The Reformation was a call to return with renewed vigor to the biblical roots of Christian faith and practice. Still, for the Reformers, the truth of the Bible could never be separated from the true community of God's people gathered by his Word. In the book of Acts, they found God's blueprint for how the church should participate with the Holy Spiri… Read more…
"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Reflecting on this verse from the Gospel of Luke (2:11), Martin Luther declared it to be a summary of the gospel: "See here what the gospel is, namely, a joyful sermon about Christ our Savior. Whoever preaches him rightly preaches the gospel and pure joy."
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'Then David said to the Philistine, 'You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts.'' (1 Samuel 17:45)
Reflecting upon David's victory over Goliath, Reformation translator, theologian and commentator William Tyndale compared it to Christ's victor… Read more…
The first chapters of Genesis are the bedrock of the Jewish and Christian traditions. In these inaugural pages of the canon, the creation of the world, the fall of the human creature, the promise of redemption and the beginning of salvation history are found. Interwoven in the text are memorable stories of the ancient biblical patriarchs and matriarchs.
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The Reformation era revolution in preaching and interpreting the Bible did not occur without keen attention to the Old Testament Scriptures. This is especially true with regard to the Hebrew prophets. Ezekiel and Daniel, replete with startling, unnerving imagery and visions, apocalyptic oracles of judgment and destruction, captivated the reformers as they so… Read more…
Paul's letters to the Philippians and Colossians celebrate the glory and supremacy of Jesus Christ and his saving work, a refrain that the reformers never grew tired of singing. While their tones are diverse, the clarity of their compositions and the power of their voices still reverberate today.
Reformation commentators found the main… Read more…
'Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.' (Psalm 1:1-2, ESV)
The book of Psalms has been the subject of daily and nightly meditation throughout the history … Read more…
The first eighteen verses of the Gospel of John make some of the most profound statements about the character and work of Christ in all of Scripture: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God' (1:1); 'all things were made through him' (1:3); 'the Word became flesh and dwelt among us' (1:14).
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The gospel of justification by faith alone was discovered afresh by the Reformers in the epistolary turrets of the New Testament: the letters to the Galatians and the Ephesians.
At the epicenter of the exegetical revolution that rocked the Reformation era was Paul's letter to the Galatians. There Luther, Calvin, Bullinger and scores of… Read more…
Eminently readable, exegetically thorough, and written in an emotionally warm style that flows from his keen sensitivity to the text, Barry Webb’s commentary on Judges is just what is needed to properly engage a dynamic, narrative work like the book of Judges. It discusses not only unique features of the stories themselves but also such issues as the viole… Read more…
This work by Nancy L. deClaissé-Walford, Rolf Jacobson, and Beth Tanner is the most complete and detailed one-volume commentary available on the Psalms. Significantly, the volume reflects the combined insights of three superior (younger) biblical scholars.
DeClaissé-Walford, Jacobson, and Tanner offer a succinct introduction to the Psalt… Read more…
Pastors and scholars have often found the letter of James particularly vexing both to interpret and to apply. Scot McKnight's commentary expounds James both in its own context and in the context of ancient Judaism, the Greco-Roman world, and the emerging Christian faith. Though interacting with the best available scholarly work on James, McKnight first c… Read more…