BIBLE CHARACTERS MENTIONED IN THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCELESSON-SERMON*

June 26, 2005

For CSDirectory.com

Compiled by C. Norman Wood, Burke, VA22015 703-898-8818, woodcn@aol.com

SUBJECT: Christian Science

RESPONSIVE READING: Joshua’s Commission (Joshua 1: 1-9)

“Thebook [of Joshua] begins and ends with interpretive speech (Joshua 1 and 23-24)in which the transitions of leadership from Moses to Joshua and from Joshua tothe succeeding generations is recounted.” (Eerdman’s Commentary)

Joshua

[Jahsh’oo uh] (“Jehovah is salvation”)

His name appears in the various forms of Hoshea, Oshea, Jehoshua,Jeshua, and Jesus.

TIMELINE: 13^th century BC

Joseph

Asenath

Menasseh

Ephraim

ß

Nun(father)

Joshua

Joshuawas from the tribe of Ephraim. Heis first mentioned in the narratives of the events following the Exodus, wherehe appears as “Moses’ assistant.” Facts about his life flow through the books of Exodus, Leviticus,Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Joshua.

He was born in Egypt and traveled with Moses fromEgypt. “He first appears in Ex.17:8-13, where Moses appoints him to lead the battle against Amalek, which hedoes successfully.” (HarperCollins Dictionary) His most famous battle as amilitary leader was at the liberation of Jericho [East-central West Bank], andthat without a bow and arrow being launched. He was one of the twelve who surveyed the Promised Land(Canaan [Israel]), and only one of two who gave a positive report.

The Book of Joshua reflects the periods of his life:

The preparation for conquest (chapters 1-5:12)

The conquest of Canaan (chapters 5:13-12)

Thesettlement of Canaan (chapters 13-22)

His farewell address (chapters 23, 24)

“AtMoses’ death Joshua was chosen as his successor (Josh 1:1,2).  He led the Israelites to conquer theland (Joshua 1-2) supervised the division of the territory among the 12 tribes,and led the people to renew their covenant with God (Joshua 13-22).”  (Who Was Who in the Bible)

His characteristics were faith, consecration,single-mindedness, reverence, courage, obedience, and decision.

Baillieu,Vere, “CrossingOver Jordan,” POEM, Christian Science Sentinel (22 August1942), p. 1475.

Haveyou too come to Jordan,

Withyour trembling feet on the brink?

Isthe goal that lies before you

Fartherthan you dare to think?

Putyour feet on the waters,

Withthe ark of your trust held high,

Forthe power that bears you over

Isstrong, and very nigh

Toroll back the swirling currents

Oferring, human will.

Curbed,they will heap beside you,

Quiet,a sheltering hill.

Thenput your feet on the waters,

Anddo not for once look back,

Andyou will feel beneath you

Truth’ssafe and narrow track.

Forthe firm ground of salvation

Awaitethme and you;

Socome, cross over Jordan—

God’spromises are true.

Slote,Sarah Beatrice, “The single-mindedness of Joshua,” ChristianScience Journal (October 1925), p. 349.

--Manyof the great leaders of Israel in their demonstration of Truth sometimes cameso near to the Christ-idea that it might seem almost strange they did notattain completely to the standard of perfection.

• Joshua influenced the destinies of Israel throughpreserving intact the state formed by Moses, through protecting the teachingsof Moses for the use of future generations, and through carrying out in fullthe plan of Moses.

---It may be said that Joshua’s characteristic

qualitywas single-mindedness.

--WhenMoses charged Joshua with his mission, the great lawgiver knew that the latterwould follow, without complaint or comment, the path marked out for him.

--Joshuastands for great purity.

--Inhis experiences Joshua constantly turned in prayer to God for guidance, and,thus purified, he was prepared to meet all conditions.

SECTION I: The Angelic Appearance to Daniel (Dan10: 5,12,21)

Theword “’Uphaz’ occurs in Jer. 10:9, which may be the source of the reading here;but no such place is known, and one should perhaps read either ‘Ophir’ or ‘andfine gold’.” (Peake’s Commentary)

“man clothed in linen”

“His name is not given, but it is reasonable tosuppose he is Gabriel.” (Peake’sCommentary)

Dressprovides important social and cultural information concerning status, power,group, identity, manufacture, and trade. The significant role played by clothing in ancient societies is apparentin the Biblical writers who use dress metaphorically to make ethicalexhortations or take theological positions, and to show the status andcharacter of significant figures.

