A First Look at the Keystone Theological Library

On August 25, 2026August 25, 2026 By Tim ValentinoIn GeneralLeave a comment

This post is not the formal rollout of the Keystone Theological Library, it’s just a first look at the classification system I developed as seen in the collapsible html document below. The underlying Microsoft Word document is 76 pages long, so it’s too unwieldy to navigate in that format. As such, I wanted to see how well an html document would work on this site. Here we go.

OVERVIEW

I. Bibles

II. General Reference

III. Primary Sources and Their Study

IV. Biblical Studies

V. Theological Studies

VI. Ethics and Public Faith

VII. Historical Studies

VIII. Applied Theology

IX. Special Collections

X. Appendices

A. List of Old Testament Apocryphal / Deuterocanonical Books

B. List of Old Testament Pseudepigrapha

C. List of Dead Sea Scroll Manuscripts

D. List of Philo’s Works

E. List of the Mishnah’s Orders and Tractates

F. List of the Tosefta’s Orders and Tractates

G. List of the Babylonian Talmud’s Orders and Tractates

H. List of the Jerusalem Talmud’s Orders and Tractates

I. List of Rabbinic Midrashim

J. List of New Testament Apocryphal Books

Note 1: Journal articles, dissertations, theses, and monographs are not treated as separate format categories in this classification. They are filed under the relevant topical subject headings alongside other resource formats (commentaries, reference works, etc.) in the sections that match their content.

Note 2: Ancient texts are classified in “III. Primary Sources and Their Study” as literatures in their own right, arranged by tradition (Ancient Near Eastern, Greco-Roman, Jewish, Christian) and then chronologically within each tradition. Each corpus is kept together with the scholarship devoted to it. Works that use a corpus specifically to interpret the Old or New Testament are classified with the biblical material they serve in “IV. Biblical Studies.”

Note 3: In addition to the hard-copy resources in this library, Pastor Tim has approximately 10,900 items in his Logos Bible Software application and approximately 150 items in his Kindle that can be made available as requested. Plans for KTL include connecting this classification system to Pastor Tim’s “Library Thing” account to create a catalog of holdings for ease of search, retrieval, and checkout.

I. BIBLES

This category is for the biblical text itself in translation (e.g., complete and partial Bibles, parallel, study, and specialty editions, and Bibles in other modern languages beyond English). Original-language editions and other ancient versions are classified with their language and text-critical resources in “IV. Biblical Studies” since they are working texts rather than reading Bibles.

A. English Language Bibles

1. Version Translation Bibles

•a. Complete Bibles

•b. Partial and Select-Book Bibles

c. Apocrypha (Separately Bound)

Note: For critical editions, annotated editions, introductions, and commentaries on the apocrypha, see “The Apocrypha / Deuterocanonical Books” in “III. Primary Sources and Their Study.”

2. Author Translation Bibles

•a. Complete Bibles

•b. Partial and Select-Book Bibles

c. Apocrypha (Separately Bound)

Note: For critical editions, annotated editions, introductions, and commentaries on the apocrypha, see “The Apocrypha / Deuterocanonical Books” in “III. Primary Sources and Their Study.”

•3. Parallel Bibles

•4. Chronological Bibles

•5. Synoptic / Harmony Bibles

•6. Study Bibles

•7. Specialty Bibles

B. Foreign Language Bibles

•1. Modern Foreign Language Bibles

•2. Modern Foreign Language Bible Aids

II. GENERAL REFERENCE

This category is for works consulted rather than read (e.g., dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, atlases, charts, timelines, and background commentaries keyed to the biblical text by verse). The test is how a work is used, not what it covers or how many volumes it runs to. A work that argues a case is classified with its subject in the sections below, however reference-like its format may be.

A. Biblical Studies Reference

1. Discipline Tools

•a. Outlines and Handbooks for Biblical Studies (General)

•b. Writing and Citation Style Guides for Biblical Studies (General)

•c. Bibliographies and Resource Guides for Biblical Studies (General)

•2. Bible Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Handbooks

•3. Bible Topics, Categories, and List References

4. Bible Backgrounds, Culture, and Daily Life References

Note: This section is for works consulted by lookup—background commentaries keyed to the biblical text (e.g., the IVP and Zondervan background commentaries, etc.), cultural handbooks, and daily-life references. For monographs arguing a case about the Old or New Testament from ancient evidence, see “Ancient Near Eastern Backgrounds of the Old Testament” and “Greco-Roman Backgrounds of the New Testament” in “IV. Biblical Studies.” For the ancient sources themselves and the scholarship devoted to them, see “III. Primary Sources and Their Study.”

•5. Bible Atlases and Geographies

•6. Bible Charts, Maps, and Timelines

•7. Bible Difficulties and Hard Sayings References

B. Philosophical / Theological Studies Reference

•1. Philosophical Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Handbooks

•2. Philosophical Charts, Maps, and Timelines

•3. Theological Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Handbooks

•4. Theological Charts, Maps, and Timelines

C. Historical Studies Reference

•1. Historical Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Handbooks

•2. Historical Charts, Maps, and Timelines

D. Applied Theology Studies Reference

•1. Pastoral Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Handbooks

•2. Psychological Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Handbooks

E. Interdisciplinary Studies Reference

•1. Reference Resources

•2. Sets and Compilations

F. Research Languages Reference

•1. English Language Dictionaries, Grammars, and Writing Resources

•2. French Language Dictionaries, Grammars, and Writing Resources

•3. Spanish Language Dictionaries, Grammars, and Writing Resources

•4. German Language Dictionaries, Grammars, and Writing Resources

•5. Latin Language Dictionaries, Grammars, and Writing Resources

III. PRIMARY SOURCES AND THEIR STUDY

This category classifies ancient texts as bodies of literature in their own right, arranged by tradition and then chronologically within each tradition. A corpus is filed here together with the scholarship devoted to it so that editions, translations, introductions, and monographs on a given body of literature stand in one place. Works that study a corpus specifically for what it contributes to the interpretation of the Old or New Testament are classified with the biblical material they serve in “IV. Biblical Studies.” Works consulted by lookup rather than read (e.g., background commentaries keyed to the biblical text, cultural handbooks, and similar reference tools) are classified in “II. General Reference.”

A. Introduction, Method, and Multi-Tradition Collections

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. History and Development of Primary Source Study

3. Comparative Method and Its Critics

Note: This section holds methodological reflection on the use of ancient sources in biblical interpretation: the comparative method, its gains, and its abuses (e.g., parallelomania, parallelophobia, chronological snobbery, backgrounding the foreground, selective and prejudicial use of backgrounds, history-of-religions approaches, and the debates surrounding them).

4. Multi-Tradition Anthologies and Sample Collections

Note: This section is for anthologies that gather texts from more than one tradition. For anthologies confined to a single tradition, see the “Text Collections and Anthologies” heading within that tradition below.

•5. Editions, Translations, and Critical Apparatus (General)

B. Ancient Near Eastern Sources

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. History and Development

•3. Cultural Setting and Religion

•4. Text Collections and Anthologies

5. Sources by Region

•a. Egypt

•b. Mesopotamia

•c. Anatolia

•d. Persia

•e. Arabia

•f. The Levant (Syria / Palestine)

6. Sources by Genre

•a. Creation, Flood, and Origin Accounts

•b. Myth, Epic, and Legend

•c. Law Codes, Treaties, and Covenants

•d. Royal Annals, Chronicles, and Monumental Inscriptions

•e. Prayers, Hymns, and Incantations

•f. Wisdom and Instruction Literature

•g. Prophecy, Divination, and Omen Texts

•h. Letters, Contracts, and Administrative Texts

•7. Iconography, Artifacts, and Material Culture

•8. Themes, Studies, and Special Issues

C. Greco-Roman Sources

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. History and Development

•3. Cultural Setting and Religion

•4. Text Collections and Anthologies

5. Authors and Works

•a. Philosophers

•b. Historians and Biographers

•c. Poets and Dramatists

•d. Orators and Rhetoricians

•e. Satirists and Novelists

•f. Medical, Scientific, and Technical Writers

6. Religion, Cult, and Practice

•a. Civic and Imperial Cult

•b. Mystery Religions

•c. Magic, Astrology, and Divination

•d. Philosophy as a Way of Life

7. Documentary and Material Sources

•a. Papyri

•b. Inscriptions

•c. Coins, Ostraca, and Artifacts

•8. Themes, Studies, and Special Issues

D. Jewish Sources (Second Temple through Rabbinic)

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. History and Development

•3. Cultural Setting and Theology

4. Sects, Movements, and Institutions

•a. Pharisees

•b. Sadducees

•c. Essenes and the Qumran Community

•d. Zealots and Revolutionary Movements

•e. Samaritans

•f. The Diaspora and Hellenistic Judaism

•g. Temple, Priesthood, and Synagogue

•5. Text Collections and Anthologies

6. The Septuagint as a Jewish Translation

Note: This section is for the Septuagint studied as a Jewish translation of the Hebrew Scriptures (i.e., its origins, translators, revisions, and reception). For Septuagint editions used as working texts, together with their lexica, concordances, and parsing keys, see “Septuagint Old Testaments and Language Resources” in “IV. Biblical Studies.”

7. The Apocrypha / Deuterocanonical Books

Note: See “Appendix A” for a list of Old Testament apocryphal / deuterocanonical books. Separately bound apocrypha belonging to a Bible translation family (e.g., the RSV, NRSV, JB apocrypha, etc.) are filed with their translation family under “I. Bibles.” These books are canonical Scripture in some traditions and extra-canonical literature in others; this classification reflects that dual standing rather than resolving it.

•a. Introduction and Overview

•b. History and Development

•c. Cultural Setting and Theology

•d. Canonicity and Authority

•e. Individual Books and Studies

8. The Pseudepigrapha

Note: See “Appendix B” for a list of Old Testament pseudepigrapha.

•a. Introduction and Overview

•b. History and Development

•c. Cultural Setting and Theology

•d. Categories and Authority

•e. Individual Books and Studies

9. The Dead Sea Scrolls / Qumran Literature

Note: See “Appendix C” for a list of Dead Sea Scroll manuscripts. For the Scrolls as witnesses to the text of the Hebrew Bible, see “Text Collections and Manuscript Histories” under “Bible Texts, Manuscripts, and Canon Formation” in “IV. Biblical Studies.”

•a. Introduction and Overview

•b. History and Development

•c. Cultural Setting and Theology

d. Categories and Authority

•i. Biblical Texts

•ii. Apocryphal / Deuterocanonical Texts

•iii. Commentary Texts

•iv. Sectarian Texts

•v. Collections

10. Philo of Alexandria

Note: See “Appendix D” for a list of Philo’s works.

•a. Introduction and Overview

•b. History and Development

•c. Cultural Setting and Theology

•d. Works

11. Josephus

•a. Introduction and Overview

•b. History and Development

•c. Cultural Setting and Theology

d. Works

•i. The Jewish War

•ii. Antiquities of the Jews

•iii. Against Apion

•iv. The Life

12. Targums (Interpretations within Translations)

Note: For the Targums as witnesses to the text of the Hebrew Bible, see “Text Collections and Manuscript Histories” under “Bible Texts, Manuscripts, and Canon Formation” in “IV. Biblical Studies.”

•a. Introduction and Overview

•b. History and Development

•c. Cultural Setting and Theology

•d. Categories and Authority

e. Works

•i. Targum Onqelos of the Pentateuch

•ii. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (Jerusalem Targum I) of the Pentateuch

•iii. The Fragment Targums (Jerusalem Targum II) of the Pentateuch

•iv. Targum Neofiti of the Pentateuch

•v. Targum (Jonathan) of the Prophets

•vi. Targum of the Writings

•vii. Targumic Tosefta

13. Rabbinic Literature

•a. Introduction and Overview

•b. History and Development

•c. Cultural Setting and Theology

d. Mishnah

Note: See “Appendix E” for a list of the Mishnah’s orders and tractates.

e. Tosefta

Note: See “Appendix F” for a list of the Tosefta’s orders and tractates.

f. Talmud

i. Babylonian Talmud

Note: See “Appendix G” for a list of the Babylonian Talmud’s orders and tractates.

ii. Jerusalem Talmud

Note: See “Appendix H” for a list of the Jerusalem Talmud’s orders and tractates.

•iii. Later Minor Tractates

g. Midrashim

Note: See “Appendix I” for a list of rabbinic midrashim.

