Visiting with scholars and pastors in their work spaces gives me a thrill because I love to see what personal libraries look like and what they contain.
Of course you can find personal libraries that are somewhat sparse; in my school office, not even all my own shelves are full. The really fun libraries, though, are the ones which are packed to the brim. My own favorites were the apartment where books lined every available space and the one with a spiral staircase to get to the upper floor. (It’s safe to say that there are some very gracious spouses around when books are involved!)
But there is an important reality which explains these borderline cases of hoarding: the size of the library determines its usefulness. The more books it contains, the more likely it will have what you need when the time comes. And for scholars and pastors who serve others by having the right information at the right time, this means that a library filled with good tools borders on a professional necessity.
But that raises the immediate problem of how to stock your library with the right materials. Put another way, if we are going to hoard books, how can we make sure that we hoard the right ones? Even if we had all the money in the world to fill our two-story personal library to the brim with books, we would want to make wise choices about what we purchase so the library could fulfill its purpose by supplying us with the right information at the right time.
There are lots of ways to solve this puzzle, but my thinking has always centered around two central categories of books that I need to do my job: resources which provide foundational background information I can use generally in my research, and specific tools for a particular task or responsibility.
For example, I have numerous books with general information about the Greek language; these provide foundational information for interpreting the New Testament. I also have numerous books, such as commentaries, which help me with specific tasks, like teaching my class on Paul’s epistle to the Galatians. This paradigm could readily work for a pastor who needs books which supply foundational information on pastoral care, for instance, but also needs specific tools to address a sermon series on Proverbs.
To help scholars, pastors, and students buy the right general resources and specific tools for their needs, I along with some of my colleagues at Dallas Theological Seminary have produced a buyer’s guide so you can get the most bang for your buck. It is titled Best Bible Books: New Testament Resources, and it lists the best tools for sermon preparation, topical study, research, and classroom study for the New Testament. Individual chapters cover the best commentaries for each New Testament book as well as other important areas of study such as background materials, Greek language resources, and exegesis and interpretation. We even included a chapter on how to build your personal library, with our recommendations for purchases, and an index so you can find where your favorite authors are listed in the book.
Hoarding—I mean, building!—a personal library is rewarding if you choose the right books to buy. Focusing on books that supply general knowledge for your field of study and then specific help for the research tasks in front of you is a great way to augment your library. It’s our hope that Best Bible Books will help you buy the best books on the New Testament so you can find the right information at the right time.
Now get out there and fill your space to the brim!
Glynn and Burer examine commentaries on every book of the New Testament, describing their approach, format, and usability; they then rank them on a scale of good, better, and best. Other chapters survey special studies for each New Testament book as well as books in related disciplines such as historical background, language resources, and hermeneutics.
