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Knowing the Bible
Today Crossway releases Knowing the Bible, a series of Bible study guides that will cover the whole Bible, Lord willing, in 6 years.
Lane Dennis and I conceived the project a few years ago in a desire to provide the church with a theologically robust, gospel-rich, user-friendly, and digitally accessible series of study guides that take readers through any given book of the Bible in 12 units.
After asking substantive questions of the text at hand, each of the 12 units identifies the gospel, biblical theology, and systematic theology in the passage. In this way we hope readers come to the end of the study and have a strong grasp of that Bible book--and specifically how that book gives gospel nourishment, develops the big storyline of Scripture, and reinforces orthodox doctrine. J. I. Packer is Theological Editor.
The study guides are ideal for small group study, not least because the questions are substantial. (The questions are, however, built on the notes of the ESV Study Bible, so individuals too should be able to work their way successfully through a study.)
God has brought outstanding church leaders to work with us on this. The first six volumes are:
Thanks for your support, and I warmly welcome your feedback as this initial batch is released.
Here are some endorsements for the series. And in the video below I introduce the series.
Knowing the Bible Series from Crossway on Vimeo.
Lane Dennis and I conceived the project a few years ago in a desire to provide the church with a theologically robust, gospel-rich, user-friendly, and digitally accessible series of study guides that take readers through any given book of the Bible in 12 units.
After asking substantive questions of the text at hand, each of the 12 units identifies the gospel, biblical theology, and systematic theology in the passage. In this way we hope readers come to the end of the study and have a strong grasp of that Bible book--and specifically how that book gives gospel nourishment, develops the big storyline of Scripture, and reinforces orthodox doctrine. J. I. Packer is Theological Editor.
The study guides are ideal for small group study, not least because the questions are substantial. (The questions are, however, built on the notes of the ESV Study Bible, so individuals too should be able to work their way successfully through a study.)
God has brought outstanding church leaders to work with us on this. The first six volumes are:
- Mitch Kim on Genesis
- Drew Hunter on Isaiah
- Dane Ortlund on Mark
- Justin Buzzard on John
- Jared Wilson on Romans
- Greg Gilbert on James
- Kathleen Nielson on Ruth/Esther
- Doug O'Donnell on Psalms
- Lydia Brownback on Proverbs
- Drew Hunter on Matthew
- Justin Holcomb on Acts
- Ryan Kelly on Philippians
Thanks for your support, and I warmly welcome your feedback as this initial batch is released.
Here are some endorsements for the series. And in the video below I introduce the series.
Knowing the Bible Series from Crossway on Vimeo.
An Eternity in Hell? Really?
The traditional doctrine of hell seems terrible to our modern ears because it is out of step with our modern intuitions about how God should behave. But our intuitions about these matters are hardly a reliable guide, given what Scripture says about the noetic effects of sin. To put it another way, the fact that an infinite punishment for sin seems an appalling, even disproportionate, punishment to contemporary human beings does not necessarily mean it is an appalling, disproportionate punishment. It may be that this is simply testimony to our failure to take with sufficient seriousness the idea of sinning against a being of infinite beauty and value.--Oliver Crisp, defending Edwards' understanding of hell, in "Karl Barth and Jonathan Edwards on Reprobation," in Engaging with Barth: Contemporary Evangelical Critiques (T&T Clark 2008), 316-17
Translation: The fact that an eternal hell seems disproportionately cruel as a punishment for sinners--that very sense of disproportion--is itself one manifestation of the sin that deserves eternal punishment.
An Echo of Christ, Lion and Lamb
Sir Ector, on seeing the dead Sir Launcelot:
Ah, Sir Launcelot! Thou wert never matched of none earthly knights' hands. Thou wert the meekest man that ever ate in hall among ladies; and thou wert the sternest knight to thy mortal foe that ever put spear in the rest.--Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur (1485), XXI: xii
Luther on Preaching
A young overwhelmed preacher complained to Luther that preaching was too heavy a burden for an inexperienced man like him and that he should have stayed in his former profession. Luther responded with words that, according to Roland Bainton, "Luther was constantly repeating to himself":
If Peter and Paul were here, they would scold you because you wish right off to be as accomplished as they. Crawling is something, even if one is unable to walk. Do your best. If you cannot preach an hour, then preach half an hour or a quarter of an hour. Do not try to imitate other people. Center on the shortest and simplest points, which are the very heart of the matter, and leave the rest to God. Look solely to his honor and not to applause. Pray that God will give you a mouth and to your audience ears. I can tell you preaching is not a work of man. Although I am old [he was 48] and experienced, I am afraid every time I have to preach. . . . So pray to God and leave all the rest to him.--Roland Bainton, Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (Hendrickson, 1977), 361
Not Cheap: Free
My life is a witness to vulgar grace—a grace that amazes as it offends. . . . A grace that hikes up the robe and runs breakneck toward the prodigal reeking of sin and wraps him up and decides to throw a party, no ifs, ands, or buts. . . .--Brennan Manning, All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir (Cook, 2011), 193-94
It’s not cheap. It’s free, and as such will always be a banana peel for the orthodox foot and a fairy tale for the grown-up sensibility.