Sermon Preparation and Problems Associated with Some Commentaries

Guy Davies has a helpful discussion on sermon preparation in general and the use of commentaries in particular. In the post, Guy notes nine "dangers of commentaries." I have reproduced an edited form of his comments below.

1) Redundant material Wordy commentaries waste time.
Commentators sometimes go to great lengths on "easy bits" of the Bible, while passing over more difficult passages where most help is needed.

2) Vain discussion
Some commentaries pay too much attention to scholarly fads. Biblical scholars should write with pastors in mind and pay attention to 1 Timothy 1:4 & 1 Timothy 6:20.

3) Weak exegesis
Even the best commentators may be wrong.

4) Weak in biblical integration Little feel for redemptive-historical issues.
No suggestions as to how OT texts speak to NT believers. Preachers are especially in need this kind of help.

5) Failure to point to Christ A sad failing in some modern evangelical OT commentaries. Symptomatic of the influence of unbelieving scholarship. The Old Testament is about Christ (John 5:46). Evangelical commentators above all should attempt to show how the OT is fulfilled in Jesus (Luke 24:44).

6) Often weak in application
As John Frame says, "meaning = application." A commentary that fails to apply the text has not made the meaning clear. Another area where pastors look for help.

7) Concessions to unbelieving theology
Historicity of OT events questioned. Pauline authorship denied.

8) Dull
Scholarly commentaries can sometimes be a little dull. Preachers must not be. Avoid the danger of "the bland leading the bland."

9) Turn the handle mentality
Commentaries are no substitute for a prayerful and reflective engagement with Holy Scripture.

Read the entire post here.

Theological Writing Handout

David Stark has revised his downloadable theological writing handout. Check it out here.

Themes in Luke

Tim Chester has a nice discussion of themes in Luke. In the post he highlights three themes that he believes highlights the radical nature of Luke's Gospel. The three themes are:

1. Inclusion and reversals
2. The importance of God’s Word
3. The dangers of wealth

You can read Tim's explanation here. Readers might also want to check out this older post from my blog.

Varner on James 2:1-4

William Varner has an interesting post which argues that the context for James 2:1-4 is not a worship service but rather a church court. This view is also advocated by Blomberg and Kamell's recent commentary (pp. 110-11). In any case you can read Dr. Varner's post here.

The Meaning of “Preaching Christ”

“On the basis of this New Testament testimony, we can sketch the contours of what ‘preaching Christ’ means. To clear the deck, it may be well to state first what it is not. Preaching Christ is not, of course, merely mentioning the name of Jesus or Christ in the sermon. It is not identifying Christ with Yahweh in the Old Testament, or the Angel of Yahweh, or the Commander of the Lord’s army, or the Wisdom of God. It is not simply pointing to Christ from a distance or ‘drawing lines to Christ’ by way of typology.

“Positively, preaching Christ is as broad as preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. One has only to look at a concordance to see how often the New Testament speaks of ‘the gospel of the kingdom,’ ‘the gospel of Christ,’ ‘the gospel of Jesus Christ,’ ‘the gospel of the grace of God,’ and ‘the gospel of peace.’ In these terms two characteristics stand out. Preaching Christ is good news for people, and preaching Christ is as broad as preaching the gospel of the kingdom—as long as this kingdom is related to its King, Jesus.

“More specifically, to preach Christ is to proclaim some facet of the person, work, or teaching of Jesus of Nazareth so that people may believe him, trust him, love him, and obey him. We shall take a closer look at each of these aspects.”

Sidney Greidanus, Preaching Christ from the Old Testament: A Contemporary Hermeneutical Method (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), 8.

