Commentaries

What Does it Mean to Be Baptist?: Baptist Distinctives, Origins, Significant Figures, and More

Kirk E. Miller

“What comes to mind when you hear the word “Baptist”? I asked this question online, and to no great surprise I received an array of answers. Some think of an energetic church choir with colorful robes. Others think of solemn, even stuffy Sunday services where expressions of emotion are frowned upon. Some think of fiery, revivalistic preaching complete with weekly altar calls. Others think of detailed doctrinal expositions. One friend remarked that, in his experience, when some folks try to describe Baptists, they have an easier time listing things some Baptists don’t believe in (alcohol, dancing) than providing what Baptists do believe!

These responses are all quite understandable. Baptists are a diverse bunch.

So who are Baptists? And what do Baptists actually believe? In this article, we seek to answer theses question, giving the reader a basic primer on the Baptist tradition—with a view to using its resources for one’s study of Scripture.”

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Top Preaching Tools & Resources That Belong in a Pastor’s Library

Kirk E. Miller

“In his classic work, The Christian Ministry, Charles Bridges opens his section on sermon composition with these words:

How much responsibility attaches itself to the subject matter and the mode of our pulpit addresses! It cannot be of light moment, whether our people are “fed with knowledge and understanding,” or with ill-prepared and unsuitable provision. The pulpit is the ordinary distribution of the bread of life for their daily nourishment, and much wisdom indeed is here required.1

Indeed, it is! Writing and delivering well-communicated, biblically faithful sermons demands our study and energy. But having the right tools can help us in that effort.

In this article, we’ll survey some of the best tools and resources available to preachers in the sermon-preparation process.”

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The Best One-Volume Bible Commentary — The New Bible Commentary

Kirk E. Miller

As a pastor and teacher in the church, folks often ask me for suggestions on useful resources to help them understand the Bible.

The amount of books being written today on how to read and understand the Bible, however, can be rather dizzying. It’s a great blessing to have such an extent of literature and resources available to us. But what if someone is not as acquainted with these things? How does one even know where to start? How does one know what’s good and what isn’t? Or even if I am able to determine what’s valuable, maybe I’m not the sort of person who intends on building a massive library. What if I just want to acquire a handful of really helpful books that cover a large stretch of Biblical material?

If that describes you (or maybe even if it doesn’t*), I want to recommend to you The New Bible Commentary (NBC), 21st Century Edition.

The New Bible Commentary

Voted one of Christianity Today’s 1995 Books of the Year, The New Bible Commentary is a one-volume commentary on the entire Bible. It’s one volume, in other words, that contains 66 individual commentaries for each book of the Bible.

The NBC is thoroughly evangelical in outlook. It’s edited by D.A. Carson, R. T. France, J. Alec Motyer, and Gordon J. Wenham, and has contributors from top-notch evangelical scholars like T.D. Alexander, Bruce Waltke, Derek Kidner, Moises Silva, Christopher Wright, Doug Moo, Leon Morris, Howard Marshall, and many others.

And that’s actually one of the unique advantages of a work like The New Bible Commentary. Many comparable resources and study Bibles, which also seek to cover the whole of scripture, are often times written by just one author, maybe a popular pastor. Without dismissing the value of those other works, the advantage of the NBC, however, is that rather than getting the opinion of author who undoubtedly does not possess specialization on every book of the Bible, with the NBC you get a full roster of specialists. The NBC contains a collection of scholars who each write on their particular area of expertise. In other words, you’re always reading from someone who actually specializes in the subject at hand.

The NBC is incredibly accessible. Any believer, no matter what their skill level, should be able to pick up this book and gain from it. The NBC provides commentary on each section of scripture, and supples helpful explanation of all major interpretive issues in a passage. At the same time, it strives to remain concise and succinct, not getting bogged down in overly-technical and lengthy discussion.

Each commentary begins with introductory material about the book’s author, date, setting, outline, major themes, and much more. In addition, the NBC includes articles on Biblical history, how to read and understanding the Bible, as well as briefs on the nature of specific Biblical genres like poetry, the epistles, and apocalyptic literature.

Logos Bible Software

Logos Bible Software is the primary tool I use for collecting my books and doing in-depth Bible study. As such, my particular version of the NBC is owned in my Logos Bible Software.

I recommend Logos Bible Software for anyone looking to do serious study of the Bible. There are many advantages to owning a book in Logos over buying just a regular physical copy. As the Logos website explains, a book in Logos becomes more than just a book; it becomes “a robust resource that works dynamically with every other book in your library. Each resource is packed with tags and hyperlinks, serving as a gateway to an entire world of textual and visual resources. This network effect dramatically boosts the value of each book.” In other words, it becomes more than just a book; it becomes a piece of a whole, high-powered Bible study system. –This in addition to the advantages that come with any ebook: easily portable, searchable, editable notations and note taking (copy and paste function), etc.

