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I used this book for my seminary course in systematic theology: https://www.amazon.ca/Christian-Theology-Introduction-Alister-McGrath/dp/1444335146
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I thought that it was a relatively balanced introduction to the wide array of theological customs in the Church.
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As for tribulations (Allah speaks in the "royal we", i.e., the "majestic plural):
>And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a diminution of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient, Who, when disaster strikes them, say, "Indeed we belong to Allah , and indeed to Him we will return." —Qur'an 2:155-156
As for the Hereafter:
>By the God in whose hands is my soul, there will be a time when the gates of hell will be closed and watercress will grow therein. —Hadith of the prophet Muhammad
Here's another source:
>Prophet Muhammad taught us, "But as for him whose scales (of good deeds) are light. Hell will be his mother (Quran 101:9-10)." Like a fetus goes through the stages of physical maturation in a mother's womb, a guilty soul passes through the stages of spiritual maturation in hell, according to many Muslims, until they are cleansed. Hell in Islam is therefore a penitentiary.
>A penitentiary designed to be vacant one day. Prophet Muhammad said, "Verily a day would come over hell when there shall not be a single human being in it" (Kanzul Ummal Vol. VII, page 245). Another tradition goes as far as, "A time will come when no one will be left in Hell; winds will blow and the windows and doors of Hell will make a rattling noise on account of the blowing winds." (Tafsir-ul-Maalam-ul-Tanzil under verse Hud:107) —Islam's Understanding Of Hell
In attempting to back up the view that hell is not eternal, I just chanced on a YouTube video that talks about this. I think it shows all the various opinions on this matter:
I'm afraid that I don't have the time that is necessary for the many questions that need be asked here. For instance: In what theological tradition are you working? Whose methodology does your instructor expect you to make use of? &c.
However, if it at all applies to you and your education, there is a wonderful little collection of essays put out by a number of the leading voices in Reformed theology (Peter Leithart, James Jordan, Douglas Wilson, John Barach, et al.), simply called The Federal Vision. Here is the WorldCat entry and a link to the Amazon page.
https://www.amazon.com/Federal-Vision-Steve-Wilkins/dp/0975391402
General Overview: <em>A Scholastic Miscellany: Anselm to Ockham</em>
Anselm: Anselm of Canterbury: The Major Works
Abelard: Ethics
Aquinas: Summa of the Summa
Don't know what your goal is but if you are looking to read all the writings of the church fathers you are in for a pretty daunting task.
I always recommend McGrath https://www.amazon.com/Christian-Theology-Introduction-Alister-McGrath/dp/1118869575.
Not sure what you mean by "all of both" here... most Bibles you can buy in English will either be Protestant Bibles, with 66 books (39 OT, 27 NT), or Catholic Bibles with 7 more books in the OT, plus additions to a couple of the other books, and a NT identical to the Protestant one. The vast majority of Christians worldwide would consider one or the other of these to be "all" the OT and NT. Some branches of Eastern/Oriental Orthodox Christianity have their own variations on the Old Testament (the Ethiopian Orthodox Church has the most at 54 books), but the 27-book New Testament is almost universally accepted. Nearly all Jews will consider the 39-book "Protestant" arrangement to be "all" the OT. Mormons and some other large Christian offshoots will use the Protestant Old and New Testaments but add other books.\ \ tl;dr if you want a single volume with all the books that any Bible-based tradition considers part of the Old or New Testaments, and no other books, I don't think it exists. The closest you can get is buying an Ethiopian Orthodox Bible and a Catholic Bible, that will get you all of them with the fewest volumes. If you're OK with including some books that no current tradition considers canonical, this thing seems to contain all the relevant books, but adds the Didache and Josephus's The Jewish War, neither of which are considered primary canon by any tradition of which I am aware.\ \ Hope this helps.
The reason I mentioned the 40 days was not to deal with translation of the OT by the NT writers, but the meaning about Christ. There are some 20 citations in Acts that would be the earliest from that 40 day training that were about what Christ was, had accomplished and was enthroned, which is why I wrote:
Can you recommend any textbooks to someone with no background in theology? Was originally going to study computer science but I'm gauging my interest in studying theology seriously at a university. In case knowing helps, I was raised Lutheran but am more interested in catholic theology at this point.
I found this one in a syllabus for a course at Loyola University in Chicago, but I imagine a syllabus for an intro course at Cambridge would list another text.