•h. Rabbinic Interpretation and Hermeneutics

14. Later Jewish Writings (Medieval and Modern)

Note: This section is for post-rabbinic Jewish literature treated as a literature in its own right—the writings themselves and the scholarship devoted to them. For the history, practice, and institutions of the Jewish people in these same periods, see “Judaism” in “VII. Historical Studies.”

•a. Introduction and Overview

•b. History and Development

•c. Geonic and Medieval Halakhic Writings

•d. Medieval Jewish Bible Commentary

•e. Medieval Jewish Philosophy

•f. Kabbalah and Mystical Writings

•g. Hasidic Writings

•h. Modern and Contemporary Jewish Thought

•15. Inscriptions, Papyri, and Material Culture

•16. Themes, Studies, and Special Issues

E. Early Christian/Patristic Era Sources (to ca. AD 750)

Note: The patristic era is taken to close with John of Damascus (d. ca. 749) in the East and with Gregory the Great (d. 604) and Isidore of Seville (d. 636) in the West; writers after that boundary are classified under “Medieval Christian Sources” below. Where a figure straddles the line, file by the author rather than by the individual work.

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. History and Development

•3. Cultural Setting and Theology

•4. Text Collections and Anthologies

5. The Apostolic Fathers

•a. Introduction and Overview

•b. 1 Clement

•c. 2 Clement

•d. The Letters of Ignatius

•e. The Letter of Polycarp

•f. The Martyrdom of Polycarp

•g. The Didache

•h. The Epistle of Barnabas

•i. The Shepherd of Hermas

•j. The Epistle to Diognetus

•k. The Fragments of Papias

•l. The Fragments of Quadratus

6. New Testament Apocryphal Writings

Note: See “Appendix J” for a list of New Testament apocryphal books.

•a. Introduction and Overview

•b. Apocryphal Gospels

•c. Apocryphal Acts

•d. Apocryphal Epistles

•e. Apocryphal Apocalypses

7. Gnostic and Nag Hammadi Writings

Note: Nag Hammadi texts belonging to the apocryphal gospel, acts, epistle, and apocalypse genres (i.e., the Gospels of Thomas, Judas, Mary, Philip, and the Egyptians, the Apocalypse of Adam, the two Apocalypses of James, and the Letter of Peter to Philip) are classified under “New Testament Apocryphal Writings” above and listed in “Appendix J.” This section is for the remainder of the Gnostic corpus (i.e., the Gospel of Truth, the Apocryphon of John, the Tripartite Tractate, Pistis Sophia, the Books of Jeu, and the like), for the Nag Hammadi codices treated as a collection, and for scholarship on Gnosticism.

•8. Apologists and Ante-Nicene Writings

9. Nicene and Post-Nicene Writings

•a. Greek Fathers

•b. Latin Fathers

•c. Syriac and Eastern Fathers

•10. Creeds, Councils, and Conciliar Acts

•11. Liturgies, Church Orders, and Devotional Texts

•12. Martyrologies and Hagiography

•13. Inscriptions, Papyri, and Material Artifacts

•14. Themes, Studies, and Special Issues

F. Medieval Christian Sources (ca. 750–1500)

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. History and Development

•3. Text Collections and Anthologies

•4. Eastern and Byzantine Writings

•5. Western and Latin Writings

•6. Monastic and Mystical Writings

•7. Scholastic Writings

•8. Canon Law, Councils, and Papal Documents

•9. Liturgical and Devotional Texts

•10. Manuscripts, Inscriptions, and Material Artifacts

•11. Themes, Studies, and Special Issues

G. Reformation Era Sources (1500–1650)

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. History and Development

•3. Text Collections and Anthologies

•4. Lutheran Writings

•5. Reformed Writings

•6. Anabaptist and Radical Writings

•7. Anglican Writings

•8. Roman Catholic and Counter-Reformation Writings

•9. Confessions, Catechisms, and Church Orders

•10. Printed Books, Broadsheets, and Material Artifacts

•11. Themes, Studies, and Special Issues

H. Post-Reformation and Modern Sources (1650–Present)

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. History and Development

•3. Text Collections and Anthologies

•4. Puritan and Pietist Writings

•5. Revival and Awakening Writings

•6. Confessional, Denominational, and Conciliar Documents

•7. Missionary and Global Christian Writings

•8. Modern Ecumenical Documents

•9. Archival, Congregational, and Personal Papers

•10. Themes, Studies, and Special Issues

IV. BIBLICAL STUDIES

This category is for scholarship whose subject is the biblical text—its languages, transmission, interpretation, individual books, and theology. Works consulted by lookup are classified in “II. General Reference”; ancient literature studied for its own sake is classified in “III. Primary Sources and Their Study.” The test is whether the author’s argument is about the Bible or the corpus it draws upon.

A. Bible Texts, Manuscripts, and Canon Formation

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. History and Development

•3. Bible / Canon Formation

4. Text Collections and Manuscript Histories

Note: This section is for manuscripts and versions treated as witnesses to the biblical text. The same bodies of literature considered in their own right (i.e., the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Targums, the Septuagint as a Jewish translation) are classified in “III. Primary Sources and Their Study.”

a. Old Testament

•i. Masoretic Text

•ii. Septuagint

•iii. Samaritan Pentateuch

•iv. Targums

•v. Peshitta (Old Testament)

•vi. Dead Sea Scrolls

b. New Testament

•i. Syriac Translations (Old, Peshitta, Later)

•ii. Latin Translations (Old, Vulgate, Later)

•iii. Coptic Translations (Sahidic, Bohairic, and Other Dialects)

•iv. Gothic Translations

•v. Armenian Translations

•vi. Georgian Translations

•vii. Ethiopian Translations

•viii. Persian Translations

•ix. Arabic Translations

•5. Textual Criticism (Lower Criticism)

•6. Textual Apparatuses

B. Bible Translation Theory and Approaches

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. History and Development

•3. Language and Translation Theory

•4. Translation Issues and Controversies

C. Hebrew Old Testaments and Language Resources

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. Hebrew Old Testaments

•3. Hebrew Old Testament Parallel Bibles

•4. Hebrew Old Testament Interlinear Bibles

•5. Hebrew Old Testament Analytical / Parsing Keys

•6. Hebrew Old Testament Dictionaries

•7. Hebrew Old Testament Concordances

8. Biblical Hebrew Language Studies

•a. Introductory Hebrew Grammars

•b. Syntax / Intermediate and Advanced Hebrew Grammars

•c. Hebrew Vocabulary Development Resources

9. Biblical Aramaic Language Studies

•a. Introductory Aramaic Grammars

•b. Syntax / Intermediate and Advanced Aramaic Grammars

•c. Aramaic Vocabulary Development Resources

D. Greek New Testaments and Language Resources

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. Greek New Testaments

•3. Greek New Testament Parallel Bibles

•4. Greek New Testaments Interlinear Bibles

•5. Greek New Testament Analytical / Parsing Keys

•6. Greek New Testament Dictionaries

•7. Greek New Testament Concordances

8. Biblical Greek Language Studies

•a. Introductory Greek Grammars

•b. Syntax / Intermediate and Advanced Greek Grammars

•c. Greek Vocabulary Development Resources

E. Septuagint Old Testaments and Language Resources

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. Septuagint Old Testaments

•3. Septuagint Old Testament Parallel Bibles

•4. Septuagint Old Testament Interlinear Bibles

•5. Septuagint Old Testament Analytical / Parsing Keys

•6. Septuagint Old Testament Dictionaries

•7. Septuagint Old Testament Concordances

•8. Septuagint Old Testament Language Resources

G. Biblical Archaeology

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. History and Development

•3. Old Testament Archaeology

•4. Intertestamental Archaeology

•5. New Testament Archaeology

•6. Special Issues in Archaeology

H. Bible Interpretation

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. History and Development

•3. General Hermeneutics, Exegesis, and Interpretation

•4. Lexical Semantics and Word Studies

5. Literary Forms, Genres, and Devices

Note: This section treats literary features synchronically (i.e., the forms, genres, and devices of the biblical text in its final shape) as an aid to reading. For genre analysis used diachronically (i.e., as an index to a text’s oral prehistory and social setting), see “Form Criticism” under “Critical Disciplines” below. So, for example, for the exegesis of individual parables, see “Parables Jesus Told” under “The Life of Christ” below; the theory of parable as a literary genre belongs here.

6. Critical Disciplines (Higher Criticism)

•a. Historical Criticism (Analyzing the Compositional Setting of Texts)

•b. Source Criticism (Hypothesizing Written Precursors to Texts)

•d. Tradition Criticism (Analyzing How Texts Changed over Time to Final Form)

•e. Redaction Criticism (Tracing How a Redactor Collected and Edited Texts)

•f. Literary Criticism (Uncovering the Intended Layout and Patterning of Texts)

•g. Rhetorical Criticism (Analyzing Texts as Dynamic Vehicles of Persuasion)

•h. Narrative Criticism (Reading Texts as a Unified Story with Plot, Character, etc.)

•i. Canonical Criticism (Reading Texts as the Final Form of a Unified Whole)

•j. Deconstruction Criticism (Unmasking Bias, Contradictions, Aporia in Texts)

•l. Feminist / Ideological Criticism (Reading Texts via Gender, Power, Status)

•m. Reader-Response Criticism (Analyzing Reader’s Role in Creating Meaning)

•7. Single-Volume Commentaries, Overviews, and Summaries (Full Bible)

I. The Old Testament

1. Introduction and Overview

•a. Old Testament Introductions and Surveys

•b. Old Testament Hermeneutics, Exegesis, and Interpretation

c. Ancient Near Eastern Backgrounds of the Old Testament

Note: This section is for Old Testament scholarship that draws on Ancient Near Eastern material: comparative studies, treatments of Israel among the nations, and works on the relationship of the Old Testament to its environment. The Ancient Near Eastern sources themselves, and their study as literature in their own right, are classified under “Ancient Near Eastern Sources” in “III. Primary Sources and Their Study.”

•d. History, Literature, and Religion of Israel

2. Old Testament Books

•a. Single-Volume Commentaries, Overviews, and Summaries

•b. Multi-Volume Commentary Sets

c. Pentateuch / Torah

•i. Introduction and Overview

•ii. Genesis

•iii. Exodus

•iv. Leviticus

•v. Numbers

•vi. Deuteronomy

d. Historical Books

•i. Introduction and Overview

•ii. Joshua

•iii. Judges

•iv. Ruth

•v. 1 Samuel

•vi. 2 Samuel

•vii. 1 Kings

•viii. 2 Kings

•ix. 1 Chronicles

•x. 2 Chronicles

•xi. Ezra

•xii. Nehemiah

•xiii. Esther

e. Poetic / Wisdom Books

•i. Introduction and Overview

•ii. Job

•iii. Psalms

•iv. Proverbs

•v. Ecclesiastes

•vi. Song of Solomon

f. Major Prophets

•i. Introduction and Overview

•ii. Isaiah

•iii. Jeremiah

•iv. Lamentations

•v. Ezekiel

•vi. Daniel

g. Minor Prophets

•i. Introduction and Overview

•ii. Hosea

•iii. Joel

•iv. Amos

•v. Obadiah

•vi. Jonah

•vii. Micah

•viii. Nahum

•ix. Habakkuk

•x. Zephaniah

•xi. Haggai

•xii. Zechariah

•xiii. Malachi

•3. Old Testament Theology

4. Old Testament Themes, Studies, Characters, and Special Issues

•a. Historicity / Reliability of the Old Testament

•b. Challenges to God’s Character in the Old Testament

•c. The Patriarchs

•d. The Decalogue

•e. Old Testament Law

•f. Cultic Ritual Theory and Laws

•g. The Tabernacle

•h. The Temple

•i. Additional Themes, Studies, Characters, and Special Issues

J. The Intertestament

Note: The literature of this period—the Apocrypha and Deuterocanonical books, the Pseudepigrapha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Philo, Josephus, the Targums, and the rabbinic corpora—is classified under “Jewish Sources (Second Temple through Rabbinic)” in “III. Primary Sources and Their Study,” where it is treated as a literature in its own right rather than as background to the New Testament. This section is retained for scholarship on the intertestamental period as the bridge between the testaments.