Fabric,generally wool or linen, could have symbolic importance; only priests, froexample, were to mix the two. Although linen was a common fabric used in everything from tableclothsto mummy wrappings, “fine linen” usually denoted a priestly use.  The Levites (the priestly tribe) woreouterwear of fine linen that depicted power, prestige, and identity.

Walker,Channing (CS and ContributingEditor, Glendora, CA), “Protest for health,”PROTEST FOR HEALTH, Christian Science Sentinel (10 November 2003), p. 6.

--A deeply moving story from the tenth chapter ofDaniel in the Bible tells of Daniel’s prayerful persistence, apparently in theform of a hunger strike.

· He says, “In those days I Daniel was mourning threefull weeks.

I ate no pleasant bread,neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth….”

---Onthe surface, nothing was happening, except for his mounting weakness.

· But the story continues.

---Anangel visits Daniel with this message: “Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thineheart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words wereheard, and I am come for thy words.”

--Think of that!

· “fromthe first day,” a divine and healing response was going on.

---Thehealing power of that angel message was at hand from the start.

· God doesn’t delay healing.

---Perhapsthat three-week pause had more to do with Daniel’s protest—his challenging andputting down any mental resistance that he or those around him possiblyharbored to hearing God and embracing His healing message.

Willis,John B. (CSB, Bible Lesson Commitee,Associate Editor, and President, "’I Will LiftUp Mine Eyes’," EDITORIAL, Christian Science Sentinel (1June 1907), p. 750.

--Noaspect of mortal sense is more familiar, more intrusive, or more pitiful thanthat pettiness which finds expression in so much of human judgment andconduct.

--Itpoints to that vision of God and of man in His image which expands and inspiresthought, and which begets both aptitude and enthusiasm for good, the impulse ofall true greatness.

--Only he who has the vision of theideal can perceive the elements of goodness, of truth, and of beauty which arefound in association with circumstances and environments that would otherwisebe not only uninteresting but unendurable.

--Theunmeasured gain of Christian Science is found in its constant prompting to theestimate and interpretation of things in their higher and deeper meanings, inthe helpful suggestiveness of even the contraries and counterfeits which itslight discloses.

Daniel

[Dan’yuhl] (Heb. “God is my judge/Judgeof God”)

TIMELINE: 6^th century BCE

Danielis the hero of the Book of Daniel, represented as a Jew in the Babylonian exilewho is skilled in the interpretation of dreamsand is miraculously preserved in the lions’ den. He was descended from one of the noble families of Judah,and was probably born in Jerusalem about 623 BCE, during the reign of Josiah.

He was a pious and wise Jewish youth, one of four Jewishboys selected and deported by King Nebuchadnezzar to be put through athree-year course of instruction for service as scribes at the court.  The other three boys were Hananiah,Mishael, and Azariah. They weregiven the Babylonian names of Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Mesach, andAbednego. From his youth Danielwas determined to live by God’s law in a distant land (see Dan 1).

Some years later, the king had a most disturbing dream.  When his magicians and wise men couldnot interpret it he flew into a rage and ordered their death.

Ina vision the king’s dream was revealed to Daniel. Next morning he was brought before the king and told himthat he had dreamt of a great statue. Daniel explained that the golden head of the statue wasNebuchadnezzar himself, and the silver, bronze, iron, and clay partsrepresented lesser kingdoms that would succeed the Babylonian one—until all ofthem were swept away by the kingdom of God that would last forever.