I had originally posted this (in full):
>/u/koine_lingua,
>I have not. Read Jones' that is.
>This might interest you:
>"Consciousness and The Interface Theory of Perception, Donald Hoffman ":
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqDP34a-epI
as the first reply here: /r/FaithandScience/comments/2agsu4/has_anyone_read_jones_for_the_glory_of_god_the/ciw4mg8 . But it was deleted. I hope that it will remain "findable" from here:
/r/askphilosophy/comments/226fqg/is_anyone_aware_of_an_argument_catastrophic_to/ciw5san
and here:
"Howison's Limits":
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/lilasquad/GLHdhQg9Dgw
thusly,
many thanks.
Grace,
/u/VerbalNinja,
Redux.:?:
Q: "I may be antiwanted in this sub, but can you layman this up for 'clarify'?."
apriori_a:
one: "with complete authority of RMP + tRUE! +: and w/ no further adieu <clap clap clap>: Fwd: "[OFFLINE:]"Get ready for "it" (eternallyperfectlyboundedly)Reduxxable Fwd: the highest, most fulfilled, and awakened mind therefore attained: Re: I~am apriori cxmplxplura Re:": https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/lilasquad/cl05d2CSaXg
zed: "with complete authority of RMP + tRUE! +: and w/ no further adieu <clap clap clap>: Fwd: "[OFFLINE:]"Get ready for "it" (eternallyperfectlyboundedly)Reduxxable Fwd: the highest, most fulfilled, and awakened mind therefore attained: Re: I~am apriori cxmplxplura Re:": https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rp-discuss/cl05d2CSaXg
$!mPL3 "invitations".
Come or no, I find no Ultimate position to criticize.
Jealousy's "da ugliest", and you "better" 'wear "it 'out'"'. {Or worse.}
/u/scchristoforou,
I haven't "done my homework" on You yet. (I do habitually "get to it"; the price ofF "I contribute\e;".)
Sh*t.
I contribute;
Thought of y=this when I saw Obama on the news, talkin' about workin' the night shift when young money was young, quippin "... and watching some 'Sports Center' too, thinking it was good for their education, cause - 'you know' - they should be well-rounded."
From your bare question, then:
(do you espeakee any xpanish?)
>"Objectively speaking:1P+-5G.D. Skutvik,"
>"Mad Congrats to both 4P+-3G.D. Por2gaal, and migo 1P+-2G.D. Ghana"
>"no surprise when this came on Copa Time."
>"If now isn't the time for the world to lovingly say goodbye to an ol' underdog, if you can't be happy for the U.S. in our recent loss, dat shit clitbroken. I was a traiter if I couldn't find a way to do her rightly. Proper Goal order: Por2gaal, 4lxm4n^i4, Ghana, Por2gaal.
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/lilasquad/XLTy6WbF9Y4/ncloljhXS0IJ
My personal advice would be to start here. Christian Theology: An Introduction https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0089VT6A2/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_F7XPCHQ799YCKN5KANN7?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Alternatively, start with something you are interested in. What part of Christianity excites you? Study the history of that.
Have you been reading or listening to Michael Heiser?? Hahaha
The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible https://www.amazon.com/dp/1683592719/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_navT_a_8PFWS7BVG98DKRE321X8
Romans 14 was more about acceptance of those who were in The Body of Christ.
>I can think of lots of examples: slavery, interracial marriage, witch trials, the Inquisition, women in church leadership, the relationship of science to faith...
In mentioning those things, who has most been demonized in an academic setting around 2018 or so? Christians by non-Christians or those who have been luciferian, believing they have had the light outside of God? Those that didn't really care to learn seek God and learn about those topics?
Witches, for example, have been real. Wicca was a religion that came out of the Golden Dawn, an Occult group that helped produce Crowley. Wiccans have been known as modern day Witches. Wiccans have believed in a mother goddess with a goat headed consort. A Witch was known as a "Concubine of Satan."
Within a Church, even more traditional or conservative Churches, have there been unrepentant sinners who did not confess their sin, nor repent, of being in sexual sins? It could be something like a Presbyterian youth minister who believed that sex outside of marriage was acceptable. He didn't know who he was ending up with on match.com. He was a blind man. (Ezekiel 12:6)(Proverbs 20:12)(Matthew 13:15)
Tolerance within the Body of Christ may have started with someone repenting and being accepted by God. They are growing in Faith. Did Non-Christians believe their views and opinions mattered in the running of the Body of Christ like Disney buying ESPN and working to project its politics? No Tolerance.