Of course their are downsides to electronic books — no doubt. But there are also a ton of positives, and, as noted, even more so in the case of Logos.

Anyone can get Logos for free here (this free package includes 20+ free books, with resources valued at over $1,500)… yeah, all free. And then you can buy the NBC to have added to your Logos library here.

As an official partner with Logos, I’m also able to offer highest rate discounts on all base packages if you actually want to purchase something with even more resources — like the current Fundamentals Base Package, which includes the NBC.

Use my special partner code KIRK8 at checkout for all purchases.

Further Info

For many years I recommended the old New Bible Commentary as the best of its kind on the market. I expect to find myself saying the same of this new work that replaces it.

—J. I. Packer, author of Knowing God

  • 21st Century Edition.
  • InterVarsity Press, 1994.
  • 1,455 pages.

Notes:

  • Even if you are someone like me who buys a lot of commentaries and more in-depth resources, I still recommend considering the NBC. I frequently use the NBC in my Bible study and sermon preparation, alongside more lengthy, technical resources for its succinct overview of a passage and its major interpretive issues.

Full disclosure: I received compensation in exchange for this review. However, that compensation did not impact the content of this review.

Key Bible and Theological Reference Tools: Commentaries

Kirk E. Miller

This post is a re-blog of my post at Rolfing Unshelved.

This post is part of a series entitled Key Bible and Theological Reference Tools. This series seeks to provide one with an introduction to some key Biblical and theological reference tools. In this series one will find basic explanations, significant examples, and other information about these reference tools.

Basic Description of Commentaries

A Biblical Commentary is a book that provides an interpretive explanation of a Biblical book or books. Commentaries provide a detailed explanation of specific Biblical passages, an explanation of a Biblical book’s larger structure or argument, and typically engage with introductory matters such as authorship, audience, date of writing, purpose of writing, composition, etc.

Best Commentaries

Kirk E. Miller

The following was originally composed for publication at Rolfing Library. I have added here a brief note of introduction.

Introductory notes:

  • The following list of commentaries was composed using a variety of reliable sources. Therefore, this final product is the result of a collaboration of various reliable opinions. I have only interacted with a small percentage of these commentaries. My opinion and experience is a factor at times. But for the most part, I relied on the opinion of others.
  • I composed the following list for my reference job at Trinity International University’s (of which Trinity Evangelical Divinity School is a part) Rolfing Memorial Library. In other words, this list was created for academic use. Priority was given to commentaries which are more technical in nature. Although I am an evangelical, priority was not necessarily awarded based on evangelical conclusions. Quality commentaries of more liberal bent are also included. In light of these two realities, the nature of this list will best serve students and pastors. Nonetheless, a variety of commentary types were included (e.g., critical, technical, pastoral, devotional, etc.). Less technical, more devotional commentaries were included when they received significantly high reviews.
  • I attempted to provide 4-6 commentaries per book. Variation exists due to how many ‘stand out’ commentaries exist per book. Deviation from this 4-6 amount norm occurs with the inclusion of commentaries that only cover certain portions of a biblical book (e.g., see the commentaries listed under “Psalms”).
  • Library of Congress call numbers (e.g., BS1235.3 .W46x v.1 1987) are included since I made this list for library use. I have decided not to take the time to remove them.
  • This list was completed on 7.17.2014. Commentaries published after this date were not considered in the formation of this list.

OLD TESTAMENT

Pentateuch

Genesis
  • Wenham, Gordon J. Genesis 1-15 and Genesis 16-50. Word Biblical Commentary. Waco: Word Books, 1987 and 1994. (BS1235.3 .W46x v.1 1987 and BS1235.3 .W462x v.2 1994)
  • Hamilton, Victor P. The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1-17 and The Book of Genesis: Chapters 18-50.The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990 and 1995. (BS1235.3 .H32 1990 and BS1235.3 .H323 1995)
  • Westermann, Claus. Genesis 1-11, Genesis 12-36, and Genesis 37-50. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1984-1986. (BS1235.3 .W4413 1984, BS1235.3 .W44313 1985, and BS1235.3 .W3713 1986)
  • Mathews, Kenneth. Genesis 1- 11:26 and Genesis 11:27-50:26. American Commentary. Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 1996 and 2005. (BS1235.3 .M37 1995)
  • Waltke, Bruce K. Genesis: A Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001. (BS1235.53 .W34x 2001)

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