An Opportunity To Do Something for Jesus In His Hometown … Nazareth, Israel

In Fall 2010, a group from our church led by our pastor, Dr. Jerry Carlisle, visited Israel. A few of our group had the opportunity to step off the tourist track and visit the Nazareth Evangelical Theological Seminary (NETS). For the few that were able to visit the seminary, it was one of the most interesting aspects of our trip.

Nazareth is in Israel; however it is populated by Israeli citizens that are essentially all Palestinian. The seminary is part of the Association of Baptist Churches in Israel. The young Baptist pastors that study there are for the most part Israeli Palestinians. The evening we visited the seminary, however, there were a group of Sudanese Baptist students in the class room.

The seminary is small and operating on a very tight financial basis. Fortunately they own the building the seminary is in. They depend on contributions to keep everything operating. The students generally can’t pay much and depend on scholarships provided by the Seminary to pay for most of their education.

The President of the Seminary is the Rev. Dr. Bryson Arthur, a Scotsman with the authentic brogue one would expect. One of our own, Don Sewell, serves on the Seminary Board of Directors. Don was once Youth pastor at FBC Plano and is currently Director Faith in Action for Baylor Health Care System.

During our visit Dr. Arthur proudly showed us the room that would become the seminary library. They had constructed shelving themselves of 2x4s and 1x6s (or some metric unit similar to those dimensions). There were very few books on the shelves. Dr. Bryson explained that buying and shipping costs make the acquisition of books difficult for the seminary.

We asked Dr. Arthur to have his professors make a list of their highest priority book needs and send the list to us. This has been done. We have a list of 146 books to be acquired plus shipping expense to get them to Nazareth.

This is an opportunity for individual members and Bible Study Classes to participate in partially filling the Library in Nazareth that will prepare young Palestinian, Israeli, Sudanese and other ethnic pastors to lift up Jesus Christ in very difficult areas of the Middle East and Africa. What an opportunity … to lift up Jesus Christ in the town where he grew up.

1. You choose the book or books you would like to buy from the list below.

2. Contact the Church Office by email or call 972-424-8551, where we will check to ensure it is still available. If so, it will be marked as "selected" on the website.

3. You will pay for the book with a check to FBC Plano, designated for NETS Books, and it will be marked as “funded” on the website.

4. When we have multiple books “funded” an order will be placed and the website updated to show them as “purchased”.

5. Books will be purchased through the church to avoid a sales tax. Your personal contribution will appear on your personal contribution statement.

6. When the book has been delivered to the church you will be notified that it is ready to be “personalized”. It will be stamped as “A gift from First Baptist Church, Plano” with a place for signature. You may come to the office and sign your name inside the book. If a group purchase all may sign it.

7. After it is “personalized” it will be placed on the bookshelf until shipped.

8. If you would like to be a part of this effort but prefer not to select and personalize books, you may simply give a check for any amount marked NETS Books and a selection will be made for you. These books will be stamped as “A gift from First Baptist Church, Plano”.

All items on the list have been purchased!  A few are waiting to be personalized.

