Help! What Commentary Should I Use? (Pt. 2)

Kirk E. Miller

This post was originally published at Rolfing Unshelved, a blog of the university library for which I work as a reference assistant.

 

JoshuaCommentaries

We’ve all been there. Staring at a wall of Rolfing’s amazing collection of commentaries (or scrolling through an endless list of commentaries on TrinCat) and feeling bombarded, overwhelmed, and not sure where to start. Choosing commentaries can be tough — but it doesn’t have to be. Here are some tips on choosing the right commentary.

Note the type

There are many types of commentaries out there, e.g., expositional, devotional, technical, etc. So, first, know what kind of commentary for which you are looking; and, second, find that kind of commentary. Don’t expect Derek Kidner’s Proverbs commentary to be super technical. And don’t expect Michael Fox’s to be filled with pastoral insights and implications. Know what you are trying to find; and restrict your selection accordingly.

Continue reading →

Help! What Commentary Should I Use? (Pt. 1)

Kirk E. Miller

This post was originally published at Rolfing Unshelved, a blog of the university library for which I work as a reference assistant.

 

JoshuaCommentaries

I was in college when I first began using commentaries. I was rather aimless, didn’t have much help or guidance, and just sort of jumped in. Maybe that’s been your experience as well.

The whole process of learning about commentaries is sort of like a circle — There’s no obvious starting point. You just have to enter somewhere, learn from your mistakes, and figure things out as you go. In one sense, the best way to get to know commentaries is to just use them.

But the process doesn’t have to be that aimless. Your entrance into the world of commentaries doesn’t have to be as abrupt as mine was.

Continue reading →

Seminary–You’re doing it wrong

Kirk E. Miller 2 Comments
My seminary--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

My seminary–Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

If you’re doing seminary without significant involvement in a local church, as the saying goes, “You’re doing it [sic] wrong.”

Over the past two years of seminary I’ve become more and more convinced of the church’s importance in my (and others’) seminary education. It takes a church to raise a Christian. And equally so, it takes a church to form a seminarian. As such, I am convinced that going through seminary without significant involvement in a local church (i.e., not just attending, but being involved in ministry) is incredibly harmful to one’s seminary experience and formation process.

Let me share with you at least three reasons why.

1. It’s a needed supplement to your seminary education.

We learn a lot of valuable stuff in seminary. But seminary can’t provide us with all the training we need. (Get your Greek out!) It’s a para- (“alongside”) church organization, not a para- “this-is-all-there-is!” organization.

Continue reading →

J. Gresham Machen’s “Christianity and Liberalism”–Continued Relevance for a Continued Liberalism

Kirk E. Miller 2 Comments

As contemporary Christian continues its debate over homosexuality and (so-called) same sex marriage, my mind keeps drifting back to one of my favorite books of all time, Christianity and Liberalism (originally published in 1923) by J. Gresham Machen, one of my favorite authors of all time. (See my review of this book here.) This ‘Christian’ position in support of same-sex marriage as Christian is merely one manifestation of an ever present liberalism to which Machen’s words are as relevant as the day he originally wrote them.

If you haven’t yet read this book, please do yourself a favor and do so immediately. But in the meantime, allow me to share with you some snippets that I think exemplify this current relevance.

Machen

On standing for and proclaiming the truth.

The type of religion which … shrinks from “controversial” matters, will never stand amid the shocks of life. In the sphere of religion, as in other spheres, the things which men are agreed are apt to be the things that are least worth holding; the really important things are the things about which men will fight. (1-2)

The things that are sometimes thought to be hardest to defend are also the things that are most worth defending. (8)

Continue reading →

Theological Astuteness ≠ Spiritual Maturity (Paul Tripp)

Kirk E. Miller 1 Comment

Paul-TrippIf you know me to any significant degree, you will likely know that I’m quite passionate about retaining the natural link between theology and practical matters. There’s a statement I say occasionally that my wife likes to call my ‘life motto’:

Everyone’s a theologian. Everything is theological. And all theology is practical.

In other words, I can’t stand it when people drive a wedge between theological understanding and practical matters (e.g., you often hear this when people speak of ‘heart’ versus ‘head’ and things like that, as if the Biblical view of man is partitioned like that). In my view, these things are mutually inclusive and interdependent.

Having presented that caveat (or better, complementary comment), I love what Paul Tripp is saying here. It’s challenging and pastorally perceptive.

It is quite easy in ministry to give in to a subtle but significant redefinition of what spiritual maturity is and does. This definition has it roots in how we think about what sin is and what sin does. I think that many, many pastors carry into their pastoral ministries a false definition of maturity that is the result of the academic enculturation that tends to take place in seminary. Permit me to explain.