Latest Issue of Review of Biblical Literature

The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews that may be of interest from a Bible Exposition perspective include:

L. Stephanie Cobb
Dying to Be Men: Gender and Language in Early Christian Martyr Texts
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6862
Reviewed by Jan Willem van Henten

J. Edward Crowley and Paul L. Danove
The Rhetoric of Characterization of God, Jesus, and Jesus' Disciples in the Gospel of Mark
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=4991
Reviewed by Seán P. Kealy

Ellen F. Davis
Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6922
Reviewed by Philip F. Esler

F. Gerald Downing
God with Everything: The Divine in the Discourse of the First Christian Century
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6676
Reviewed by Michael Lakey

Lori Anne Ferrell
The Bible and the People
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6947
Reviewed by Seán P. Kealy

Joseph A. Fitzmyer
A Guide to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6885
Reviewed by Shayna Sheinfeld

William H. Jennings
Storms over Genesis: Biblical Battleground in America's Wars of Religion
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6155
Reviewed by Michael D. Matlock

Julie Kelso
O Mother, Where Art Thou? An Irigarayan Reading of the Book of Chronicles
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6854
Reviewed by Susanne Scholz

Matthew J. Marohl
Faithfulness and the Purpose of Hebrews: A Social Identity Approach
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6586
Reviewed by Renate Viveen Hood

Alexander I. Negrov
Biblical Interpretation in the Russian Orthodox Church: A Historical and Hermeneutical Perspective
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6866
Reviewed by Peter Penner

Etienne Nodet
The Historical Jesus? Necessity and Limits of an Inquiry
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6670
Reviewed by James West

Julia M. O'Brien
Challenging Prophetic Metaphor: Theology and Ideology in the Prophets
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6847
Reviewed by Bo H. Lim

Mikeal C. Parsons
Acts
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6963
Reviewed by I. Howard Marshall

Ilaria Ramelli and David Konstan
Terms for Eternity: Aiônios and Aïdios in Classical and Christian Texts
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6984
Reviewed by Jan G. van der Watt

Kevin J. Vanhoozer, ed.
Theological Interpretation of the New Testament: A Book-by-Book Survey
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6967
Reviewed by Erik Heen

Quote of the Day

“Do not look for big opportunities, “worthy” of your abilities. Those will come in due time. The great saints of the Bible started as servants, not rulers: and they were faithful over a few things before God made them kings. Moses tended sheep; Joseph was a steward; David was a shepherd; even Jesus was a carpenter. Live with the eye of God upon you, and forger the praise of men. Serve faithfully in the hidden place, and in due time, God will life you up. Every opportunity for service is an opportunity to exercise sovereignty in Christ. We reign in life by living to serve, to the glory of God.”

Warren Wiersbe, Live Like Kings: Living the Beatitudes Today (Chicago: Moody, 1976), 42.

DeYoung on Social Justice and Leviticus 25

Kevin DeYoung has a fine set of posts on "Social Justice and the Poor." Today's post interacts with Leviticus 25, in particular with the year of jubilee and how some have advocated a government sponsored redistribution of land as a way of assisting the poor today. But Kevin highlights five problems with this approach which can be summarized as follows.

1. We are not an ancient, agrarian society.
2. Most importantly, our property was not assigned directly by God.
3. Our economy is not based on a fixed piece of land.
4. Our nation is not under the Mosaic covenant.
5. Most of us are not Jews.

Rather, Kevin suggests that Leviticus should remind us that:

1. We should find ways to give opportunities for the poor to succeed.
2. The Bible supports the existence of private property.
3. The Bible relativizes private property.
4. Our God is the God of second chances.
5. Jesus is Jubilee.

Read the entire post here, complete with a link to a sermon on the topic.

The Family of Abraham and the Jerusalem Council

“Paul’s definition of kinship with Abraham and belonging to the line of promise eventually wins in this debate. Looking back on this argument, Luke presents the Jerusalem Council of Acts 15 as a decisive turning point in the construction of the ‘family of God’ and ‘family of Abraham.’ In Acts 15:23, a clear note is sounded as the Jewish brothers send greetings to the believers of Gentile origin with the report of the Jerusalem Council about circumcision. This is an incredibly significant step in the Christian movement since it has at least been decided that a believer does not have to join the ‘house of Israel’ through circumcision and proselytization in order to join the “household of God” these two houses being one and the same for the not-Christian Jew.”

David A. deSilva, Honor Patronage, Kinship & Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2000), 283.

