Earlier this week, we released a number of new titles related to understanding the Bible. These are significant titles you will want to consider adding to your personal Accordance Library
Ryken’s Reading the Bible As Literature Series
Leland Ryken’s name has become synonymous with a modern literary approach to the Bible. A longtime professor of English at Wheaton College, this series combines four of Ryken’s best titles for understanding biblical content:
- How Bible Stories Work: A Guided Study of Biblical Narrative
- Sweeter Than Honey, Richer Than Gold: A Guided Study of Biblical Poetry
- Jesus the Hero: A Guided Literary Study of the Gospels
- Letters of Grace and Beauty: A Guided Literary Study of New Testament Epistles
These kinds of works are vitally important for proper understanding and interpretation of the Bible as errors often result from misunderstanding the literary genre of biblical writings. And the Bible has multiple genres with different rules for engagement and understanding!
Click/tap the image above for a larger look at Ryken’s Reading the Bible As Literature Series (biblical text not included)
Reading the Bible as Literature (4 Volumes)
Price $39.90
Walton & Longman’s How to Read Job
From John Walton and Tremper Longman, How to Read Job joins our other volumes on Genesis, Exodos, and Proverbs for gaining a proper sense of how the Old Testament book of Job should be read and understood.
True story: Less than a week ago my mother-in-law told me she often turns to the Book of Job for comfort when she faces disappointment in life. Now, if she reads Job because he had it much worse than her, that’s one thing; but I doubt that’s what she meant! People often turn to the Book of Job when they are suffering or grieving, but that may not be the best understanding of this book. In fact, the writers address this issue up front in their section “What Is the Book of Job All About?”
It is not uncommon for people to turn to the book of Job when they encounter suffering, but all too often they find the book unsatisfying. They think that the book will explain why they or their loved ones are suffering or why there is so much suffering in the world. They have the impression that the book is about Job and that he is going to provide a model for how they should respond in times of suffering. They expect to learn why God acts the way that he does—why he allows or even causes righteous people to suffer. It is no wonder, then, that they find the book inadequate; their expectations are misguided.
Rethinking how we read the Book of Job should be incentive enough to add this title to your personal Accordance Library. If you don’t already have the other titles in the series, gain your greatest discount by purchasing all four titles together.
Click/tap the image above for a larger look at How to Read Job (biblical texts not included)
How to Read Job
Regular Price $17.90
If you already own the earlier 3-volume bundle, the custom upgrade to the 4-volume bundle will complete the set for you.
Bundle of Four “How to Read” Books
Price $49.90
Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible
Most Accordance users have the excellent Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible since it is included in our Starter Collection. And some of you have also picked up the Eerdmans Companion to the Bible, which offers historical and background information. Now, we have released a third volume, Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible, and I believe that if you take a closer look, you’ll find it quite impressive.
One-volume commentaries are great for a “first stop” examination of a particular biblical passage. You can get quick understanding and background before moving on to a more in-depth work if necessary. However, most one-volume commentaries limit their coverage to the 66 books of the Protestant (or sometimes referred to as Common) Christian canon. Not so with the Eerdmans Commentary. In fact, to my knowledge, this is the most expansive one-volume biblical commentary available.
As one would assume, the Eerdmans Commentary contains all 66 books of the “Common” canon, all written by well-known biblical scholars. In addition to these, however, this volume contains complete coverage of Apocrypha/Deuterocanonical books, including content often overlooked such as 3-4 Maccabees and Psalm 151. And even beyond this, as far as I know, the Eerdmans Bible Commentary is the only one-volume commentary to include 1 Enoch in its coverage!
The Eerdmans Bible Commentary is easily the broadest collection of canonical books (as recognized by different faith expressions) covered in one volume, and a worthy addition to anyone’s personal Accordance Library.
Click/tap the image above for a larger look at Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible (biblical and pseudepigraphal texts not included)
Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible
Price $59.90