Kelly, JND. Early Christian Doctrines, Harper SanFrancisco.
McGrath, Alister. Christian Theology: An Introduction, Wiley-Blackwell.
Tippett, Alan. Introduction to Missiology, William Carey Library Publishers.
Bevans, Stephen. Models of Contextual Theology, Orbis Books.
Lindbeck, George. The Nature of Doctrine: Religion and Theology in a Post-liberal Age, Westminster John Knox Press.
Yoder, John Howard. Preface to Theology: Christology and Theological Method, Brazos Press.
McClendon, James William. Biography as Theology: How Life Stories Can Remake Today's Theology, Wipf & Stock Publishers.
Trocme, Andre. Jesus and the Nonviolent Revolution, Orbis Books.
Yoder, John Howard. The Original Revolution, Mennonite Publishing Network.
Stassen, Glen. Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context, IVP Academic.
Stassen, Glen. Just Peacemaking, Presbyterian Publishing Corp.
Stassen, Glen, ed. Just Peacemaking: Ten Practices for Abolishing War, Pilgrim Press.
Hauerwas, Stanley & Jones, L. Gregory eds. Why Narrative? Reading in Narrative Theology, Wipf & Stock Publishers.
Greenman, Jeffrey P., Larsen, Timothy & Spencer, Stephen R. eds. The Sermon on the Mount Through the Centuries from the Early Church to John Paul II, Brazon Press.
Gunton, Colin. Becoming and Being: The Doctrine of God in Charles Harshorne and Karl Barth, Oxford University Press.
Gunton, Colin. Enlightenment and Alienation: An Essay Towards a Trinitarian Theology, Marshal Morgan and Scott.
Gunton, Colin. The Actuality of Atonement: A Study of Metaphor, Rationality and the Christian Tradition, T&T Clark.
Hodgeson, Peter. Winds of the Spirit: A Constructive Christian Theology, SCM Press.
Jungel, Eberhard. The Doctrine of the Trinity, Scottish Academic Press.
Lossky, Vladimir. The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church, James Clark.
McKenna, Stephen. Introduction to St Augustine. The Trinity, Catholic University of America America Press.
Pannenberg, Wolfhart. Systematic Theology (Multi-Volume Set), T&T Clark.
Rahner, Karl. The Trinity, Burns and Oates.
Welsh, Claude. In His Time: The Doctrine of the Trinity in Contemporary Theology, SCM Press.
Yu, Carver Yu. Being and Relation: A Theological Critique of Western Dualism and Individualism, Scottish Academic Press.
Schreiter, Robert. Constructing Local Theologies, Orbis Books.
Reynolds, Gabriel Said. The Qur'an and Its Biblical Subtext, Routledge.
Tottoli, Roberto. Biblical Prophets in the Qur'an and Muslim Literature, Routledge.
Abdel Haleem, M. A. S. The Qur'an, Oxford World's Classics.
Rahman, Fazlur. Islam, University Of Chicago Press.
Watt, W. Montgomery. Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman, Oxford University Press.
Rippin, Andrew. Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, Routledge.
Cook, Michael. The Koran: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press.
Cook, David. Understanding Jihad, University of California Press.
Riddell, Peter G. & Peter Cotterell. Islam in Context: Past, Present, and Future, Baker Academic.
Musk, Bill A. Touching the Soul of Islam, O. M. Literature.
McAuliffe, Jane Dammen, et al, eds. With Reverence for the Word: Medieval Scriptural Exegesis in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Oxford University Press.
Thomas, David, ed. Christians at the Heart of Islamic Rule, Brill.
Lamoreaux, John C. (translator). Theodore Abu Qurrah (Library of the Christian East 1), BYU Press.
Cragg, Kenneth. The Call of the Minaret, Oneworld.
Thomas, David. Christian Doctrines in Islamic Theology, Brill.
Grypeou, Emmanouela, et al, eds. The Encounter of Eastern Christianity with Early Islam, Brill.
Khalidi, Tarif. The Muslim Jesus: Sayings and Stories in Islamic Literature, Harvard University Press.
Gibb, H. A. R., et al, eds. Concise Encyclopedia of Islam, Brill.
Arnold, Bill T. Genesis, New Cambridge Bible Commentary, Cambridge University Press.
Bauer, Walter, et al. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd edition, University Of Chicago Press.
Bock, Darrell. Luke (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament), Baker. (2 Vols.).
