Over the last few years while travelling in the car, I have listened to a number of the ‘Help me Teach the Bible’ podcasts which Nancy Guthrie has produced (sponsored by Crossway). The podcast involves an interview with a biblical scholar on a book of the bible and often provides a stimulating overview of the book. I recall, for example, the discussion with Iain Duguid on the book of Ezekiel which stirred me to reconsider aspects of that book.
Our family have just been away on holidays. We spent some time staying in the house of a ministry associate and so a library to browse. On their bookshelves I discovered a five volume series by Nancy Guthrie which I had not seen before (though they’ve been out for a decade). The series is aimed at helping people to understand the Old Testament. Each book provides a 10 week course outline to be used in either personal or group bible study. It is published by Crossway and looks to me like a tremendous way to become better acquainted with the Old Testament.
The series consists of five books:
1 The Promised One – takes one through the book of Genesis.
2 The Lamb of God – Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy
3 The Son of David – the Historical books (Joshua-2 Kings, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther).
4 The Wisdom of God – Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Songs
5 The Word of the LORD – the prophets (Major and Minor though omitting a few small books)
While the focus is on the Old Testament, the series makes clear that this study of the bible is very much from the New Testament perspective. Each book is subtitled ‘Seeing Jesus in…’ [Genesis, the Prophets etc]. The books are well-organised and structured, and provide a marvellous resource for helping someone to grow in understanding how the Old Testament fits with the New Testament. Guthrie has had her approach to the Old Testament shaped by people like Graeme Goldsworthy whose line ‘God’s people in God’s place under God’s rule’ she uses as a framework (See, for example, ‘The Son of David’, p 18). Like Nancy, I had my early biblical framework and understanding shaped by Goldsworthy’s teaching (Gospel and Kingdom was for me formative back in the 1980s), and this Guthrie series is an excellent development building on that foundation.
I’ve skimmed through the books and look forward to sharing them with our own church members. This is a tremendous resource for assisting believers to deepen in the love and knowledge of God’s word. Well done, Nancy and the team at Crossway Publishers.