A Great Resource on Acts

 A friend of mine recommended this book for studying the historical situation of Acts: Colin J. Hemer's The Book of Acts in the Setting of Helenistic History (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1990).  Hemer had just finished the manuscript of this book before he died in 1987; thankfully Conrad Gempf and others edited it and made sure it was published.  In case you…

Resources on Habakkuk

Here is a list of commentaries I've used as I teach/preach through the OT minor prophet Habakkuk.    Marvin Sweeney, The Twelve Prophets.  This is one of my favorite commentaries on Habakkuk.  Sweeney is a top-notch Jewish scholar so he knows his Hebrew Bible.  His writing style is clear and to the point; the commentary is a…

Bruce’s Habakkuk Commentary

 I've thoroughly enjoyed the commentary series on the Minor Prophets that Thomas McComiskey edited (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993). I appreciate the layout: the top half of the page has textual and syntactical notes and the bottom half of the page is the commentary section.  The commentators also give their own translation and compare it to the NRSV.  The…

Wright v Bruce Part II

Why does Paul use Abraham as part of his logic in Romans 3-4?  Bruce says that Paul is showing how the "righteousness of God apart from law" is attested by the law and prophets -- Abraham's story is Paul's first example.  In Rom 4, says Bruce, "Paul undertakes to show" how the gospel is in…