Freedman, David Noel, ed. The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (6 Vols.), Yale University Press.
Beale, G.K. and D.A. Carson. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, Baker.
Fahlbusch, E., ed. The Encyclopedia of Christianity (5 vols.), Brill.
Hart, Tevor A. The Dictionary of Historical Theology, Paternoster.
Bearman, P.J., et al, eds. The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition (12 vols.), Brill.
Brueggemann, Walter. The Land: Place as Gift, Promise, and Challenge in Biblical Faith, Fortress.
Burge, Gary M. Jesus and the Land, Baker.
Cragg, Kenneth. Jesus and the Muslim: An Exploration, Oneworld.
Danielou, J. The Theology of Jewish Christianity (2 vols.), Westminster.
Fruchtenbaum, Arnold. Hebrew Christianity- Its Theology, History and Philosophy, Ariel Ministries.
Harvey, Richard. Mapping Messianic Jewish Theology, Paternoster.
Hays, Richard B. Reading the Bible Intertextually, Baylor.
Hays, Richard B. The Conversion of the Imagination: Paul as Interpreter of Israel's Scripture, Eerdmaans.
Hays, Richard B. Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul, Yale University Press.
Nickel, Gordon. Narratives of Tampering in the Earliest Commentaries on the Qur’ān, Brill Academic Publishing.
Barrett, David, ed. World Christian Encyclopedia, (2 Vols.), Oxford.
Cragg, Kenneth. The Arab Christian: A History in the Middle East. Westminster John Knox.
Hinnells, John, ed. The Penguin Handbook of the World’s Living Religions, Penguin.
MacCulloch, Diarmaid. Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, Viking.
Moffett, Samuel. A History of Christianity in Asia: Beginnings to 1500, Orbis.
Moffett, Samuel. A History of Christianity in Asia, Vol II: 1500-1900, Orbis.
Rambo, Lewis. Understanding Religious Conversion, Yale.
Vander Werff, Lyle. Christian Mission to Muslims: The Record, William Carey Library.
Hermeneia Commentaries, Augsburg Fortress Publishers (various authors/40 vols on CD) 
Neusner, Jacob. The Talmud: What It Is and What It Says, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Bauckham, Richard. Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospel As Eyewitness Testimony, Wm B.Eerdmans.
Bauckham, Richard. The Gospel for All Christians: Rethinking the Gospel Audiences, Wm. B. Eerdmans.
Nouwen, Henry. Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming, Image Books.
Nouwen, Henry. The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society, Image Books.
Futato, Mark David. Transformed by Praise: The Purpose and Message of the Psalms, P & R Publishing.
Keller, Timothy. The Reason for God: Belief In the Age of Skepticism, Riverhead Trade.
Keller, Timothy. Generous Justice: How God’s Grace Makes Us Just, Dutton Adult.
Waltke, Bruce K. Finding the Will of God: A Pagan Notion?, Wm. B. Eerdmans.
Waltke, Bruce K. A Commentary on Micah, Wm. B. Eerdmans.
Waltke, Bruce K. The Book of Proverbs (New Internat.Commentary on the New Testament) (2 Vol), Wm. B. Eerdmans.
Charlesworth, James H. The Old Testament Pseudopigrapha (2 Vols.), Doubleday & Company.
Sproul, R. C. The Holiness of God, Tyndale House.
Wolterstorff, Nicholas. Lament for a Son, Wm. B. Eerdmans.
Levine, Amy-jill. The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus, HarperOne.
Wakefield, Gordon S. ed. A Dictionary of Christian Spirituality, SCM Press. (ISBN: 0334019672)
Jones, C., Wainwright, G. & Yarnold, E.Y. (eds), The Study of Spirituality, SPCK.
Collins, K. J. Exploring Christian Spirituality: An Ecumenical Reader, Baker Books.
Rolheiser, R. The Shattered Lantern, Hodder & Stoughton.
Stone, Howard W. How to Think Theologically, Fortress Press.
Mesters, Carlos. The Defenseless Flowers: A New Reading of the Bible, Orbis Books.
Zuurdeeg, Willem. An Analytical Philosophy of Religion, George Allen & Unwin Ltd.
McClendon, James William & Smith, James. Understanding Religious Convictions, University of Notre Dame Press.
Rauschenbusch, Walter. A Theology for the Social Gospel, General Books LLC.
Green, Garrett ed. Scriptural Authority and Narrative Interpretation, Wipf & Stock Publishers.
Luther, Martin. The Freedom of a Christian, Fortress Press.
