced by the early Christians. Their insistence on the absolute lordship of their own singular deity brought them into conflict not only with the myriad religious cults of the day, but with all the crushing power of the empire itself. Meticulously researched and supplemented by historical images and explanatory sidebars, A Week in the Life of Ephesus poses anew the timeless question of Christianity and empire. Here is a vividly imaginative portrait of the Roman empire in all its beauty and might―and hanging over it, the looming sky of apocalypse.
Fall '26 Required FLBC textbook for Captivity Epistles course taught by Dr. Andrew Kneeland
Brings together lectures and articles by the renowned historian of world Christianity, making them available, many for the first time, to scholars and students of world mission. While examining the many aspects that have characterized mission, indigenous Christianity, and colonialism in modern Africa, The Missionary Movement in Christian Historyhas a far broader reach. Essays such as “The Gospel as the Prisoner and Liberator of Culture” reveal the paradoxes of the Christian movement as a whole in discussing how different primitive Mediterranean Christianity is from early Catholicism, from Celtic monasticism, from Reformation Protestantism, and from Nigerian Spirit Christianity.
Andrew Walls shows how the central question for Christianity has always been one of identity in many different forms, a phenomenon revealed at each stage of its history by the missionary movement. What this means for theology, however, has hardly been explored. This is the subtext of Walls’ work, providing extraordinary insights and successful counters to secular critiques of world Christianity.
Fall '26 Recommended FLBC textbook for History of Missions course, taught by Dr. Steve Mundfrom.
Award-winning religious scholar Richard Bauckham here explores the historical figure of Jesus, evaluating the sources and showing that they provide us with good historical evidence for his life and teaching. To place Jesus in his proper historical context, as a Jew from Galilee in the early first century of our era, Bauckham looks at Jewish religion and society in the land of Israel under Roman rule. He explores Jesus' symbolic practices as well as his teachings, looks at his public career and emphasizes how his actions, such as healing and his association with notorious sinners, were just as important as his words. Bauckham writes that Jesus was devoted to the God of Israel, with a special focus on God's fatherly love and compassion, and like every Jewish teacher he expounded the Torah, but did so in his own distinctive way. After a discussion about the way Jesus understood himself and what finally led to his death on a Roman cross, Bauckham concludes by considering the significance Jesus has come to have for Christian faith worldwide.
Fall '26 Required FLS textbook for Synoptic Gospels course taught by Dr. Jarrod Hylden, Professor of New Testament.
The Reformation Heritage Bible Commentary Series provides readers with an insightful New Testament commentary in the English Standard Version translation. This series is perfect for church workers, Bible class teachers, or anyone interested in learning more about the Bible.
Fall '26 Required FLBC textbook for Revelation course taught by Dr. Jarrod Hylden, Professor of New Testament.
Fall '25 Required FLBC textbook for Revelation course taught by Dr. Jarrod Hylden, Professor of New Testament.
This resource encourages a deeper understanding of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ by harmonizing the accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John so as to assemble as many details as possible into a chronologically meaningful sequence.
Fall '26 Recommended FLBC textbook for Youth Ministry Methods course, taught by Mrs. Michelle Olson.
Fall '25 Recommended FLBC textbook for Youth Ministry Methods course, taught by Mrs. Michelle Olson.
A new, definitive atlas of the European Reformations has been needed for many years. Now, in anticipation of the upcoming reformation anniversaries, Fortress Press is pleased to offer the Atlas of the European Reformations.
The Atlas of the European Reformations is newly built from the ground up. Featuring more than sixty brand new maps, graphics, and timelines, the atlas is a necessary companion to any study of the reformation era. Consciously written for students at any level, concise, helpful texts guide the experience and interpret the visuals. The volume is perfect for independent students, as well as those in structured courses.
The atlas is broken into four primary parts. Before the Reformation presents the larger political, religious, and economic context of Europe on the eve of the Reformation. Reformation presents the major contours of the Reformation, including Lutheran, Reformed, English, and Anabaptist movements. Catholic Reform and Counter-Reformation provides extensive information on the reforming movements within Catholicism and the responses to other movements. Finally, Early Modern Europe sheds fresh light on the movement and implications of the reformation in the later sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Fall '26 Required FLBC textbook for Reformation Studies course taught by Dr. Steve Mundfrom, Professor of Systematic Theology and Church History.
Fall '25 Required FLBC textbook for Reformation Studies course taught by Dr. Steve Mundfrom, Professor of Systematic Theology and Church History.
Volume 1 addresses Nature and character of theology, Holy Scripture, Doctrine of God, Creation, Divine providence, Angelology, Doctrine of man, Sin and evil, and more.
Volume 2 addresses the saving grace of God; the doctrine of Christ, including His deity, humanity, attributes, humiliation, exaltation, and office; and the application of salvation, including saving faith, conversion, and justification by faith.
Volume 3 addresses Sanctification, Good works, Christian life, Means of grace, Law and Gospel, Baptism, Lord's Supper, Christian church, Public ministry, Eternal election, and Eschatology.
Fall '26 Required FLS textbook for Soteriology course taught by Dr. Steve Mundfrom, Professor of Systematic Theology and Church History. You will need either this or Christian Dogmatics - Mueller.
Spring '26 Required FLS textbook for Introduction to Lutheran Theology course taught by Pr. Steve Mundfrom, Professor of Systematic Theology and Church History. You will need either this or Christian Dogmatics - Mueller.
Spring '25 Required FLS textbook for Introduction to Lutheran Thought course taught by Pr. Steve Mundfrom, Professor of Systematic Theology and Church History. You will need either this or Christian Dogmatics - Mueller.
Fall '24 Required FLS textbook for Soteriology course taught by Pr. Steve Mundfrom, Professor of Systematic Theology and Church History.
Spring '23 Required FLS textbook for Ecclesiology & Eschatology course taught by Pr. Steve Mundfrom, Professor of Systematic Theology and Church History. You will need either this or Christian Dogmatics - Mueller.
Fall ’22 Required FLS textbook for Soteriology course taught by Pr. Steve Mundfrom, Professor of Systematic Theology. You will need either this or Christian Dogmatics - Mueller.