This book is entirely about Nicea: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MPXOV9G/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
It is written using only Primary sources. It goes into detail about what Nicea was and what the people who were there wrote about it. It goes into detail about the writings which lead up to it.
Once you examine the actual events of Nicea, the events leading up to it, etc. the Da Vinci Code becomes obvious fiction cherry picking and distorting what was said and what actually happened.
Earl Doherty completely dismantles Bart Ehrman's book "Did Jesus Exist?" in his book The End of an Illusion.
Just finished reading “Reading Moses Seeing Jesus”, if the link is allowed see below, which is the best single “go here first” resource I’ve read on this topic in 40 years. If one has Kindle, at least grab the free sample which is very generous. Written by two converted Christians of Jewish heritage. https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Moses-Seeing-Jesus-fulfills-ebook/dp/B010QBBPRY
Your question is a good one with a 2000 year old history, still poorly treated in churches of all stripes. My group is currently going through Galatians again. Needs to be read over and over though it is more confusing than it should have been, and Paul could have “fixed” it with just a few words of careful term-definition. We cannot afford to lay hands on any part of The Law as Christian doctrine, for fear of obligating ourselves to the whole tarbaby.
Rereading Paul TogetherRereading Paul Together: Protestant and Catholic Perspectives on Justification (edited by David E. Aune) is an excellent resource for the ongoing dialogue on Paul generally (with some emphasis on works).
Similarly, Mark Reasoner's Romans in Full Circle: A History of Interpretation puts the development of interpretation of Paul throughout the centuries into plain view for the reader.
Before the era of Trump, Peter J. Leithart offered a similar critique in his 2012 book <em>Between Beast and Babel: America and Empires in Biblical Perspective.</em>
Revelation: Four Views by Steve Gregg is a decent way to get acquainted with the 4 main views (futurism, preterism, historicism, and idealism). For historicism I recommend Albert Barnes' Notes on whatever passage you're studying.
1) every author is biased. Soooo, read all the views. For partial preterism, Brian Godawa has a good one that is quick and easy. Sproul's is a bit more rigorous
1b)I am sure you will get plenty of recommendations for futurist positions :) so I have left those out.
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2) Don't divide with other Christians over eschatology! Only divide over false gospel.
For more information on the early church fathers' views on Scripture's inspiration and trustworthiness, Michael Graves' book The Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture: What the Early Church Can Teach Us is super helpful. For the most part, the early theologians affirmed the historical factuality of events in the biblical narrative, though in places where there are difficulties you'll find some nuanced approaches (e.g. Origen asserts that Genesis 1-3 and the book of Revelation need to be seen as symbolic/figurative, because a lot of people were going around with really fanciful applications of those passages and he wanted to combat them; Origen and Jerome admit some historical difficulties in the book of Joshua; etc.). But as early as Irenaeus you'll find affirmations like this: "being most properly assured that the Scriptures are indeed perfect, since they were spoken by the Word of God and His Spirit" (Against Heresies, II.28), so even if terms like "inerrancy" weren't coined yet you still commonly find the basic assumption.
As far as how we can affirm divine inspiration while seeing that some passages of Scripture should be interpreted figuratively even when they are presented as historical narrative, a modern treatment that has really helped my thinking is Pete Enns' Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament. Enns tries to explain how to build a good relationship between a high view of inspiration and an acceptance of literary and critical interpretive methods. Hope that helps.
Well, they sort of are recording stories of sorts. Ecclesiastes records the observations of Qohelet interspersed with his collected wisdom with which he reflects on it. See this book for instance.
Proverbs is addressed as the paternalistic wisdom; the father's wisdom to his son. In many ways this is the wisdom equivalent of Deuteronomy 6:20, passing on God's wisdom for living in his world to the next generation.
You should ask your pastor.
If you don't have a pastor, you need to get one before you do any more poking around on the internet. You're clearly getting in over your head, and you need someone to disciple you through this, not varied bits of advice from faceless people on Reddit.
You should know that the Southern Baptists have many highly educated scholars that can answer your questions. I'll point out that the New American Commentary series is written by Baptists, and the commentary on Exodus deals with many of your questions in a much deeper way than a Reddit comment can.
