I can live with a tie.
I'll defer to others to comment as this is a very personal thing, but I will add that this site is a wonderful site dedicated to reviews, ratings, and opinions on books in many commentaries as well as the best overall commentaries based on the strength of all their books. Worth checking out!
I'm looking for the personal thing. I'm looking for both objective and subjective impressions, but am especially interested in the subjective.
It's summer where I live, and a tie would be way to hot. :-)
One of the NT commentary sets I often turn to first is the Bible Speaks Today series. Very accessible, and a great quick guide. It's not in any of the base sets, but more than worth the price.
If there's a quote/allusion to the OT, I'll check the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. I may also check the IVP Bible Background Commentary.
When I want to go deeper, the commentaries I will use first are those that ensure I understand the text:
After I've understood the text and want to know what people have said about it, I usually go to:
I've created a collection of my top commentaries, and also a My Passage Guide that searches uses that collection first.
(type:commentary OR mytag:commentary) AND Series:("Baker Exegetical","Word Biblical Commentary","Pillar New Testament","United Bible Societies","New International Greek Testament","The Bible Speaks Today","IVP Bible Background Commentary","Tyndale Commentaries","New American Commentary","Socio-Rhetorical Commentary")
Hope that's of some use: it probobably indicates something of the process I use, and how/when I find these resources helpful.
Thanks, Allen. Any of those make your heart burn within you?
Luke 24:32 | NAS
They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?”
Believer's Bible Commentary by William MacDonald. You will be hard pressed to find a more Christ centered, Bible believing, (one volume) commentary.
With regards to the inclusion of commentaries after my personal study I presently enjoy reading from the New American Commentary set then the BBC. Another gem, especially with so many similar Study Bibles and commentaries, is the Word in Life Study Bible. Not your typical study bible commentary, but like the IVP dictionaries, it can really add to your study.
Just starting to include the NIGTC and Pillar, and while I can see why they are highly regarded, seems like an ocean of words to have to swim through in order to find treasures that stir the soul. Pillar seems a bit better. In the end commentaries like NIGTC add to the overall study, and its depth will surely come in handy when considering passages verse by verse.
Will be curiously to know how The Expositor's Commentary, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, and the Word Biblical Commentary rank in this thread of most faith-filled/faith-full commentaries.
Enjoyed Allen's post.
Regards
You can't take the definition of "faith" and the definition of "full," cram them together and come up with a definition of faithful! I have no idea what a "faith-filled commentary" is. I have no idea what a "faith-full commentary" is. Neither does anyone else. All of the replies you get are going to be subjective, which is what you want so I guess you might be content with the replies. Although you have no idea what these commentaries are either, so if you would like to clarify yourself I would consider answering.
@Alan
As stated after the fact… Which commentary(s) cause your heart to burn within you as they 'explain' the Scriptures to you. I am really looking for what stirs you. Those are the commentary(s) I suspect would interest me. Just guessing, mind you. Maybe another way to state my question would be, What commentary(s) excite you. I am looking for the additional assessment as to which resources the respondent considers to be true to the Word as well.
What commentary(s) excite you.
The ones that excite me are those with idiotic interpretations and flawed logic.[:@] See how excited I look?
Seriously, that is not what I look for in a commentary - it's what I look for in other spiritual readings ... the Philokalia, for example, or the early desert fathers, or Meister Eckhart ....sometimes they are in the form of commentaries but not generally.
Are you one of those, "Live long and prosper types?" [8-|]
"Live long and prosper types?
Let's see ..3 grandparents made it past 85, Dad died just shy of 98, Mother is 96 next month ... so I guess I'm a live long type[;)] As for prosper ... that's in the eye of the beholder.
Bless your pointy little ears, MJ. If you wish to prosper, don't forget about Priceline.com.
Thanks, Allen. Any of those make your heart burn within you? Luke 24:32
Well, some commentaries do give me heartburn! ;-)
Seriously though, the passage you referred to was the amazing moment following the resurrection, when two people heavy with the cares of dashed hopes had one of those Ah-ha moments, that God's long-term project was, in fact, being fulfilled -- that all the things God had promised in Scripture were being fulfilled in the most unexpected way in Jesus.
That experience -- recognising how Jesus is the culmination of the Adam story, the Abraham story, the Israel story -- is incredibly powerful. The resurrection changes everything. Those who use death as the ultimate weapon are suddenly disarmed. The new creation is breaking in on the world. If you want a resource that takes you there and you are prepared to put in the work to understand how Jesus is the fulfulment of the OT story and how that informs our understanding of what God is doing now, through us, I would strongly encourage you to read N T Wright's Christian Origins and the Question of God Series (3 vols.) It's taken me many months to wade through those, but that's the stuff that will make your heart burn within you for precisely the same reason as the passage you quoted. It's hard work, but it's life-changing.
