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The evangelical pastor, Jon Courson, founded the Applegate Christian Fellowship in Southern Oregon. What started as a home fellowship of a few is now the home church for over 10,000 people. In 2002, he left Oregon to assist Pastor Chuck Smith at the 25,000-member Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California.

Courson has amassed more than 1,500 teachings in an expositional style. Jon Courson's Application Commentary will combine a verse-by-verse teaching of every paragraph of Scripture with practical topical studies throughout.

This New Testament commentary is a unique blend of information and inspiration presented in a way unique to Jon Courson.

With more than 1,200 Calvary Chapels in the U.S. and 2,500 worldwide, Jon Courson delivers with fresh, new insights into the Bible.

For all those readers curious to read the actual texts of the Gnostic Gospels, here is the definitive collection of all the Gnostic Gospels and Gospel–like texts.

o Marvin Meyer, premier scholar of Gnostic and other Christian literature outside the New Testament, presents every Gnostic Gospel and Jesus text with a brilliant overall introduction, introductions to each text, and notes that explain everything the reader needs to know to understand the text. He includes his latest translations of not only the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Philip, the Gospel of Mary, but other texts such as the Secret Book of John, which some scholars regard as the second part of the New Testament Gospel of John. The material is largely from the discovery at Nag Hammadi, freshly translated and introduced, but also includes texts found elsewhere. The texts, especially taken together, present an image of Jesus as the ultimate wisdom teacher, a kind of mysterious Jewish Zen master, who scandalized listeners by his radical egalitarianism (regarding women, slaves, the poor, the marginalized as of equal status, or more, with establishment male believers) and his insistence on living the message, spiritual experience, vs. outer observance only.

o For those wanting to learn more after reading The Da Vinci Code. This book provides the definitive next book for those looking for expert presentation of the alternative Gnostic stream of Christianity, in which there is no talk of crucifixion and Mary Magdalene is presented as the disciple that Jesus loved best. "Marv is one of the original secret gospels scholars who has done an enormous amount of work to bring these texts to light. All of his research on the Nag Hammadi texts is having an incredible impact on our knowledge of early Christian history––it is virtually redefining it." ––Dr. Elaine Pagels, Princeton University

We know from Egypt and Mesopotamia that it was common to seal important documents--including theological documents--in the masonry or foundations of a palace or temple in order to inform a future king who might undertake restoration of the building.

What might the psalmist have in mind when asking God to remove transgressions "as far as the east is from the west" (Ps 103:12)?

In an Egyptian hymn to Amun-Re, the deity is praised for his judgment of the guilty. As a result of the god's discernment, the guilty is assigned to the East and the righteous to the West.

What is meant by the image of God "weighing the heart" (Prov 21:2)?

In Egyptian religious tradition we find the notion of the dead being judged before the gods. As the soul is examined, the dead person's heart is weighed in a scale against a feather symbolizing Truth. If the answers are correct and the heart does not outweigh the feather, the soul may enter the realm of everlasting life.

The narratives, genealogies, laws, poetry, proverbs and prophecies of the Old Testament are deeply rooted in history. Archaeologists, historians and social scientists have greatly advanced our knowledge of the ancient world of the Bible. When we illuminate the stories of Abraham or David, the imagery of the Psalms and Proverbs, or the prophecies of Isaiah or Jeremiah with this backlight of culture and history, these texts spring to new life.

This unique commentary joins The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament in giving historical, social and cultural background for each Old Testament passage. From Genesis through Malachi it gathers and condenses an abundance of specialized knowledge and makes it available to ordinary readers of the Old Testament. It will enrich your study of these biblical books in a way that no other commentary can do.

Written in clear, nontechnical language, this invaluable aid includes

_ a glossary of historical terms as well as ancient peoples, texts and inscriptions _ maps and charts of important historical resources _ expanded explanations of significant background issues _ introductory essays on the background of each book