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With Peter T. O’Brien’s new contribution to the Pillar series, The Letter to the Hebrews, I think it is time to give credit to where it is due. I believe the Pillar New Testament Commentary series is now the best commentary on the market.

But before we proceed, a brief caveat.  I recognize that it is difficult to say “this series” or “that series” is better than another series. As we are rightly told by our Bible professors, each commentary must be weighed individually for its own merits, not by the series it populates. While I fully subscribe to this belief, and in fact employ it in my own life, I do think the scope and intent established by the series editor and its publisher play a major role in what comes out in an individual commentary.

All of my reasons for naming Pillar as the best overall series flow from this point. My 3 reasons, in summary, are 1) the series editor, D.A. Carson; 2) The degree to which the commentary has met its intended goals; 3) strength of authors.

It should be no surprise that D.A. Carson’s presence as editor for the Pillar
series is a huge factor for determining its quality. D.A. Carson is, arguably, the leading NT scholar, in terms of linguistic analysis, in the world.  While many know of Carson because of his “less scholarly works” such as Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church, Carson’s efforts and reputation as a scholar have earned him the right, in my opinion, to be the most highly regarded NT–and Christian  scholar–today.

What is not often recognized about Carson is his extensive work in linguistic and lexicographal studies of the NT. This work is mainly exemplified by his editorial work in the series Studies in Biblical Greek published by Peter Lang. In this series, Carson is overseeing linguistic research by elite biblical scholars such as William Mounce, Constantine Campbell, Stanley Porter, John Sailhamer, among others. Carson has also made significant contributions to the conversation on Christianity and culture (esp. Christ and Culture Revisited: 2008 and The Gagging of God: 2001), biblical theology, and of course Carson’s classic book, required reference (and reading!) for all students of the Bible, his, Exegetical Fallacies.

Along with Carson’s credentials, which make him an excellent choice for editor, is his  own contribution to the Pillar series, The Gospel According to John, now widely regarded as the best commentary for studying the text of the fourth gospel.
By producing an outstanding work on John’s Gospel, the Pillar series under Carson’s leadership hit where so many other commentaries series–especially recently– have only wiffed.

Second, I believe that Eerdmans’ Pillar series has, more than any other commentary available, faithfully crafted commentaries true to their stated intent. That intent is stated in each volume and reads as follows:

“The Pillar New Testament Commentary, designed for serious readers of the Bible, seeks above all to make clear the meaning of the text of Scripture as we have it. Writers of the PNTC volumes interact with the most important, informed contemporary debate yet avoid undue technical detail. Their ideal is a blend of rigorous exegesis and exposition, scholarship and pastoral sensitivity, with an eye alert both to biblical theology and to the contemporary relevance of the Bible.”

If we were to view commentaries on a spectrum, series such as the Baker Exegetical, the Word Biblical, and Hermeneia would be to the right, or lean towards a technical exposition, while a series such as Eerdmans’ New International Commentaries of the OT & NT would tend to be center-right, or focused on illuminating the relevance of scholarship while giving some expository treatment to the text. If the NICNT falls slightly towards the right-technical (or technical side of things), the Pillar series lands slightly towards the left of center, focusing a bit more on as their statement reads exposition, theology, and pastoral concerns, yet never compromising a thorough treatment of the New Testament text.

This objective is clear in the Pillar statement of intent, and every volume in the series has faithfully adhered to this mandate exceptionally. But the trick here was as their statement reads to “blend” the scholarly concerns with the pastoral. What they have done, as any good blend would do, is to bring the concerns of the pastor next to those of the scholar mix them and in so doing create a new way of discussing, studying and presenting the text.  I believe they have accomplished precisely this detail, something that is evident from the increasing usage of this series in classrooms in college and graduate level courses, and of course, by pastors. Again Carson’s exemplifies this approach in his commentary, and indeed in all his work, but the efforts by more recent contributors such as, James Edwards’ The Gospel According to Mark (my personal favorite in the series), The Acts of the Apostles by David Peterson (it will be interesting to see if Peterson writes the volume on Luke following the Baker format), and Hansen’s The Epistle to the Philippians., and Doug Moo’s The Letter of James, also consistently and faithfully follow this pattern.

Furthermore, the extra attention given to theology in the series is no doubt due to Carson’s influence (who perennially pens  studies in biblical theology). Yet, such an approach reflects a growing trend in biblical commentary of directly addressing theological implications, a trend led by the “theological interpretation/exegesis of Scripture” movement.

My final reason for selecting the Pillar series, is its outstanding line-up of outstanding younger scholars, combined with older more established scholars, coupled with the remarkable ability the authors have shown to achieve the goals of the Pillar series. Consistently, the authors have brought together relevant theological and expository treatments grounded in a rich and thorough understanding of the technical issues surrounding their given NT books.

Yet, the series is not without some weakness, but not in terms of scholarship, but simply located in the passage of time. The inclusion of 2-volumes (Matthew and Romans) by Leon Morris, present a issues for the series due to the age of the commentaries, and the prominence of the NT books on which they are written. The work of Leon Morris–one of the most respected biblical scholars of the last generation– is increasingly outdated (proven by his slow removal from the NICNT series), and therefore need to be replaced, especially in light of Schreiner’s work on Romans in the Baker Exegetical series, and Keener’s foundational work The Gospel of Matthew.

Nevertheless authors such as Peterson, Edwards, Hansen, O’Brien, and Moo (Moo’s work on James is especially interesting given his prior work on Romans in the NICNT series), as well as the preeminent Carson, establish this as the best line-up available today. Of course, much of what I argue here  hinges on the who writes what in the future, and the way the way authors and Carson handle, as yet unpublished, commentaries on Galatians, 1 Corinthians, and Revelation. Nevertheless, the foundation is in place for the Pillar New Testament Commentary series to become the best NT series of all time. Strong words of praise, but remember where you heard it first.

Tags: Acts, Baker Exegetical Commentary, D.A. Carson, David Peterson, Douglass Moo, Eerdmans, G. Walter Hansen, Hebrews, James, James Edwards, NICNT, Philippians, Pillar New Testament Commentary Series