Australian Paul Barnett is the author of Romans: The Revelation of God's Righteousness (Christian Focus). Barnett is retired Bishop of North Sydney and former New Testament professor. He offers an excellent exposition of the Romans letter which is, as Kent Hughes observes, "critically conversant with the present debate over the new perspective, (yet) is clear and accessible to preachers and Bible teachers."

The Social-Science Commentary on the Gospel of John (Fortress Press) offers an interesting resource for use when preaching from the fourth gospel. The book by Bruce J. Malina and Richard L. Rohrbaugh offers background on the social habits and circumstances of first-century Palestine — issues such as childhood, farming, divorce, family life, and so on — and how that background aids in the understanding of the gospel text. For example, in the discussion of John 3 we read that a person's birth established his social status in the ancient world. Thus, a discussion of a new birth "from above" implied a remarkable advance in the "honor status" of one's family. Malina is Professor of Theology at Creighton University, while Rohrbaugh is professor of Religious Studies at Lewis and Clark College.

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Assorted Resources

The Illustrated Survey of the Bible (Bethany House) is a beautifully-illustrated introduction to scripture. Book by book, it discusses the significance of that portion of scripture, provides an outline of the text, and suggests key themes and applications. The book is a visual treat, packed with color photography from the contemporary Middle East, plus maps, drawings and more. This interesting volume was developed by Derek Tidball and his colleagues at the London Bible College.

In The Westminster Theological Wordbook of the Bible (Westminster John Knox), a team of biblical scholars — led by editor Donald Gowan — explain key theological words found in scripture, from Abba to Zion. A helpful reference work, this is the kind of book a preacher can spend hours thumbing through and gaining interesting insights.

Preachers and teachers will also enjoy the Handbook of the Prophets (Baker) by Robert B. Chisholm, Jr., who teaches Old Testament at Dallas Seminary. Chisholm takes the major and minor prophets and talks about their themes, concerns, and value for today. Readers will find some excellent exposition in this fine volume, and preachers will get countless ideas for sermon series.

Although it won't be at the top of the wish list for most preachers, those interested in more significant research will be attracted to The Pentateuch: An Annotated Bibliography (Baker). This is part of the IBR Bibliographies Series, which includes eight previous volumes.

Of somewhat more interest to the average preacher will be Understanding the Book of Hebrews: The Story Behind the Sermon (Westminster John Knox) by Kenneth Schenck. The author — who teaches at Indiana Wesleyan University — treats the epistle as a sermon shared in the context of the "story world" of Hebrew thought. It is an interesting discussion of an intriguing book.

Finally, The Kregel Pictorial Guide to the Tabernacle (Kregel) by Tim Dowley is a lovely, brief introduction to the Tabernacle, which is the subject of about fifty chapters of the Bible. Photographs and illustrations, charts and maps make this slim (32 pages) volume an interesting introduction to the center of Israel's worship until the building of Solomon's Temple.