Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

ESV Reader’s Bible

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ESVRBThis new Bible releases at the end of this month:

ESV Reader’s Bible. Wheaton: Crossway, 2014.

Bible readers should celebrate this new Bible because it strips out the verse numbers (but, unfortunately, not the chapter numbers!).* It’s the first ESV Bible to do this. Check out the format in this 10-page PDF sample.

*My friend Mark Ward’s mostly enthusiastic review of the ESV Reader’s Bible more passionately makes the same point.

How does this format benefit readers?

  1. See “Tip #3. Read without any chapter or verse references.”
  2. See thoughts #6, 9, and 10 here.
  3. See my book reviews that explain this in more detail.
  4. See Gordon Fee’s third reason for revising his commentary on 1 Corinthians.

2nd Edition of Gordon Fee’s Commentary on 1 Corinthians

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feeComing in September:

Gordon D. Fee. The First Epistle to the Corinthians. 2nd ed. New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014.

That’s 27 years after Fee’s first edition released in 1987.

I read the first edition cover-to-cover when I was in college. It’s brilliant. I don’t agree with all of Fee’s exegetical conclusions, but his scholarship is solid and arguments clear.

I have a galley of the manuscript, and this second edition is definitely worth adding to your library.

Here’s Fee’s preface to the second edition: [Read more…] about 2nd Edition of Gordon Fee’s Commentary on 1 Corinthians

My Favorite Debate on the Existence of God: Bahnsen vs. Stein

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I’ve listened to this debate over and over and over, and it doesn’t get old. It’s that stimulating.

Greg L. Bahnsen vs. Gordon Stein. “The Great Debate: Does God Exist?” University of California, Irvine, February 11, 1985.

Here’s audio of the debate with subtitles:

Related:

  1. Collision: Christopher Hitchens vs. Douglas Wilson
  2. Carson on Presuppositional vs. Evidentialist Apologetics
  3. More Bahnsen Debates
  4. Greg Bahnsen Lectures and Debates on YouTube
  5. John M. Frame. Apologetics to the Glory of God: An Introduction. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1994.
  6. Steven B. Cowan, ed. Five Views on Apologetics. Counterpoints. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000.
  7. K. Scott Oliphint. Covenantal Apologetics: Principles and Practice in Defense of Our Faith. Wheaton: Crossway, 2013.
  8. Justin Taylor, “The Concept of Self-Deception: A Philosophical Analysis, Everyday Illustration, and Application to Romans 1“

An Interview with Missionary J. D. Crowley on His Commentary on Romans

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RomansJ. D. Crowley has lived in Asian cultures all his life. After 12 years of pastoring in Hawaii, he went to Cambodia in 1994 to do linguistic and mission work among the indigenous minorities there. He is the author of The Tampuan/Khmer/English Dictionary and Khmer commentaries on Matthew and (most recently) Romans:

J. D. Crowley. Commentary on the Book of Romans for Cambodia Asia. ASEAN Bible Commentary. Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Fount of Wisdom, 2014.

Four endorsements:

“There is a long and honorable history of synopsizing and condensing longer, technical commentaries. JD Crowley has not only brought his considerable skills to this tradition, but has done so in two languages simultaneously, to the enormous benefit of the church in Cambodia and, it is hoped, other East Asian countries. Those called to teach the Bible who make use of Crowley’s careful work will long thank God for this gift.”

D. A. Carson
Research Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
President, The Gospel Coalition [Read more…] about An Interview with Missionary J. D. Crowley on His Commentary on Romans

My Top Choice for a Textbook on the Doctrine of the Church

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AllisonLast semester at Bethlehem College & Seminary I taught a systematic theology course on the doctrines of the church and the end times. This is the primary text I used for the doctrine of the church, and I plan to use it again when I teach the course in the future:

Gregg R. Allison. Sojourners and Strangers: The Doctrine of the Church. Foundations of Evangelical Theology Series. Wheaton: Crossway, 2012.

I love how Allison organizes the book, and I agree with his theological method. His arguments are well-reasoned and usually persuasive. [Read more…] about My Top Choice for a Textbook on the Doctrine of the Church

Dispatches from the Front: Stories of Gospel Advance in the World’s Difficult Places

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dispatchesJustin Taylor describes my friend Tim Keesee exactly right in his foreword to Tim’s new book:

Tim Keesee. Dispatches from the Front: On Gospel Transformation, Suffering, and Witness. Wheaton: Crossway, 2014.

(You may recall Tim Keesee from his telling the stories in the Dispatches from the Front DVDs by Frontline Missions.)

Here’s Justin Taylor’s foreword (pp. 11–13): [Read more…] about Dispatches from the Front: Stories of Gospel Advance in the World’s Difficult Places

How I Set Up My Desks: One for Sitting, One for Walking

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Updated on January 27, 2016

I spend most of my waking hours working on my computer. I do a lot of reading, research, writing, editing, emailing, and planning. And I do most of that at a desk.

I’ve customized my desk setup for what I do. Of course, this isn’t how everyone else should set up their desks, but my setup may give you some ideas for how to customize your desk for what you do.

My Desk for Sitting

Here’s my desk setup:

desk1

Perman_deskI had not given much thought to organizing my desk until Matt Perman published a series of blog posts on it in 2009. Matt recently revised and expanded his series into a handy little book: How to Set Up Your Desk: A Guide to Fixing a (Surprisingly) Overlooked Productivity Problem. Here’s my endorsement:

Matt Perman has served me so well in applying a Steve Jobs-like approach to my workflow: simple, intuitive, elegant, and efficient. I’ve followed most of his advice about setting up my desk (as well as processing my email), and it works beautifully.

Here are five components to my setup: [Read more…] about How I Set Up My Desks: One for Sitting, One for Walking