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. History of the Second Temple Period

•3. Continuity and Discontinuity between the Testaments

K. The New Testament

1. Introduction and Overview

•a. New Testament Introductions and Surveys

•b. New Testament Hermeneutics, Exegesis, and Interpretation

c. Greco-Roman Backgrounds of the New Testament

Note: This section is for New Testament scholarship that draws on Greco-Roman material. The Greco-Roman sources themselves are classified under “Greco-Roman Sources” in “III. Primary Sources and Their Study.”

d. Jewish Backgrounds of the New Testament

Note: This section is for New Testament scholarship that draws on Second Temple and rabbinic Jewish material. The Jewish sources themselves—including the Mishnah, Tosefta, Talmud, and Midrashim—are classified under “Jewish Sources (Second Temple through Rabbinic)” in “III. Primary Sources and Their Study.”

2. New Testament Books

•a. Single-Volume Commentaries, Overviews, and Summaries

•b. Multi-Volume Commentary Sets

c. The Gospels

•i. Introduction and Overview

•ii. The Synoptic Problem

•iii. Matthew

•iv. Mark

•v. Luke

•vi. John

d. The Historical Narrative

•i. Introduction and Overview

•ii. Acts

e. The Pauline Epistles

•i. Introduction and Overview

•ii. Romans

•iii. 1 Corinthians

•iv. 2 Corinthians

•v. Galatians

•vi. Ephesians

•vii. Philippians

•viii. Colossians

•ix. 1 Thessalonians

•x. 2 Thessalonians

•xi. 1 Timothy

•xii. 2 Timothy

•xiii. Titus

•xiv. Philemon

f. The General Epistles

•i. Introduction and Overview

•ii. Hebrews

•iii. James

•iv. 1 Peter

•v. 2 Peter

•vi. 1 John

•vii. 2 John

•viii. 3 John

•ix. Jude

g. The Apocalypse

•i. Introduction and Overview

•ii. Revelation

•3. New Testament Theology

4. New Testament Themes, Studies, and Special Issues

•a. The New Testament Use of the Old Testament

•b. Continuity / Discontinuity from the Old Testament to the New Testament

•c. Jesus, Paul, and the Old Testament Law

•d. Covenant, Kingdom, and Spirit

e. The Life of Christ

Note: This section is for exegetical, biographical, and/or narrative treatments (descriptive). See the “Christology” section in “V. Theological Studies” for doctrinal and/or systematic treatments (prescriptive).

•i. Full-Life Biographies / Portrayals

•ii. Infancy Narratives / Christmas

iii. Teachings

•I. Sermon on the Mount (Full)

•II. Beatitudes

•III. The Lord’s Prayer

•IV. Additional Ethical Teachings

•V. Questions Jesus Asked

VI. Parables Jesus Told

Note: This section is for the exegesis and exposition of individual parables. For the theory of parable as a literary genre, see “Literary Forms, Genres, and Devices” under “Bible Interpretation” above.

•VII. Self-Declarations of Jesus

•VIII. Eschatological Teachings

•IX. Hard Sayings

•iv. Discourse Encounters

•v. Healings / Miracles / Exorcisms

•vi. Transfiguration

•vii. Trials

•viii. Crucifixion

•ix. Words from the Cross

•x. Burial

•xi. Shroud of Turin

•xii. Resurrection

•xiii. Post-Resurrection

•xiv. Ascension

•f. Mary

•g. The Apostles

•h. Paul and Pauline Theology

•i. Peter and Petrine Theology

•j. John and Johannine Theology

•k. New Testament Eschatology

5. New Testament Apocryphal Books

Note: These writings are classified under “New Testament Apocryphal Writings” in “III. Primary Sources and Their Study,” together with the Apostolic Fathers and the other early Christian sources. See “Appendix J” for a list. This section is retained for New Testament scholarship engaging the apocryphal material—canon-formation debates, comparative studies, and treatments of the apocryphal gospels in relation to the four canonical gospels.

L. Biblical Theology

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. Issues, Methods, and Themes

•3. Biblical Theologies (Genesis–Revelation)

4. Redemptive History Frameworks

•a. Covenantalism

•b. Dispensationalism

•c. New Covenant Theology

•d. Redemptive-Historical Metanarrative

•5. Christ in the Old Testament

•6. Biblical Theology by Theme or Topic

7. Controversial Issues in Biblical Theology

Note: For the normative and applied treatment of these same issues, see “VI. Ethics and Public Faith.”

•a. The Bible and Slavery

•b. The Bible and Women

•c. The Bible and Homosexuality

•d. The Bible and Racism

•e. The Bible and Antisemitism

•f. The Bible and Supersessionism

V. THEOLOGICAL STUDIES

This category is for the doctrinal and systematic treatment of Christian teaching, together with the philosophy that serves it, the apologetics that defends it, and the history of its development. Exegetical and descriptive treatments of the same topics are classified in “IV. Biblical Studies”; the application of doctrine to conduct and policy is classified in “VI. Ethics and Public Faith.”

A. Philosophy for Understanding Theology

1. General

•a. Introduction and Overview

•b. History and Development

•c. Approaches and Critiques

2. Branches of Philosophy

•a. Epistemology

•b. Logic

•c. Metaphysics

•d. Ethics (Theoretical)

•e. Aesthetics

•3. Philosophy of Religion / Theology

•4. Philosophy and Christianity

B. Theological Prolegomena

1. General

•a. Introduction and Overview

•b. History and Development

•c. Approaches and Critiques

•2. The Being and Knowability of God

•3. The Nature, Methods, and Categories of Theology

4. The Sources of Theology

a. Natural Theology

•i. Rational Arguments

•ii. Religious Experiences

b. Revealed Theology

•i. Scripture—The Written Word of God

•ii. Jesus Christ—The Living Word of God

•5. Revelation, Inspiration, Canon, and Authority (Bibliology)

•6. Creeds, Theological Traditions, and Doctrine

C. Dogmatic / Systematic Theology

1. General

•a. Introduction and Overview

•b. History and Development

•c. Approaches and Critiques

•2. Full Treatments / Compilations of Systematic Theology

3. Theology Proper

•a. God’s Existence, Names, and Attributes

•b. The Triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

c. Creation

•i. The Visible Realm (The Cosmos and Everything in It)

•ii. The Invisible Realm (Divine Council, Angels, Satan, Demons, etc.)

d. Providence

•i. Divine Sovereignty and Human Agency

•ii. General and Special Providence

•iii. Miracles

•iv. Prayer

4. Angelology and Demonology

Note: This section is for the doctrine of angels, Satan, and the demonic. For the practice of spiritual conflict in ministry, see “Spiritual Warfare” under “Christian Ministry (Local Parish)” in “VIII. Applied Theology.”

•a. The Angelic Host

•b. Satan and the Demonic

•c. The Doctrine of Spiritual Conflict

5. Anthropology

•a. Created in the Image of God

•b. Created Male and Female

•c. Created with a Purpose and a Telos

•d. Sin and the Fall of Humanity (Hamartiology)

•e. God’s Covenants with Humanity

6. Christology

Note: This section is for doctrinal and/or systematic treatments (prescriptive). See “The Life of Christ” section in “IV. Biblical Studies” for exegetical, biographical, and/or narrative treatments (descriptive).

a. The Person of Christ

i. The Humanity of Christ

•I. Virgin Conception / Incarnation

•II. Human Weaknesses and Limitations (Kenosis)

•III. Sinlessness of Christ

•IV. Rationale for Full Humanity

ii. The Deity of Christ

•I. Preexistence of Christ

•II. Explicit and Implicit Claims

•III. Divine Attributes

•IV. Rationale for Full Deity

iii. The Hypostatic Union

•I. Dual Nature Controversies

•II. Chalcedonian Resolution

•III. Subsequent Developments

b. The Work of Christ

i. His Teaching Ministry

•I. The Gospel of the Kingdom

•II. Ethical Teachings

•III. Eschatological Pronouncements

ii. His Healing Ministry

•I. Physical Healings

•II. Exorcisms

•III. Resurrections

iii. His Redemptive Ministry

•I. Suffering

•II. Death

•III. Burial

•IV. Harrowing of Hell / Hades

•V. Resurrection

•VI. Ascension

•VII. Session

iv. His Eternal Ministry (Offices)

•I. Prophet

•II. Priest

•III. King

7. Soteriology

a. Accomplishment of Redemption

•i. The Necessity of the Atonement

•ii. The Nature of the Atonement

•iii. The Extent of the Atonement

b. Application of Redemption

•i. The Order of Application (Ordo Salutis)

•ii. Election, Predestination, Effectual Call, and Regeneration

•iii. Faith and Repentance

iv. Aspects / Images of Salvation

•I. Justification

•II. Adoption

•III. Reconciliation

•IV. Union with Christ

•V. Additional Aspects / Images

•v. Sanctification and Growth in Grace

•vi. Perseverance in Faith

8. Pneumatology

•a. The Personhood of the Holy Spirit

b. The Roles of the Holy Spirit

•i. To Create and Order

•ii. To Draw and Regenerate

•iii. To Indwell and Seal

•iv. To Comfort and Help

•v. To Intercede and Assure

•vi. To Convict and Purify

•vii. To Sanctify and Unify

•viii. To Gift and Empower

•ix. To Illuminate and Guide

9. Ecclesiology

•a. The Nature and Purpose of the Church

•b. The Message and Ministries of the Church

c. The Sacraments / Ordinances of the Church

•i. Baptism

•ii. Holy Communion

•iii. Additional Sacraments by Tradition

•iv. Sacramentals

•d. The Discipline and Governance of the Church

•e. The Mission of the Church

10. Eschatology

a. Personal Eschatology

•i. Human Death

•ii. The Intermediate State

•iii. Resurrection of the Body

iv. Judgment and Eternal Dwelling

•I. Glorification / Theosis

•II. Perdition / Ruin

b. Cosmic Eschatology

•i. Views on End-Time Events

•ii. Views on the Return of Christ

•iii. Views on the Reign / Restoration of Christ

•iv. Views on the Eternal State / New Heavens and New Earth

D. Contextual Theology

Note: For the ethical and/or political application of these perspectives, see the “Social Ethics (Communities)” and “Political Ethics (Policies)” sections in “VI. Ethics and Public Faith.” For general cultural engagement and critique, see the “Christian Faith and Culture” section in “VIII. Applied Theology.” This section is for constructive theological reflection done from within particular social, cultural, or experiential contexts.

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. Models and Methods of Contextualization

3. Liberation Theologies

•a. Latin American Liberation Theology

•b. Black / African American Theology

•c. Feminist Theology

•d. Womanist Theology

•e. Mujerista Theology

•f. Minjung Theology (Korean)

•g. Dalit Theology (South Asian)

4. Majority World and Postcolonial Theologies

•a. African Theology

•b. Asian Theology

•c. Latin American Theology (Non-Liberationist)

•d. Postcolonial Theology

•5. Political and Public Theology

•6. Ecological / Creation-Care Theology

•7. Disability Theology

E. Apologetics

1. General

•a. Introduction and Overview

•b. History and Development

•c. Approaches and Critiques

•2. Full Treatments / Compilations of Apologetics

3. Defensive (Negative) Apologetics—Answering Objections to Christian Claims

a. Objections to Theism in General

•i. The Problem of Evil and Suffering

•ii. The Problem of God’s Seeming Hiddenness

•iii. The Problem of Scientific Naturalism’s Explanatory Power

•iv. The Problem of Religion’s Negative Impact on History

b. Objections to Christianity in Particular

•i. The Challenge of Biblical Criticism (Questioning Scripture’s Accuracy)

•ii. The Challenge of Biblical Content (Questioning Scripture’s Morality)

•iii. The Challenge of Pluralism (Questioning Scripture’s Exclusivity)

4. Offensive (Positive) Apologetics—Making an Affirmative Case for Christianity

a. Classical Apologetics

•i. The Cosmological Argument (Cause)

•ii. The Teleological Argument (Design)

•iii. The Anthropological Argument (Morality)

•iv. The Ontological Argument (Being)

v. Additional Arguments

•I. The Argument from Necessary Truths

•II. The Argument from Possibility

•III. The Argument from Desire

•IV. The Argument from Religious Experience

b. Evidential Apologetics

•i. The Evidence for Jesus’ Miracles and Resurrection

•ii. The Manuscript Evidence for the Integrity of the Scriptures

iii. The Archaeological Corroboration of Biblical Places and Events

Note: See “Biblical Archaeology” under “IV. Biblical Studies” above for a fuller treatment of archaeological scholarship.

