Saturday, January 5, 2008

The Hope of Helpful Resources


This Sunday I'm starting a new Sunday school series, teaching verse-by-verse through the Thessalonian epistles. I'm always on the prowl for new resources to strengthen my understanding (and, thus, exposition) of the Scriptures, so I try to purchase one or two commentaries by authors with whom I am unfamiliar whenever I start a series like this, to see what I'm missing. I had heard of Dr. Mal Couch of Tydale Theological Seminary before, and have his book on dispensational hermeneutics; but The Hope of Christ's Return is the first of his commentaries that I have tried.
The introductory material alone is worth the price of the commentary. Dr. Couch balances in-depth background information with highlights of the doctrinal issues (particularly dispensationalism and eschatology) and why they are important. All of this is done in a clear, straightforward, didactic writing style. I am looking forward to using this commentary in my studies, and will definitely be including Dr. Couch on my list of must-haves for future series. If you haven't already, I heartily recommend that you give his stuff a try.

No comments: