The Banner of Truth Trust, 1989, 161 pgs. Summary: Shedd’s response to the latitudinarian, liberal, and synergistic revisions suggested to the Westminster Confession among Presbyterians in the United States in the late 1800s. A brilliant description, definition, and defense of some of the thorny points of Calvinism: preterition, the decrees of God, infant salvation, common and special grace, and the like. From the section on Preterition and the Divine Decrees: “It is an objection of the sceptics, and sometimes of those who are not sceptics, that this perpetual assertion in the Scriptures that ..read more

Solid Ground Christian Books; reprint, Scribner, Armstrong & Co., 1877. Summary: Seven articles developing an Augustinian response to modernity (note the publishing date). The Method, and Influence of Theological Studies: “He who would obtain correct views in political or natural science, as well as he who would be a mind of power and depth in the sphere of literature; in short, the student generally; has a vital interest in the truths of supernatural science” (48). The Nature, and Influence of the Historic Spirit: “It begins to be seen that the harmony between philosophy and Chris ..read more

in Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics: the Rise and Development of Reformed Orthodoxy, ca. 1520 to ca. 1725, vol. 1, 2nd ed. Baker Books, 2006, 463 pgs. Summary: An analysis of the Protestant Scholastic prolegomena in Reformed dogmatics. Muller traces the interaction between the medieval sources (Lombard, Thomas, Duns Scotus, Henry of Ghent, etc.), the first generation of Reformers (i.e. Luther, Bullinger, Zwingli, Calvin) and the scholastics Protestants (Ames, Turretin, Owen, Heidegger, etc.). His basic argument is that scholasticism is a method of developing and teaching a theological syste ..read more

Raymond Brown, The Message Deuteronomy (BST) -- Edifying. Peter C. Craigie, The Book of Deuteronomy (NICOT) -- Served as the grammatical-historical backbone of my Deuteronomy series. Martin Luther, Lectures on Deuteronomy -- Offers some interesting insights; Luther is always refreshing. J. Gary Millar, Now Choose Life: Theology and Ethics Deuteronomy (NSBT) -- Very academic in outlook, but with some helpful insights as to how to bridge the text to a modern audience. Edward J. Woods, Deuteronomy (TOTC) -- Useful, but badly organized for reference. Telford Work, Deuteronomy-Brazo Th ..read more

Oxford University Press, 236 pgs. Summary: Pelagius’ verse by verse commentary on Romans. Fundamentally, Pelagius reads the text as if there is no original sin or inherited sin from Adam. The Fall caused no internal change to humanity. Each person is born innocent and sins only as they gain the habit of sin from following the example others. When Paul speaks of a sin nature or the flesh as in Romans 8, Pelagius reads the habit of sin. Neither creation nor humanity has been fundamentally corrupted or changed by the Fall. The “creation groaning” in Romans 8 refers to the angels mourning the huma ..read more

1996, 342 pgs. Summary: Peter Martyr Vermigli (1499-1562) was a former Augustinian monk and contemporary of John Calvin who joined the Reformed after careful study of the Bible. He taught at Oxford, Strasburg, and Zurich. He like Luther had received the scholastic training of the day. This work is a compilation of his comments on locus classicus from his commentaries on the Bible and his lectures on “philosophical” topics—free will, natural religion, philosophy and the theology, revelation, and etc. Exemplar Quotes: “So it seems that philosophy should be defined as a capacity given by God to h ..read more

Philip J. Budd, Numbers (WBC)--a compilation of Dr. Budd’s speculation. Raymond Brown, The Message of Numbers (The Bible Speaks Today)--orthodox but not terribly helpful John Calvin, Harmony of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy Gorden J. Wenham, Numbers (TOTC)--a solid, thought provoking, but modern commentary ..read more

Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008, 235 pgs. Summary: Muller argues that the Reformed scholastics were not rationalists and did not organize their doctrine around a central doctrine, such as predestination. Further, he shows the continuity and discontinuity between Calvin and the third and fourth generation Reformers. The essential history of Reformed thought begins with the response of Luther to the sacramental system of the Roman Catholic Church via his interpretation of Paul. Paul placed Christ at the very center of salvation and history. Luther and the Reformers concluded that the “medieva ..read more

Baker Book House Company, 1991, 309 pgs. Summary: A scholarly assessment of the development of Arminius’ theology. Muller’s basic argument is that Arminius is part of the third wave of Protestant theologians who attempted to systematize the earlier exegesis of Scripture by the first wave of the Reformers. In so doing, Arminius attempts to appropriate medieval scholastic and Jesuit tools in vocabulary and theological distinctions to help explain some of the inherent theological tension in theology. His greatest difference with his Reformed counterparts was not biblicism or scholasticism but how ..read more

James Kugel, The Idea of Biblical Poetry: Parallelism and Its History Tremper Longman, Reading the Psalms Willem A. VanGemeren, Psalms, in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary Augustine, Exposition on the Book of the Psalms John Calvin, Psalms Derek Kidner, Psalms, in The Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries Charles H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David ..read more