“Nebuchadnezzarwas filled with dread by another ominous dream. In it he saw a tall tree reaching up to the sky. It provided abundant fruit; the birdsnested in its branches; and the animals sheltered beneath it.  A ‘holy one’ (Dan 4:13) came down fromheaven and had the tree cut down’ leaving only the stump in the ground.  The king sent for Daniel, who told himthat the tree stood for Nebuchadnezzar himself in all his power and glory.  In order to humble him and teach himthat the Lord rules over all, he would be reduced to the level of ananimal. He would be driven out ofhuman society, eat grass like an ox and be drenched by the rain and dew.  Daniel begged the king to repent andchange his ways while there was yet time.” (Who’s Who in the Old Testament)

Yearslater, Darius made Daniel once more one of the most powerful men in thekingdom. Those who were jealous ofhis position tried to discredit him, but were unable to find any fault in hispublic service. Hoping to hit athim through his faith, they persuaded Darius to issue an edict whereby forthirty days everyone was to worship the king alone, on penalty of being thrownto the lions. As the story goes,Daniel disobeyed; the king reluctantly threw him in the lions’ den; the kingfasted all night; Daniel prayed to his God for protection; and to the king’sdelight, Daniel emerged unscathed.

Inthe second half of the book (chapters 7-12), Daniel is an apocalyptic seer,granted detailed visions of the future.

“Chapters 10-11 continue the veiled references to thehistory of the fourth to third centuries [BC] in chapter 8, emphasizing theaftermath of the breakup of Alexander’s kingdom and the struggle between hisgenerals, especially that between the king of the south (the EgyptianPtolemies) and the king of the north (the Syrian Seleucids).”  (Cambridge Companion to the Bible)

Manyof the tales, set in the Babylon of the 6^th century B.C., wereobviously written down centuries later, and in many cases, the references toBabylonian rulers are incorrect. But the stories did bear out that God was stronger than alien rulers andwould take care of the faithful.

Leishman,Thomas L., “TheContribution of Jonah and Daniel to Prophetic Literature [Part II],”THE CONTINUITY OF THE BIBLE, Christian Science Journal (September 1970),p. 481.

--Traditionally believed to have been written byDaniel himself in the sixth century B.C. and called by one early twentiethcentury authority “a genuine literary product of the exile” (Guidebook tothe Biblical Literature by John F.Genung, p. 281), the book of Daniel is generally taken today to belong to amuch later date, probably about 164 B.C.

•Despite certain historical inaccuracies in its account, it covers a period ofwide historical interest, from the sixth to the second centuries B.C.

---Thebook divides into two parts of almost equal length.

•The latter portion (Chap. 7-12), reported in Daniel’s name and in the firstperson, is apocalyptic and prophetic in nature.

Shuff,George Wilkins, “’Fear not, Daniel’,” Christian Science Sentinel(14 January 1928), p. 384.

--thetenth chapter of the book of Daniel is of…interest.

•Here is recorded Daniel’s vision “by the side of the great river, which isHiddekel,” of “a certain man clothed in linen.”

---Thedescription given is an endeavor, by the symbolic use of material terms, toconvey something of the glorious apprehension of spiritual man, or the Christ,which dawned upon Daniel’s uplifted thought.

• Mrs. Eddy hasreferred, in the Christian Science

textbook(p. 264), to “the glorious forms which we sometimes behold in the

cameraof divine Mind, when the mental picture is spiritual and eternal;” and inDaniel’s description of the man he beheld by the great river, whose face was“as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire,” we have infigurative language such a vision of the spiritual, incorporeal man.

Ezra’s Reading of the Law (Neh 8: 1-3)

“Thereading takes place in the seventh month. According to Deut 31:10-13, the law was to be read completely everyseven years at the festival of the Booths.” (Eerdmans Commentary)

Ezra

[Ez’ruh] (“[God is] a help”)

Ezrais the name of three men in the Old Testament:

Adescendent of Judah (II Chron 4:17)

Ascribe and priest

Oneof the priests who returned from captivity (Neh 12:1).

Thisweek’s Lesson-Sermon is about the scribe and priest.

TIMELINE: 5^th century BC

Seriah

Ezra

Ezra lived in the early days of the restoration ofthe Hebrew people to their homeland following the Babylonian captivity.  After Judah and its capital, Jerusalem,fell to King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC, many of the Hebrews were taken intoexile and lived among foreigners. Those left behind became very apathetic about their traditions.  The priest and scholar Ezra, along withthe Persian provincial governor Nehemiah, were crucial figures in re-educatingthe people as to their religious obligations and cultural heritage.

The book of Ezra is named for him, and he is aprincipal character in the book of Nehemiah.