Some Mid-Week Markdowns from CBD

Readers might be interested in two items Christianbook.com's mid-week mark down sale (good for today only). Just click on the links below. Price does not include postage.

Two Volume Bible Knowledge Commentary, ed. Walvoord & Zuck for $34.99
Canon and Biblical Interpretation, ed. Craig Bartolomew and Anthony Thiselton for $12.99

See these and other books on sale here.

New Blog by William Varner

You will want to check out William Varner's blog. There are interesting posts on James, Hebrews, Acts, and more. You can access it here.

HT: Todd Bolen

Household Idolatry in the Greco-Roman World

See Josh Mann's short but interesting post on household idolatry in the Greco-Roman world.

Varner on the New Perspective on James

William Varner has a very helpful post on the Epistle of James in general and the new perspective on James in particular here.

How to Benefit from Less Interesting Passages

Tyler Kenney has a good post on how to benefit from "boring passages" (Sorry, I couldn't bring myself to call parts of Scripture boring in my title above). The three benefits are:

1. “Boring” passages are the evidence of God's faithfulness.
2. “Boring” passages equip us to understand greater spiritual realities.
3. “Boring” passages help us experience what they talk about.

Blomberg on Contemporary Preaching

Blomberg, writing on the contemporary significance of 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5 states:

“One wonders how much contemporary preaching is in fact cross-centered. Ours is an age of user-friendly, seeker-sensitive techniques for church growth. Some of these techniques affect only the form and not the substance of the gospel, but others are more suspect. Many people have rejected human sin and personal accountability for evil actions in favor of passing the blame onto corrupting societal influences. Such people have an acute need to hear the true meaning of the crucifixion of Christ. Positive thinking and possibility thinking perhaps have a limited place for people with an overly poor self-image, but they do not adequately substitute for repentance and trust in Jesus.”

Craig Blomberg, 1 Corinthians, NIVAC (Grand Rapids: Zondervan), 39.

Form Criticism and Preaching

Duane A. Garrett, “Preaching from the Psalms and Proverbs,” in Preaching the Old Testament, ed. Scott M. Gibson (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006), 113, writes:

“Every seminary student has some familiarity with form criticism and the psalms. Some psalms are described as ‘hymns’ (community songs of praise), others as ‘communal laments’ (community prayers for help), and others as ‘individual songs of thanksgiving’ (sung by one person rather than a whole community), or ‘individual laments,’ ‘royal songs,’ ‘Torah psalms,’ and so forth. It is important to know these categories insofar as they force us to ask ourselves, ‘Was this psalm for one person or a whole congregation?’ ‘Is this psalm a prayer to God, or is it addressed to the reader?’ ‘Is this reflecting a celebration or a calamity?’ Although form criticism has its value, and in some instances is extremely helpful, on the whole I am not persuaded that it is of great use to the preacher. It is a tool, but no more.”

I tend to think that Garrett is right. What do you think? If you disagree, I would be interested to hear how you incorporate this material into your preaching.

Lecterns and Pupits

Peter Mead provides some good common sense advice about lecterns and pulpits here.

Reflections on 9/11

It is not likely that many in America will not let this day pass without at least a minimal thought given to the events on this day eight years ago. For many, the thoughts and feelings will seem more like eight seconds fresh rather than eight years old. There will be questions asked and answered concerning “Where were you . . . .” Americans will observe, reflect, and respond in a variety of ways this day. For me, I offer the following three reflections.

1. While every act like 9/11 is a tragedy and travesty, I am thankful that there are not more 9/11’s given our fallen state and the depravity of which we are all capable of. Surely, this is an evidence of God’s common grace.

2. While I truly wish that the perpetrators of this heinous crime could and would be brought to justice, I suspect that even if this were to occur it would only bring a measure of comfort and closure. True comfort and closure does not come from making things right (thought that surely helps) but by knowing the Righteous One by faith. Do you know Him today?

