Notes on A Few New and Forthcoming Books

I was pleased to see another volume in the New Covenant Commentary Series (Wipf & Stock) has been published; this time on 1 Timothy by Aida Spencer (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary). She knows her way around Paul’s letters quite well, and she happens to be a leading scholar on Paul and women, so this should be worth reading. I am currently writing the volume on 1-2 Thessalonians and I am proud to be in this series, one that has a strong focus on how the text transforms our lives and churches today.

Also newly released is a work by Grant Macaskill (St Andrews) called Union with Christ in the New Testament (Oxford Univ. Press). Normally, this is a subject associated with Paul, but Macaskill treats it in view of the whole New Testament – at 368 pp., it is sure to be a substantial discussion. At $112 on Amazon, though, not sure it will get into the hands of very many.

Craig Evans has written a book called From Jesus to the Church: The First Generation (WJK, Feb 2014) which looks at the history of the formation of the church. I look forward to picking this one up.

My buddy Jonathan Moo (Whitworth) has co-authored a book on creation called Let Creation Rejoice: Biblical Hope and Ecological Crisis (IVP, June 2014) – Jonathan is a humble man with incredible talent. This book no doubt represents one of his greatest passions.

Christopher Seitz has a commentary on Colossians coming out soon (April) with Brazos. I know many biblical scholars have had mixed feelings about the Brazos series, but I have really enjoyed the ones I’ve used (Matthew by Hauerwas, Deuteronomy by Telford Work) – it helps me to think of them more as theological reflections on the text, rather than a “commentary” in the traditional sense.

Last but not least, Craig Blomberg has written (what looks like) an apologetics book called Can We Still Believe the Bible?: An Evangelical Engagement with Contemporary Questions (Brazos, coming in April). I had the chance to meet with Craig at SBL for the first time this past year and he is a great representative and leader in evangelicalism – a sharp intellect, a fair critic, and a pastoral heart.