Petrine Commentaries

I finished a series of sermons through 1-2 Peter at CRBC a few weeks ago. The series started back on March 3, 2010 and ended on November 28, 2010. I preached 35 messages in the series (23 from 1 Peter and 12 from 2 Peter). When I do a sermon series through a book, I usually try to read simultaneously through several commentaries (at least one from a classic author and one from a contemporary author). The commentaries I used in this series:

Contemporary works:

D. Edmund Hiebert, 1 Peter (BMH Books, 1984, 1992).

Hiebert taught at Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary in Fresno, California. I had profited from reading his excellent Mark commentary a few years ago. Hiebert is up with contemporary scholarship but writes with warm, devotional piety. Though he writes with a high view of Scripture, Hiebert does not embrace a distinct confessional (Calvinistic or Reformed) perspective. Overflowing with homiletical insights. Highly recommended.

Michael Bentley, Living for Christ in a Pagan World: 1 & 2 Peter Simply Explained (Evangelical Press, 1990).

This useful book, written on a popular level, is from the excellent Welwyn Commentary Series.

Thomas R. Schreiner, 1, 2 Peter, Jude (Broadman & Holman, 2003).

This volume is from the New American Commentary Series. Schreiner is among the foremost neo-evangelical New Testament scholars, teaching at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. This is a more academic work. Schreiner spends a significant amount of time conversing with the academy (generally ably defending traditional views). This work provides less homiletical and spiritual insights but was useful on a scholarly and intellectual level.

Bruce Metzger, Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament (UBS, 1971).

I used this book to study textual issues in 1-2 Peter.

Classic Works:

Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

What more can I say about this work? The pastor’s best resource for expositional preaching.

John Calvin’s commentaries on 1 Peter and 2 Peter.

As usual, brimming with insights that are still fresh and thoughtful after hundreds of years.

JTR