Ward, Keith. Holding Fast to God: A Reply to Don Cupitt, SPCK.
Wolfson, Harry A. The philosophy of the Church Fathers: Faith, Trinity, Incarnation, Harvard University Press.
Knysh, Alexander. Islamic Mysticism. A Short History, Brill.
Rahman, Fazlur. Major Themes of the Quran, Bibliotheca Islamica.
Asad, Muhammad. The message of the Quran, Dar al-Andalus.
Cook, Michael. Muhammad, Oxford University Press.
Watt, W. Montgomery. Introduction to the Qur'an, Edinburgh University Press.
Lewis, Bernard. Islam and the West, Oxford University Press.
Goldziher, Ignaz (and translators). Introduction to Islamic Theology and Law, Princeton University Press.
Spectorsky, Susan A. Women in Classical Islamic Law, A Survey of the Sources, Brill.
Jeffery, Arthur. The Foreign Vocabulary of the Qur’an, Woods Press.
Thomas, David. The Bible in Arab Christianity, Brill.
Accad, Fouad E. Building Bridges: Islam and Christianity, NavPress.
Ebied, Rifaat Y., & Thomas, David eds. Muslim-Christian Polemic during the Crusades, Brill.
Roggema, Barbara. The Legend of Sergius Baḥīrā, Eastern Christian Apologetics and Apocalyptic in Response to Islam, Brill.
Winter, Tim, ed.The Cambridge Companion to Classical Islamic Theology, Cambridge University Press.
McAuliffe, J.D., ed. The Cambridge Companion to the Qur'an, Cambridge University Press.
Francisco, Adam S. Martin Luther and Islam, A Study in Sixteenth-Century Polemics and Apologetics, Brill.
Griffith, Sidney H. The Church in the Shadow of the Mosque: Christians and Muslims in the World of Islam, Princeton University Press.
Waltke, Bruce & Fredricks, Cathi J. Commentary on Genesis, Zondervan.
Keener, Craig S. 1 & 2 Corinthians, New Cambridge Bible Commentary, Cambridge University Press.
Danker, F.W. The Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Chicago.
Dunn, J.D.G., et al. Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible, Eerdmans.
VanGemeren, Willem A. New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis (5 vols.), Zondervan.
Beinert, Wolfgang, et al. Handbook of Catholic Theology, Herder and Herder.
McGrath, Alister E. The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Modern Christian Thought, Blackwell.
Neusner, Jacob, et al, eds. Encyclopaedia of Judaism 4 vols., 2nd Edition, Brill.
Boyarin, Daniel. A Radical Jew: Paul and the Politics of Identity, University of California Press.
Chilton, Bruce, Craig A. Evans, & Jacob Neusner. The Missing Jesus: Rabbinic Judaism and the New Testament, Brill.
Davies, W.D. The Gospel and the Land: Early Christianity and Jewish Territorial Doctrine, Scholars Press.
Ferguson, E. Backgrounds of Early Christianity, Eerdmans.
Flusser, David. The Sage from Galilee: Rediscovering Jesus' Genius, Eerdmans.
Instone-Brewer, David. Traditions of the Rabbis from the Era of the New Testament, Eerdmans.
Laniak, Timothy. Shepherds After My Own Heart: Pastoral Traditions And Leadership in the Bible, IVP.
Murphy-O'Connor, Jerome. The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide, Oxford.
Neusner, Jacob. Judaism When Christianity Began: A Survey of Belief and Practice, Westminster.
Kreeft, Peter, et al. Handbook of Christian Apologetics, IVP.
Schineller, Peter. A Handbook on Inculturation, Paulist.
Stark, Rodney. God’s Battalions, HarperOne.
Boyarin, Daniel. Dying for God: Martyrdom and the Making of Christianity & Judaism, Stanford University Press.
Boyarin, Daniel. Border Lines: The Partition of Judaeo-Christianity, University of Pennsylvania Press.
Crown, Alan David. Bibliography of the Samaritans, The Scarecrow Press.
Sproul, R.C. Chosen by God, Tyndale House Publishing.
Eldredge, John. Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man’s Soul, Thomas Nelson.
Sproul, R.C. What is Reformed Theology: Understanding the Basics, Baker Books.
McLaren, Brian D. A Generous Orthodoxy, Zondervan.
McLaren, Brian D. A New Kind of Christian: A Tale of Two Friends on a Spiritual Journey, Jossey-Bass.
Leech, Kenneth. The Eye of the Storm: Spiritual Resources for the Pursuit of Justice, Darton, Longman & Todd.
Leech, Kenneth. Soul Friend, Darton, Longman & Todd.