By Ray Van Neste | Associate Professor of Christian Studies, Director of the R.C. Ryan Center for Biblical Studies, Union University, Jackson, Tennessee
Latest installment from the NAC series,
Zechariah, by George Klein (B&H; hb., 475 pp.) is a good, solid commentary with sane exposition, conversant with the issues, and an eye to meaning and application.
New TestamentJ. Julius Scott, Jr.,
New Testament Theology: A New Study of the Thematic Structure of the New Testament (CFP; hb., 368 pp.). This is a good, accessible survey of the teaching of the New Testament. The chapters move from "Who is Jesus?" to how one is saved, to sanctification, the church, ministry and the return of Christ. This format I think will make it more useful in sermon preparation than some other similar books. Howard Marshall’s
A Concise New Testament Theology (IVP; hb., 310 pp) is an abridgement of his well received
New Testament Theology. Pastors should go ahead and get the larger volume, but this abridgement will be useful for students and lay people. The key NT theology this year though is Thomas Schreiner’s
New Testament Theology: Magnifying God in Christ (Baker; hb., 990 pp.). Schreiner provides a thematic overview of the NT rather than the book-by-book approach of several other recent NT theologies. Both approaches have their strengths so it is good now to have Schreiner’s from this direction. Schreiner in keeping with his earlier theology of Paul argues that the glory of God in Christ is the central theme and he unpacks this in the saving work of Christ. Schreiner explicitly writes for pastors and students making this big volume accessible and very useful for the preacher.
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The
Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, edited by Beale and Carson (Baker; hb., 1239 pp.) is a very significant volume in helping expositors not only interpret instances where the NT writers quote the OT but how the two testaments of the Bible hold together, i.e. how we understand the unified message of the Bible.
