Eerdmans Bible Reference Collection (5 vols.)

Since its initial publication in 1982, Old Testament Survey has served as the standard textbook on the background, content, literary quality, and message of the Old Testament. The second edition of this excellent work has been thoroughly revised and updated to take into account new research in the field of Old Testament studies. The book now also includes important new contributions from six leading biblical studies scholars: Leslie C. Allen, James R. Battenfield, John E. Hartley, Robert L. Hubbard, Jr., John E. McKenna, and William B. Nelson, Jr.

Reflecting the best of evangelical scholarship, Old Testament Survey provides a comprehensive study of the nature and contents of each of the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament and also considers the historical data and theological themes relevant to the Hebrew Scriptures. Part 1 covers the five books of the Pentateuch. Part 2 studies the books of the Prophets, with special consideration given to the birth and history of Israel’s monarchy, the role of prophets and prophecy, and the nature of Hebrew poetry. Part 3 examines the Writings, including a special study of wisdom literature in general.

Part 4, which has been relocated from the front of the book to the back, contains studies of various background themes necessary for understanding the Old Testament:

• The Authority of the Old Testament for Christians
• Revelation and Inspiration
• The Concept of Canon
• Formation of the Old Testament
• Geography
• The Chronological Puzzle
• Archaeology
• Messianic Prophecy

Other significant features of this edition include the incorporation throughout of data from recent archaeological research and the use of additional charts, illustrations, and maps. The authors have also included—in the text and in the endnotes and bibliographies—material as current as possible, especially in those instances where new interpretive options have arisen or where the scholarly consensus has changed. All of the revisions and enhancements undertaken in this volume will make Old Testament Survey even more serviceable for college and seminary use as well as for study by scholars, pastors, and interested lay readers.

This classified listing of more than 425 basic reference tools for adequate and responsible interpretation of the New Testament is designed primarily for the theological student beginning New Testament Greek exegesis. Limited to works in English (although many of the books listed do assume a basic knowledge of Greek and Hebrew)), A Basic Bibliographic Guide for New Testament Exegesis provides publication data and a brief annotation for each title. In addition to seminary New Testament classes, it will be useful for pastors and teachers in the church and for students in New Testament studies at the college and university level.

God’s Plan of the Ages is a classic statement of the dispensational understanding of God’s design for human history. Louis T. Talbot clearly and reliably outlines a comprehensive view of the plan of God from the beginning of Genesis to the close of Revelation.

The definite purpose of God for each age is made apparent through a detailed study of Scripture as the plan is unfolded: the creation of humankind and the age of innocence, the fall and the age of conscience, the age of human government, the age of law, the church age, the return of Christ and his thousand-year reign, and the new heavens and new earth.

Talbot also answers many troublesome questions concerning the end-times prophecies of Daniel and of Revelation. He makes clear, for example, the difference between the “judgment seat of Christ” and “the great white throne.” He also demonstrates why the premillenial concept is the correct one, and shows from Scripture that the church will be translated at the beginning of “the great tribulation” in order to spare it from the purifying judgments to follow.

God’s Plan of the Ages is a Christian classic that has value not only to students of prophecy but to all Christians who desire a comprehensive view of God’s grand design for eternity.

In recent years scriptural prophecies about the end times have become the subject of an increasing number of books. Many of these, however, are popularized accounts containing little thoughtful biblical scholarship. Yet the series studies available are often too difficult for the average reader to understand. George Eldon Ladd has endeavored to rectify this situation with a serious discussion of eschatology written for the layperson.

Two radically different interpretations of the relationship between the prophecies of the Old and New Testaments have been offered. One view sees separate programs for Israel and the Christian church, while the other recognizes progressive revelation and a unity of the Testaments.

Professor Ladd holds the latter position, basing his doctrine of the last things on the conviction that “our final word…is to be found in New Testament reinterpretation of Old Testament prophecy.” Only as the prophecies are seen in the light of God’s revelation through Christ can we clearly comprehend what they mean in relation to the end times.

The publication of the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) in September 1990 marked yet another milestone in the history of Bible translation. How the NRSV—a new synthesis of scholarly accuracy and expressive power—came to be is the subject of this book.

Written by three members of the translation committee responsible for producing the New Revised Standard Version, this book is addressed to the general public “with the aim of helping the reader of the Bible to understand the main principles that guided the work of the Standard Bible Committee.”

Robert Dentan begins by recounting both the historical background and the actual production of the NRSV. Walter Harrelson then discusses how the discoveries of the Dead Sea Scrolls and other manuscript finds have affected Bible translation. Bruce Metzger proceeds to write about some of the many problems facing Bible translators—and about how the NRSV Committee worked together for seventeen years to meet those challenges. Walter Harrelson concludes the book by discussing how masculine-biased language in English distorts the message of the biblical writers, and he details the evolution of the Committee’s inclusive-language policy. Throughout the book the three authors describe the NRSV Committee in its work as seeking to be “as literal as possible, as free as necessary.”

An inside account of how one of the premier Bible translations of our time was produced, The Making of the New Revised Standard Version will interest a wide variety of ministers, scholars, and church members—indeed, all those who are serious students of the Bible.