I often tell my classes, and I am sure I have said it here somewhere in all these years, that I do not use commentaries often, but when I do I try to use conservative scholars. Perhaps I should define that a little better.
In the first place, I am not talking about our brethren as we tend to define them, and so the terms "conservative" and "liberal" have nothing to do with that division we often speak about among us. So what do I mean by liberal and conservative? Simply this: the conservative scholars are believers of some stripe who actually think the Bible is the Word of God. You might wonder why a person who doesn't believe those things, the liberal scholars, would make his lifework a study of them. All I can say is, perhaps they are studying them the same way we might study other ancient literature or even ancient mythology—it's strictly an academic interest.
That does not mean that you don't have to worry about conservative scholars at all. On the contrary, most of them are Calvinist to at least some degree. However, I find it amusing that a man can accurately exegete (interpret) a passage, and then turn around and say it doesn't mean what it says—because, you see, if it did then that would make Calvinism wrong. So you still must beware, but at least you are dealing with someone who is not an atheist.
So, with a little help from some scholarly friends, here is a partial list of conservative scholars that you can count on to at least some degree.
William Barnes
Craig Blomberg
C. Hassell Bullock
F. F. Bruce
D. A. Carson
Adam Clarke
Everett Ferguson
Donald Guthrie
Homer Hailey
Victor Hamilton
Matthew Henry
Walter Kaiser
Keil and Delitzsch
Derek Kidner
RCH Lenski
H. C. Leupold
Tremper Longman III
J. W McGarvey
Bruce Metzger
Douglas Moo
Leon Morris
John Oswalt
Martin Pickup
Phil Roberts
Bruce Waltke
Gordon Wenham
Edward Young
Understand, that is not a complete list by any means, but most of these people, and/or their works, are well-known in scholarly circles and you are reasonably safe with them, as long as you are careful to look for things like Calvinism and premillennialism which most or all believe in.
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world (1John 4:1).
Dene Ward
In the first place, I am not talking about our brethren as we tend to define them, and so the terms "conservative" and "liberal" have nothing to do with that division we often speak about among us. So what do I mean by liberal and conservative? Simply this: the conservative scholars are believers of some stripe who actually think the Bible is the Word of God. You might wonder why a person who doesn't believe those things, the liberal scholars, would make his lifework a study of them. All I can say is, perhaps they are studying them the same way we might study other ancient literature or even ancient mythology—it's strictly an academic interest.
That does not mean that you don't have to worry about conservative scholars at all. On the contrary, most of them are Calvinist to at least some degree. However, I find it amusing that a man can accurately exegete (interpret) a passage, and then turn around and say it doesn't mean what it says—because, you see, if it did then that would make Calvinism wrong. So you still must beware, but at least you are dealing with someone who is not an atheist.
So, with a little help from some scholarly friends, here is a partial list of conservative scholars that you can count on to at least some degree.
William Barnes
Craig Blomberg
C. Hassell Bullock
F. F. Bruce
D. A. Carson
Adam Clarke
Everett Ferguson
Donald Guthrie
Homer Hailey
Victor Hamilton
Matthew Henry
Walter Kaiser
Keil and Delitzsch
Derek Kidner
RCH Lenski
H. C. Leupold
Tremper Longman III
J. W McGarvey
Bruce Metzger
Douglas Moo
Leon Morris
John Oswalt
Martin Pickup
Phil Roberts
Bruce Waltke
Gordon Wenham
Edward Young
Understand, that is not a complete list by any means, but most of these people, and/or their works, are well-known in scholarly circles and you are reasonably safe with them, as long as you are careful to look for things like Calvinism and premillennialism which most or all believe in.
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world (1John 4:1).
Dene Ward
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