Leishman,Thomas L., “Ezraand Nehemiah,” THE CONTINUITY OF THE BIBLE, Christian Science Journal(January 1971), p. 33.

--It is evident that Ezra was viewedas one of the important figures among the Jews in Babylon, for…Artaxerxes givesa letter to Ezra, leader of the Jews in exile, directing him to go toPalestine, accompanied by all those exiles who wish to go, taking gifts ofgreat value with them.

--Chapters8-10 relate the reading of the Law by Erza and it’s endorsement by theassembled congregation.

•Whether or not these chapters featuring Ezra are rightly placed at the climaxof Nehemiah’s work, they carry an important message.

---Theyrepresent the confirmation of the Bible as the book of the people, thebeginning of modern Judaism, and the reestablishment of the Hebrew Law.

__________,“The Pentateuch or Book of the Law,” ChristianScience Journal (March 1939), p. 678.

--Firstin importance in the thought of the Jews stood, and still stands, thatmonumental body of literature which they called the Torah—a Hebrew word meaning“direction or instruction,” and so “law.”

--Justas it was in the book of Deuteronomy which was the central point of thereligious reformation in the days of King Josiah (about 621 BC), so it was thePentateuch as a whole, or, at all events, its main provisions, which formed thebasis for the reforms instituted by Ezra and Nehemiah some two hundred yearslater.

•To Ezra in particular is attributed the establishment of the Torah orPentateuch as the ruling principle of the Jewish state as of the Jewishreligion.

---Thewords of the Talmud are typical of the sanctity which came to be attached tothe Law: “Turn it, and turn itover again, for everything is in it.”

SECTION III: Introduction to the Beatitudes, and Jesus’ Identification with Belief in the Old Testament (Matt5: 1,2,17,18)

TIMELINE: Summer 28 AD (2^ndyear of Jesus’ Ministry, The Year of Popularity and Fundamental Principles)

PARALLELGOSPELS: Luke 6: 20-49

“Itis common to view the mountain of 5:1 as a counterpart to Sinai.  As Matthew Henry had it, ‘Christpreached this sermon, which is an exposition of the law, upon a mountain,because upon a mountain the law was given.’” (Oxford Bible Commentary)

Disciples

The term disciple occurs many times in the New Testament, but only inthe Gospels and Acts. Originallyit referred to those twelve of the disciples whom Jesus chose to send forthfirst to preach the gospel and to be with him during the course of his ministryon earth. Subsequently, it hasbeen used to describe a wide range of Jesus’ followers.  “The Gospels speak not only ofdisciples of Jesus but also of Moses, John the Baptist, and thePharisees.” (Oxford Guide toPeople & Places)

The original twelve names, and Jesus’ charge to them,are given in the Gospel of Matthew.

SimonPeter }

James,son of Zebedee }The first three

John,brother of James }

Andrew, brother of Simon

Philip

Bartholomew/Nathaniel

Matthew

ThomasDidymus

James,son of Alphaeus

Thaddaeus/Judas,son of James

Simonthe Canaanite/the Zealot

JudasIscariot

Their office. – (1) The original qualification of a disciple (apostle), as stated bySt. Peter on the occasion of electing a successor to the traitor Judas, wasthat he should have been personally acquainted with the whole ministerialcourse of our Lord from his baptism by John till the day when he was taken upinto heaven. (2) They were chosen by Christ himself (3) They had the power ofworking miracles. (4) They were inspired. (5) Their world seems to have been pre-eminently that of founding thechurches and upholding them by supernatural power specially bestowed for thatpurpose.

Early history and training . Thedisciples were from the lower ranks of life, simple and uneducated; some ofthem were related to Jesus according to the flesh; some had previously beendisciples of John the Baptist. Jesus chose them early in his publiccareer. Asthe messianic proclaimer of the reign of God, Jesus gathered about himself aspecial circle of twelve disciples, clearly a symbolic representation of thetwelve tribes (Matt 19:28) Theyseem to have been all on an equality, both during and after the ministry ofChrist on earth. Early in Jesus’ministry he sent them out two and two to preach repentance and to performmiracles in his name. They accompanied him in his journey, saw his wonderfulworks, heard his discourses addressed to the people, and made inquiries of himon religious matters. They recognized him as the Christ, and described to himsupernatural power but in the recognition of the spiritual teaching and missionof Christ they made very low progress, held back as they were by weakness ofapprehension and by national prejudices.