I purchased Wright's The Resurrection of the Son of God on special here just this last Friday. I'm not too far into it yet, but it looks like there's a lot of promise there, that's for sure.
For me often the perspective you want to look at the commentaries in this thread depends not so much on the technical depth of the commentary but the author. Some guys like D.A. Carson or Gordon Fee can say very complicated things in an exciting and passionate way. Because of that I like to read any commentaries (of any series) guys like those two mentioned write. There are more like them and of course it is very subjective criteria, what you actually want.
I like to get many perspectives and ideas in over my Bible study, but all in all it is God's true word, I am studying, so I turn mostly back to the works that I consider most credible to the word. I love commentaries as R.C.H.Lenski ... This is just my opinion.
As stated after the fact… Which commentary(s) cause your heart to burn within you as they 'explain' the Scriptures to you.
Personally, I prefer a commentary that faithfully & clearly explains the meaning of the text to one that seeks to sensationalize.
As stated after the fact… Which commentary(s) cause your heart to burn within you as they 'explain' the Scriptures to you. Personally, I prefer a commentary that faithfully & clearly explains the meaning of the text to one that seeks to sensationalize.
Sheesh. The Gospel is pretty sensational don't you think?
Okay, I'll bite. I know this is subjective. I know people will disagree. But obviously that's what you want. So rather than roast the inquirer I'll just try to answer your question. Here are some of my favorites:
I like Horae Homiletcae, I love the IVP Bible Background Commentary and usually start with it. I met the author, Craig Keener, in a seminar we were doing in Kenya once and his heart for God is beautiful to see and his scholarship is fantastic. I like James Montgomery Boice and I like the Pillar series. Sometimes Calvin can make my heart burn within me, and sometimes he just gives me heartburn. I like Arthur Pink, even though he's usually trying to make everything come out to 7 (I kind of think that's endearing). I like Charles Spurgeon. All of these authors can make my heart burn within me as they speak of our sensational Lord. One of my very favorites is Dale Bruner and his outstanding commentary on Matthew, which is unavailable in Logos but should be so everybody go and request it.
As stated after the fact… Which commentary(s) cause your heart to burn within you as they 'explain' the Scriptures to you. Personally, I prefer a commentary that faithfully & clearly explains the meaning of the text to one that seeks to sensationalize. Sheesh. The Gospel is pretty sensational don't you think?
You obviously missed my point. I dislike expositors who are seeking something new and sensational rather than explaining the text as it is. The Scripture text itself excites me, not someone else's opinion of it. My commentary of choice is anything in the NIC series and the Pillar.
What is the best forum to discuss phenomenon like the Luke 24 burn? I didn't mean to imply that the burn results from any type of personal preference or itching ears. I was just using the illustration to get to what it is I am seeking, i.e., which resource(s) make you feel/trust that you've just encountered God.
The Horae Homiletcae does that for me too. I'm sure Jesus Himself could do a better job, however. =J
Faithful and profound. Merely faithful. Which commentary(s) do you value most from THAT perspective?
Thanks, Jack. If we're born-again and seeking after the Lord, we're going to gravitate towards His essence which is TRUTH. The resources that bring us closer to Him is what I'm after here. Resources that leave us with impression that we've just encountered Truth.
I'm not trying to stimulate debate, just personal opinion. No need for debate here.
As stated after the fact… Which commentary(s) cause your heart to burn within you as they 'explain' the Scriptures to you. Personally, I prefer a commentary that faithfully & clearly explains the meaning of the text to one that seeks to sensationalize. Sheesh. The Gospel is pretty sensational don't you think? You obviously missed my point. I dislike expositors who are seeking something new and sensational rather than explaining the text as it is. The Scripture text itself excites me, not someone else's opinion of it. My commentary of choice is anything in the NIC series and the Pillar.
Sorry Jack. I didn't mean to start anything. I just meant that all he was asking for was some opinions about commentaries and it quickly degenerated into a kind of debate about the theory of whether or not we can even ask about what faithful means, &tc... But among such prickly pears as preachers, I shouldn't be surprised (I showed my own prickliness there too, getting annoyed over the whole business I must admit!). Glad to see we can agree on the Pillar Commentary though. I am SMILING as I type this!!
Glad to see we can agree on the Pillar Commentary though. I am SMILING as I type this!!
[:D] Big toothy grins here also. [:D]
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