•iv. The Ancient Prophecies Fulfilled in Jesus Christ

•v. The Radical Claims of Jesus Christ and Their Implications

•c. Presuppositional Apologetics / Reformed Epistemology

•d. Literary / Cultural / Imaginative / Narratival Apologetics

•e. Aesthetic Apologetics

•f. Cumulative Case Apologetics

•g. Fideism

5. Faith and Science

Note: For bioethical questions (e.g., cloning, genetic engineering, end-of-life issues, etc.), see the “Biomedical Ethics” section in “VI. Ethics and Public Faith.” For environmental questions, see the “Environmental Ethics” section in “VI. Ethics and Public Faith.” For AI-related questions, see the “Technology Ethics” section in “VI. Ethics and Public Faith.” For the doctrine of miracles and providence, see the “Providence” section under “Theology Proper” in “Dogmatic / Systematic Theology” above.

•a. Introduction and Overview

•b. History of the Faith-Science Relationship

•c. Philosophy and Models of Relating Science and Theology

•d. Cosmology and Origins of the Universe

•e. Geology and the Age of the Earth

•f. Origins of Life

g. Evolution and Human Origins

•i. Young-Earth Creationism

•ii. Old-Earth / Progressive Creationism

•iii. Evolutionary Creationism / Theistic Evolution

•iv. Intelligent Design

•v. Adam, Eve, and the Historicity of Human Origins

•h. Neuroscience, Consciousness, and the Soul

•i. Quantum Physics and Theology

F. History of Doctrine

•1. By Theological Topic

•2. By Historical Period

VI. ETHICS AND PUBLIC FAITH

Ethics as a locus of systematic theology is treated here rather than as a separate section of “V. Theological Studies” to keep philosophical, theological, and applied / public ethics together in one category. For the raw biblical-exegetical treatment of various ethical issues, see the “Biblical Theology by Theme or Topic” section in “IV. Biblical Studies.”

A. Metaethics—The Sources, Meaning, and Nature of Morality

•1. Philosophical Foundations

•2. Theological Foundations

B. Normative Ethics—The Theories, Frameworks, and Principles of Morality

1. Consequentialism (Focuses on the Consequences of Actions)

•a. Utilitarianism

•b. Hedonism

•c. Egoism

•d. Asceticism

•e. Altruism

•f. Rule Consequentialism

•g. Negative Consequentialism

2. Deontology (Emphasizes Duties and Rules)

•a. Agent-Centered Deontology

•b. Patient-Centered Deontology

•c. Contractualist Deontology

•d. Kantian Deontology

3. Virtue Ethics (Promotes Character Development)

•a. Aristotelian Ethics (Practical Wisdom, Virtue, and Habituation)

•b. Eudaimonism (Human Flourishing and Fulfillment)

•c. Ethics of Care (Empathy in Relationships)

•d. Contemporary Virtue Ethics

•4. Natural Law (Grounds Morality in Human Nature and the Created Order)

•5. Divine Command Theory (Grounds Morality in the Will and Character of God)

C. Ethics Proper—The Application of Morality

1. Personal / Interpersonal Ethics

For Example: Honesty, Integrity, Respect, Fairness, Authenticity, Responsibility, Generosity, Loyalty, etc.

2. Professional Ethics

For Example: Accountability, Adherence to Laws and Policy, Competence, Confidentiality, Courteousness, Impartiality, Objectivity, Promptness, Sincerity, Trustworthiness, etc.

3. Communication Ethics

•a. Civility

•b. Persuasion

•c. Plagiarism

•d. Intellectual Property

•e. Journalism and the Media

•f. Censorship

•g. Cancellation / Deplatforming

5. Political Ethics (Policies)

•a. Criminal Justice

•b. Capital Punishment

•c. Discrimination and Inequality

•d. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Merit

•e. Female Genital Mutilation

•f. Forced and Child Marriage

•g. Honor Killings

•h. Immigration and Assimilation

•i. Poverty and Access to Services

•j. Restrictions on Women in Certain Cultures

•k. Slavery and Trafficking

•l. Terrorism

•m. War and Peace

•n. Worker-Employer Relations

6. Biomedical Ethics

•a. Abortion

•b. Cloning

•c. Gender Reassignment Surgery

•d. Genetic Engineering

•e. End-of-Life Issues

•f. Patient Rights

•g. Pharmaceutical Testing

•h. Persistent Vegetative State

•i. Physician-Assisted Suicide

7. Environmental Ethics

•a. Animal Rights

•b. Clean Air

•c. Clean Water

•d. Climate Change

•e. Development Impact

•f. Energy Production, Use, and Waste

•g. Pollution and Waste Management

•h. Resource Exploitation

8. Technology Ethics

•a. Artificial Intelligence

•b. Data Privacy and Cyber Security

•c. Digital Rights

•d. Space Exploration

VII. HISTORICAL STUDIES

This category is for history and biography—the story of the church, the movements and denominations that compose it, and the wider world and religions among which it has lived. Primary texts from any period are classified in “III. Primary Sources and Their Study”; this category holds the historians’ accounts of them. Jewish literature of the Second Temple and rabbinic periods is likewise classified in III, while “Judaism” here is for the history, practice, and later development of the Jewish people.

A. General World History and Biography

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. Historiography and Philosophy of History

•3. Surveys and Compilations of World History

4. World History by Period

a. The Prehistoric Era (Beginning to 600 BC)

•i. The Stone Age

•ii. The Bronze Age

•iii. The Iron Age

b. The Classical Era (550 BC to AD 476)

•i. The Persian Empire

•ii. The Greek Empire

•iii. The Roman Empire

c. The Medieval Era (AD 476 to 1450)

•i. The Early Middle Ages

•ii. The High Middle Ages

•iii. The Late Middle Ages

d. The Early Modern Era (1450 to 1750)

•i. The Renaissance

•ii. The Reformation

•iii. The Age of Exploration

•iv. The Enlightenment

e. The Modern Era (1750 to Present)

•i. The Industrial Revolution

•ii. The World Wars

•iii. The Cold War

•iv. The Digital Age

B. Church History and Biography

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. The Early Church

•3. The Middle Ages

•4. The Reformation Era

•5. The Modern Era

•6. The Contemporary Era

C. Denominations and Movements

1. Catholic

•a. Latin Church (Roman Catholic)

•b. Eastern Catholic Churches

2. Orthodox

•a. Eastern

•b. Oriental

3. Anglican

•a. Anglican Communion

•b. Continuing Anglican Movement

4. Protestant

•a. Lutheran

•b. Reformed and Presbyterian

•c. Baptist

•d. Methodist / Wesleyan-Arminian

•e. Charismatic and Pentecostal

•f. Broadly Evangelical

•g. Anabaptist

•h. Independent / Nondenominational

•i. Networks and Alliances

D. Judaism

Note: This section is for the history, practice, and institutions of the Jewish people. The Jewish literature of every period—Second Temple, rabbinic, medieval, and modern—is classified in “III. Primary Sources and Their Study,” together with the scholarship devoted to it.

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. History of Judaism

•3. Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism

•4. History of Medieval Jewish Philosophy

•5. History of Kabbalah

•6. Modern Judaism

E. World Religions

1. Comparative Religions

•a. Introduction and Overview

•b. Hinduism

•c. Buddhism

•d. Jainism

•e. Sikhism

•f. Daoism

•g. Confucianism

•h. Zoroastrianism

•i. Islam

•j. Additional Expressions

2. New Religious Movements (19th–21st Century)

•a. Introduction and Overview

•b. Mormonism / Latter-day Saint Movement

•c. Jehovah’s Witnesses

•d. Christian Science

•e. Seventh-day Adventism

•f. Bahá’í Faith

•g. Unification Church

•h. Scientology

•i. New Age Movements

•j. Neopaganism / Wicca

•k. Additional Expressions

VIII. APPLIED THEOLOGY

This category is for the practice of ministry and the Christian life (i.e., the work of the parish, the pulpit, the home, and the church’s engagement with the world). Its concern is what to do and how to do it; the doctrinal grounding for the same topics is classified in “V. Theological Studies” above.

A. Christian Living (Personal and Family)

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. History and Development

•3. Personal Spiritual Formation

•4. Personhood and Personality

•5. Self-Awareness and Self-Care

•6. Marriage and Family in the Home

•7. Vocation

•8. Recreation

B. Christian Literature (Background and Resources)

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. History and Development

•3. Spiritual Classics

•4. Devotional Literature

C. Christian Ministry (Local Parish)

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. History and Development

•3. Personal Calling and Preparation

•4. Pastoral Care and Parish Ministry

•5. Counseling, Psychology, and Therapy

•6. Leadership and Administration

•7. Christian Discipleship / Spiritual Formation

•8. Laity Mobilization

•9. Church Growth and Health

•10. Spiritual Warfare

D. Christian Worship (Liturgics)

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. History and Development

•3. Liturgy, Rites, and Ceremonies

•4. Music and Hymnody

•5. Symbols, Icons, and Artwork

•6. Architecture

•7. Performative Worship

•8. Pastoral Service Books and Resources

E. Christian Preaching (Homiletics)

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. History and Development

3. Homiletics Theory and Practice

•a. Theology of Preaching (The Why)

•b. Homiletical Method, Mechanics, and Varieties (The How)

•c. Occasions, Contexts, and Audience Adaptation (The When/Where)

•d. The Preacher’s Character, Development, and Resourcing (The Who)

•e. Christ-Centered Preaching and Advanced Homiletics (The Telos)

4. Sermon Collections

•a. Sermon Collections by Biblical Books

•b. Sermon Collections by Biblical Topics

•c. Sermon Collections by Occasions

•d. Sermon Collections by Preachers

F. Christian Mission (Local and World Outreach)

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. History and Development

•3. Evangelism and Discipleship

•4. Church Planting

•5. World Missions

G. Christian Faith and Culture (Building and Critiquing)

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. History and Development

•3. Theological Foundations and Approaches

•4. Cultural Critiques

•5. Human Flourishing

•6. Culture-Making

•7. Literature over Time to Engage

•8. Artwork over Time to Engage

•9. Film and Media Arts over Time to Engage

•11. Technology

H. Christian Education (Personal and Ministry Resources)

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. History and Development

•3. Educational Theory and Approaches

•4. Professional Theological Education

•5. Topic-Specific Resources

I. Christian Ecumenics (Dialog with Other Communities)

•1. Introduction and Overview

•2. History and Development

•3. Interfaith Dialog

•4. Interdenominational Dialog

IX. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

This category is for holdings gathered by association rather than by subject—authors collected for their own sake, media items the library owns, and materials of personal interest. A work is classified here only when its place in the collection matters more than its topic; otherwise, it is classified by subject in the categories above.

A. Author Collections

Note: This section is for prominent or prolific authors who have been influential in the life of the owner or have been known to the author.

•1. Chesterton, G. K.

•2. Lewis, C. S.

•3. Sweet, Leonard

•4. Tolkien, J. R. R.

•5. Additional Authors

B. Media Collections

Note: This section is for media items themselves (photos, audio recordings, videos, etc.) that the library owns. For scholarship engaging film and media arts as a cultural topic, see the “Film and Media Arts over Time to Engage” section in “VIII. Applied Theology.”

•1. Teaching Series Recordings

•2. Photo Compilations

•3. Films / Movies

C. Personal Interest Collections

Note: This section is for the main interests and personal quirks of the owner.

•1. The Philadelphia Phillies

•2. The JFK Assassination

•3. The Watergate Scandal

•4. Travel, Leisure, and Recreation

X. APPENDICES

These lists index the contents of ancient corpora so that an individual work can be located within the collection that contains it. They are not holdings; the volumes themselves are classified in “III. Primary Sources and Their Study” above.

A. List of Old Testament Apocryphal / Deuterocanonical Books

1. Canonical for Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Ethiopian Orthodox Churches

•a. Tobit

•b. Judith

•c. Wisdom of Solomon

•d. Ben Sirach / Ecclesiasticus

•e. Baruch

•f. Letter of Jeremiah (in Baruch)

g. Additions to Daniel

•i. Prayer of Azariah

•ii. Song of the Three Young Men

•iii. Susanna

•iv. Bel and the Dragon

h. Additions to Esther (Dream, Edicts, Prayers, Expansion, Interpretation)

•i. Dream of Mordecai

•ii. Edict of Ahasuerus (Artaxerxes) against the Jews

•iii. Prayers of Mordecai and Esther

•iv. The King’s Anger at Esther’s Intrusion

•v. Edict of Ahasuerus (Artaxerxes) on Behalf of the Jews

•vi. Interpretation of Mordecai’s Dream

2. Canonical for Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches

•a. 1 Maccabees

•b. 2 Maccabees

3. Canonical for Greek Orthodox and Ethiopian Orthodox Churches

•a. Prayer of Manasseh (in 2 Chronicles) [Note: See “Pseudepigrapha” below.]