“Jesus eats the Passover meal with hisdisciples, investing its symbols with new meaning in light of his impendingdeath. By identifying the bread ashis body and the wine as his blood—the blood of the covenant poured out for theforgiveness of sin—he affirms that his death will indeed be a ransom (Matt20:28) by which his people will be saved from their sins (1:21).” (Oxford Bible Commentary)

Even at the resurrection they were yet weak in theirknowledge, though he had for so long been carefully preparing and instructingthem. On the feast of Pentecost,ten days after our Lord’s ascension, the Holy Spirit came down on the assembledchurch; and from that time the disciples became altogether different men,giving witness with power of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus, ashe had declared they should.

Later labors and history. Firstof all the mother-church at Jerusalem grew up under their hands, and theirsuperior dignity and power were universally acknowledged by the rulers and thepeople. Their first mission out of Jerusalem was to Samaria where the Lordhimself had, during his ministry, sown the seed of the gospel.  Here ends the first period of thedisciples’ agency, during which its center is Jerusalem and the prominentfigure is that of St. Peter. Thecenter of the second period of the apostolic agency is Antioch, where a churchsoon was built up, consisting of Jews and Gentiles; and the central figure ofthis and of the subsequent period is St. Paul. The third apostolic period ismarked by the almost entire disappearance of the twelve from the sacrednarrative and the exclusive agency of St. Paul, the great apostle of the Gentiles.  Of the missionary work of the rest ofthe twelve we know absolutely nothing from the sacred narrative.

Anderson,Loy Elizabeth, “Christ Jesus and the Multitudes,” ChristianScience Journal (February 1947), p. 68.

--Itis recorded in the four Gospels that multitudes gathered together to hear theteaching of Christ Jesus wherever he appeared.

•It is apparent that the multitudes were not being attracted to a magnetic humanpersonality, nor were they drawn by the hope of material benefits promised by apolitical figure backed by party affiliation.

---Forit is stated that they brought with them their sick and afflicted, and that hehealed them all.

--Themultitude of the Master’s time followed him because of the pure Christ, Truth,which was so manifest in his thought and life.

•And for the same reason people were later attracted to the disciples whoaccepted his Christly teaching.

WAGERS,RALPH E. (CSB, Associate Editor,Lecturer, President, and Normal Class Teacher), “Lawand the Gospel, The,” EDITORIAL, Christian Science Sentinel (13May 1961), p. 809.

--Jesustaught the supremacy of God’s law in its moral as well as spiritual aspects.

--Without the concurrence of the lawand the gospel, the gospel would be lacking in authority, and the law would belimited in its effectiveness.

--Thegospel is as merciful as the law is just, and as we have reverence for oneshall have profound respect for the other.

•This is what makes obedience to moral law as propounded by Moses and furtherelucidated by Jesus both desirable and inevitable.

--Nolaw is effective in our experience until we understand it and submit to it.

--Becausethe law of God was the basis of his gospel, Jesus could say with conviction(Matt 5:18), “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”

SECTION IV: JesusRestores Sight to the Blind Man (John 9: 1-7,39)

“man which was blind”

TIME LINE: October 39AD in Jerusalem (Jesus’ 3rd year of ministry, The Year of Development andOpposition)

“Like the previous story of the Samaritan woman’sencounter with Jesus, the story of the blind man is a carefully constructeddrama with several scenes building to a decisive climax.  It continues the themes of light,sight, and blindness begun in ch. 8 and functions both as a positiveillustration of Jesus’ role as ‘light’ and as a negative depiction of hisopponents’ blindness.” (EerdmansCommentary)

“It is intended to illustrate the truth that Christis ‘the Light of the world.’ [Jesus] proves his power to open the eyes of the soul by opening theeyes of the body. The miracles,being wrought on the Sabbath day, intensified the hostility of the rulers,which had already been violently inflamed by [previous] discourses.” (Dummelow)

This healing occurred probably on the last day of theFeast of Tabernacles. As inchapter 5, a miracle takes place in a pool on a Sabbath day, and provokesviolent debates.

