(Part 2) Best christian commentary books according to redditors
We found 415 Reddit comments discussing the best christian commentary books. We ranked the 212 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
He needs to read this. The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American https://www.amazon.com/dp/1454933275/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_qkMJDb0Y9XDEK
> During the late Hellenistic and early Roman period the term archon, in both singular and plural forms, began to be used in early Judaism and early Christianity and then in Neoplatonism and Gnosticism as designation for supernatural beings such as angels, demons and Satan and planetary deities who were thought to occupy a particular rank in a hierarchy of supernatural beings analogous to a political or military structure.
> The context for the conception of Satan as ruler of this world or age is the apocalyptic worldview which consisted in a temporal or eschatological dualism in which the present age ('this world or age') is dominated by wickedness through the influence of Satan, while the imminent future age ('the coming world or age') will be inaugurated by the victory of God over all evil.
> In Ephesians 2:2, Satan is called "the prince of the power of the air", i.e. the prince whose domain is the air. This title is clearly a designation for Satan, for he is also described as "the spirit now at work in the sons of disobedience" (Eph 2:2). The air was regarded as the dwelling place of evil spirits in the ancient world (Philo. De gig. 6; 2 Enoch 29:4; Asc. Isa. 7:9).
Reader, thanks for your time and thoughts! OP, thank you for your kindness! I served a mission in Russia 10 years ago, I'm a current practicing member of the LDS Church, living in China now. JBP caught my attention last year and I have devoured his Bible series. I also love listening to Jonathan Pageau and Paul Vanderklay. Really enjoyed Matthieu Pageau's book, The Language of Creation.
My own take on Mormonism and JBP: Sure, claims of visions of God and a the gold plates (Book of Mormon) may seem ridiculous and even disprovable to some extent. But so is the resurrection of Christ. The fundamentalist sits on the opposite side of the coin as the atheist. Both insist that the Bible is literal, the former believes the stories, the latter disbelieves. Jordan Peterson rejects this false dichotomy by showing that our existence is primarily a forum for action, not a place of things. This in mind, stories of the Garden of Eden, the virgin birth, the resurrection of Christ, and a host of other nearly "disprovable" Christian foundations become valuable not for their historical occurrence as described, but for how they influence behavior in the world's forum for action.
If you sit on either side of the fundamentalist/atheist coin, the LDS Church's history, doctrines and current stances are concerning and puzzling. Getting off of this coin in the past year has led me to realize that these puzzlements are not great enough for me to reject the community and framework for families and life in general that has proved so valuable to my own young family as well as to my pioneer ancestors on both sides, 8 generations back. My faith is not a science textbook, it's guidebook for life's forum for action.
Some of my extended family members have left the Church over various concerns. That's fine and I respect their choice. Their concerns are valid and need to be addressed. If there's any change that needs to be made to the church's doctrine or policies, I hope I can be a force for changing it from the inside, rather than from without. This needs to be said with a grain of salt: "What do I know about changing the doctrine and policies of a 16M member institution that rests on thousands of years of Judeo-Christian history?" Indeed, if any changes are to be made, they will be made by God (substitute JBP's definition of God here if you will).
I keep one thing in mind regarding my personal faith that has been helpful to me...
> I also think he has a shorter commentary on Revelation that's under thirty dollars that may also be a good place to start
Let the reader beware that Beale's shorter commentary clocks in at 562 pages. It is shorter in the sense that it is less than half as long as his full NIGTC commentary, but don't be fooled into thinking it is easy reading or anything.
If you liked the history in this thread, I highly recommend The Founding Myth by Andrew Seidel of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. And if you find yourself debating on this topic, it's invaluable.
https://www.amazon.com/Founding-Myth-Christian-Nationalism-American/dp/1454933275/
Do patristic commentaries count, or do you mean just by modern authors? Robert Hill did a translation of St. John Chrysostom's homilies on Job. His [Hill's] end notes are sometimes more of a nuisance than anything else as he gripes that St. John doesn't ruminate on the sapiential theme of Job.
New Bible Commentary is good. Has some top scholars contributions in their specialties. Get the latest version (1994).
Well, if you can find one example where the Spirit indwelt a person without the Bible, I think that would disprove that hypothesis. So, what would someone who holds that view think of Isaiah saying, "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek".
Another person who comes to mind would be Jesus. He did not have a Bible, and yet he was anointed with the Holy Spirit as well.
I understand both of these men had Scriptures, but not the 66 canonical Bible which we have so perhaps I'm not understanding right.
A useful (and brief) resource on the topic of God's indwelling Holy Spirit is God's Indwelling Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Old and New Testaments
CoC teaches something + faith for salvation, however you slice it. You combat this by preaching the gospel of justification by faith alone and defending it as the Reformers did against Rome. Unless members of your own church are being drawn away to the CoC then there's no need to address the church down the street directly--it would be difficult to do in love at any rate. If members of your church are being drawn away, teach them right doctrine. A polemic against the CoC down the street isn't what they need.
For an interesting read and insight into CoC history, I recommend "Baptism in the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement" by A. B. Caneday, which is found as Chapter 9 in Believer's Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ.
https://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-Deities-Demons-Bible-Extensively/dp/9004111190/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1550013836&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=dictionary+of+deities+and+demons&dpPl=1&dpID=41yd6N3qLYL&ref=plSrch
The hardcover is expensive. Like $220 dollars. But if you change the format at that link to digital you can get it for $20 :)
Matthew Henry is good, if old. I'm no 'modern scholarship is best scholarship' advocator, but we still need to bear in mind that it's over 300 years old. On the stuff where it's intra-biblical or devotional, it's great.
More modern is New Bible Commentary. I have used it and it's good for what it is. Broad but shallow.
I echo the idea of a good study Bible if you want a best bang for your buck in the smallest physical footprint. The ESV is great, but also consider the Reformation Study Bible. I prefer it just a tad more than the ESV study.
If you have a device capable of reading epubs, then consider not limiting yourself. There are a gajillion excellent and free resources that you can carry on your phone, tablet, Kindle, whatever. Calibre is unflinchingly excellent for building and maintaining a library for your ebooks, moving them off and on your device, and even converting between formats.
There are a lot to choose from.
Eh, I wouldn't be too hard on the ancient Israelites. The stories in Genesis were likely passed around for generations before written down; they should be viewed more as folk-tales rather than as something to teach a lesson. That these stories should be the source of our morals is a relatively modern way of reading the bible.
If you read the exchange with Jacob and Esau, Jacob doesn't ever lie to Esau. Sure, he's sneaky as heck, and takes advantage of his brother, but he's not being outright dishonest. To the original audience, Esau was the bad guy here, so for Jacob to outsmart him would have been a positive thing.
I've just looked up the story in Gunkel's Genesis, and he goes on for pages discussing how this story illustrates the feeling of superiority the shepherding Israelites had over their hunting neighbors. It was apparently common to mock hunters for not planning ahead, and being in the position where they are living paycheck-to-paycheck, so to speak. Esau comes home hungry and is at the mercy of his brother, who sells something at a very high price.
A book you might enjoy is James Kugel's How to Read the Bible, which tries to explain what the texts would have meant to the original audience.
The IWC is occasionally used in Hebrew poetry, but in those circumstances the poetry is generally detailing out a piece of history. A common rebuttal is to cite 2 Sam 12, where Nathan gives David a story, and we see the IWCs there as well. The reason is because Nathan is presenting David a story as though it were true. It would be difficult to extrapolate from that the idea that we can begin applying to any number of texts the status of parable/historical fiction. This is particularly true for Genesis because of the genealogies.
C. John (Jack) Collins has an "Okay" book with a good section on this called Genesis 1-4. This is important because Collins isn't a literal 6 day guy, but helpfully explains why Myth isn't an option with regards to Genesis 1-4.
