Kerux: Matthew

Posted on September 22, 2025 by Carl Simmons

Everything you wanted to know about Matthew’s gospel but was afraid to ask 🙂 . . .

Darrell L. Bock and Timothy D. Sprankle. Matthew: A Commentary for Biblical Preaching and Teaching. Kerux Commentaries. 800p., $58.99, Kregel Ministry.

Kerux Commentaries enable pastors and teachers to understand and effectively present the main message in a biblical text. Each volume uniquely combines the insights of an experienced Bible exegete (trained in interpretation) and a homiletician (trained in preaching). These two authors work together to explain the essential message for the original listeners or readers, unpack its timeless truth, and then provide a contemporary restatement and communication insights for the key biblical concept. Every book is a resource designed and written with the real needs of the pastor and teacher always in sight, providing many ways to creatively express the principal thought in a biblical passage.

The book of Matthew conveys the most important story of all time: God becoming man for the redemption of the world. While the story itself can appear clear, much is missed if we don’t understand the symbolism, history, context, and language in which the book was written and initially dispersed. Through the pairing of exegetical analysis and pastoral application, authors Darrell Bock and Timothy Sprankle provide an accessible and comprehensive commentary for the teacher and preacher alike.

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The Exegetical Process

Posted on August 25, 2025 by Carl Simmons

For students of the Bible, of any age . . .

Aida Besancon Spencer. The Exegetical Process: How to Write a New Testament Exegesis Paper Step by Step. 272p., $26.99, Kregel Academic.

“How do I do exegesis? And where do I even begin?“

If you’ve ever found yourself asking these questions, then this book is for you. Written by senior professor of New Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary Ai­da Besancon Spencer, this step-by-step guide will provide a detailed description of the various steps required of the exegetical process, as well as the importance of each step along the way. These steps include:

  • understanding the literary and historical context of a passage
  • discerning the priority of the passage through sentence structure
  • isolating and exploring key words and phrases
  • applying the passage to our current context

The Exegetical Process is an invaluable resource for any who desire to faithfully interpret and apply Scripture. By reading this book, you will be equipped to do both for any passage in the Bible.

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Isaiah, Vol. 1

Posted on August 18, 2025 by Carl Simmons

On the life that was to come, and the life still to come . . .

Robert B. Chisholm Jr. and Michael Hontz. Isaiah, Vol. 1: 1–39. Kerux Commentaries. 608p., $43.99, Kregel Academic.

Each Kerux volume uniquely combines the insights of an experienced Bible exegete (trained in interpretation) and a homiletician (trained in preaching). These two authors work together to explain the essential message for the original listeners or readers, unpack its timeless truth, and then provide a contemporary restatement and communication insights for the key biblical concept. Every book is a resource designed and written with the real needs of the pastor and teacher always in view, providing many ways to creatively express the principal thought in a biblical passage.

In this first of two volumes, authors Robert Chisholm and Mike Hontz apply exegetic and homiletic training to help elucidate the richness of Isaiah. With faithfulness to the biblical witness, these authors explore chapters 1–39 of Isaiah, discussing what it would have meant to their original audience and how that can inform what it is saying to the church today. In these chapters, cries for redemption are interspersed with denouncements of injustice and economic exploitation, and warnings of judgment are mingled with words of hope. Ultimately, Isaiah is about God’s faithfulness, an enduring faithfulness that persists despite the unfaithfulness of Israel, Judah, and all the nations. Working together to provide an invaluable tool to both preacher and scholar alike, Chisholm and Hontz expertly illuminate the richness of the text while providing real-world, present-day application.

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That You May Believe

Posted on May 26, 2025 by Carl Simmons

A closer look at the fourth and most personal gospel. . . .

Quinn R. Mosier, T. Desmond Alexander, Robert W. Yarbrough, eds. That You May Believe: Essays in Honor of Andreas J. Köstenberger. 328p., $32.99, Kregel Academic.

