Bøker av Margaret Barker

The Great Lady of the Jerusalem temple was a defining presence in the religion of ancient Israel, yet she has been almost erased from the official biblical narrative. Only in recent years have her eclipse, and her shadowy enduring presence, been noticed and understood. In a diligent but daring and incisive approach to texts and material evidence, Margaret Barker begins a comprehensive restoration of the Lady's story.As Barker has shown in her earlier books, a drive to expel the Lady, revered as Mother of the Davidic kings, culminated in King Josiah's purge in 623 BCE. Moses and the Law became central for the post-exilic faithful; Enochic voices called them the apostate generation; and the Hebrew Scriptures were edited by their scribes. Memories remained, but have been identified as later additions. In this volume Barker shows the Lady and herSon hidden beneath the rewritten Scriptures. Her devotees, Isaiah and his disciples, fled to 'Arabia'.They preserved her ways and wisdom.These Melchizedek priests were Matthew's Magi with symbols of their temple.The Lady's most faithful son was Jesus of Nazareth, who restored the older faith.The Lady's ancient titles appear in Christian hymns to Mary, the Mother of God. The New Testament is in fact the Older Testament.The Great Lady: Restoring her Story is the second volume in a trilogy. It reveals the Lady in the Book of Revelation giving birth to her Son in the temple, and how her teaching underlies the Beatitudes. The first volume The Mother of the Lord was published in 2012. A third volume, The Oracle Page, will show how some newly-discovered leadbooks encode the older world of the Lady and her Son.

Whereas most scholarship has concentrated upon the synagogue, Margaret Barker's work on the Jerusalem temple contributes to our understanding of the meaning and importance of many elements of Christian liturgy which have hitherto remained obscure. This book opens up a new field of research.

What did "Son of God," "Messiah," and "Lord," mean to the first Christians when they used these words to describe their beliefs about Jesus? In this book Margaret Barker explores the possibility that, in the expectations and traditions of first-century Palestine, these titles belonged together, and that the first Christians fit Jesus' identity...

Margaret Barker traces the veneration of the Mother of the Lord back to the Old Testament and a female deity in the first Jewish temple.

The book starts with background chapters on the Jews, Moses, the King in the Old Testament, and moves on to the King in the New Testament (apart from John) and then reaches its main focus on the Gospel of John.

According to Margaret Barker, temple mysticism underpins much of the Bible. Rooted in the cult of the first temple in ancient Judaism, it helps us to understand the origins of Christianity. Barker first examines biblical texts: Isaiah, the prophet whom Jesus quoted more than any other in Scripture, and John, and then non-biblical texts.

This text is an approach to the Book of Revelation. It illuminates the formative years of Christianity, in the social, religious and political situation of mid-first-century Palestine.

Explores the nature of the Christmas stories and the nature and use of Old Testament prophecy. Beginning with John's account, this book includes Luke and Matthew, the apocryphal gospels, and the traditions of the Coptic Church, to throw light upon wise men and their gifts, the character of Herod, and Matthew's use of prophecy.

Contributes a characteristically Christian voice to contemporary theological debates on the environment. This book deals with such arguments as, 'But the New Testament says nothing about this', and establishes the general principles of a Christian view of Creation.

Covers topics such as the Jerusalem temple, the Enoch traditions (the role of theosis - the human becoming divine - which is central to Orthodox theology, the original meaning of the Son of God and the role of Knowledge/wisdom in all this); the High Priesthood; the "Revelation" - the coming of the Kingdom; and more.

For a long time, scholarship has been seeking the origins of Christian worship in the synagogue. This book traces the roots of Christian worship back to the Jewish temple. It covers baptism, in theology and practice, the Eucharist, with emphasis on the symbolism of the elements, the significance of music and hymns, and festivals and pilgrimage.

In this text, Margaret Barker puts recent archaeological discoveries in context by explaining the theological background. It sheds light on Old Testament theology, Christian and Jewish liturgy and Jesus' own relationship to the Temple.