Hi, I am preparing for a Bible Study on Romans. There is so much material on Romans I will never be able to read it all. I would appreciate suggestions on what you consider the very best material on Romans, especially from a Reformed point of view.

When I talk about material I am asking about commentaries, articles, summaries, timelines, overviews, themes, etc, etc, etc.

Thanks in advance.

Tom Schreiner and/or Douglas Moo

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Nancy L./ www.foundersbaptist.org
Spring, TX

Your will, Lord Jesus Christ! Nothing more... nothing less... nothing else.

I prefer John Murray's commentary on Romans.

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Benjamin P. Glaser, M. Div, Licentiate, Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
Member Fairmount ARP Church
Pittsburgh, PA

Deo Vindice

I recently finished preaching through Romans and what most impressed me was the commentary by John Brown of Wamphrey here: An Exposition of the Epistle of Paul ... - Google Book Search

It is more expositional than exegetical so I don't know if that is what you need for a Bible Study.

Others: Hodge, Plummer, Haldane

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http://www.villagecommunitychurch.org/


"Preparing a sermon is like cooking a meal. You need pots and pans and utensils, but you don't bring them out to the table where people are eating." Derek Thomas


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Romans is my favorite NT book thanks for the links!

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sarah
WI
OPC
My Pastor's Sermons: Mark Jenkins...he's awesome!!!

To quote Dick Gaffin, "Get Murray!" I did, and I've never found anything better.

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Clark Brooking
Pastor
Living Hope Presbyterian Church (OPC)
Clarksville, MD

My husband led a small group Sunday School class on Romans once where we [each member of the class] each read from a different commentary in preparation for the week's discussion. We also have Murray, and that's what my husband used--it was great. I borrowed Sproul's

Gospel of God: Romans

Amazon

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Shalom,
jessi
PCA
Steelers fan exiled to Virginia


“Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God.”
Martin Luther

I agree. Moo wrote the most exhaustive Romans commentary I've ever seen, and Schreiner's has the best balance of big picture/detail.

Schreiner or Moo plus a few other older commentaries (like Hodge) would be great.

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Charlie Johnson
Downtown Presbyterian Church (PCA)
Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, student

Does anyone know if the older edition of Murray's book on Romans is substantially different than the newer edition?

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~Beth Ellen Nagle~
Lakeside Church -Wales, WI (PCA)
Married to John
One wonderful daughter, Chaela Joelle


My work in digital art and photography: http://www.puritanboard.com/members/...ms-images.html

I would start with Murray. Haldane is also a good choice.

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Fred Greco
Senior Pastor, Christ Church PCA (Katy, TX)
Christ Church Blog

"The heart is the main thing in true religion...It is the hinge and turning-point in the condition of man's soul. If the heart is alive to God and quickened by the Spirit, the man is a living Christian. If the heart is dead and has not the Spirit, the man is dead before God." (J.C. Ryle)

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Bob, elder, RBC Louisville. 1689 LBCF

"... Of such also, or of those who make a credible profession of being such, all those particular churches consist, which constitute our Lord's visible kingdom. ... Consequently, all the subjects of His government must have spiritual dispositions, , and yield spiritual obedience- obedience proceeding from an enlightened understanding, an awakened conscience, and a renewed heart."- Abraham Booth 1788

Calvin, Haldane, Hodge, Murray, Moo.

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Nathan Tyler
Reformed Baptist
University of Toronto (Student: Hons. B.A. in Philosophy)
Ontario, Canada

1689'er

http://nathantyler.wordpress.com

My vote is for Schreiner.

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Lance G. Marshall
Pastor
Georgetown, Indiana

Thank you for the great suggestions, and I have several of the commentaries mentioned.

But I wondering, no one suggested D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones massive work. Or Matthew Henry, or John Stott, or even Piper's on line sermons on Romans. Just wondering.

Again, thank you.

IMO, Calvin, Haldane, Hodge, Murray, Morris, Cranfield, Moo, and Schreiner are the best.
Most folks today prefer either Moo or Schreiner for an up-to-date commentary.

Stay away from the WBC on Romans. Also you can safely ignore Barth (except for historical reasons). Lloyd-Jones is rich but way too much unless you have unlimited time. Edwards, Witherington, and Barrett are also quite good, but unnecessary if you have Moo.

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Dennis E. McFadden, Ex Mainline Baptist (in Remission)
Atherton Baptist Homes, CEO
First Baptist Church of Alhambra, Member, Transformation Ministries (CA)

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

Holman New Testament Commentary - Romans by Kenneth Boa i found was good and not a normal commentary

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"Bible knowledge without repentance, will be but a torch to light men to hell. -Thomas Watson
United Through Christ
Ricky Heeb
Grace Reformed Church (RCUS) Lancaster, CA

MURRAY.

Lloyd-Jones is probably too detailed for Sunday School.

Schriener and Moo, I would vote against.

MURRAY!!!!

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Rev. Andrew J. Barnes
Husband of Dena
Father of Oliver
Master of Bruce
Pastor of Tchula Presbyterian Church

What can I say, I like blogs!

I listened to whole Romans series by Dr. Piper and found it very useful personally and I grew a lot over the course over the series. However, I have not read a lot of commentaries so I'm not sure how Piper's sermons would stack up. However, I do know that John Piper's sermons aren't meant to be commentaries. He does often discuss various interpretations of a passage and why he favors a certain understanding, but there is no way he is going to go into as much detail as a commentary. Instead of listening to the sermons, I would suggest that you read them from the Desiring God website. The sermons can be very lengthy and you could probably read the information much quicker than you could listen to the sermon.

