I haven’t reviewed any volumes in this series, so I have two books here that I have heard good things about and here’s my review:

Romans by Grant Osborne

I looked forward to reviewing this book. I’d heard several complementary things said about it, but I wanted to see for myself. Just like is advertised about the IVPNT series, this book is aimed at the church instead of the seminary. There’s plenty of scholarly information given, but great care is taken in the accessibility of the presentation. Pastors, Sunday School teachers, and anyone doing in-depth studies will benefit from using this book. The author, Grant Osborne, is also the editor of this series and produced a well thought out volume here himself.

The Introduction given here on Romans is short, but is not superficial. In discussing authorship, he agrees with the scholarly consensus that it was written by Paul somewhere between A.D. 54 and 58. He does not believe that Peter or Paul founded the church at Rome, but that it originated when Claudius expelled the Jews and Christians and A.D. 49 during a time of conflict between the Jews and Christians. In his section, Genre, Purposes and Themes of the Letter, he succinctly summarizes what has been thought about the point the book of Romans is trying to make. He feels that Paul saw the church at Rome as the ideal sending church to reach that area much too far from Antioch. He states that Paul is not writing a systematic theology in the book of Romans, but that questions raised required much theological discussion.

After an interesting outline, Osborne is off and running on the commentary itself by page 27. I found his commentary at once thoughtful and helpful. I had read some Calvinistic reviewers say that he was the fairest writer against their position out there, and his respectful tone is clearly evident. In fact, he faithfully shares their arguments and then raises some great ones of his own that might be difficult for them to answer.

This book will give you much help while providing deep reflection for your studies without some of the more esoteric discussions that major exegetical commentaries can at times drown in. I highly recommend this volume.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

1-2 Thessalonians by G. K. Beale

Scholar G.K. Beale fulfills the designs of the IVPNT series and writes for preachers, teachers, and Bible students rather than scholars. That is not to say that there isn’t careful scholarship behind what he says, but that great care is given in being accessible for readers.

In his Introduction of the Thessalonian letters he explains the historical context of Paul establishing churches at Thessalonica around A.D. 49 or 50. While he feels it’s hard to explain “the exact composition of the Thessalonian congregation”, he is much more certain about why he feels Paul wrote the epistle. Paul defends his apostleship in order that they may follow the Christian teaching he shares. With that apostleship defended, he can branch out into other areas where they are struggling as Christians.

He explains in a few paragraphs the scholarly debate on the sequence of First and Second Thessalonians. He even provides what strikes me as the silly arguments of scholars who think Second Thessalonians should come first. He follows the traditional viewpoint. When he discusses the theological context of these letters, he rightly sees the eschatological emphasis that is given. Both here and in the commentary proper, your evaluation of this commentary will likely be influenced by your own prophetic viewpoint. Frankly, I do not subscribe to Mr. Beale’s viewpoint, but I don’t want to review the work based on agreement with myself. The truth is, there was still much insight to be gained by reading here. His opinion that the “last days” encompasses all the New Testament age, and not only the last few years of it, is one that I agree with. Beale loves to write on the prophetic parts of New Testament and I always gain something from him even if I find much to disagree with.

The commentary itself is quite helpful. Before I received my copy for review, I had read where some other reviewers said this work didn’t live up to other volumes in the series, but I personally don’t see how that could be true. Again, you may disagree with him on the prophetic passages, but at least he will give me something to think about and you will be a better Bible student for it. This book is worth having.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Edward Klink has provided us with a major commentary on the beloved Gospel of John. It’s the latest title in the emerging Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (ZECNT) series. Though Mr. Klink has been a successful scholar, he has broadened his outlook for we pastors who use this commentary by himself going into a pastoral ministry. He is very conservative in his viewpoint and strives to be true to the Scriptures. I believe his orthodoxy and vibrant faith will be apparent to any reader. It immediately gives me a greater sense of trust than I find in many commentaries today.

When I began reading the Introduction in this commentary, I at first began wondering exactly where he was going. His approach did not seem the standard fare of most commentaries. By page 25 it all came into focus and I loved it. In short, he says, “Scripture becomes its own kind of genre”. So many modern commentators miss this obvious fact. His arguments were unanswerable, and as he showed, this fact must define all interpretation. He continued making brilliant hermeneutical observations. For example, he said, “the meaning is derived from the event about which the text speaks” rather than the other way around. This volume not only gives good coverage of typical introductory issues, but also suggests several needed interpretive corrections. He covered most all the questions you will have. In my view, only the structure section was a little meager.

Then there’s the outstanding commentary he gave. Though there is some Greek in this commentary, the English is always there making this volume accessible to all. Every passage is given a concise main idea, a literary context section to tie into big picture, an outline of the passage, a synopsis of the structure and literary form, an explanation of the text (regular commentary), and ends with a fine section on theology and application. In my estimation, the commentary given is of excellent quality.

The Gospel of John is greatly loved by most Christians. We are blessed to have a particularly high number of outstanding exegetical commentaries on it. Though the competition is fierce, this new volume will have to be in the discussion of the best exegetical commentary on John available today. I recommend it.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Daniel Block’s commentary on Ruth is a prototype commentary in the major exegetical commentary category. Perhaps you are like me, and already loved his commentary on Judges and Ruth in the New American Commentary series. Most reviewers always thought his section on Ruth was not quite as outstanding as the one on Judges. Though I still found it valuable, that was probably a fair assessment. So what did Mr. Block go and do here? He has given us what is likely the best exegetical commentary on the Book of Ruth that we have today.

