Jenni and I just listened to Martin Luther’s Here I Stand this morning to begin our celebration of Reformation Day later this week. It’s a simple 24-minute recording by Max McLean, and it’s moving. After we heard Luther’s famous words again, we both remarked, “That was awesome!”
Two New 5-Volume Sets from Zondervan
Zondervan has recently completed two full-color, five-volume reference works, and they look superb.
1. Revised Bible Encyclopedia
Merrill C. Tenney, ed. Moisés Silva, revision editor. The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible. Revised ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009. 5,616 pp. $279.99 retail.
Tenney edited the first edition in 1975: the Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. “The present revised edition,” edited by Moisés Silva, a first-class biblical scholar, “seeks to preserve the original contributions as much as possible while at the same time updating the material to serve a new generation” (p. v).
Some features:
- over 250 international contributors
- over 7,500 articles on the Bible’s history, literature, and theology
- nearly 2,000 colorful maps, illustrations, charts, and graphs
The introduction explains what’s new:
- “Hundreds of brief new articles have been added.”
- “Some twenty new in-depth articles have been commissioned, including ‘Apologetics’ (William Edgar), ‘Cartography, Biblical’ (Barry J. Beitzel), ‘Ebla’ (Richard S. Hess), ‘Deuteronomic History’ (J. Alan Groves), ‘Ethics in the Old Testament’ (Alexander Cheung), ‘God, Biblical Doctrine of’ (John M. Frame), ‘Land, Theology of’ (Carl G. Rasmussen), ‘Pseudonymity’ (Stanley Porter), ‘Type, Typology’ (Grant R. Osborne), ‘Union with Christ’ (Richard B. Gaffin, Jr.), ‘Warrior, Divine’ (Tremper Longman III), ‘Wars, Jewish’ (J. Julius Scott, Jr.).”
- “Various existing articles have been totally rewritten (e.g., ‘Greek Language,’ ‘Septuagint’).”
- “Others have received substantive updating, such as ‘Archaeology’ (Richard S. Hess), ‘Biblical Criticism’ (Grant R. Osborne), ‘Dead Sea Scrolls’ (Martin G. Abegg, Jr.), ‘Versions of the Bible, English’ (Mark L. Strauss).”
- “All other articles have been carefully reviewed and, when necessary, corrected; frequently, new material has been added alerting the reader to developments in the field.”
- “Special effort has been expended to make bibliographic references more current. Many hundreds of new titles have been included, with emphasis on publications from 1990 through 2007.”
- “All biblical quotations, unless otherwise noted, come from the NIV.”
- “A special effort has been made to bring about greater consistency among the articles” in both format (e.g., “a standard outline system”) and content. “Except in the case of articles that bear a new signature, all differences between the original and revised editions of this work are the responsibility of the revising editor.”
The target audience for this encyclopedia is wide: families, pastors, teachers, and students, both libraries and individual study.
2. OT Backgrounds Commentary
John H. Walton, ed. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Old Testament. 5 vols. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009. 2,928 pp. $249.95 retail.
Walton’s OT set is the counterpart to Clint Arnold’s NT set:
Clinton E. Arnold, ed. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: New Testament. 4 vols. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002. 1,924 pp. $159.95 retail.
Some features of the OT set:
- thirty international authors
- commentary on the entire OT in light of archeology, history, geography, and manners and customs
- over 2,000 photographs, drawings, maps, diagrams, and charts
- 12,000 endnotes
The target audience for this set is also wide. It’s definitely geared more for laypeople than Bible scholars.
Here are the books (in the order listed in the series) and commentators:
- Genesis: John H. Walton
- Exodus: Bruce Wells
- Leviticus: Roy E. Gane
- Numbers: R. Dennis Cole
- Deuteronomy: Eugene E. Carpenter
- Joshua: Richard S. Hess
- Judges: Daniel I. Block
- Ruth: Dale W. Manor
- 1 Samuel: V. Philips Long
- 2 Samuel: V. Philips Long
- 1 Kings: John Monson
- 2 Kings: Iain Provan
- 1 Chronicles: Simon Sherwin
- 2 Chronicles: Frederick J. Mabie
- Ezra and Nehemiah: Edwin M. Yamauchi
- Esther: Anthony Tomasino
- Isaiah: David W. Baker
- Jeremiah: Steven Voth
- Lamentations: Paul W. Ferris Jr.
- Ezekiel: Daniel Bodi
- Daniel: Ernest C. Lucas
- Hosea: J. Glen Taylor
- Joel: Mark W. Chavalas
- Amos: Philip S. Johnston
- Obadiah: Alan R. Millard
- Jonah: John H. Walton
- Micah: Daniel M. Master
- Nahum: Alan R. Millard
- Habakkuk: Victor H. Matthews
- Zephaniah: Mark W. Chavalas
- Haggai: Kenneth G. Hoglund
- Zechariah: Kenneth G. Hoglund and John H. Walton
- Malachi: Andrew E. Hill
- Job: Izak Cornelius
- Psalms: John W. Hilber
- Proverbs: Tremper Longman III
- Ecclesiastes: Duane Garrett
- Song of Songs: Duane Garrett
Zondervan Academic’s 2009-2010 Resources Catalog
It’s available online.