>I’ve been an evangelical Christian my whole life and I’ve honestly never heard anyone in our circles mention Buddha
I'm on staff at a rather progressive evangelical church and the Buddha came up in a sermon just last week. I do know our church is in the minority in terms of how evangelical churches go though.
>As someone with no real knowledge (other than the Hesse novel Siddhartha) what is a good, concise book to read to learn more about his influence on other faiths)?
The Hesse novel Siddhartha isn't even the story of Siddhartha Gautama. It's just the story of another boy who happens to also be named Siddhartha in the same historical time of the Buddha. It's pure fiction.
I think a great introduction to the Buddha would be to read the Dhammapada which are the direct words of the Buddha himself. It's a collection of short poetically phrased teachings that often sound astoundingly like something Jesus would have said. If you were to think of it as the "Buddhist Sermon on the Mount", you wouldn't be far off in your estimation of it.
This would be a good place to start if you are looking for the truth as it has been delivered to us by the ancient church.
https://www.amazon.com/Orthodox-Dogmatic-Theology-Michael-Pomazansky-ebook/dp/B00Q54OEB6
This lets you hear from a variety of different dispensational scholars. https://www.amazon.com/Three-Central-Issues-Contemporary-Dispensationalism/dp/0825420628/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=three+dispensationalism+progressive&qid=1599682492&sr=8-3
All the major translations will be fine (NASB, ESV, NIV, CSB, NLT, NRSV). There is no such thing as a 1:1 translation, but all of these do a good job of translating the story accurately. I would probably start with something like NIV or NLT as they communicate the story in pretty modern language and syntax. NASB is used for school and study a lot, but you will be fighting the syntax early on when you probably want to just dive in and read it.
I've heard good things, though don't have one, about this bible as it adds notes to put context and history into the story. NIV Cultural Background Study Bible
As for the history, you are going to want to dive into some Old & New Testament overview material. The courses from /u/Naugrith are probably as good as any.
I would also throw out a recommendation for the Bible Project videos. They have a couple playlist that overview each book of the bible and one for How to Read the Bible in each book's context. Would be a good starter introduction before diving into the more scholarly material.
I encountered annihilationism very briefly when writing a paper on universalism. This is an evangelical book but gives a balanced look at views on hell. Would say it would give you all you need.
God is graciously chooses to save those who believe, not cause belief in those he chooses. The Holy Spirt convicts and you can resist Him or humble yourself.
“Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people—that they would become a curse and be laid waste—and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I also have heard you, declares the Lord.” 2 Kings 22:19 NIV
Chosen to be Holy and blameless, not chosen to believe. Chosen conditionally on being in Christ, not chosen to be placed in Christ. Predestined to adoption as sons, not predestined to salvation. The central theme of the book is serviced to God in our walk, the election is to service. Proper view of election is to service. Israel is elected to serve a purpose. Christ is elected to serve a purpose. The church is elected to serve a purpose.
Your doctrine was built on a false premise. Please research the origins of Augustinian/Calvinism. I would recommend.
https://www.amazon.com/Augustines-Conversion-Traditional-Choice-non-Free/dp/3161557530
Or a lighter read
https://www.amazon.com/Foundation-Augustinian-Calvinism-Ken-Wilson/dp/108280035X
There’s a textbook called “Understanding the Whole Bible” that walks through Biblical Theology and makes things really easy to understand. I’m currently doing a summary of it using animation on my YouTube channel. Here’s the link to the first video if you want to check it out.
I also recommend the Bible Project as others have suggested.
Here’s the link to the textbook as well.
Hope this helps!
Maybe with start with the "Summa of the Summa" by Kreeft:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/089870300X/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_XpLpCb8GEVP7F
Otherwise its difficult to know where to start with the whole summa.
The closest thing I know to what you are asking is Alvin Plantinga's (one of the best Christian philosophers today) Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and Naturalism. He analyzes the works of Dawkins, Dennett and a couple of others and shows that the arguments of these biologists who say that naturalism has to be the guiding factor of evolution are quite weak. He then makes a biblical and philosophical argument that faith and evolution can co-exist. Here's the link to the book.