“The disciples thought that possibly the man hadsinned, either in a previous state of existence (in accordance with thedoctrine of the transmigration of souls), or more probably as an infant beforebirth. To the Jews who attributedintelligence to unborn children, this last was a natural idea.” (Ibid)

Metcalf,Philip S., “SpiritualLaws Versus Material Lies,” Christian Science Journal(December 1957), p. 646.

--Nothingever “just happens.”

•What appears as genuine good in human experience is the manifestation of thelaw of God in operation, the law of divine Principle, which is Love.

--WhenChrist Jesus observed a man who had been born blind, the disciples asked (John2:9), “Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?”

•We read that “Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents:but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.”

--Inrestoring man’s vision, must not the Way-shower have nullified and obliteratedin his consciousness every false law that would claim it to be possible for anindividual to be born blind or to become blind, and must he not have recognizedthe eternality and indestructibility of the real spiritual sense of sight?

--Theannulling of false laws or lies is as effective today as in Jesus’ time.

WAGERS,RALPH E. (CSB, Lecturer, AssociateEditor, Normal Class Teacher, and President), “Healingthe Entire Corporeality,” EDITORIAL, Christian Science Sentinel(17 December 1960), p. 2225.

--Everything Jesus did had a divinesignificance.

•When confronted with one who was born blind, his disciples asked (John 9:2),“Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?”

---Atthat point the disciples had not progressed beyond the need of authenticatingsuch a condition.

--Insteadof considering the misfortune to be a penalty for sin, Jesus answered, “Neitherhath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be mademanifest in him.”

•The Master looked upon the situation as an opportunity to show forth theredemptive and restorative power of man’s living Principle, divine Love.

---Indicatinghis contempt for the belief that material organs are the source of sight, theMaster gave sight to the man who had never seen.

•Jesus demonstrated the inseparability of spiritual understanding and humanwell-being.

SECTION V: The Feeding of the Four Thousand in Decapolis (Matt15: 32-38)

TIMELINE: Summer 39 AD (The Year ofOpposition and Development; Jesus’ 3^rd Year of Ministry)

PARALLELGOSPEL: Mark 8: 1-10

“the multitude”

Somescholars estimate that the withdrawal of Jesus with his disciples from Jewishterritory was for as long as six months. Part of this time was spent in the northwest district of Tyre and Sidon;part of it was spent later in the northeast area of Caesarea Philippi (Matt16:13). A third period related tothis passage was spent in Decapolis, a federation of ten Greek cities east ofthe Lake of Galilee.

Barlow,Elizabeth Glass, “A few small fishes,” POEM, ChristianScience Journal (October 1980), p. 541.

One or a million,

Mind’s fetterless all

knows no need—

outpours itself

to bless and feed!

Darling,Nora P., “TheDisciples and the Multitude,” Christian Science Sentinel (30September 1939), p. 86.

--TheMaster’s disciples were comparatively few in number.

•Jesus chose them because of their receptivity to his teachings; but themultitudes were attracted more by his healing power and the benefits which itbrought to them.

--Inthe account of the feeding of the four thousand, as given in the fifteenthchapter of Matthew, we read, “And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, andgave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples tothe multitude.”

•Well might each one today ask himself, Am I seeking Christian Science for thematerial benefits which I may receive, or is my object to attain a higherspiritual understanding of Christ, Truth?

---AmI seeking only the loaves and fishes, or am I striving to receive the Christ inmy own thinking and living?

---AmI reflecting in my daily life the qualities which show forth man’s oneness withGod?

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Commentaries

Barton,John and John Muddiman (ed.), The Oxford Bible Commentary. Oxford University Press:  Oxford, UK, 2001.

Black,Matthew and H.H. Rowley (eds.), Peake’s Commentary on the Bible.

VonNostrand Reinhold (UK) Co. Ltd: London, ENG, 1962.

Dobson,Edward G. (cont. et al), King James Bible Commentary. Thomas Nelson Publishers:  Nashville, TN, 1999.

Dummelow,The Rev J.R. (ed.), A Commentary on the Holy Bible. MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc:  New York, NY, 1975.

