Nijay GuptaOne of the most important set of resources in which students of the Bible and pastors can invest is New Testament backgrounds and context. We will divide up our discussion into four categories. General Resources For the personal library, it is...
Students and pastors should have a few really good introductions to the New Testament in their personal library. The good news is that there are lots to choose from. But with such a wide selection comes questions about preferred academic level...
Nijay Gupta shares his final post in this helpful series on best commentaries by listing two essential works on Philemon. Here I will comment briefly on Philemon. For an excellent, up-to-date technical commentary, check out Scot McKnight (NICNT)...
"The Pastoral Epistles have long been regarded wise instruction for the benefit of the church. But in the last two centuries these texts have often been sidelined in the academy..."
Several excellent commentaries on the Thessalonian letters have been produced over the years, but the last decade has seen a notable surge of strong scholarship on these texts.
Colossians is an underappreciated jewel in the Pauline corpus, often sidelined from academic conversations because of its debated authorship. It is a beautifully-crafted meditation on the cosmic-and-crucified Christ.
Ephesians is widely considered one of the most beautifully composed texts of the New Testament. And yet, because some scholars argue that Paul did not write the letter, it is often left out of academic conversations about Paul, his ministry, and his...
Like Romans, Galatians has been at the center of theological debate concerning Paul’s theology. At the heart of the issue is Paul’s view of the Law. Thankfully, several excellent commentaries are available, a few written in the last year or two...
One scholar has referred to 2 Corinthians as the “sleeping giant” of Paul’s letters—often under-appreciated but packing explosive theological power.
Scholars have long been fascinated by the window that 1 Corinthians provides into life of the early Christians. In this letter we also have creedal information, gender relationship teachings, and—what’s up with “baptism for the dead” (15:29)...
Nijay K. Gupta, associate professor of New Testament at Portland Seminary (PhD, University of Durham) is beginning a blog series at theLAB on biblical commentaries on the Pauline epistles. Dr. Gupta has written three commentaries (Colossians, 1-2...
We have offered some preliminary comments on preaching, its purposes and the mindset of the preacher. Now I want to offer some guidance on Bible study and exegetical resources. Now, it would be easy for me to go on and on with book recommendations...
Pastors of different types and in different contexts have varying amounts of time for “sermon prep.” We all know 5 hours is not enough, but most do not have the luxury of 20+ hours. So, let’s say that we are working in a given week with 15 hours for...
Dare I try to talk about the art of preaching when I am not a full-time preacher? I wondered about this before deciding to start a blog series on preaching. Perhaps it does seem a bit audacious. But what else are blogs for? My hope is simply to...