Throughout his career, Professor Andreas J. Köstenberger has demonstrated a deep passion and commitment for both scholarly research and faithful living. In his eyes, the two are inseparable, and his books and teachings reflect the balancing and integrating of these two ideals. Nowhere does Köstenberger do this more than in his study of the book of John. The essays collected here both honor and reflect his influence as a scholar and teacher. They exegete, analyze, and examine the book of John and its recent scholarship. This diverse array of texts provides a foundation for a better understanding of John, so that like Köstenberger, we can grow in our comprehension and in turn grow in our faith.

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40 Questions About Divine Election

Posted on May 19, 2025 by Carl Simmons

Daniel Kirkpatrick. 40 Questions About Divine Election. 40 Questions series. 280p., $24.99, Kregel Academic.

The doctrine of election has been a major point of contention within the church, especially since the Reformation five hundred years ago. So much so that many of the denominations we see around the world are the consequence of differing understandings of what election means, and what implications it has on our lives. In 40 Questions About Divine Election, author Daniel Kirkpatrick guides the reader through the many facets of election by providing a robust description of the doctrine through the biblical and historical witness. Through a question-and-answer format, Kirkpatrick artfully defines election while describing and navigating opposing views and their implications. These questions include the following:

  • Is election rooted in the divine or human will?
  • Is election conditional or unconditional?
  • How does human will reconcile with divine will in election?
  • Does God elect some people to hell?

In this book, readers are invited to wrestle with their own understandings of election and encouraged to apply those understandings to their lives. In the end, election is about God’s sovereignty, and the question the author invites us to ask is what that sovereignty means for humanity.

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Galatians and Ephesians Through Old Testament Eyes

Posted on March 17, 2025 by Carl Simmons

Two of Paul’s most instructive letters, presented in the context its original readers would have had. . . .

Gary M. Burge. Galatians and Ephesians Through Old Testament Eyes: A Background and Application Commentary. 320p., $28.99, Kregel Academic.

Through Old Testament Eyes is a new kind of commentary series that illuminates the Old Testament backgrounds, allusions, patterns, and references that saturate the New Testament. These links were second nature to the New Testament authors and their audiences, but today’s readers often cannot see them. Bible teachers, preachers, and students committed to understanding Scripture will gain insight through these rich Old Testament connections, which clarify puzzling passages and explain others in fresh ways.

Galatians and Ephesians are steeped in Old Testament allusions and references. The author of these epistles was trained in rabbinic tradition, raised in Jewish culture, and deeply familiar with the Old Testament. If not properly recognized, the reader is hindered in their understanding of the Scriptures. Galatians and Ephesians Through Old Testament Eyes makes these connections clear, inviting the reader to understand Galatians and Ephesians as the biblical author intended. Author Gary M. Burge offers thorough commentary and real-world application for the scholar and student alike.

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Understanding Jeremiah

Posted on March 10, 2025 by Carl Simmons

Degradation and disregard for God to the left, cruelty and power-mongering in religious disguise (and thus even more contemptuous of God) on the right, while the country in the middle was in chaos and on the brink of collapse . . . only 2,600 years earlier. And the weeping, painfully accurate prophet no-one listened to was right in the middle of it. . . .

Duane A. Garrett. Understanding Jeremiah: Its Setting, Composition, and Message. 256p., $24.99, Kregel Academic.

“I have come to appreciate Jeremiah the prophet above any person of the Old Testament . . . because his humanity shines so clearly through his book” (p. 4).

