Great thoughts on Mark's Gospel

Dr. R.C. Sproul’s Commentary on Mark is a 430 Page devotional style commentary that seeks to expound each section of the Gospel of Mark. The commentary doesn’t go through and discuss each verse individually but rather comments on chunks or sections of the text.

Dr. Sproul has a style of teaching and preaching that at times can be scholarly and technical and at other times easy to understand and accessible for the layman. His commentary on Mark: Saint Andrews Expositional Commentary is not a technical commentary bogged down with lots of theological jargon, text critical notes, or discussions of theological debates but instead is written in a clear and easy to understand style with lots of illustrations that anyone can read and understand.

            The style of the commentary is due to the fact that it’s based on his sermons that he preached at St. Andrew’s.

“What you hold in your hand, then, is a written record of my preaching

labors amid my beloved Sanford congregation. The dear saints who sit

under my preaching encouraged me to give my sermons a broader hearing.

To that end, the chapters that follow were adapted from a sermon series I

preached at St. Andrew’s.”(Taken from the series Preface)

Dr. Sproul is a Reformed theologian and so some of his interpretations and conclusions are focused in that direction so you may find times in the commentary where you disagree with his theology as I did but on the whole this is a great devotional commentary that has wonderful insights.

If you are the type of person who enjoys reading technical commentaries only this one isn’t for you. I should also mention that just because it’s easy and not overly technical to read doesn’t mean Dr. Sproul makes wild assertions or that this is simply a commentary full of fluff and no substance. Quite the opposite is true.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a simple devotional commentary on the Gospel of Mark.

You can buy this book Here or Here.

 

 

Disclosure of Material: I received this book free from Reformed Trust Publishing’s book review program, which requires an honest, though not necessarily positive, review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s CFR Title 16, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Going to Hell???

Erasing Hell by Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle is a book about, you guessed it, HELL. With Rob Bell’s book “Love wins” and others out there questioning the existence of hell and the concept of eternal punishment over conditioned immortality there has been an increased awareness and discussion of the topic hell.

Recently there was a Facebook discussion on the subject which got a little “heated” at times or at least it seemed that way to me as I read the posts. So in light of these and other reasons books about hell and what happens when you die have been coming out.

Erasing hell is an easy to read book on a tough subject and while the authors did a great job of making it easy to read they also didn’t go too light on the background discussions and the word studies. This book does a great job of mixing biblical exegesis with a style of writing that’s easy to read.

I feel that this book is a balanced and honest attempt to get to what the bible has to say on the subject. I felt the authors’ pain as they discussed their love for souls and how they didn’t want hell to be real but they also did a great job of putting those emotions to the side and continued asking the touch questions.

I really think this is a great book for those who are interested in the subject and want a good place to begin researching. I don’t think this book is the end of the discussion but definitely a fair and honest place to start.

The book has a good amount of footnotes and a bibliography so you can track down the primary sources and continue to delve deeper into the subject of hell, if you choose to do that.

You can buy it Here or Here

 See Chan himself discuss his book:

Bible Software and Me (Final Video)

Demon to Demon

 

              “The Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis is an interesting book that’s 209 pages long. It’s a fictitious account of a senior demon writing to a junior demon about one man, the junior demon’s “patient”.

                While I have been a fan of C.S. Lewis and his books for a sometime, believe it or not I have never read “The Screwtape Letters” until now. I have to admit that it took a little bit for me to get into the book but once I was about a quarter of the way through the book it defiantly kept my attention. Each letter is about three pages long which makes it easy to grab and read a letter if you only have a few minutes.

                There were many insights I found and some things that made me pause and think long and hard about, things that hit a little too close to home.

                The book is not too hard to read but remember it was written by Lewis and he was not an American living in 2012 so some of the words and sayings might not connect but the overall flavor of the book should have its impact on you.

                Well worth reading.

You can buy it Here and Here

Some Helpful Resources

This is some information that will be helpful when I post my next video in the series on “Bible Software and Me”.

In Part four of how I use Bible software to study and prepare sermons I will be moving into background research and commentary research. Below is a list of resources that I use and have found helpful. You may have some of your own favorites.

The first step is to look at background material and only after you have read through that material should you move on to commentary work.

I will be explaining exactly how I proceed in the next video.

Background Resources

Background Commentaries

IVP Background Commentary on the New Testament

http://www.logos.com/product/18657/ivp-bible-background-commentary-new-testament

IVP Background Commentary on the Old Testament

http://www.logos.com/product/18658/ivp-bible-background-commentary-old-testament

New Manners and Customs of the Bible

http://www.logos.com/product/1993/the-new-manners-and-customs-of-the-bible

New Testament Background Commentary: A New Dictionary of words, phrases, and situations in Bible order

http://www.logos.com/product/5194/new-testament-background-commentary

Background Dictionaries

Dictionary of the Latter New Testament

http://www.logos.com/product/4892/dictionary-of-the-later-new-testament-and-its-developments

Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels

http://www.logos.com/product/8588/the-essential-ivp-reference-collection-version-3#001

Dictionary of New Testament Background

http://www.logos.com/product/4891/dictionary-of-new-testament-background

Dictionary of Paul and his Letters

http://www.logos.com/product/8588/the-essential-ivp-reference-collection-version-3#002

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

http://www.logos.com/product/3875/international-standard-bible-encyclopedia

Zondervan Pictorial Bible Encyclopedia

http://www.amazon.com/Zondervan-Pictorial-Encyclopedia-Bible-Vols/dp/0310331889

I separate my commentaries into three (3) types.

The first types are those that are, what I call language commentaries. The second types are what I call Expository Commentaries and the third types I call application / devotional commentaries.

