A New Biblical Commentary Series: Proclamation—Preaching the New Testament

Two great New Testament scholars, Jason Myers (Greensboro College) and James W. Thompson (Abilene Christian University), have teamed up to edit a new commentary series: Proclamation: Preaching the New Testament (Cascade Books, 2021-).

A new series, really? (You might be wondering.) My buddy Jason kindly sent me the launch volume (2 Corinthians, by Thompson) and I gotta say I think this is a great idea. First things first, here is the series description (edited to keep it short):

In these volumes, scholar-preachers and preacher-scholars offer a guide for preachers, bringing the horizons of past and present together…offer[ing] the results of scholarship for the sake of preaching.

Here’s what you need to know.

• Each volume synthesizes biblical scholarship to give pastors a state of the discussion
• Each volume indicates key theological ideas in each major unit of the text with a view towards preaching
• Each volume includes sermon snippets, sermon outlines, or illustration ideas to aid preachers in thinking about how to proclaim the text for today
• The commentary is not bogged down with lots of footnotes or academic citations. This is not that kind of resource. This is meant for relatively quick digestion and convenient access for preaching. Personally, I (Nijay) would recommend using Proclamation after you have already done inductive work and used more technical commentaries to get into the details. Proclamation does not replace traditional commentaries, but helps preachers move from “exegesis” to “sermon.”

As I mentioned above, James W. Thompson leads the series out with a ~100-page volume on 2 Corinthians. Thompson has done excellent work in the past on Pauline Theology, with special interest in pastoral theology and ecclesiology, so he happens to be a perfect exemplar for this new series.

Jason was kind enough to share with me plans for the future with this series: a great list of contributors so far!

Matthew/Osvaldo Padilla

Luke/Nicholas Perrin

1 Corinthians/Lucy Peppiatt

2 Corinthians/James W. Thompson

Ephesians/Lynn Cohick with Tara Beth Leach

Philippians/Max Lee

Colossians & Philemon/Jason Myers

1-2 Thessalonians/Todd D. Still

1-2 Timothy, Titus/Robert Wall

Hebrews & 1 Peter/James W. Thompson

James/David Nienhius

2 Peter & Jude/Dennis R. Edwards

Keep in eye out for these volumes! Definitely off to a good start.