Do you intuit or do you reason? How you figure out math problems and answer essay questions might predict whether you believe in god. Story. Publication.

I'll gladly get everyone a copy of this book if you all want to read it together: Simply Jesus. Due out at the end of October. Or I'll get copies of this book if we want to read together: The Challenge of Jesus. Probably my favorite N.T. Wright book that I've read. Just an offer. I'm sure I'll be reading the Simply Jesus book when it comes out and I'd love to share The Challenge of Jesus book with everyone I know. Christina's reading The Meaning of Jesus, another good book. The rest of you are more than welcome to join in.

Not sure where we want to go from here, but here are a couple things:

This is the world into which Jesus was born: Second Temple Judaism (and more and more). To understand the New Testament, I think it's helpful to at least know the phrase "Second Temple Judaism." This time period in Israel's history shows through in Jesus' ministry, his goals, how his followers viewed him, and may even be helpful to understanding why he died.

And this last point is an interesting one (I think) that probably isn't explored enough, and one that might be helpful for us to get into the history and culture of Jesus' time:

Why was Jesus killed?

Ever given this any thought? I'm interested to hear.