3. While this day is an important day, a day worth remembering, it is not the most important day. The most important day is when the King of Kings and Lord of Lords returns to establish his dominion, a time in which there will be no more 9/11’s, no more tears, and no more looking in the mirror dimly as faith gives way to sight. Hallelujah!

Surely more could be said, and surely more will be said, but these are my thoughts on this ninth day of September 2009.

Fabulaous Friday Specials from CBD

Some readers might be interested to know that Christian Book Distributors is offering the following items as part of its Fabulous Friday Specials (Friday only sale).

• The 12 volume Expositor’s Bible Commentary (the original, not revised series) for $99 (retail $456.88)
• Studies on the Sermon on the Mount by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones for $5.99 (retail $30)
• Foundations of Contemporary Interpretation edited by Moises Silva for $11.99 (retail $37.99)

You can access the sale with these and other books here.

Latest Issue of Review of Biblical Literature

The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews that may be of interest from a Bible Exposition perspective include:

Octavian D. Baban
On the Road Encounters in Luke-Acts: Hellenistic Mimesis and Luke's Theology of the Way
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5633
Reviewed by Ron Clark

Randall C. Bailey, Tat-siong Benny Liew, and Fernando F. Segovia, eds.
They Were All Together in One Place? Toward Minority Biblical Criticism
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7060
Reviewed by Gerald West

Richard Bauckham
The Jewish World around the New Testament: Collected Essays 1
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7186
Reviewed by Christoph Stenschke

Augustine Casiday and Frederick W. Norris
The Cambridge History of Christianity, Volume 2: Constantine to c. 600
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6614
Reviewed by Paul Dilley

Gregory Lee Cuéllar
Voices of Marginality: Exile and Return in Second Isaiah 40-55 and the Mexican Immigrant Experience
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6839
Reviewed by Timothy Sandoval

Lawrence DiPaolo Jr.
Hymn Fragments Embedded in the New Testament: Hellenistic Jewish and Greco-Roman Parallels
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6989
Reviewed by Daniel Darko

Daniel Durken, ed.
The New Collegeville Bible Commentary: New Testament
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7030
Reviewed by Peter Judge

Beverly Roberts Gaventa and Richard B. Hays, eds.
Seeking the Identity of Jesus: A Pilgrimage
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7011
Reviewed by Mark Elliott

Axel Graupner and Michael Wolter, eds.
Moses in Biblical and Extra-biblical Traditions
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6826
Reviewed by Hallvard Hagelia

Heidi J. Hornik and Mikeal C. Parsons
Illuminating Luke, Volume 3: The Passion and Resurrection Narratives in Italian Renaissance and Baroque Painting
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6345
Reviewed by Thomas E. Phillips

Andrew T. Lincoln and Angus Paddison, eds.
Christology and Scripture: Interdisciplinary Perspectives
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6665
Reviewed by Douglas Campbell

Mark McEntire
Struggling with God: An Introduction to the Pentateuch
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6645
Reviewed by Lissa Wray Beal

Marvin Meyer
Judas: The Definitive Collection of Gospels and Legends about the Infamous Apostle of Jesus
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6518
Reviewed by Philip Tite

Anita Norich and Yaron Z. Eliav, eds.
Jewish Literatures and Cultures: Context and Intercontext
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6796
Reviewed by Joshua Schwartz

James M. Robinson
Jesus: According to the Earliest Witness
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5812
Reviewed by Petri Luomanen

Dan R. Stiver
Life Together in the Way of Jesus Christ: An Introduction to Christian Theology
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=7047 Author(s):
Reviewed by Yolanda Dreyer

Okham's Razor and Biblical Hermeneutics

Kevin DeYoung, interacting with Robert Stein, has posted a helpful reminder about simplicity and interpreting the Bible. Read it here.

Latest Issue of Journal for the Study of the New Testament

The following articles can be found in the latest issue of Journal for the Study of the New Testament (September 2009, Vol. 32, No. 1).