The book of Jeremiah is full of beauty and brokenness, joy and sorrow. These themes are interwoven throughout the book, often without context or introduction, which can leave the present reader without the full picture of what the passage conveys. In Understanding Jeremiah: Its Setting, Composition, and Message, Duane A. Garrett steps back from verse-by-verse commentary to provide a bird’s-eye view of the book, giving rich background information to these prophetic writings. This three-thousand-foot view of Jeremiah gives specific insight into:

  • the politics, governance, and key players in Judah, Israel, and the surrounding nations
  • Jeremiah’s life and its witness to holy living
  • the structure and composition of the book of Jeremiah
  • the broader message of Jeremiah
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Introducing Jesus

Posted on February 24, 2025 by Carl Simmons

Focusing on Jesus through the lenses of each of the four gospels, and not just for a younger audience. . . .

Andreas Köstenberger. Introducing Jesus: The Fourfold Gospel. 232p., $19.99, Kregel Ministry.

Can anyone in our high-tech world truly understand someone who lived two thousand years ago? Can we get through twenty centuries of tradition to the real person who started it all? Andreas Köstenberger shows that the Gospels, the four earliest records about Jesus, do just that. These writings, named Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, alongside key facts about the ancient world, bring Jesus’s life, his words, and his legacy into focus.

Introducing Jesus gets to the heart of what was—and is—important about Jesus. Köstenberger uses succinct prose, photographs, maps, charts, and more to address these questions:

  • What did each gospel writer intend to convey about Jesus?
  • What historical backgrounds help us understand Jesus better?
  • What aspects of Jesus’s life and teaching do the Gospels emphasize?
  • What does Jesus mean to people living today?

Adapted from Köstenberger’s The Jesus of the Gospels (2020) for a younger readership, Introducing Jesus lends itself well to the typical organization of a high school year or college semester. A corresponding website includes resources for instructors.

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The Ichthus Christogram

Posted on February 10, 2025 by Carl Simmons

An interesting theory on “Christian graffiti,” with ample helpings of early church history thrown in. . . .

J. Daniel Hays. The Ichthus Christogram and Other Early Christian Symbols. 272p., $27.99, Kregel Academic.

Attentive modern-day visitors to the Mediterranean world will notice a symbol depicting an eight-spoked wheel carved into stone walls, floors, and funerary art. This symbol has long been considered the remnant of an ancient game or the work of vandals, but author J. Daniel Hays argues its proliferation was the work of the early church, and it should be included in the greater corpus of Christian art, iconography, and symbolism.

In The Ichthus Christogram and Other Early Christian Symbols, Dr. Hays examines the early church’s visual symbolic world and its history following the acts of the apostles–from the Great Persecution to the Christianization of the pagan world. Along the way, he takes the reader to key cities of ancient Turkey, Greece, and Israel to explore the political, architectural, and religious backgrounds of local churches and how such contexts informed their use of the eight-spoked Ichthus Christogram to teach orthodoxy and combat heresies, to remind illiterate believers of the basic tenets of the faith, and to declare victory over demonic forces. This is a must-read for students of church history and ancient Christian art.

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40 Questions About Atonement

Posted on January 27, 2025 by Carl Simmons

So what exactly did Jesus accomplish on the cross, and how should we be changed because of it?

Channing L. Crisler. 40 Questions About Atonement. 40 Questions Series. 288p., $23.99, Kregel Academic.

Atonement sits at the very heart of Christian doctrine, describing believers’ status as “being one again” with God through Jesus Christ. It is the culmination of God’s work of reconciliation, simultaneously defining believers’ relationship with God while also describing how that relationship is restored. Because of this, how one understands atonement has a profound impact on how one views and understands God, salvation, and human nature.

New Testament scholar Channing L. Crisler offers a robust foundation for understanding the divine mystery of atonement, drawing on biblical and historical witnesses to answer pertinent questions, such as:

  • Why is atonement necessary?
  • What are the different theories of atonement?
  • How is atonement understood by the various Christian traditions and world religions?
  • What implications does one’s understanding of atonement have on the present?

Through its question-and-answer format, 40 Questions About the Atonement provides an expansive introduction to the doctrine of atonement, inviting the reader to wade into this divine mystery with curiosity and awe.

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