G.K. Beale Commentary on Revelation or his Shorter Commentary on Revelation as well as many of the other books he's written on Thessalonians, New Testament use of Daniel, etc. are some of the best resources for an amillennial, idealist interpretation. He also has a lot of shorter articles and lectures available online, if you're lazy like me.
This becomes a problem only if we disregard the many examples in the Bible of women actually teaching. A prime example is Priscilla instructing Apollos (Act 18:26). The bible also have other examples of women teaching men. If we believe that this really happened as the NT says - that Priscilla really instructed Apollos, then it is easy to see that 1Tim 2 is spoken into a specific cultural situation. Paul is not saying "no woman anywhere can teach a man" but rather "I do not allow these particular women to teach men".
A good book on this from an Evangelical (if that is what you are) can be found in the very respected series of Bible commentaries called New International Commentary on the New Testament. It is massive, but if you really want to dig deep then it is worth it
I think that it is a blueprint of the liturgy Christ instituted and asked his disciples to perpetuate. Theres a lot to it, but this chart outlines the basic surface level aspects of this theory nicely. This book offers a more in depth presentation of this theory. cf. this book
EDIT: I'd also like to add that this is the only way I can see for Christians to truly understand the book of revelation. All the prophesy theories seem to be debunked every time they claim to be actually happening. Everyone for the past twenty centuries thought they were going to see the end of the world. Nobody has been right yet.
Get yourself a study bible, like the HarperCollins Study Bible or a Bible commentary like Eerdmans and find the Isaiah chapters in those. Isaiah makes a lot more sense when you put him in his proper context and stop trying to read prophesies of our day into it. Also, be sure to familiarize yourself with the Deutero-Isaiah therory.
Here is the mobile version of your link
It made me think of the perfect study Bible for you: the one by Madame Jeanne Guyon. I've read many commentaries in my time and never found any with the level of her depth and insight.
Unfortunately her commentaries, originally written in the 18th century, are difficult to find. There's one here on Amazon and you could find the same book on Ebay if you wanted.
I've got to put in a plug for the translation and commentary of R' Hirsch, of which I'm a big fan. I love his elegant, holistic, thoughtful take on the whole Torah, especially the ritual stuff in Leviticus (Temple offerings, ritual purity, etc.) that's otherwise most difficult to understand from a modern perspective. When I read R' Hirsch, everything fits together so well, and I'm in awe at the elegance with with God constructed the Torah.
The original English translation (He wrote in German.), which I'm familiar with, is now out of print. The new English translation uses a more contemporary English. I haven't studied it carefully enough to say anything else about it, but I can certainly recommend the ideas is came from.
The cheapest I see on Froogle is a bit above your mother's subsidy, but IMO, well worth it.
Thanks for the reply! That about fits my expectations. Looking back at the references for most of the celestial deity claims, they seem to lean much more heavily on Goldziher, though he cite's Gunkel's Genesis commentary pretty frequently for other claims. There is one point in relation to this where he cites Gunkel, but he's citing Goldziher in the same paragraph, and he doesn't go into any detail about what he's pulling from either:
> Below the surface we can detect visages of earlier myths. First, we have another story of the perpetual rivalry between the sun and the moon. Esau is the sun, as noted above; Jacob is the moon. This is why he is described as a "smooth man" (Gen. 27:12) as opposed to his brother who is a "hairy man." [Goldziher, Mythology, pp. 127-28, 134-37, 139-50] There are flaming solar rays but only a gentle lunar halo. Similarly, Elijah, "a hairy man" (2 Kings 1:8), is the sun, replaced by the bald Elishah (2 Kings 2:23), the moon. Physical descriptions of Bible characters are very rare. When they do occur, they are clues. Who gets the priority? Who gets to rule the heavens? Which one will succeed the old, declining sun, the blind Isaac? [Gunkel at pp. 105-106]
"Gunkel" refers to this volume: https://www.amazon.com/Genesis-Mercer-Library-Biblical-Studies/dp/0865545170
"Golziher" to a 1967 edition of Mythology among the Hebrews and its historical development
Hmmm.