Absent Presences of Paul and Christ: Enargeia in 1 Thessalonians 1—3

Jane M.F. Heath

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 2009;32 3-38
http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/32/1/3

Paul’s Caricature of his Chief Rival as a Pompous Parasite in 2 Corinthians 11.20

L.L. Welborn

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 2009;32 39-56
http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/32/1/39

The Invasion of a Mustard Seed: A Reading of Mark 5.1-20

Joshua Garroway

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 2009;32 57-75
http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/32/1/57

Narrative Analysis as a Text Critical Tool: Mark 16 in Codex W as a Test Case

Thomas R. Shepherd

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 2009;32 77-98
http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/32/1/77

Making Fear Personal: Hebrews 5.11—6.12 and the Argument from Shame

Peter S. Perry

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 2009;32 99-125
http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/32/1/99

The Holy Land: Then and Now

Todd Bolen at Bibleplaces.com has done a series of terrific posts comparing photographic images from the past to how they look today. So far Todd has compared Ein Herod, the synagogue at Capernaum, Beth Shean, Shechem, and Herod's temple at Sebaste. Check it out and Todd's new set of images.

Topical Studies in Proverbs

I am about to start teaching a class on Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. For Proverbs I plan to do an exposition of chapters 1-9. But, the rest of Proverbs will be studied topically. Because of time I will only be able to cover four to five topics. Therefore, I want to give my adult students a process to develop their own topical studies. I have created a handout which I have included below. Feel free to give your thoughts or suggestions by clicking on comments below.

How to Do Your Own Topical Study

1. Read Proverbs and become familiar with the different kinds of topics that seem to reoccur.

2. Select a topic and try to determine what key words might fall under that topic. For example, proverbs related to the family might use words like father, mother, son, child, discipline, training, etc.

3. Try and find every proverb related to the topic. This can be done by personally going through each proverb in Proverbs. This is the best way. But if you don’t have the time to do this then you can use certain commentaries which have topical arrangements or indexes (see below) or you can use a topical Bible like Naves (good), or a concordance like Strong’s or Young’s to look up key words (acceptable but might be time consuming).

4. Once you identify all the proverbs related to the topic, try to determine the meaning of the proverb and how it contributes to your topic.

5. Once you have worked through all the proverbs related to the topic, try and identify basic categories. For example, possible categories for proverbs related to speech could be encouraging speech, edifying speech, gossip, honesty, lying, criticism, etc.

6. Once you have identified your categories then try and identify an overall message that could be supported by the individual proverbs in that category.

7. Meditate and apply what you have learned to your life.

8. Start the process over with another topic.

Some Books on Proverbs Arranged Topically or with Topical Indexes

House, H. Wayne and Kenneth M. Durham. Living Wisely in a Foolish World: A Contemporary Look at the Wisdom of Proverbs. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1992.

Hubbard, David. Proverbs. Mastering the Old Testament, ed. Lloyd J. Ogilvie, vol. 15A. Dallas: Word Publishing, 1989.

Kidner, Derek. Proverbs: An Introduction and Commentary. Tyndale Old Testament Commentary, ed. D. J. Wiseman. Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press, 1964.

Longman, Tremper, III. Proverbs. Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms, ed. Tremper Longman III. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006.

Sailler, Ronald M., and David Wyrtzen. The Practice of Wisdom: A Topical Guide to Proverbs. Chicago: Moody, 1992.

Woodcock, Eldon. Proverbs a Topical Study. Bible Study Commentary. Grand Rapids: Lamplighter Books, 1988.

Salt and Light

Commenting on Matthew 5:13–16, Dwight Pentecost, Design for Living: Lessons on Holiness from the Sermon on the Mount (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1999), 84, states,

“You are salt to make a man thirst for Jesus Christ. You are light to bring a man to Christ. If your pattern of life is so like the pattern of life of the unsaved man that he cannot see any difference between himself and you, you will never create a thirst in him for what you have. Salt does not serve its function by being just like the food on which it is placed. Salt has to be different to serve its purpose. Until there is a transformation in your daily conduct, you will never be salt. Apart from the word of God you can never be light. God calls us from a world from which we were saved to a new kind of life so we might be salt. He delivered the Word to us so that we might be light to men who are lost.”