There are a lot of arguments out there regarding theistic evolution, but the one issue that seems to stand out to me is how theistic evolution handles the argument of the historical Adam. For me, Adam has to be literal and historical, otherwise Romans 5 does not make very much sense, so I tend to take a systematic approach to this subject. I haven't heard very many satisfactory answers yet, but that is not to say they are not out there.
Thanks for your remarks. I'm not sure if I have access to this study bible since I'm in Brazil. Is this the one? https://www.amazon.com.br/Jewish-Study-Bible-FL-Tanakh-Adele-Berlin/dp/0199978468?crid=2CI2SCC6XPFMM&keywords=jewish+study+bible&qid=1530748779&sprefix=jew&sr=8-1&ref=mp_s_a_1_1
Do you know a more "pop" Jewish book about the subject?
The Love Bridge is a favorite around these parts.
This sounds like something Abraham Kuyper might have some thoughts on. I haven’t read it but this might touch in some of what your looking for. Here’s a book by Mark Larson on him and his politics.
https://www.amazon.com/Abraham-Kuyper-Conservatism-Church-State/dp/149821956X
I think the recent work by John Walton and Tremper Longman, both of whom are solid Old Testament scholars, would be a good starting point if you want a solid academic opinion that's in print (rather than just online sources):
Get a copy of Strunk & White's Elements of Style and read through it and learn it.
Get a copy of Strunk & White's Elements of Style and read through it and learn it.
"Know what you believe" and "know why you believe" by Paul Little...these were used in my 101 class in bible college and I refer them to people all the time https://www.amazon.com/Know-What-Believe-Paul-Little/dp/0830834230
Roger Olson is an outspoken Arminian and critic of Calvinism, as well as a professor of theology. He has written a book called "Arminian Theology", which is worth checking out.
Great! This is a really important topic! However, they're spelled Calv*inism and Armi*nianism.
My suggestion is <em>The Potters Freedom</em> by James White. I think it's the kind of book you're looking for. It's a response to <em>Chosen But Free</em> by Norman Geisler. Maybe you can read both.
The book Barth for Armchair Theologians is actually a good place to start if you want introductory. But Evangelical Theology by Barth is not bad either. He also wrote a book called 'Dogmatics in Outline' which is a condensed version of his famous and very long work 'Church Dogmatics'. This book is good too.
The book by George Hunsinger 'How to Read Karl Barth' is pretty good for showing themes to look for in Barth's work.
But what is probably most helpful to learn about Barth is the role he played in the shift away from Liberal theology (Schleiermacher, Ritschl, von Harnack etc). This history helps to place Barth and understand his significance. His Romans commentary written near the beginning of the 20th century was called 'a bomb dropped on the playground of the theologians'.
He rejected liberal theology's anthropocentric focus, and put the focus back on God. He also developed a trinitarian focus when this was no longer in style.
He is not a conservative in the mould of evangelical conservatism like Carl Henry or other popular conservative evangelicals of today. He is probably better described as the forerunner of the stream of theology known today as 'postliberalism'. This has Hans Frei and George Lindbeck as its founders.
Good luck to you as you learn more. Barth is an incredible figure.
I'm surprised no one mentioned Anselm of Canterbury... He might be a good father to investigate, too.
For a good textbook overview, McGrath has a great book called Historical Theology
He also has a book exclusively about justification, since you mentioned that above. I read these as a teenager, and they proved to be great starting points.
Otherwise, check out the sidebar to r/christianity for online reading of classic authors. Read some basic treatises like Augustine's Nature and Grace, Luther's on the Freedom of a Christian, and Introduction to Romans.
I'll always plug my man Gerhard Forde, too :) Books like Where God Meets Man and On Being a Theologian of the Cross are short, accessible books with a perspective that I think is very helpful in approaching the "problems" of God and faith. Justification is his main theme.
Also, just curious, what's your username about?
Hey, you should pick up this book: http://www.amazon.com/The-Study-Quran-Translation-Commentary/dp/0061125865 Unless you are looking to side specifically with Salafi groups, this book provides a analysis of the verse given by traditional Muslim Scholars from different schools of theological thought. I know your whole point is to give your rendering, but perhaps understanding how Muslims have interpreted the verses could provide you more insight.
I haven't seen it mentioned in what I have read. You might get a better answer elsewhere. One of the best books I read on Serpent Symbology, made mention of Glykon, but didn't make a connection between that and the Genesis story. But, you may find it of interest: http://www.amazon.com/The-Good-Evil-Serpent-Christianized/dp/0300140827
I can't comment much about that book. However, I did find this book to be pretty helpful regard that.