Festschrift for John Frame
This massive 1,232-page book honoring John Frame is now available (WTS Books | Amazon):
John J. Hughes, ed. Speaking the Truth in Love: The Theology of John Frame. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2009.
More information on the book is available here, which includes a 31-page PDF. I’d recommend browsing the 5-page Table of Contents. There are about forty contributors, including J. I. Packer, Vern Poythress, James Grant & Justin Taylor, Paul Helm, Derek Thomas, Bruce Waltke, David Powlison, Wayne Grudem, and John Frame himself.
Coming in March 2010
This 160-page book abridges Carson and Moo’s An Introduction to the New Testament (2d ed.; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005).
Walter Hansen on Philippians
The latest volume in D. A. Carson’s Pillar New Testament Commentary series is now available:
G. Walter Hansen. The Letter to the Philippians. Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009. Available from Amazon and WTSBooks, which has a 70-page sample PDF.
From Carson’s preface (pp. ix–x):
Casual readers of the letter to the Philippians might think that it is one of the slighter contributions penned by Paul. Here one does not find, say, the massive theological reasoning of Romans, the emotional intensity of 2 Corinthians, or the contentious apologetic of Galatians. Some might almost find it bland. Yet those who have probed this letter more closely know that the first chapter finds Paul in one of his most reflective moods as, toward the end of his life, he contemplates the benefits of “departing” and “being with Christ” over against living on in this world to bring further gospel blessing to the churches for which he is responsible; that the second chapter includes one of the high points of New Testament Christology, the third is embroiled in contemporary debates about the New Perspective on Paul, and the fourth contains one of the most revealing pictures of the relationship between Paul and a supporting church. In all of this, the letter sings with the theme of joy and appeals to the Philippians to learn to “think the same thing.” Small wonder that this letter is so embracing when all along it keeps trumpeting the gospel.
With themes and emotions so varied, the letter to the Philippians needs a commentator with a sure grasp and a warm heart. It helps that Dr Hansen writes with admirable clarity and simplicity, even when he is unpacking notoriously complex matters. Perhaps he brings so many qualifications to the table because he himself has not only served as a pastor and a seminary professor, but as a missionary in another cultural context. Certain it is that this commentary will become “must” reading for many pastors, students, and scholars as they try to think Paul’s thoughts after him while reading this letter.
Hansen also authored Galatians in the IVP NT Commentary series.
Full disclosure: I’m grateful for Hansen’s scholarly contributions, but I have an even more personal reason to be grateful since I’m a Hansen fellow (2008–2010)!
Related: Cf. my review of the Pillar NT Commentary series.
The Prodigal God
Last May I listened to seven short sermons by Tim Keller on Luke 15 that convey the message of this book:
Timothy Keller. The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith. New York: Dutton, 2008. 
This weekend I read the book and watched the corresponding DVD. The main feature of the DVD is Keller’s creative 40-minute readers-theater-style summary of the book. Both the book and DVD are first-class. And convicting.
Update: Cf. my brief review.
Collision
Last night Jenni and I watched Collision: Christopher Hitchens vs. Douglas Wilson (DVD | stream), an 87-minute film in which two witty public intellectuals debate whether Christianity is good for the world.
As we expected, the debate is fascinating, fast-paced, evenhanded, and edifying. The creative camera angles and other non-verbal aspects of the film make it even more provocative (and kind of strange).
Related:
- The film is based on the book Is Christianity Good for the World? A Debate (Moscow, ID: Canon, 2008).
- The book grew out of a six-part exchange in Christianity Today.
- Justin Taylor shared some thoughts after viewing the film in March.
- John Piper interviewed Doug Wilson for 16 minutes after showing the film at the Desiring God conference last weekend. One of Piper’s questions goes like this: “In the video you speak about having ‘copiousness.’ Describe what that is and whether you think it is important for pastors to cultivate.” I think Wilson personifies these two proverbs: “To make an apt answer is a joy to a man, / and a word in season, how good it is!” (Proverbs 15:23). “A word fitly spoken / is like apples of gold in a setting of silver” (Proverbs 25:11). Wilson’s copiousness is inspiring.
Updates:
1. John Piper evaluates Doug Wilson in the first 15.5 minutes of this video (early 2013, I think).
2. Doug Wilson reviewed Larry Alex Taunton’s The Faith of Christopher Hitchens: The Restless Soul of the World’s Most Notorious Atheist (Nashville: Nelson, 2016). Superlative review.