A couple weeks ago I was interviewed on the Reformed Forum with my friends Camden Bucey and Jared Oliphint about my latest volume, A Biblical-Theological Introduction to the New Testament: The Gospel Realized (Crossway, 2016).
This is a new New Testament introduction composed of contributions from professors at Reformed Theological Seminary, both past and present. The multi-author nature of the volume allows each prof to focus in upon their area of expertise–something not many intros are able to do.
But, there is another thing that is special about this new volume. It puts the focus on the message and theology of the biblical books. Most introductions tend to be heavily weighted towards technical, higher-critical background issues that most lay folks struggle to understand. But this volume is designed to help pastors and lay-leaders effectively communicate the message of these books to their audience.
Simply put, this volume was designed to help people teach the Word of God.
Thus, one of the key points that emerged during the interview was that I hope this volume can meet a real need among not only pastors, but lay leaders in the church.
Churches all over the world have Bible studies, home groups, and Sunday School classes taught by individuals who have not been to seminary. These are just men and women who are doing their best to teach the Word of God faithfully, but have not been given any specialized training to do so. What these folks need is a solid, yet accessible, resource that helps them understand the message of the Bible and communicate it to others.
My prayer is that this new volume can help meet this need. If you are looking for something to help your lay leaders I hope you will check it out.
To listen to the interview on Reformed Forum, see the links here:
[download]
[audio:http://media.reformedforum.org/assets/download/web/audio/ctc452.mp3]Also don’t forget there is a companion OT volume edited by Miles Van Pelt: A Biblical-Theological Introduction to the Old Testament: The Gospel Promised (Crossway, 2o16). And here is a great video on both volumes: