I just reviewed this book for Books at a Glance:

Ben Witherington III. Reading and Understanding the Bible. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

Here are four similar books I recommend more highly: [Read more…] about My Review of Ben Witherington’s “Reading and Understanding the Bible”

This new edition is scheduled to release in February 2014:

Craig S. Keener. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. 2nd ed. Downers Grove: IVP, 2014.

The first edition, which has sold over 600,000 copies, released twenty years ago in 1993, and the second edition slightly revises it. (Keener’s foreword and acknowledgments to the second edition doesn’t specify what he has revised in the second edition, and I haven’t compared the two editions to spot changes.) [Read more…] about The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament

This 640-page handbook is worth adding to your library:

Joel B. Green and Lee Martin McDonald, eds. The World of the New Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2013.

You can view the contents and contributors via Amazon’s “look inside” feature.

Related:

1. Is ‘Background Information’ Ever Necessary to Understand the Bible?
2. Extracanonical Jewish Literature That Is Significant for NT Studies
3. The Importance of Extracanonical Jewish Literature for NT Studies

I attempt to answer that question on TGC’s blog.

Outline:

1. Dangers If You Answer Yes
2. Dangers If You Answer No
3. Illustration: Wayne Grudem Answers No
4. Does that Mean that the Bible Isn’t Sufficiently Clear?

Update:

1. Mike Bird reflects on the question.
2. Don Carson and John Piper discuss the merits of studying hermeneutics and how much time teachers should spend investigating extrabiblical sources:

This book came out in 2010:

Robert L. Plummer. 40 Questions about Interpreting the Bible. 40 Questions Series. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2010.

Rob has prepared two short, lay-friendly booklets (under 100 pages) that derive from his 40 Questions book:

1. The Story of Scripture: How We Got Our Bible and Why We Can Trust It. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2013. [Read more…] about Two New Booklets by Rob Plummer

Jonathan T. Pennington, Reading the Gospels Wisely: A Narrative and Theological Introduction  (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2012), 152:

I argue in the final chapter of this book that this diminished role for the Gospels is unfounded in light of church history and many theological considerations. But for now we can address this issue through an informative illustration of my experience with the Kentucky Derby. Rather than being merely foundational, past-era historical data, the Gospels are more like a television viewing of the annual Kentucky Derby horse race. [Read more…] about Watching the Gospels and the Kentucky Derby

Good article:

Daniel L. Akin, Craig L. Blomberg, Paul Copan, Michael J. Kruger, Michael R. Licona, and Charles L. Quarles. “A Roundtable Discussion with Michael Licona on The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach.” Southeastern Theological Review 3 (2012): 71–98.

Some context:

1. Michael Licona published The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach in 2010.
2. Norman Geisler vocally criticized Licona’s view on inerrancy (e.g., here and here) because Licona proposed interpreting Matt 27:52–53 as an apocalyptic genre rather than as recounting literal historical events.
3. Albert Mohler also criticized Licona’s view on inerrancy.
4. Licona resigned his two SBC positions (North American Mission Board and Southern Evangelical Seminary).
5. CT reported on the controversy.
6. Michael Patton defended Licona.

This round-table discussion exemplifies how to directly address controversy in an edifying way.

Update: Cf. Raymond M. Johnson, I See Dead People: The Function of the Resurrection of the Saints in Matthew 27:51–54, Reformed Academic Dissertations (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2019).