•b. 1 Esdras (in Ezra-Nehemiah)

•c. Psalm 151

4. Canonical for Greek Orthodox Churches

•a. 3 Maccabees [Note: See “Pseudepigrapha” below.]

•b. 4 Maccabees (as an Appendix) [Note: See “Pseudepigrapha” below.]

5. Canonical for Ethiopian Orthodox Churches

•a. Jubilees [Note: See “Pseudepigrapha” below.]

•b. 1 Enoch [Note: See “Pseudepigrapha” below.]

•c. 1 Maqabeyan

•d. 2 Maqabeyan

•e. 3 Maqabeyan

B. List of Old Testament Pseudepigrapha

2. Testaments

•a. Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

•b. Testament of Job

•c. Testaments of the Three Patriarchs

•d. Testament of Moses

•e. Testament of Solomon

•f. Testament of Adam

3. Expansions of Old Testament and Legends

•a. The Letter of Aristeas

•b. Jubilees

•c. Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah

•d. Joseph and Asenath

•e. Life of Adam and Eve

•f. Pseudo-Philo

•g. Lives of the Prophets

•h. Ladder of Jacob

•i. 4 Baruch

•j. Jannes and Jambres

•k. History of the Rechabites

•l. Eldad and Modad

•m. History of Joseph

•n. Story of Melchizedek

4. Wisdom and Philosophical Literature

•a. Ahiqar

•b. 3 Maccabees

•c. 4 Maccabees

•d. Pseudo-Phocylides

•e. The Sentences of the Syriac Menander

5. Prayers, Psalms, and Odes

•a. More Psalms of David

•b. Prayer of Manasseh

•c. Psalms of Solomon

•d. Hellenistic Synagogal Prayers

•e. Prayer of Joseph

•f. Prayer of Jacob

•g. Odes of Solomon

6. Fragments of Lost Judeo-Hellenistic Works

•a. Philo the Epic Poet

•b. Theodotus

•c. Orphica

•d. Ezekiel the Tragedian

•e. Fragments of Pseudo-Greek Poets

•f. Aristobulus

•g. Demetrius the Chronographer

•h. Aristeas the Exegete

•i. Eupolemus

•j. Pseudo-Eupolemus

•k. Cleodemus Malchus

•l. Artapanus

•m. Pseudo-Hecataeus

C. List of Dead Sea Scroll Manuscripts

1. Qumran Caves (1947–1956)

a. Cave 1 (1Q): Discovered 1947, Natural Cave

The original find. ~70–75 manuscripts, several nearly complete.

•1QIsa^a — Great Isaiah Scroll (Complete)

•1QIsa^b — Second Isaiah Scroll (Fragmentary)

•1QS — Community Rule (Serekh ha-Yahad)

•1QSa, 1QSb — Appendices to the Rule

•1QM — War Scroll (Milhamah)

•1QH^a — Hodayot (Thanksgiving Hymns)

•1QpHab — Pesher Habakkuk

•1QapGen — Genesis Apocryphon

•1Q20–1Q72 — Various Biblical and Sectarian Fragments

b. Cave 2 (2Q): Discovered 1952, Bedouin

~33 fragmentary manuscripts, mostly biblical (Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Jeremiah, Psalms, Ruth, Sirach) plus some apocryphal / sectarian pieces.

c. Cave 3 (3Q): Discovered 1952, Archaeologists, Natural Cave

~14 manuscripts, best known for:

•3Q15 — Copper Scroll (List of Buried Treasure)

d. Cave 4 (4Q): Discovered 1952, Bedouin, Artificial Cave

The largest cache: ~15,000 fragments from roughly 500–580 separate manuscripts, about 90% of the total Qumran material. Includes:

•Biblical texts of nearly every book of the Hebrew Bible (except Esther)

•4QMMT (4Q394–399) — Miqsat Ma’ase ha-Torah

•4Q175 — Testimonia

•4Q246 — “Son of God” Text

•4QDeut^q, 4QSam^a, and other important biblical witnesses

•Multiple copies of Community Rule, Damascus Document, Enoch, Jubilees, etc.

e. Cave 5 (5Q): Discovered 1952, Archaeologists

~25 manuscripts, including biblical and sectarian fragments (e.g., 5QRule of the Congregation-type texts, Lamentations, Kings).

f. Cave 6 (6Q): Discovered 1952, Bedouin

~31 manuscripts, mostly on papyrus. Includes fragments of Genesis, Kings, Psalms, Daniel, and sectarian works.

g. Cave 7 (7Q): Discovered 1955, Archaeologists

~19 fragments, all in Greek. Includes a fragment of the Septuagint text of Exodus (7Q1), notable for the (largely rejected) “7Q5 = Mark” hypothesis.

h. Cave 8 (8Q): Discovered 1955, Archaeologists

Small find: fragments of Genesis, Psalms, a mezuzah, and a phylactery.

i. Cave 9 (9Q): Discovered 1955, Archaeologists

A single unidentified papyrus fragment.

j. Cave 10 (10Q): Discovered 1955, Archaeologists

A single ostracon.

k. Cave 11 (11Q): Discovered 1956, Bedouin, Natural Cave

~21 manuscripts, several well preserved. Includes:

•11QT^a (11Q19) — Temple Scroll (Longest Scroll, ~8.7 m)

•11QPs^a — Psalms Scroll (with Apocryphal Psalms)

•11QtgJob — Targum of Job

•11QMelch (11Q13) — Melchizedek

l. Later find (2017)

A twelfth cave (“Cave 12”) was excavated near Qumran; it yielded jars and scroll wrappings but no intact texts (looted earlier).

2. Other Judaean Desert Sites (non-Qumran)

a. Wadi Murabba’at (Mur): Discovered 1951–52

~170 documents, mostly from the Bar Kokhba period (AD 132–135), including letters of Simon bar Kokhba and legal / economic papyri.

b. Nahal Hever (5/6Hev, 8Hev): Excavated 1960–61

Includes the “Cave of Letters”:

•Babatha Archive (Jewish Woman’s Legal Papers)

•Bar Kokhba’s Letters

•8HevXIIgr (Greek Minor Prophets Scroll)

c. Nahal Se’elim / Nahal Tze’elim (34Se) and Wadi Sdeir

Bar Kokhba-era fragments; some material later reclassified between these sites and Nahal Hever.

d. Nahal Arugot

Minor finds, Bar Kokhba period (AD 132–135).

e. Wadi Daliyeh

Samaria papyri (4th century BC), earlier and separate from the main Dead Sea Scrolls corpus but often catalogued alongside it.

f. Masada

~15 manuscripts from Herod’s fortress (destroyed AD 73/74), including a Ben Sira (Sirach) scroll, Psalms, Leviticus, Ezekiel, and a Song of the Sabbath Sacrifice fragment matching the Qumran version.

g. Khirbet Mird

Byzantine-period Christian and Arabic texts (6th–8th century AD), chronologically distinct, sometimes included in broader “Judaean Desert” catalogs.

D. List of Philo’s Works

•1. On the Creation

•2. Allegorical Interpretation, I

•3. Allegorical Interpretation, II

•4. Allegorical Interpretation, III

•5. On the Cherubim

•6. The Sacrifices of Cain and Abel

•7. That the Worse Is Wont to Attack the Better

•8. On the Posterity of Cain and His Exile

•9. On the Giants

•10. On the Unchangeableness of God

•11. On Husbandry

•12. Concerning Noah’s Work as a Planter

•13. On Drunkenness

•14. On the Prayers and Curses Uttered by Noah When He Became Sober

•15. On the Confusion of Tongues

•16. On the Migration of Abraham

•17. Who Is the Heir of Divine Things

•18. On Mating with the Preliminary Studies

•19. On Flight and Finding

•20. On the Change of Names

•21. On Dreams, That They Are God-Sent

•22. On Abraham

•23. On Joseph

•24. On the Life of Moses, I

•25. On the Life of Moses, II

•26. The Decalogue

•27. The Special Laws, I

•28. The Special Laws, II

•29. The Special Laws, III

•30. The Special Laws, IV

•31. On the Virtues

•32. On Rewards and Punishments

•33. Every Good Man Is Free

•34. On the Contemplative Life or Suppliants

•35. On the Eternity of the World

•36. Flaccus

•37. Hypothetica: Apology for the Jews

•38. On Providence: Fragment I

•39. On Providence: Fragment II

•40. On the Embassy to Gaius

•41. Questions and Answers on Genesis, I

•42. Questions and Answers on Genesis, II

•43. Questions and Answers on Genesis, III

•44. Questions and Answers on Exodus, I

•45. Questions and Answers on Exodus, II

•46. Concerning the World

•47. Other Fragments

E. List of the Mishnah’s Orders and Tractates

The Mishnah is organized into 6 orders (sedarim) with a total of 63 tractates (masekhtot):

1. Zeraim (Seeds): Agricultural Law and Blessings

•a. Berakhot

•b. Peah

•c. Demai

•d. Kilayim

•e. Sheviit

•f. Terumot

•g. Maasrot

•h. Maaser Sheni

•i. Challah

•j. Orlah

•k. Bikkurim

2. Moed (Festival): Sabbath and Holidays

•a. Shabbat

•b. Eruvin

•c. Pesachim

•d. Shekalim

•e. Yoma

•f. Sukkah

•g. Beitzah

•h. Rosh Hashanah

•i. Taanit

•j. Megillah

•k. Moed Katan

•l. Chagigah

3. Nashim (Women): Marriage and Vows

•a. Yevamot

•b. Ketubot

•c. Nedarim

•d. Nazir

•e. Sotah

•f. Gittin

•g. Kiddushin

4. Nezikin (Damages): Civil and Criminal Law

•a. Bava Kamma

•b. Bava Metzia

•c. Bava Batra

•d. Sanhedrin

•e. Makkot

•f. Shevuot

•g. Eduyot

•h. Avodah Zarah

•i. Avot

•j. Horayot

5. Kodashim (Holy Things): Sacrifices and Temple Service

•a. Zevachim

•b. Menachot

•c. Chullin

•d. Bekhorot

•e. Arakhin

•f. Temurah

•g. Keritot

•h. Meilah

•i. Tamid

•j. Middot

•k. Kinnim

6. Tohorot (Purities): Ritual Purity

•a. Kelim

•b. Oholot

•c. Negaim

•d. Parah

•e. Tohorot

•f. Mikvaot

•g. Niddah

•h. Makhshirin

•i. Zavim

•j. Tevul Yom

•k. Yadayim

•l. Uktzin

F. List of the Tosefta’s Orders and Tractates

The Tosefta is organized into six orders (sedarim) with a total of 59 tractates (masekhtot):

1. Zeraim (Seeds): Agricultural Law and Blessings

•a. Berakhot

•b. Peah

•c. Demai

•d. Kilayim

•e. Sheviit

•f. Terumot

•g. Maasrot

•h. Maaser Sheni

•i. Challah

•j. Orlah

k. Bikkurim

Note: 11 total; same as Mishnah.

2. Moed (Festival): Sabbath and Holidays

•a. Shabbat

•b. Eruvin

•c. Pesachim (Pisha)

•d. Shekalim

•e. Yoma (Kippurim)

•f. Sukkah

•g. Beitzah (Yom Tov)

•h. Rosh Hashanah

•i. Taanit

•j. Megillah

•k. Moed Katan

l. Chagigah

Note: 12 total; same as Mishnah.

3. Nashim (Women): Marriage and Vows

•a. Yevamot

•b. Ketubot

•c. Nedarim

•d. Nazir

•e. Sotah

•f. Gittin

g. Kiddushin

Note: 7 total; same as Mishnah.

4. Nezikin (Damages): Civil and Criminal Law

•a. Bava Kamma

•b. Bava Metzia

•c. Bava Batra

•d. Sanhedrin

•e. Makkot

•f. Shevuot

•g. Eduyot

•h. Avodah Zarah

i. Horayot

Note: 9 total; no Avot; Avot de-Rabbi Natan is sometimes considered its stand-in.