Dunn,James D.G. (gen.ed.), Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible. William B. Eerdmans PublishingCo.: Grand Rapids, MI, 2003.

Eiselen,Frederick C. (ed.), The Abingdon Bible Commentary. Abingdon Press:  New York, NY, 1929.

Henry,Matthew, Commentary on the Whole Bible (in Six Volumes), 1706. Reprinted by MacDonald PublishingCo.: McLean, VA.

Landis,Benson Y., An Outline of the Bible Book by Book. Barnes & Noble Books:  New York, NY, 1963.

Laymon,Charles M. (ed.), The Interpreter’s One-volume Commentary on the Bible. Abingdon Press:  Nashville, TN, 1971.

Mays,James L. (gen.ed.), HarperCollins Bible Commentary. Harper: San Francisco, CA, 2000.

Whiston,William (tr.), Josephus: TheComplete Works. Thomas NelsonPublishers: Nashville, TN, 1998.

Dictionaries

Achtemeier,Paul J. (ed.), The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary. Harper: San Francisco, 1996.

Brownrigg,Ronald, Who’s Who in the Bible. The New Testament. BonanzaBooks: New York, NY, 1980.

Butler,Trent C., Ph.D. (gen.ed.), Holmon Bible Dictionary. Holmon Bible Publishers:  Nashville, TN, 1991.

Comay,Joan, Who’s Who in the Bible: The Old Testament. BonanzaBooks: New York, NY, 1980.

Gehman,Henry Snyder (ed.), The New Westminster Dictionary of the Bible. The Westminster Press:  Philadelphia, PA, 1970.

Metzger,Bruce and Michael D. Coogan (eds.), The Oxford Guide to Ideas & Issuesof the Bible. OxfordUniversity Press: New York, NY,2001.

__________,The Oxford Guide to People & Places of the Bible. Oxford University Press:  New York, NY, 2001.

Meyers,Carol (gen.ed.), Women in Scripture. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.: Grand Rapids, MI, 2001.

Peloubet,F.N., Peloubet’s Bible Dictionary. The John C. Winston Co: Philadelphia, PA, 1947.

WhoWas Who in the Bible. Thomas Nelson:  Nashville, TN, 1999.

www.bibletexts.com

www.crosswalk.com, Baker’s EvangelicalDictionary.

www.crosswalk.com, Easton’s BibleDictionary.

Atlasesand Maps

Frank,Harry Thomas (ed.), Atlas of the Bible Lands. Hammond Inc.: Maplewood, NJ, 1990.

Nelson’sComplete Book of Maps & Charts. Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville, TV, 1996.

Thenand Now Bible Map Book. RosePublishing: Torrance, CA, 1997.

TimeLines

BibleTime-Line. Christian SciencePublishing Society: Boston, MA,1993.

BibleTime Line. Rose PublishingInc.: Torrance, CA, 2001.

Miscellaneous

Bowker,John (ed.), The Complete Bible Handbook. DK Publishing: London, UK, 1998.

DeVries,LaMoine F., Cities of the Biblical World. Hendrickson Publishers: Peabody, MA, 1997 (2^nd Printing Aug 1998).

Kee,Howard Clark, et al, The Cambridge Companion to the Bible. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge,UK, 1997.

Keller,Werner, The Bible as History. William Morrow and Co.: NewYork, NY, 1964 (revised).

Mysteriesof the Bible. The Reader’sDigest Association, Inc.: Pleasantville, NY, 1988.

Snipes,Joan Koelle, Bible Study for Children. Bible Teaching Press: Shepherdstown, WV, 1999.

Thompson,Frank Charles (ed.), The New Chain-Reference Bible. B.B. Kirkbride Bible Co:  Indianapolis, IN, 1964.

Tosto,Peter (ed.), Found Volumes, Version 2003 (software). www.foundvolumes.com:  Marietta, GA, 2004.

Trench,R.C., Notes on the Parables of Our Lord. Baker Book House: Grand Rapids, MI, 1948.

ZondervanBible Study Library 5.0., Family Edition (software). Zondervan:  Grand Rapids, MI, 2003.

*Theweekly Bible Lessons are made up of selections from the King James Version ofthe Bible and the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key tothe Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy,who discovered Christian Science.