Barrett’s Book Notes: Scripture

Kevin Killeen, Helen Smith, Rachel Willie, eds. The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in Early Modern England, c. 1530-1700. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.

Here is a fascinating collection of articles on the use and influence of the Bible in Modern England. The chapters are diverse, exploring how individuals like Cranmer, Milton, King James VI, and many others understood Scripture. This volume also devotes several chapters to the history of translation, as well as the Bible’s role in politics.  Don’t miss the helpful chronology at the end of the book (just before the extensive bibliography).

Douglas Sweeney. Edwards the Exegete: Biblical Interpretation and Anglo-Protestant Culture on the Edge of the Enlightenment. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.

If you want to know Jonathan Edwards better, Douglas Sweeney is a key guide. His new book breaks into new territory, looking at Edwards’s approach to scriptural exegesis. Sweeney believes Edwards utilized four different methods in his interpretation of Scripture: canonical, Christological, redemptive-historical, and pedagogical. Sweeney doesn’t just focus on Edwards, however, but places his exegesis within the larger context of the Enlightenment.

John Piper. A Peculiar Glory: How the Christian Scriptures Reveal Their Complete Truthfulness. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016.

I believe in the self-attesting, self-authenticating nature of Scripture. Not all do! But I think it is crucial to a consistently biblical worldview and its understanding of divine authority. In Piper’s new book he turns to this subject, but he takes us deeper than usual treatments.  The book centers on the question: “How are we to know that the Christian Scriptures are the word of God?” Piper answers, “In and through the Scriptures we see the glory of God” (13). He elaborates: “My argument is that the glory of God in and through the Scriptures is a real, objective, self-authenticating reality. …The pathway that leads to sight may involve much empirical observation, and historical awareness, and rational thought (see chapter 17). But the end we are seeking is not a probably inference from historical reasoning but a full assurance that we have seen the glory of God” (15). He builds his thesis off of the Westminster Larger Catechism (Q 4), as well as texts like 2 Cor. 4:4-6 (among many others).

D. A. Carson, eds. The Enduring Authority of the Christian Scriptures. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2016.

I thoroughly enjoyed many chapters in this large and impressive volume. This edited volume adds to the many other volumes Carson has edited on Scripture and hermeneutics. Chapters in this book I found especially insightful include:

“The Bible in the Reformation and Protestant Orthodoxy,” by Robert Kolb

“The ‘Old Princetonians’ on Biblical Authority,” by Bradley N. Seeman

“Roman Catholic Views of Biblical Authority from the Late Nineteenth Century to the Present,” by Anthony N. S. Lane

“Why a Book? Why This Book? Why the Particular Order within This Book? Some Theological Reflections on the Canon,” by Graham A. Cole

“God and the Bible,” by Peter F. Jensen

“The Generous Gift of a Gracious Father: Toward a Theological Account of the Clarity of Scripture,” by Mark D. Thompson

“May We God Beyond What Is Written After All? The Pattern of Theological Authority and the Problem of Doctrinal Development,” by Kevin J. Vanhoozer

“Science and Scripture,” by Kirsten Birkett

As a theological student or pastor, this book is a must for your theological library.

John MacArthur, ed. The Scripture Cannot Be Broken: Twentieth Century Writings on the Doctrine of Inerrancy. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2015.

There are certain essays on the doctrine of inerrancy that every student of Scripture must read. MacArthur has done a fine job of pulling together some of the most important essays. While I recommend that you read all of them, a few that are essential include:

“The Attestation of Scripture,” by John Murray

“Scripture Speaks for Itself,” by John M. Frame

“The Biblical Idea of Inspiration,” by Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield

“Some Reflections upon Inspiration,” by Edward J. Young

“The Meaning of Inerrancy,” by Paul D. Feinberg

John MacArthur, ed. The Inerrant Word: Biblical, Historical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspectives. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016.

Here is another fine collection of essays by a host of evangelicals defending inerrancy in light of challenges today. I believe I am right to assume that some of these essays are drawn from the 2015 Shepherds’ Conference on inerrancy. Again, read the entire book. Yet chapters you might want to start with include:

“The Power of the Word in the Present: Inerrancy and the Reformation,” by Carl R. Trueman

“How Did It Come to This? Modernism’s Challenges to Inerrancy,” by Stephen J. Nichols

“Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth: Inerrancy and Hermeneutics,” R. Albert Mohler Jr.

“The Holy Spirit and the Holy Scriptures: Inerrancy and Pneumatology,” Sinclair Ferguson

“Do We Have a Trustworthy Text? Inerrancy and Canonicity, Preservation, and Textual Criticism,” Michael Kruger

Matthew Barrett is Tutor of Systematic Theology and Church History at Oak Hill Theological College in London, as well as the founder and executive editor of Credo Magazine. Barrett is the author of numerous book reviews and articles in academic and popular journals and magazines. He is the author of several books, including Salvation by Grace: The Case for Effectual Calling and Regeneration, Owen on the Christian Life: Living for the Glory of God in Christ (Theologians on the Christian Life), God’s Word Alone: The Authority of Scripture. Currently he is the series editor of The 5 Solas Series with Zondervan. You can read more about Barrett at matthewmbarrett.com.