5. Kodashim (Holy Things): Sacrifices and Temple Service

•a. Zevachim

•b. Menachot

•c. Chullin

•d. Bekhorot

•e. Arakhin

•f. Temurah

•g. Keritot

h. Meilah

Note: 8 total; no Tamid, Middot, or Kinnim.

6. Tohorot (Purities): Ritual Purity

•a. Kelim

•b. Oholot

•c. Negaim

•d. Parah

•e. Tohorot

•f. Mikvaot

•g. Niddah

•h. Makhshirin

•i. Zavim

•j. Tevul Yom

•k. Yadayim

l. Uktzin

Note: 12 total; same as Mishnah.

G. List of the Babylonian Talmud’s Orders and Tractates

The Babylonian Talmud is organized into 6 orders (sedarim) with a total of 37 tractates (masekhtot) containing Bavli Gemara. While the Mishnah contains 63 tractates, the Babylonian Talmud provides full commentary on just 37 of them. Shekalim is listed below as a 38th entry because it appears in printed editions of the Bavli, though its Gemara is drawn from the Jerusalem Talmud.

1. Zeraim (Seeds): Agricultural Law and Blessings

a. Berakhot: Prayers and blessings

Note: The remaining 10 agricultural tractates (Peah, Demai, Kilayim, Sheviit, Terumot, Maaserot, Maaser Sheni, Challah, Orlah, Bikkurim) do not have Gemara in the Babylonian Talmud.

2. Moed (Festival): Sabbath and Holidays

•a. Shabbat: Sabbath restrictions and activities

•b. Eruvin: Property boundaries for Sabbath movement

•c. Pesachim: Passover laws and offerings

•d. Shekalim: Temple dues (Note: The Gemara used here in printed Talmuds is actually from the Jerusalem Talmud.)

•e. Yoma: Yom Kippur rituals and fasting

•f. Sukkah: Sukkot holiday and dwelling rules

•g. Beitzah: Laws governing festival days

•h. Rosh Hashanah: The Jewish New Year and Shofar laws

•i. Taanit: Public fast days

•j. Megillah: Purim and reading the Scroll of Esther

•k. Moed Katan: Rules for intermediate festival days

•l. Chagigah: Festival pilgrimage offerings

3. Nashim (Women): Marriage and Vows

•a. Yevamot: Levirate marriage

•b. Ketubot: Marriage contracts and marriage funds

•c. Nedarim: Vows and their annulment

•d. Nazir: Ascetic Nazirite vows

•e. Sotah: The ritual for a suspected unfaithful wife

•f. Gittin: Bills of divorce

•g. Kiddushin: Betrothal and marriage transactions

4. Nezikin (Damages): Civil and Criminal Law

•a. Bava Kamma: Torts, civil damages, and injuries

•b. Bava Metzia: Disputes over property, business, and wages

•c. Bava Batra: Real estate, inheritance, and partnerships

•d. Sanhedrin: The court systems and criminal justice

•e. Makkot: Rules of punishment and false witnesses

•f. Shevuot: Oaths taken in daily life or court

•g. Avodah Zarah: Laws relating to idolatry and foreign interactions

h. Horayot: Errors made by religious authorities

Note: Eduyot (testimonies) and Avot (ethical teachings) do not have Gemara in the Babylonian Talmud.

5. Kodashim (Holy Things): Sacrifices and Temple Service

•a. Zevachim: Animal offerings in the Temple

•b. Menachot: Meal and grain offerings

•c. Chullin: Secular slaughter and kosher dietary laws

•d. Bekhorot: Sanctification of firstborn animals and humans

•e. Arakhin: Valuations pledged to the Temple

•f. Temurah: Swapping or substituting sacrificial animals

•g. Keritot: Transgressions punishable by spiritual excision

•h. Meilah: Misappropriating sacred Temple property

i. Tamid: The daily morning and evening sacrifices

Note: Middot (Temple dimensions) and Kinnim (bird offerings) do not have Gemara in the Babylonian Talmud.

6. Tohorot (Purities): Ritual Purity

H. List of the Jerusalem Talmud’s Orders and Tractates

The Jerusalem Talmud is organized into 6 orders (sedarim) with a total of 39 tractates (masekhtot) containing Gemara (rabbinic commentary).

1. Zeraim (Seeds): Agricultural Law and Blessings

•a. Berakhot: Blessings and prayers

•b. Peah: Corners of the field for the poor

•c. Demai: Produce of doubtful tithing

•d. Kilayim: Forbidden mixtures

•e. Sheviit: The sabbatical year

•f. Terumot: Priestly heave-offerings

•g. Maasrot: Tithes

•h. Maaser Sheni: The second tithe

•i. Challah: Dough offering

•j. Orlah: Fruit of a tree’s first three years

•k. Bikkurim: First fruits

2. Moed (Festival): Sabbath and Holidays

•a. Shabbat: Laws of the Sabbath

•b. Eruvin: Sabbath boundaries

•c. Pesachim: Passover

•d. Shekalim: Temple dues (Note: has Gemara here, unlike in the Bavli.)

•e. Yoma: Yom Kippur

•f. Sukkah: Feast of Tabernacles

•g. Rosh Hashanah: New Year

•h. Beitzah: Festival laws

•i. Taanit: Fast days

•j. Megillah: Purim/scroll of Esther

•k. Chagigah: Festival offerings

•l. Moed Katan: Intermediate festival days

3. Nashim (Women): Marriage and Vows

•a. Yevamot: Levirate marriage

•b. Ketubot: Marriage contracts

•c. Nedarim: Vows

•d. Nazir: The nazirite vow

•e. Sotah: The suspected adulteress

•f. Gittin: Divorce documents

•g. Kiddushin: Betrothal

4. Nezikin (Damages): Civil and Criminal Law

•a. Bava Kamma: Civil damages

•b. Bava Metzia: Lost property, torts, usury

•c. Bava Batra: Property and inheritance law

•d. Sanhedrin: Courts and criminal law

•e. Makkot: Punishments/lashes

•f. Shevuot: Oaths

•g. Avodah Zarah: Idolatry

•h. Horayot: Erroneous rulings

•5. Kodashim (Holy Things): Sacrifices and Temple Service (Note: No Yerushalmi Gemara survives, or was ever composed.)

6. Tohorot (Purities): Ritual Purity

I. List of Rabbinic Midrashim

The Rabbinic Midrashim are arranged by type: halakhic midrashim by the biblical book they expound, haggadic midrashim by literary character, and later anthologies last. Within each group, works follow canonical or chronological order.

1. Halakhic (Legal) Midrashim

a. On Exodus

•i. Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael on Exodus

•ii. Mekhilta of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai on Exodus

b. On Leviticus

•i. Sifra Leviticus

c. On Numbers

•i. Sifre Numbers

•ii. Sifre Zuta (Numbers) Fragments

d. On Deuteronomy

•i. Sifre Deuteronomy

•ii. Sifre Zuta Deuteronomy (Citations)

•iii. Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael on Deuteronomy (Citations)

2. Haggadic (Narrative) Midrashim

a. Midrash Rabbah

Note: The ten Midrash Rabbah works cover the five books of the Torah and the five Megillot.

•i. Genesis Rabbah

•ii. Exodus Rabbah

•iii. Leviticus Rabbah

•iv. Numbers Rabbah

•v. Deuteronomy Rabbah

•vi. Song of Songs Rabbah

•vii. Ruth Rabbah

•viii. Lamentations Rabbah

•ix. Ecclesiastes Rabbah

•x. Esther Rabbah

b. Homiletical Midrashim

•i. Pesikta de-Rav Kahana

•ii. Pesikta Rabbati

•iii. Tanhuma (Printed and Buber Recensions)

•iv. Tanna debe Eliyahu (Seder Eliyahu Rabbah and Zuta)

c. Exegetical Midrashim on the Writings

•i. Midrash Tehillim (Psalms)

•ii. Midrash Mishlei (Proverbs)

•iii. Midrash Iyyob

•iv. Midrash Samuel

d. Narrative and Chronographic Works

•i. Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer

•ii. Seder Olam Rabbah

•iii. Seder Olam Zutta

•iv. Megillat Antiochus

e. Ethical and Esoteric Works

•i. Avot de-Rabbi Natan

•ii. Alphabet of Rabbi Akiva

f. Tannaitic Baraitot

•i. Baraita on the Thirty-two Rules

•ii. Baraita of the Forty-nine Rules

•iii. Baraita on the Erection of the Tabernacle

3. Later Compilations and Anthologies

•a. Yalkut Shimoni

•b. Midrash ha-Gadol

•c. Yalkut ha-Makhiri

•d. Bereshit Rabbati

•e. Midrash Aggadah

J. List of New Testament Apocryphal Books

1. Apocryphal Gospels

•a. Gospel of Thomas

•b. Egerton Gospel

•c. Gospel of Peter

•d. Gospel of the Hebrews

•e. Gospel of the Nazoreans

•f. Gospel of the Ebionites

•g. Gospel of Marcion (Evangelion)

•h. Protevangelium of James

•i. Gospel of Judas

•j. Gospel of Mary

•k. Gospel of the Egyptians (Sethian)

•l. Infancy Gospel of Thomas

•m. Gospel of Philip

•n. Gospel of Nicodemus (Acts of Pilate)

•o. Gospel of Bartholomew

•p. Infancy Gospel of Matthew (Pseudo-Matthew)

•q. Arabic Infancy Gospel

2. Apocryphal Acts

•a. Acts of Paul (incl. Acts of Paul and Thecla)

•b. Acts of John

•c. Acts of Andrew

•d. Acts of Peter

•e. Acts of Thomas

•f. Acts of Philip

3. Apocryphal Epistles

•a. Epistle to the Alexandrians (Marcionite, lost)

•b. Epistula Apostolorum (Epistle of the Apostles)

•c. 3 Corinthians (embedded in Acts of Paul)

•d. Letter of Peter to Philip

•e. Epistle to the Laodiceans

•f. Correspondence of Paul and Seneca

4. Apocryphal Apocalypses

•a. Apocalypse of Peter

•b. Apocalypse of Adam (Gnostic)

•c. First and Second Apocalypse of James

•d. Apocalypse of Paul (Visio Pauli)

•e. Apocalypse of Thomas

O.k., I think that worked. I guess I’ll see when I hit the “Publish” button.

Yet to come is the collection itself on my LibraryThing account (not yet created). It will take a while to key all the titles into the database. Meanwhile, I’m still shelving the books themselves, and that will take a while, too. Then I’d like to find a way to connect my Logos Bible Software collection to the LibraryThing account. Finally, I’m hoping to do a video walk-through of the physical library itself and post it here.

Everyone needs a vision, right? Even bookworms.

After Action Report

Not bad, although the narrow column width allotted for text by my WordPress theme makes some of the lines wrap, which makes the html document feel a bit crowded at places. Come to think of it, the theme itself is starting to feel a little long in the tooth. Might be time for a new one. That’s a task for another day. Anyway, here is a downloadable version of the html document. It may change a thousand more times by the time the project is finished.

Keystone Theological Library Download

As If I Didn’t Have Enough Irons in the Fire

On August 14, 2026August 14, 2026 By Tim ValentinoIn GeneralLeave a comment

The MyPALs Preschool Ministry at our church has tripled in enrollment over last year, so that wonderful blessing required a reconfiguration of the second floor of Christ Hall as the new school year begins later this month. Long story short, I’m in the process of re-locating my sizable library to a new room on the third floor.

The new layout will work well, and I plan to make the collection available to local folks who wish to use it. Alas, I can read only one book at a time. 🙂 I’ll also be using the LibraryThing app to catalog the titles and integrate them with my Logos Bible Software collection, which has over 10,500 volumes, and my Kindle, which has about 150 works over a dozen or so catgories. It’ll be interesting to see what the total number of hard-copy items turns out to be. We even gave the new library a name and a logo. I’ll do a separate post on it when the project is complete.

Even more laborious than the physical re-location, though, was creating a classification system for all these books and media items. That, too, will be made available here on TNL in due course. The result is somewhere between the Library of Congress categorization scheme and how a typical seminary organizes its holdings, all tailored now to my own personal interests. (For example, I have about 30 books on the JFK assassination and Watergate scandal. Seminaries don’t usually have those sections!)

Anyway, that’s why my posting has been so sparse lately. Through it all, we’ve had fun with our boys. They just left for vacation, and I miss them already.

Our church’s table at the National Night Out event earlier this month. We had lots of inquiries about our preschool.