I do have unlimited printing here...
I found a couple on Amazon:
Understanding the Bible: An Introduction for Skeptics, Seekers, and Religious Liberals
and The Born Again Skeptics Guide to the Bible.
So I kind of answered my own question. But If there are any other comparable sources out there, I am hungry for them.
I'm sure you'll get sarcastic remarks about "just read the Bible" (which, as a Reformed Baptist [charismatic] I'd agree with) but I think you're looking for solid theological interactions on the issue. In some ways, I think these are good starter books for not only the issue at hand (baptism) but also how it fits within the larger theological vision of the Christian life and community. Baptism is one of those issues that, for being seemingly simple, reveals a great deal about how one understands the nature of faith, the entire Christian life, and the nature of the Gospel itself. Just taking a guess, but I assume you're approaching it from the sobriety that the issue deserves given your reading thus far, so I commend you for looking for further resources on the topic and continuing to read!
Here are a few that are good starters, and for more reading, I'd look to their bibliographies and footnotes.
Believer's Baptism - This is a good resource. There are a few points here or there where I'd disagree with various articles. I'd want to emphasize different aspects here or there, but especially at points where the covenants (Covenant Theology v. New Covenant Theology) becomes the issue. So, good starter, and the basic presentation of a thoughtful credo-baptist view.
The Distinctiveness of Baptist Covenant Theology - Taking up that point of covenant theology, this is a very thorough book on how the covenants play within a Reformed Baptist view of baptism. Very good.
Covenant Theology: A Reformed and Baptistic Perspective on God's Covenants
Covenant Theology: A Reformed Baptist Primer
The Confessing Baptist - This is a website and podcast. A good resource for articles and podcasts on various issues related to Reformed Baptists.
If you're looking for one book, I'd go with Believer's Baptism, and supplement with materials available at The Confessing Baptist website. That'll get your versed in the logic of the credo-baptist position, and hopefully provide some good things to mull over.
Hope that helps!
Physicist turned Anglican Priest John Polkinghorn has written on this. So has C. John Collins in his work Genesis 1-4. John Sailhammer's work in Genesis Unbound might also be able to fit in that framework. Let me know.
HERE is a great online tool for someone like yourself. It has commentaries, dictionaries, Strong's, topical Bibles, Interlinear Bibles, and various translations. By clicking on a verse (blue number) and hitting Interlinear you get THIS. There is much more there to play with.
Regarding actual copies of commentaries, I like HarperCollins, but keep in mind that it is one single book that covers the entire Bible. I like The New American Commentary, BUT Ephesians is the only NT volume unavailable at this time... That said, Word Biblical Commentary is excellent as others have mentioned. NAC and WBC are what I reach for regarding commentary sets. These are commonly used in seminaries and on the shelves in Bible college libraries. I also want to recommend Gordon Fee & Douglas Stuart regarding hermeneutics.
Now that I "vocalize" it, it makes more sense than what I think Piper is saying. Especially if you go through passages about the temple and God's presence, the difference is made clear a la Jim Hamilton's argument in this work
> 1) What's your biggest objection to Christianity?
There are many objections that can be raised against Christianity. Perhaps the easiest to demonstrate and the most damaging to Christianity in particular is the unreliability of the Bible. There is far more to go into about this than I could ever write here. So I will just point you to some resources. One is The Skeptic's Annotated Bible, and the other is the book The Cure for Fundamentalism by Steve McRoberts.
Another avenue worth looking into is the mythological origins of Christianity. Much of the tradition and imagery surrounding Jesus is borrowed from earlier Sun god mythology. I suggest looking into the works of Acharya S or Barbara G. Walker for more information on this.
More generally, Christianity is a faith-based religion making supernatural claims about the world. I understand the supernatural to be what is not subject to natural law, and I have never found any evidence that anything about the world is supernatural. Furthermore, its specific claims about salvation presuppose a mythological worldview that is not supported by science.
> 2) Is there more to life than we can see or observe directly?
There is certainly more than we can presently see or observe directly. There is probably life on far-away planets we are presently unable to observe, as well as undiscovered life forms on this planet, the phenomenological states of other animals, the secret thoughts of other people, etc. Much of this could be observed in principle if we had the right instruments and were in the right place. But some of it, such as what it is like to be a bat, will remain unknowable to us. Nevertheless, none of this is to say that anything supernatural exists.
> 3) Where does a non-Christian get their moral foundation/base from?
There is no universal answer for where all non-Christians get their morality from. But there are some common sources that shape people's morality. As human beings, we have the capacity to care about and feel empathy for one another. That is one source. As members of a civilization, we are civilized as we grow up, which instills in us traditional moral ideas. As people who can read and think, we have access to what various philosophers have thought about morality. Some of the most common ideas in moral theory are virtue ethics, consequentialism, and deontology, none of which depend upon the authority of a God. Any good ethics textbook should cover each of these in detail.
> 4) What is the origin of the universe/ What is the origin of the big bang?
The goddess spilled her menstrual blood, and this became the world. More seriously, no one knows. Science doesn't magically give us all the answers to life, the universe, and everything. We don't have to know all the answers to know that some answers are just plain wrong.
> You just ignored it
I usually ignore your long-winded Bible quoting, because the Bible has no authority whatsoever, and it doesn't back up anything you have to say.
> But I notice you didn't deny the statements were all OBJECTIVELY TRUE AS WE SPEAK.
Nearly everything the Bible says is false. If it does say some true things, it would take careful scholarship to identify what that might be.
> There is false so called science based on Denying worldwide flood
There is a ton of evidence against the worldwide flood described in Genesis.
> They LITERALLY wander down streets after their lusts!
I'm sure people were already doing that in Bible times. Lust was already a common human motivation long before one word of the Bible was written, and as long as it plays a role in reproduction, it will continue to be a common human motivation. As for the streets, they were probably a convenient place for men to find rape victims, harlots, and loose women. So, predicting that this kind of behavior would happen in the future is not especially noteworthy.
> All true statements told in advance, telling you FUTURE even.
That hasn't worked out so well yet. Christians have been applying Bible prophecy to current events for a long time now, regularly predicting that the end of the world was right around the corner, and they have continuously been mistaken. The Jehovah's Witnesses, for example, predicted the end of the world would come many times before I was even born. Hal Lindsey and Herbert W. Armstrong were wrongly applying Bible prophecy to current events back when I was a Christian. The title of one of Lindsey's books, The 1980's: Countdown to Armageddon, is a huge embarrassment.
> So you have all true statements and you CHOOSE "I don't know" as FORETOLD thousands of years ago in bible.
If you're talking about the Bible, you couldn't be further from the truth. It has many contradictions, and where there are contradictions, there are falsehoods. See The Cure for Fundamentalism: Why the Bible Cannot be the "Word of God" by Steve McRoberts. It meticulously goes through your favorite version of the Bible, exposing its many contradictions.
Try to keep in mind that the Bible is not so much a book but a collection of books, each with their own style. As such you are not getting used to just reading one book but many different types of texts that have seen frequent translations and revisions of those translations in their time.
Really what I trying to get across is: Don't panic! You are doing really well. Just try to go at your own pace and don't get too flustered.
From the verse you quoted I think I'm right in saying that the translation you have been given is the New International Version? Maybe try looking around for a slightly different version, like the New Revised Slandered Version for example, and see if you find one easier to read than the other. Everyone has a different preference for what translation they prefer and you will discover yours in time.
If you are just starting out with the Bible you may what to invest in a guide. A good Bible guide will be able to give you enough context around what part of the bible you are reading. Stuff like who might of written it, when it may have been written and what the author may have been responding to. It may also begin to tell you what meaning some theologians may have drawn out of, say, a particular verse or chapter.