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Joshua F
Layman
Mountain View Community Church (Missionary Church Denomination)
Johnstown, CO

Someone in a post above mentioned Cranfield. Let me second that. Cranfield's commentary (the second volume of which is 30 years old this year) does a thorough job in explaining Romans. Plus, he highlights Paul's theology everywhere. In addition, unlike too many commentaries, Cranfield is an elegant writer; it is a very well-written commentary.

Cranfield, by the way, will be 94 in September.

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Richard T. Zuelch, M.Div
Ruling Elder, OPC (not currently serving)
Westminster Presbyterian Church, CA (OPC)
www.alexandermaclaren.wordpress.com
www.reiterations.wordpress.com
www.spurgeonswords.wordpress.com

Devout souls do not take offence at the depths and difficulties of God's Word, but are, thereby, drawn to intenser contemplation of them. - Alexander Maclaren (1826-1910)

In the class I described, one of the members did read from Stott, and I do remember thinking a few times, "What a great point!" but I've never read it myself. From what I can tell/remember, it was also easy to understand.

Schreiner's commentary is in need of revision, since he has changed his position on imputation. He didn't believe that imputation was a correct way of looking at justification when he wrote his Romans commentary. He changed by the time he wrote his theology of Paul. Hopefully, he will revise the Romans commentary sometime. In terms of solid, Reformed commentary, you cannot do better than Murray and Haldane. Murray's commentary never went to a second edition of which I am aware. The new edition is only an exact reprinting. I would recommend Moo, not because he is fully Reformed (he isn't), but because he is just about the only solid commentary on Romans who interacts with (and refutes) the New Perspective on Paul. Moo is also off in his interpretation of chapter 7, in my opinion. But Moo is also encyclopedic. Cranfield is also of exceptional quality (his strength is in laying out the arguments for various positions fairly and clearly). However, it is a very technical commentary. I'm surprised no one has mentioned Morris's good contribution to the Pillar series, which I would recommend. Shedd's commentary is outstanding. In fact, the late S. Lewis Johnson thought that Shedd's commentary was the best one out there (Johnson taught through the Greek text of Romans at least 15 times). Anders Nygren has written a commentary that helps greatly with the flow of argumentation. Hodge's commentary is also very sound, although Murray has picked up on all the best insights of Hodge. Stott and Barnett would be very good on the more popular side. I understand that Guy Waters might eventually write a commentary on Romans. Watch out for that one if it comes!

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Rev. Lane Keister
Teaching Elder, PCA, North Dakota (working out of bounds in a CRC and an RCA church)
http://greenbaggins.wordpress.com
http://brahmsgreenglove.blogspot.com
http://accenttranslation.blogspot.com
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What about Barnhouses's commentaries on Romans?

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Eric
OPC
Long Island, New York

http://www.sensusdivinitatis.com/
http://twitter.com/sdpub

Barnhouse is not really a commentary on Romans. He takes Romans as a point of departure, and then really departs from the actual text to talk about mostly topical stuff. Not that he is heretical or anything. It's just not really a commentary. I would go with Boice over Barnhouse any day.

Good point. I never read Boice on Romans. Duly noted for future reference.

Umm. See post #15, Rev. Keister.

I never purchased Shedd. At one time, I was using 27 commentaries on Romans but never got Shedd. Thanks for the tip. As usual, your bibliographic suggestions are excellent and reflect the maturity of one who has been in ministry much longer than you have, Mr. Greenbaggins.

My warning to stay away from Dunn should be repeated. Just say NOOOOO. His "evangelicalism" is never all that evangelical and he flirts with too many bad ideas (e.g., NPP).

I didn't read your post carefully enough, Dennis. Sorry! Morris is good on almost everything he says.

Definitely get John Murray. If you procure an old hardback, make sure it contains both volumes (all 16 chapters). There are plenty of early vol. I singles out there. The easiest thing would be to just order a new paperback from Amazon. It is still published as two volumes, each with its own contents, indexes, and appendices, but in one physical book.

I agree with Rev. Keister on the editions of this commentary. The 2 volumes are simply reprints of the originals.

I find satisfactory explanations with Murray more often than with any other commentary on Romans. The last paragraph of the Author's Preface illustrates why this commentary should be treasured. Dr. Murray writes:

"It would be culpable beyond words to close this preface without making the acknowledgment that is supreme. The epistle to the Romans is God's Word. Its theme is the gospel of his grace, and the gospel bespeaks the marvels of his condescension and love. If we are not overwhelmed by the glory of that gospel and ushered into the holy of holies of God's presence, we have missed the grand purpose of this sacred deposit. And it is only because the God of grace has put treasure in earthen vessels that we men have been given the task and privilege of undertaking exposition. If any success has attended this effort it is only of the grace of the Holy Spirit by whose inspiration the epistle was written and by whose illumination the church has been led in the interpretation of it. Profound humility should always be ours. The excellency of the power is of God and not of us and to him alone be all praise and glory."

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David Broyles
Greenville Presbyterian Church
Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)
Upstate SC

"That man hath perfect blessedness;
Who walketh not astray
In counsel of ungodly men
Nor stands in sinners' way."
Psalm 1:1,2 - The Scottish Psalmody