Samuel and Levi enjoyed the “car train” at National Night Out. Samuel is concentrating on the driving, and Levi is the happy passenger.

We recently took the whole family to a Reading Phillies game. Samuel is learning more about the sport and seems to enjoy it, which makes me very happy.

I caught a squishy ball they fired from a cannon between innings and gave it to Samuel. He was pretty excited about it.

I had to bid farewell to my seminary office during the second-floor reconfiguration project. Looking forward to sharing more about the new library when it’s finished.

Happy Camper

On July 27, 2026July 27, 2026 By Tim ValentinoIn General1 Comment

Howdy, friends. I’m still here! I have the privilege this summer of speaking at three different Christian camps, and I’m in the middle of that adventure right now (on top of regular duties). Such places are notorious for having slow internet connections, so it’s not always easy to post from these locations. Anyway, I just wanted to pop in and say hello. Below are two pictures of the boys on tractors.

Also, a friend from high school recently tracked me down and sent me a copy of the invocation I gave at our high school graduation. (It’s not too bad considering I would meet Jesus later that year as freshman in college!) I have no idea why she had a copy, but I’m glad she did because I don’t think I have one in my archives. Back then, Reading High’s tradition was to have the salutatorian give the opening prayer. (I doubt they still do that.) Enjoy!

High School Graduation Invocation

Pool Daze

On July 8, 2026July 8, 2026 By Tim ValentinoIn GeneralLeave a comment

The sweltering temperatures last week meant we needed to take the boys to the pool. Myerstown has a fun sliding board frog in their baby pool, which they love. They also enjoy the splash pad area that slopes into the big pool, complete with overhead sprinkling devices and a pouring bucket. Since it was Independence Day week, they also wanted to make a Happy Birthday cake for America, which they decorated with colored sugar as exploding fireworks.

Today was much more pleasant, so we went to the community park in Lititz, which they also enjoyed. It was our first time there. Samuel and Levi went on the swings, played in the sandbox, watched the ducks, had a picnic, and got to go inside a real red caboose. The park is lovely, and I’m sure we’ll be going again.

Saturday Smiles

On June 27, 2026June 27, 2026 By Tim ValentinoIn On the Lighter SideLeave a comment

Couldn’t resist sharing this one.

And I suppose if the road ever gets irreparable potholes in it, it was never really paved in the first place.

Runners Up

You’re using your fingers to count through the alphabet, aren’t you? 🙂

Lots of Fun with the Boys of Spring

On June 11, 2026June 11, 2026 By Tim ValentinoIn General1 Comment

It’s been over a month since I posted any pics and vids of Samuel and Levi. Such is life when you’re in wedding, VBS, and new computer mode. But we still get to see them nearly every Wednesday and Friday, and we’re still having a blast with these two wonderful boys. We’re so, so blessed to have them living so close to us, and we’re soaking it all in while they still want to be with us. I’m guessing there’ll come a time when the Friday pizza-movie night/sleepover thing isn’t cool anymore. In any event, here are a few recent captures.

They also love the little pool we just got them.

Someone had his first Ferris wheel ride.

A new Jubilee store opened here in town, so we had to celebrate.

Samuel loves to the pick the garden, but he doesn’t like eating vegetables.

If dirt is involved, Samuel and Levi are willing to help.

Yesterday’s storm was another opportunity to have fun.

Back to Dissertating

On June 10, 2026June 10, 2026 By Tim ValentinoIn General2 Comments

Now that Drew is married off, VBS is almost over, and I have a new computer that works, I can finally get back to dissertating. Yes, my 2019 MacBook Pro bit the dust, so I had to replace it. But this new 2026 MacBook Pro M5 sizzles, and I’m loving it so far. (Two weeks ago, our HP printer that we had since 2016 bit the dust, too. The new one is an HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 3301. That’s a wonderful tool as well, and it produces the sharpest copies we’ve ever made in our home office.)

The main challenge in setting up the new laptop was that I did it from scratch. Not wanting to transfer any bloatware or corruption via the migration assistant, I just took the time needed to reinstall all my apps and reset all my settings. Glad that’s over! The other challenge is that I lost some of my old music. Not sure why, but I’ve had that problem before. Apple Music/iTunes is dreadful when it comes to merging old libraries into a new one, and if I had a massive collection, I would bark about it. Thankfully, I only lost a handful of albums. Alas, they were some of my Enya favorites, so I’ll be replacing those tracks, going all the way back to the beginning.

The main challenge in my current dissertation chapter is having to learn enough Akkadian to be functional. (Last summer it was Sumerian.) I now know enough to be dangerous. It’s a cuneiform language, which is quite interesting to study and observe in action. I never realized how useful it would be, though, to learn cognate languages to help nail down some Hebrew words that don’t have a lot of currency in the First Testament. So, that makes a total of 18 languages beyond English that now that appear in this tome. Yeah, it’s kind of crazy, but I love my topic, and I’m still having a blast researching it.

Enjoy life while I go back down the mine shaft for a while. Hopefully I’ll find some gold nuggets to share with everyone in due course. Be blessed! 💙 💙 💙

Parent Dances

On May 30, 2026May 30, 2026 By Tim ValentinoIn GeneralLeave a comment

I still need to gather the main wedding pictures, but here are two shots from the parent dances at the second reception. Andrew and An both work at Sight and Sound, so their co-workers couldn’t attend a Saturday reception. That’s why the bride and groom decided to have a second reception on Sunday. That fit well with their Lord of the Rings theme. (You’ve heard of “second breakfast,” right?)

An and her dad Phil danced to “Daddy’s Little Angel” by Tony Carter. (She is seen below in her reception dress; her wedding dress was stunning and elegant.) Drew and Sonya danced to “What a Wonderful World” by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss, sung by Louis Armstrong.

Andrew and An

On May 24, 2026May 30, 2026 By Tim ValentinoIn General2 Comments

On Saturday, May 23, 2026, I had the honor of giving the “Pastoral Message to the Bride and Groom” at my son’s wedding on a Scripture passage of the their choosing. They chose 1 Corinthians 13. Their “Lord of the Rings” themed wedding and reception were as unique as they are.

Andrew and An, your big day is finally here, and there’s nowhere that we as your family and friends would rather be than right here celebrating it with you. An, you are a stunning bride. I think we all gasped when you entered the sanctuary today. You’re a beautiful woman—inside and out. Sonya and I are so thrilled to have you become part of our family today. Our desire is to be your cheerleader and friend as long as God gives us life and breath.

We’ve been praying for this day for a long time. In fact, when it was clear we needed to get Sonya to the hospital years ago, we first stopped by the empty crib and prayed not only for our new child, but also for the future spouse—whoever that might be. And here you stand today as the answer to that prayer, and many others we prayed over the years. God is good—amen?

Andrew, you clean up pretty well, too. You’re a different kind of stunning—but stunning, nonetheless. And you’re still my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Your mother and I couldn’t be prouder of who you are and who you’re becoming.

And I know that Phil and Lien have been praying for you for a long time, too, long before they knew who you were. They’re thrilled that you’re becoming part of their family today, too. And here you stand today as the answer to their prayers for An.

So, [to An:] Sonya and I prayed for you, and [to Andrew:] Phil and Lien prayed for you, and [to the congregation:] we leave it to you wise discernment to figure out which of us has the better prayer life!

Actually, it’s not about us at all. It’s about God and his goodness to two people he dearly loves. And one of the best definitions we have of love is found in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul’s masterpiece that you asked me to comment on today. It’s often read at weddings, which is interesting because the context of the passage is not really about marriage at all.

It’s about a church family that wasn’t getting along very well, and they needed to be reminded of what love looks like when relationships become difficult. Well, sometimes the relationship between a husband and wife can become difficult, too. And so, this passage does have application when it comes to marriage. In fact, in a broken world like ours, all relationships will struggle at times, so really, this is a message for all of us today—whether we’re married or not.

Paul begins by saying, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. In other words: Without love, it doesn’t matter what we SAY. “Talk is cheap,” says Paul, “if it’s not backed up by action.” Now, certainly, the words we say to each other are important, but words without love just make us sound like a one-piece band, and that one piece is only a cymbal. It’s hard to make good music with just a crash and a clang. Without love, it doesn’t matter what we say.

Paul goes on, “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” In other words: Without love, it doesn’t matter what we KNOW. The cliché is true: people don’t care how much we know until they know how much we care. And without this kind of caring love, says Paul, we are nothing. All our education and degrees and intellectual gifts mean nothing when love is missing. Without love, it doesn’t matter what we know

Paul continues: “If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” In other words: Without love, it doesn’t matter what we DO. Imagine that! Paul says we can give away all we possess to the poor and needy, and even die as a martyr, but if we didn’t do it in love for the other person, we get nothing. And right there, Paul deals a death blow to the kind of fanaticism that would take up arms against other people, or be hostile toward them, in the name of God. “No!” says Paul. Without love, it doesn’t matter what we do.

It’s an amazing claim, and it applies to marriage because spouses can sometimes get crossways with each other. They sometimes don’t see eye-to-eye. That won’t ever happen with you two, but just in case it does, we should probably talk about these things.

Paul then turns to a positive definition of love. The Greek word—as you well know—is agape, which is God’s kind of love. Paul writes: “Agape love is patient, and kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.”

Those are lofty words. And very challenging. They’re words that tell us love is not just a warm, fuzzy feeling; it’s a firm, fixed commitment. It’s not so much a state of being (“I’m in love”); it’s a verb (“I will love”), and it requires much effort. When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that may be amore, but it’s not agape. Amore love says, “I will love you if.” Agape love says, “I will love you even if.”

In fact, Paul is saying here that the circumstances that bring out the reality of true love in a relationship are not always easy circumstances, but hard ones! For example:

It’s when you see your spouse’s weaknesses and irritating qualities emerge that true love is patient and kind.

It’s when the limelight falls on your spouse instead of you that true love does not envy.

It’s after your wise counsel is rejected by your spouse, maybe even with serious consequence, that true love does not boast.

It’s when spousal apologies need to be made that true love is not proud.

It’s in the heat of a spousal disagreement that true love is not rude.

It’s in a time of family needs or crises when true love is not self-seeking.

It’s in the time of disappointment with each other that true love is not easily angered.

It’s in the time of personal offense that true love keeps no record of wrongs.

It’s in the midst of job frustration, low bank accounts, bad cooking, leaky roofs, screaming babies, changing body types, aging skin, and seasons of change that agape love never fails.

Shakespeare said it well:

Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O no, it is an ever-fixèd mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand’ring bark
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.

A lofty sentiment—and a very challenging one to live out. Every married couple will tell you that agape love is hard work. But they will also tell you, it can be done. And it can be done well—with much joy and great delight over the years. And since love is God’s idea—and who God is—he will help you when you look to him.

And when you do look to him for help with agape love, what will you find? You’ll find Jesus—who gave us the greatest love story the world has ever known. Even greater than Aragorn and Arwen in Lord of the Rings. We know you’re both fans of that epic fantasy. Arwen gives up her Elvish immortality to be with Aragorn, choosing to “share one lifetime” with him rather than facing the ages of the world without him.

We know where Tolkien got that idea, don’t we? “Greater love has no one than this,” said Jesus, “that he lay down his life for another.” And that’s exactly what Jesus did. On the cross, he sacrificed himself for us. That’s agape. He went to Mount Doom for us, dying as us and for us—taking our death to himself, and then rising again on the third day. In doing so, he gave believers eternal life with him forever, and abundant life with him now. He showed us what agape love truly looks like.

“God is love,” said the Apostle John. “Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” When we live in love, we experience God—and in the process, we show the world what Jesus Christ is really like.

Without love, it doesn’t matter what we say.
Without love, it doesn’t matter what we know.
Without love, it doesn’t matter what we do.

But with love, we will joyfully go the distance with each other. You will joyfully go the distance with each other. And so, in the hauntingly beautiful words of Enya from Lord of the Rings:

May it be when darkness falls
Your heart will be true…
May it be, the shadow’s call will fly away
May it be, you journey on to light the day
When the night is overcome
You may rise to find the sun.

And in the end, we pray that Jesus Christ himself will be the Lord of your rings that you exchange this day—your big day that we get to share with you. God bless you both, now and always. We love you.

Amen.

After the pastoral message, Sonya sang “How Beautiful” by Twila Paris, a song that goes way back but nicely captures the deep affection Jesus has for his bride, the church. And if Drew’s look at An during the ceremony is an indication, Jesus really loves his bride.

Capturing the Moment

On May 22, 2026 By Tim ValentinoIn General2 Comments

Bethany tonight honored her brother and (soon-to-be) sister-in-law with a wonderful speech at the rehearsal dinner. She did it with a nice blend of fun memories, real-life insights, and heartfelt encouragement. I think she did a marvelous job “capturing the moment.”

Hello everyone. If you don’t know me, my name is Bethany, and I have the pleasure of being Andrew’s sister. I’m so thankful to be standing here tonight for this very special moment that we’ve waited for for a long … long … long … long time.

If you know Andrew, you know his creative passion for filmmaking. Because Andrew discovered this passion at a fairly young age, he has been able to do something really special for his friends and family over the years, and that is he’s been able to capture the moment.

Andrew has done such a great job capturing all the wonderful moments in our lives, so tonight I would like to help capture the moment we are in right now. The eve of the day we get to watch these dearly loved people get married and begin their journey through God’s greatest blessing of marriage.

Now, not all of our moments have been captured on camera, so tonight I want to help capture the moment by sharing some moments that weren’t. As you can imagine, growing up with Andrew was certainly an adventure. And if you didn’t know, before Andrew dated An, he never had a girlfriend.

And we have this theory in our family as to why Andrew never had a girlfriend. For most of his adolescence, Andrew really was not boyfriend material. He just wasn’t. And that’s because Andrew has always been husband material.

So, for example, Andrew might not have been great boyfriend material because as a child he was a little…aloof. The kind of aloof that gets you caught in a situation with a police costume he used to have. Somehow while playing with said police costume, Andrew got his ankles handcuffed together … and he had lost the key. All while only wearing … only underwear.

I have this image burned into by brain of Andrew’s feet handcuffed together, him wearing my dad’s t-shirt, while we scoured the front yard looking for the missing key to his handcuffs. I honestly can’t even remember how we got him out of those things. So maybe Andrew wasn’t quite boyfriend material since he was slightly aloof. But he definitely is husband material.

Also in our childhood, I had a season of time that I had bad nightmares. Andrew, in his great creativity and compassion, designed an intricate “bad dream catcher” for my room, made out of strings and laundry baskets and all sorts of things. He had a very detailed explanation for how this bad dream catcher worked and would help get rid of my bad dreams.

Yes, Andrew is husband material because he will always find a way to help you, An. He will come up with a solution to help and protect you in your fears and always wish you sweet dreams.

In our teenage years, Andrew still hadn’t become boyfriend material yet. Andrew had a really great group of guy friends in our youth group at church that he spent time with. My parents hosted an incredible amount of sleepovers in those years. Sometimes for Andrew and his friends to stay up all night drinking Mountain Dew and playing video games, and sometimes for me to have my friends to sleepover and stay up all night watching chick-flicks and talking about those boys in the youth group.

One night, the group of guys found out the girls were having a sleepover. As my girlfriends and I were in the basement watching a movie, Andrew thought it would be a great idea to mess with us. We had a walkout basement with a sliding glass door beneath out wooden deck above. So, Andrew and his friends proceeded to hang his paintball mask from the deck so we could see it through the glass door … and light it on fire. Andrew wasn’t boyfriend material yet because he was much more concerned with scaring the living daylights out of girls instead of impressing them.

However, that same teenage boy was also the boy that literally took someone who had nowhere to go. Andrew had a friend from school that had an incredibly tough home life and was no longer welcome in his home. Andrew invited that boy to live with us and walked through those years with him—all the way through graduation. Andrew is husband material because he is faithful and loyal and a real friend. He will be faithful and loyal to you, An, and he will be the best friend you could ask for.

By the time Andrew arrived at young adulthood, he still was not quite at boyfriend material. On one occasion, he tried to go to the Berkshire Mall in Reading. Somehow, he got lost along the way and wound up in Delaware. Still aloof.

However, once again he proved that he was definitely husband material. Like most college students, Andrew didn’t have a whole lot of money. But when a friend experienced some significant medical problems, Andrew emptied his bank account to pay their bills. Andrew will be a great husband to you, An, because he will give you everything he has without a second thought. He will love you sacrificially and wholly.

So, as we capture this moment now, I am thankful for where we are right here in this moment. Because today makes it all make sense—why Andrew wasn’t boyfriend material before. It’s because he hadn’t yet met An. Andrew wasn’t boyfriend material for anyone else. It was always supposed to be An. Because together, they truly are a perfect match.

And I know, like I’ve always known, that Andrew is going to be a wonderful husband to An because An is absolutely, positively, without a doubt, wife material. She is kind and patient and encouraging and sweet and thoughtful. Andrew will be a great husband because An is going to be a great wife, and, together, their marriage will certainly glorify the Lord.

So, if you can capture this moment in your mind, before your lives change forever tomorrow—in the best way possible, I want to say that this moment is capture-worthy. And I am so glad it’s here.

So, blessings to you, Andrew and An. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight” … and your marriage great.

‘I now pronounce you…’

On May 16, 2026May 16, 2026 By Tim ValentinoIn General4 Comments

Lord willing, one week from today I will get to say these wonderful words after giving a brief wedding homily for my beloved son in whom I am well pleased and his lovely bride:

“And now, Andrew and An, by the authority vested in me ~~by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and~~ as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I now pronounce you husband and wife. What God has therefore joined together, let no one ever separate.” *

“Andrew, you may kiss your wife.”

💋

“Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great please to introduce to you for the very first time: Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Valentino.”

At that moment, I will get a daughter-in-law, and then we’ll go celebrate with a marvelous reception filled with food, fun, and a few surprises.

Welcome to the family, An. You are God’s gift to all of us.

The countdown is on, and the excitement is growing.

* Since the state has defied God’s definition of marriage, I no longer refer to it in the pronouncement.

Making Mud, Making Memories

On May 9, 2026May 9, 2026 By Tim ValentinoIn GeneralLeave a comment

We took the boys to the Myerstown Park earlier this week for a picnic lunch. Afterward—did they want to go play on the swings? No. That’s always something they enjoy doing, but two other things piqued their interest more than the mulched and manicured playground set.

First, they had to explore the massive mud puddles by the pavilion. (It’s nearly an obsession with these two.) And second, they had to go play by the pond. There were fish, ducks, rocks, and sticks that needed their attention. And mud.

When Samuel and Levi got here last night for Pizza-Movie Night, they “helped” me with a project in the backyard. You guessed it—more mud. This time they created the puddle with my hose. I’m putting decorative rocks on either side of the path that connects our two patios—one off the side of the house and one off the primary bedroom. I finished one side so far, and I’m happy with how it turned out. Micah and Bethany got me ground solar lights for my birthday, and it inspired me to create a special strip to put them in.

During much of the time I was working, I was thinking about the recent death of a gal I graduated with from high school. Lung cancer is what took her in the end, though she never smoked. Tiff was pleasant and kind—a majorette in the marching band. She was sharp in math, too. We were seated next to each other in AP Calculus, and she aced nearly all her tests. She went on to become a civil engineer and then worked in Virginia for a defense contractor. It’s sobering to think the clock is ticking for all of us.

That’s why I’m drinking in every delicious moment with the boys, and I’m looking forward to Andrew’s wedding in two weeks. He and his fiancé asked me to do the wedding message and the pronouncement. That second request wasn’t very wise on their part. It means they’re not married until I say they’re married. 🙂

The boys are coming back tomorrow night for a little Mother’s Day celebration here at the house. I’m guessing somehow there will be more mud involved.

Only one life, twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

C. T. Studd

Micah to the Rescue

On April 27, 2026April 27, 2026 By Tim ValentinoIn General1 Comment

What do you do Saturday afternoon when you know your laryngitis isn’t going clear up by Sunday morning, and you have to teach Sunday school, run a worship service, and preach a sermon? You send out word to all your usual pulpit supply contacts for backup. But what if they all have prior commitments and can’t fill in, or don’t see your desperate communications in time?

That was the situation this past weekend as the countdown to Sunday morning grew shorter. I happened to mention the challenge to my daughter Bethany by text, and she said, “Maybe Micah could do it. He’s been working on a message.” Long story short, I took her up on the offer. Micah did a Maundy Thursday devotional at our church a few years ago, and it was very well done. I’ve also been in enough Bible studies with him to know how well he handles the Word.

So, my son-in-law Micah White preached his (first ever) sermon at Christ Community Church yesterday. It was wonderful. He also played the guitar in our Praise Team since our regular guitarist was on vacation. He just slipped right in there like he’s always been part of the team.

It seems like this multi-talented man is always saving my bacon, in more ways than one. While it may be true that I recently graduated from “mechanical idiot” to “mechanical novice,” I still need Micah’s help from time to time when it comes to assorted issues with my car, lawn tractor, electricity, etc.

He’s extremely well rounded, and he always helps out in a kind a gracious way, never making me feel ridiculous because I don’t know how to fix something. It’s truly amazing how many gifts God has given this young man. Maybe even more amazing is the fruit of the Spirit he so consistently display.

Micah’s sermon was titled, “Bad Gardener, Gracious God,” and it traced the major occurrences of garden imagery in Scripture, front to back. His approach was what we practitioners call “biblical theology,” and he did it extremely well. He asked for feedback early Sunday morning on his manuscript, and I didn’t have much to offer since he covered all the bases so well.

Best of all, Micah loves Jesus, takes care of my daughter, and is knocking it out of the park when it comes to the fathering the two most adorable munchkins on the planet, Samuel and Levi. How blessed we are to have Micah be part of the family.

Circle of Life

On April 18, 2026April 18, 2026 By Tim ValentinoIn GeneralLeave a comment

Here’s a random picture dump since Easter. The bright yellow daffs have come and gone. Then the flowering cherry tree popped and petered out. Then the multi-colored tulips erupted, only to begin their fade into eleven months of obscurity. But I just started planting the new garden because it’s that time of year again, and because hope springs eternal. It’s the circle of life, and it moves us all, right?

The ladies are all out of town at An’s bridal shower today, and Andrew is off to his bachelor party. I kept Samuel and Levi myself last night, and we all went out to breakfast together after last night’s wonderful pizza-movie night.

I got to see “A Great Awakening” two weeks ago, Sight & Sound’s second major film. It’s the story of Benjamin Franklin’s interaction with George Whitefield two centuries ago. I spotted Andrew twice and Sonya three times along the way. Living in the same house with two movie stars is dreadful, but the film is well worth seeing. 🙂 You know for sure that most of the people in the production are local when everybody sits there to watch the credits.

Speaking of Sight & Sound, I got to see Joshua this past Thursday. That production is also worth seeing. The walls of Jericho came down, and Christ was lifted up. Several lines and moments got me right in the feels. Afterward, we got another back-stage tour, and we got to see some new areas this time. It’s like a small city back there.

Last but not least, Enya’s “Fallen Embers” is routinely said to be one of her fans’ most underrated pieces. I think the fans may be right. Happy weekend.

“I Have Seen the Lord” (John 20:10-18)

On April 11, 2026April 11, 2026 By Tim ValentinoIn SermonsLeave a comment

The story of Mary Magdalene meeting Jesus at the empty tomb is found only in John’s Gospel. Everything about it corresponds to human nature as we know it. A weeping woman lingers by an empty tomb, wondering what has happened to the body of the one she loved. When Jesus appears on site, she doesn’t recognize that it’s him. After she does realize it’s the Lord, she grips his feet so tightly that he needs to tell her to let him go. The scene ends with the mourner becoming a missionary—running to tell others that she has seen Jesus alive.

In many ways, Mary represents all of us. The risen Christ cares about our pain. He’s present even in our darkest hour, and he doesn’t let our despair go unchallenged. The risen Christ also knows us personally. He calls us by name and always gives us what we need the most, including hope beyond the grave. Finally, the risen Christ redirects our priorities. He wants us to share him with others, not keep him to ourselves. He also cares more about grace than our status in the world.

It’s often been said that Mary Magdalene was last at the cross and first at the tomb. That’s a high honor that can’t be said about any of the men who followed Jesus. She was the first to see Jesus alive and the first to hear his voice, thus becoming an apostle to the apostles. A formerly demonized woman, Mary had been changed by Jesus. You can be, too. Indeed, the story of the risen Christ can change your story—forever.

Sermon Resources:

I Have Seen the Lord (Outline)Download

I Have Seen the Lord (PowerPoint)Download