This book is one of the early volumes in the emerging ZECOT series. The bar remains high for future volumes. It continues the discourse analysis approach, which is merely keeping the narrative flow ever in view.

His Introduction to Ruth was tantalizing. He uncovers things usually overlooked and that provides us great help in our goal of grasping the book of Ruth. For example, I hadn’t thought about the fact that the namesake of the book speaks the least often of the three main characters. These kinds of clues really tell us something. His following of the narrative flow helps bring out wonderfully the structure and literary style of the book. Best of all, his brief overview of the theological message of Ruth was outstanding. I might see more in the messianic significance than he does, but the Introduction is still top-notch.

The commentary itself is all that you could hope for. It follows carefully the ZECOT layout and uses it to the best advantage. In addition, there are some charts along the way that really added something helpful to my comprehension. As a bonus, he provides a dramatic reading of the Book of Ruth in an appendix.

Not only is this an extraordinary commentary, it was enjoyable to read someone who not only loved the book of Ruth, but the God of Ruth as well. Label this one – a must buy!

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

This book is the latest release of Kregel’s helpful “Handbook for Old Testament Exegesis” series, edited by David Howard. It tackles what is, perhaps, the most difficult genre in the Bible—Apocalyptic Literature. Though the volumes in this series are designed for graduate-level courses, this volume by Richard A. Taylor is accessible and reads well.

Chapter 1 sets the stage by carefully answering the question, what is apocalyptic literature. That chapter begins by explaining the importance of genre in exegeting the Old Testament. He also relates well that which most surprises the student as he reads – scholars have trouble even agreeing on what the definition of apocalyptic literature is. Taylor does give us a definition on page 33, but its paragraph length shows the difficulty of definition here. He also defines the kind of apocalyptic literature types that we may encounter in the Old Testament. Perhaps, like me, you don’t see a lot of “ex eventu” prophecy in the Old Testament as he does.

The next chapter is quite helpful as it surveys the places in the Old Testament that you encounter apocalyptic literature. He also discusses a great deal other extrabiblical Jewish apocalyptic texts. I personally find those texts to be of much less value in understanding true Old Testament apocalyptic texts than modern scholars, but every such book is bound to discuss those spurious texts.

There’s much help for the preacher in carefully defining types of figurative language you might encounter. Clearly, that type of language cannot be explained in the same manner as we do with narrative texts. From there, he goes on to explain the process of interpreting apocalyptic literature.

Along the way, you will find words well-defined, lists of other books you might need for exegesis, and examples of his method on specific Old Testament texts. In addition, there’s a very helpful glossary at the end of the book. The appendix on antecedents of apocalyptic literature would be far less help to most preachers.

Because he covers his subject in about 200 pages, this is probably the perfect book to have on the subject. Some folks might be satisfied with the apocalyptic literature chapter in a regular hermeneutic volume, but if you want more, this is the book for you.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

At first glance this is a book idea that seemed a little cutesy, or at least that’s what I was thinking. In fact, this idea of having the different New Testament writers discuss theology as if they were around the table seemed like a gimmick. It wasn’t until I actually read the book that I found it to be a unique and engaging way to think about how doctrine is presented in the New Testament.

Derek Tidball’s first chapter gave a good, brief overview to the different approaches to New Testament theology. When he discusses the authorial approach, you can’t help but think how many such works set the writers of the New Testament against each other almost as competing voices for Christianity. That is not the case here. Besides an imaginary Chair and observer, his panel is made up of Luke, James, John, Jude, Mark, Matthew, Paul, Peter, and the Hebraist.

In chapter 2 he goes big picture and discusses the common thread of the New Testament as being the Good News. It’s in this first chapter of the panel going at it that you find out just how interesting and helpful this work is. The quality is maintained all the way to the end and the great doctrines of the New Testament are gone through in a very logical sequence. The amazing part is that this method actually reads much better than many other such theologies.

In addition to the theology, you get a great picture of the emphasis of each New Testament writer. For example, if you were study in Matthew you can go through this book and read Matthew’s statement in each of the theological discussions and you have a good idea of the uniqueness of the book of Matthew. Not only does this book read well, it lends itself to future consultation on a variety of New Testament subjects.

You won’t agree with every single theological description in this book, but you will get a conservative, Scripture-affirming treat for your studies. To my mind, this volume can take his place among much larger works on our shelves and I highly recommend it.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

This unique book finishes IVP’s The Lightfoot Legacy Set of the recently discovered unpublished writings of J. B. Lightfoot. If you ever peruse used book listings you will see just how popular his commentaries have been for many years. The book has a gorgeous cover and is, to my mind, as much a collectible item for those who are assembling fairly complete libraries as it is a usable commentary.

On the negative side, you really couldn’t call the portion on either 2 Corinthians or 1 Peter a complete commentary. There is a good bit of untranslated Greek as well. His disdain for the Textus Receptus is palpable too. Still, his logical mind is really good in many places. For example, he makes careful arguments on the chronology of Paul and takes some colleagues to task for carelessness. I wouldn’t agree with all his conclusions, but find interacting with him quite helpful.

Other things are added to this volume that makes it even more valuable. There is an expanded rendition of his justly famous “The Christian Ministry.” The volume concludes with some nice articles by others that have appeared on Lightfoot himself.

If you already have the first two in this series, you will definitely want this one as it is of equal value. The set is a nice one too.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.