My
on the conservative/moderate/liberal/critical nature of commentaries:
Obviously, you're going to recommend different reading for different people. For a normal church member asking an elder about suggestions for reading material to help him understand the word of God, naturally it would be rather
unthinkable to recommend something which has a low view of scripture, or teaches ridiculous things, etc. However, for a graduate student in an academic environment (especially for one who is thoroughly convinced of confessional truth), I think it is important to read, interact with and make use of the dominant theological and exegetical trends of the present age. As a pastor, John Owen would surely not recommend the works of Socinians to his congregation; but can you imagine the loss we would be at today if Owen himself had ignored these books because they contained bad theology?
I think that for the pastor-scholars of today, who have been taught in and our assured of our confessional, Christian truths, interaction with such commentaries is both useful and necessary. I think if we take seriously our belief in the perseverance of the saints, and thoroughly apply ourselves both to the administration and use of the ordinary means, we have nothing to fear from our pastors making use of them.
-----Added 12/1/2008 at 01:53:26 EST-----
(Sorry if that was too off topic)