Commentaries

Language Commentaries

The United Bible Societies' New Testament Handbook Series

http://www.logos.com/product/6555/the-united-bible-societies-new-testament-handbook-series

The United Bible Societies' Old Testament Handbook Series

http://www.logos.com/product/7842/the-united-bible-societies-old-testament-handbook-series

Word Biblical Commentary

http://www.logos.com/product/8006/word-biblical-commentary

Wuest’s Word Studies in the Greek New Testament

http://www.logos.com/product/8837/wuests-word-studies-in-the-greek-new-testament

Word Pictures in the New Testament

http://www.logos.com/product/815/word-pictures-in-the-new-testament

Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament

http://www.logos.com/product/6048/vincents-word-studies-in-the-new-testament

A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament

http://www.logos.com/product/2190/a-textual-commentary-on-the-greek-new-testament

A Textual Guide to the Greek New Testament

http://www.logos.com/product/17844/a-textual-guide-to-the-greek-new-testament

Expository Commentaries

The Expositor's Bible Commentary

http://www.logos.com/product/5457/the-expositors-bible-commentary

The Expositor’s Bible

http://www.logos.com/product/8539/the-expositors-bible

The College Press NIV Commentary Series: Old Testament

http://www.logos.com/product/8096/the-college-press-niv-commentary-series-old-testament

The College Press NIV Commentary Series: New Testament

http://www.logos.com/product/1901/the-college-press-niv-commentary-series-new-testament

MacArthur’s NT Commentaries Collection

http://www.logos.com/product/8796/macarthurs-nt-commentaries-collection-10

The New American Commentary Series

http://www.logos.com/product/19001/the-new-american-commentary-series

Lenski's Commentary on the New Testament

http://www.logos.com/product/3911/lenskis-commentary-on-the-new-testament

Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament

http://www.logos.com/product/4232/baker-exegetical-commentary-on-the-new-testament

The Pulpit Commentary

http://www.logos.com/product/5768/the-pulpit-commentary

Baker’s New Testament Commentary

http://www.logos.com/product/4233/bakers-new-testament-commentary

Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&keywords=ancient%20christian%20commentary&page=1&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Aancient%20christian%20commentary

Application / Devotional Commentaries

The Preacher's Commentary

http://www.logos.com/product/8579/the-preachers-commentary

NIV Application Commentary: New Testament

http://www.logos.com/product/5459/niv-application-commentary-new-testament

Holman New Testament Commentary

http://www.logos.com/product/3409/holman-new-testament-commentary

The Bible Speaks Today: New Testament

http://www.logos.com/product/8587/the-bible-speaks-today-new-testament

Tyndale Commentaries

http://www.logos.com/product/8593/tyndale-commentaries

N.T. Wright’s “For Everyone” series

http://www.logos.com/products/search?q=%22for+Everyone%22

I don’t usually read every commentary in every type. I usually will read three from each type for a total of 9.

Bible Software and Me (Part 3)

Here are the next few steps in how I use bible software to study the bible and prepare sermons. I had a problem with the video so it's in three parts.

The audio was horrible for the first video so I added some text boxes to help understand what I was doing. The other two videos work find. I hope these are helpful. If I get a chance I will redo the first video.  

The Trinity Doctrine

Crucial Questions # 10 “What is the Trinity?” By Dr. R.C. Sproul

            This is now the second “Crucial Questions” booklet I have had the pleasure of reviewing. The first one I reviewed was on the subject of “Baptism” and can find my review of that one HERE.

            I found this booklet on the “Trinity” really quite enjoyable to read. For the most part the booklet is easy to understand although there were a few sections that dealt with philosophy that were a bit difficult to follow and some may find these sections hard to understand but I think over all anyone reading the booklet will be helped.

            I found that this booklet was unlike other books I’ve read on the subject. Most of the books I’ve read deal mainly with the text of scripture but this one while having a section on the biblical text dealt mostly with Church history (councils) as well as philosophy and word studies (understanding the meaning of different words used to describe Christ’s nature or the Trinity).

            In chapter one the author discusses some objections to the Trinity which he revisits in the last chapter. I found Dr. Sproul’s response to the objection that Christianity is based on a contradiction because we believe in the Trinity to be excellent. He says on page 2:

Apparently this professor of philosophy was not familiar with the law of non-contradiction. That law states, “A cannot be A and non-A at the same time and in the same relationship.” When we confess our faith in the Trinity, we affirm that God is one in essence and three in person. Thus, God is one in A and three in B. If we said that He is one in essence and three in essence, that would be a contradiction. If we said He is one in person and three in person, that also would be a contradiction. But as mysterious as the Trinity is, perhaps even above and beyond our capacity to understand it in its fullness, the historic formula is not a contradiction.

            An excellent response in my opinion.

            There is also an overview of what some people see as an evolution of religion and how monotheism is just one step in that evolution. Christians deny this evolutionary thought and Dr. Sproul brings that out.

            There was one statement in the booklet that did puzzle me a bit but because it really wasn’t related to the Trinity It didn’t bother me. He says on page 59:

… much of the New Testament was written in the Greek language.

                I wasn’t sure if he meant that the New Testament writers sometimes use transliterated Aramaic words (Transliterated into Greek) or something else but as I said it doesn’t have much at all to do with the subject.

                So in the end I found this booklet by Dr. R.C. Sproul on the Trinity to be enjoyable to read and very informative. I think anyone looking for a brief overview of the doctrine of the Trinity would do well to pick this up.

You can buy it here or here

 Disclosure of Material: I received this book free from Reformed Trust Publishing’s book review program, which requires an honest, though not necessarily positive, review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s CFR Title 16, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”