On the means and ends of this column devoted to notable new and forthcoming books, see the introductory paragraphs of its first edition.
Herons who stalk their prey are supremely focused on what matters; they are not thrown off by every passing new fad.
I recently had the privilege of leading a discussion group with parishioners who read Athanasius’ On the Incarnation, specifically the edition which reprinted a masterful introduction C.S. Lewis wrote (read the whole thing here; it’s brief). Lewis’s famous exhortation to “read old books!” comes with this sage advice: “It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. If that is too much for you, you should at least read one old one to every three new ones.”
To that end, in between your old books, here are a few new ones to watch for:
Constantine Campbell, ed. The Greek New Testament Study Bible. Zondervan Academic, 2027.
Even for those of us who have spent years studying ancient Greek, it is difficult to sit down with only the Nestle-Aland or UBS Greek New Testament and read large chunks of it without having to at some point consult a dictionary or grammar. For years now I have used the wonderful “Reader’s Edition” of the UBS, which parses and provides a gloss at the bottom of the page for all words which occur less than thirty times in the New Testament, which has allowed me to use it unaided with great profit. But the strengths of a reader’s edition have now been combined with the aids of a study Bible!
Constantine Campbell has not only made notable contributions to Pauline theology, but has also published several books on Greek grammar. This new Greek study Bible, for which he has served as editor, will be an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to read the New Testament attentively in its original language. The most important thing seminary students can do after graduation to retain their Greek skills is simply to read a little bit of the New Testament in Greek every day, even a very small amount. This powerful resource will make this goal not only doable but enjoyable.
Eds. Benjamin L. Gladd and G.K. Beale. Connecting Scripture New Testament: A Study Bible of Biblical Allusions and Citations. B&H Academic, 2025.
Another New Testament resource in this edition will be a wonderful resource to anyone who wants to learn more about how the New Testament makes use of the Old Testament.
As a rule, whenever you see something that seems weird in the New Testament, it is a subtle allusion or involves a citation or echo of something from the Old Testament. Often, it seems weird to us because we are not familiar enough with the Old Testament texts and contexts that the New Testament authors assume and constantly refer to.
Few scholars have written more in general about NT use of the OT than Beale and Gladd in recent decades, and their distinctive approach is deeply informed by Reformed biblical theology. Their new edition of the English New Testament includes color-coded marginal notes that show readers where to turn in the Old Testament to understand its language in the new.
For instance, Colossians contains no direct citations of the Old Testament, but it alludes to the OT constantly. Practically every word of Revelation is an allusion to Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and more, and we very easily miss or misunderstand these allusions. This edition of the NT will bring all of these “can’t miss!” texts clearly before readers.
Notably, Beale and Gladd plan to publish a companion edition of the Old Testament in this series in time to come.
N. Gray Sutanto. For Us and for Our Salvation: The Biblical Doctrine of Humanity and Sin. Baker Academic, 2026.
Sin is bad. I have recently been on a quest to understand the Christian doctrine of sin, at this point not for any clearly defined research agenda or writing project, but simply to try to better understand the not-understandable, which St. Paul calls “the mystery of iniquity.” Sutanto has made notable contributions to the study of Herman Bavinck’s theology, and I suspect his treatment of the doctrine of sin and theological anthropology will be similarly illuminating of our darkness.
Richard A. Muller. Calvin and His Contemporaries: Contextual Developments in His Theology. Baker Academic, 2026.
Not long ago, many scholars and theologians spoke about a chasm between “Calvin” and “the Calvinists,” influenced as they were by the way Barth and the Torrances contrasted the magisterial Protestant Reformers with later Protestant scholasticism. No one has done more to change that paradigm than Richard Muller in his several contributions to the study of not only Calvin and the Reformers but of later developments in the Reformed tradition.
In his newest book, described as “the culmination of four decades of research,” Muller not only situates Calvin in relationship to other reformers from across Europe, but also traces how Calvin’s thought developed across his lifetime on key matters such as Christology and eucharistic theology.
Calvin continues to be caricatured both by lay people and academic theologians and biblical scholars who have never read him for themselves; Calvin and His Contemporaries should lay numerous myths and misunderstandings to rest.
Brad East, The Screen-Free Church: How Pastors Can Diagnose and Resist the Spiritual Costs of Technology. Baker Books, 2027.
Modern life is inundated with digital technology. Against the dominant mindset found in the church, that screens and audio/video technology are just tools for propagating the gospel, East is alert to the unavoidable ways that screens are not value-neutral mediums, but transform (or, in my humble opinion, to de-form) ourselves, our sacred liturgy, and the life of our churches. East is uniquely poised to invite pastors and church leaders to wisely navigate our contemporary digital landscape because he is not only an accomplished theologian but a gifted writer about technology and contemporary culture.
David Ney. Clothed in the Word: The Embodiment of Scripture in Church History. IVP Academic, 2026.
“Figural exegesis” is not easy to define, but David Ney is an exemplary practitioner of it. When I was his student for an Anglican history class at Trinity Anglican Seminary, I have fond memories of listening to his own aspirations to so furnish his imagination with Scripture that we would identify ourselves with its figures and unfolding history in the Providence of God. There are also dangerous and countless pitfalls of identifying ourselves with biblical figures, not least if we supplant Christ himself as the ultimate subject matter of Scripture. But by guiding readers through an overview of figural readings of Scripture down through the ages in five exemplary chapters, this book will likely be a helpful guide for a reading strategy indispensable to the church.
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