When I started reading the Bible I started with a study edition of the Revised English Bible (a study edition of the Bible gives you an introduction to each part of the bible and notes on translation, some people like this extra information and others may find it distracting - the choice is yours). I then realised I wanted extra guidance on what I was reading so got my self a Bible guide called Understanding the Bible by John A. Buehrens which really helped me. If you want an extra guide then you should be able to find one that will suite you.
Good luck and remember again to go at your own pace. Understanding comes with time. I've been reading the Bible regularly for about 5 years, and I'm now studying for a masters degree in theology and I'm preaching up and down the country, but my understanding of scripture is still constantly changing and evolving. Don't panic about understanding everything perfectly right away because it just doesn't happen like that!
Ancient Christian Commentary: http://www.amazon.com/Job-Ancient-Christian-Commentary-Scripture/dp/0830814760/
Johanna Manley’s compilation of commentary on Job: http://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Let-Us-Attend-Testament/dp/0962253642/
St. John Chrysostom’s Commentary: http://www.amazon.com/St-John-Chrysostom-Commentary-Sages/dp/1885652771/
St. Gregory the Great: in this edition: http://www.amazon.com/Gregory-Great-Reflections-Preface-Cistercian/dp/0879071494/
Or this edition: http://www.amazon.com/Moralia-Job-Morals-Parts-Books/dp/1478343850/
Neither of which seems to be the complete text, and so future volumes should be forthcoming.
Warren Wiersbe's "Be" Series is now in a two volume set. Devotional level, but good insights.
Eerdman's Commentary on the Bible is multi authored, but more scholarly in insightful.
The Concordia Self-Study Commentary is decidedly Lutheran, but very evangelical.
You may be interested in...
this book: http://www.amazon.com/The-Good-Heart-Perspective-Teachings/dp/0861711386
these articles: http://www.booksandculture.com/articles/1999/marapr/9b2046.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_and_Christianity
I don't feel comfortable answering your question myself, as I'm not a Buddhist.
What are you looking for? Do you want to understand the history, increase your testimony, or something else? I have heard that The holy fable is a good read, but not recommended for most believing members.
It's a great read. Volume I is about the OT
This is a really good book:
https://www.amazon.com/Good-Heart-Buddhist-Perspective-Teachings/dp/0861711386
That's such a nice idea! It's not secular but you might appreciate the commentary of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samson_Raphael_Hirsch there is a popular edition here
Coming Soon: Unlocking the Book of Revelation and Applying Its Lessons Today by
Michael Barber
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/193101826X/
The best rated Amazon review of the book:
"As a Protestant evangelical, I have tried to make sense of Revelation using a number of approaches, without much success. Barber's Catholic-oriented commentary makes more sense than anything else I have encountered. Revelation is still problematic in my estimation, as far as its legitimacy as Scripture, but Barber offers coherent and persuasive interpretations of the book's message."
I also suggest reading, "The Lamb's Supper." By Dr. Scott Hahn (Dr. Hahn's book is for someone who has very little experience with Revelation. Whereas Barber's book is for more advanced Christians.
Your main confusion is about how I use symbolism in the Biblical context. I will try to elaborate.
Think of the concept of a triangle. Add no material or image to it. Just let it be a concept in your consciousness. Now, let us manifest it in reality in two examples. To do this, lets take three wooden sticks and place them in the shape of a triangle. After that, second example, let us take three ropes and place them in the shape of a traingle again.
Now he wooden sticks and the ropes are not the same material. But, if we examine them, we find that they both point towards the concept of a triangle.
In the same way, exiles and dreams are like those wooden sticks and those ropes. They are not the same thing literally, yet they point towards the same concept.
This book makes it more clear if you want: https://www.amazon.com/Language-Creation-Cosmic-Symbolism-Genesis-ebook/dp/B07D738HD8