James Kugel, How to Read the Bible (http://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Bible-Guide-Scripture/dp/0743235878/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1449018176&sr=1-1&keywords=How+to+Read+the+Bible)
He does well to trace some of the history of Biblical interpretation with particular depth while at the same time covers a breadth of issues.
I thought I had one more, but I can't seem to find it on my shelf.
Michael Walzer: Just and Unjust Wars. It's about more than Just War Theory but there is significant attention paid to it as well as the merits of pacifism.
I'm sorry, and maybe I'm missing something, but the Council of Nicaea had nothing to do with the canonization of scripture. In fact by around 300AD most of the NT we know today was already established; the Gospels, Acts, Paul's letters, and most of the rest. And all of what is now included had been written and was known about.
The Council of Nicaea met largely to settle the Christological issues at the time (the Arian controversy) and is mostly known for it's creed, which was the first written and agreed-upon doctrine of the church. It's a common misconception that they debated any biblical cannon and there are no records of such discussions.
The construction of the canon was a gradual process beginning in the writings of scriptures themselves and took centuries. If your interested in the topic I would suggest Dr. Michael J. Kruger's book <em>The Question of Canon</em>. He's a great professor and really knows his stuff.
If you're interested in Arminianism, make sure you don't get misinformation from the Calvies!
A great intro book on the topic is Grace, Faith, Free Will by Robert Picirilli http://www.amazon.com/Grace-Faith-Free-Robert-Picirilli/dp/0892656484
Go over on Facebook and plenty of people could answer questions on the Society of Evangelical Arminians https://www.facebook.com/groups/81731686472/
It says the smoke of their torment goes on forever, again, Revelation is a highly symbolic apocalyptic book that has to be properly interpreted. It's just like I don't take Joel to be saying the moon will literally turn into blood, nor do I take Revelation to mean stars will literally fall from the sky. The phrase “forever and ever” can be translated “for ages upon ages” which implies an indefinite, but not necessarily unending, period of time. We do see this in other passages.
Is 2 verses enough to get hung up on and discard the positive case for annihilationism. How much have you really looked at the positive case?
I honestly don't feel like I'm going to be able to persuade you, I'd encourage you to just look into the case for and against. Here's a very good (yet long) debate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaPz33dVPvc I'd also encourage you to read this book for the 2 views as well. http://www.amazon.com/Two-Views-Hell-Biblical-Theological/dp/0830822550
It's probably not you, it's me.
The Bible itself is very sparse with naming angels, so we just don't know the answers to these questions -- at least as far as the original intent. Further legends, homilies, bits of theology started to cement ideas about which particular angel was responsible for what deeds, but that's still on shifting ground throughout history. So, yes, you're very correct in the "retroactive attempt to create a coherent narrative" idea. I'll point you to two great works that pinpoint ideas that people throughout history have thought about these issues:
The Legends of the Jews, Ginzberg -- great collection of Haggadah, told "chronologically" by the biblical narrative, and completely in the public domain. You could probably search "Michael" and "Gabriel" throughout the pages in the link.
The Bible as it Was, Kugel -- fairly recent compilation of similar ideas, spanning Jewish and Christian sources.
The Pseudepigrapha materials were much more forward with naming angels in the same stories as the Bible; Charlesworth's two volumes are still reliable and are generally in libraries.
Hopefully that helps! I've actually done a fair amount of (amateur) research with similar questions, so let me know if there's something specific -- i.e. a particular angel or narrative -- you're looking for, and I'll dig out my notes.
Yeah. Most academics feel we got a pretty good sense of it. Simply put, our being or our essence supports one person. God's being supports three persons. And there doesn't seem to be anything contradictory or paradoxical about that. He is one is respect to being and essence and plural or three in respect to persons. Most analogies like water in three states end up being heretical. But the best one I've heard is Cereberus, the three headed dog. We could imagine each head having its own center of consciousness and personhood. We could name the three heads Jeff, James and Ragnar. But they're supported by one being which we can call Cereberus.
There's more complex aspects to it but that's the jist of it which doesn't seem nonsensical or hopelessly beyond understanding. For more info check out "The Logic of the Trinity."
http://www.amazon.com/The-Logic-Trinity-Augustine-Philosophy/dp/0823234762