Organising sermon preparationPosts in this series
The subject of commentaries must come into sermon preparation.
The use of commentaries can be controversial and so before I speak about how you should use them, I feel I must speak about why you should use them.
So in this first post about commentaries, I will defend the use of commentaries and then in subsequent posts I will outline how I organise my commentaries for sermon preparation.
I have often heard older ministers (even just last week) advise younger ministers to avoid the use of commentaries. Or at the very least, use commentaries sparingly.
And this is not a new phenomenon. Spurgeon mentions such people in his book 'Commenting and commentaries' (Available from Amazon or free here): 'In order to be able to expound the Scriptures, and as an aid to your pulpit studies, you will need to be familiar with the commentators: a glorious army, let me tell you, whose acquaintance will be your delight and profit. Of course, you are not such wiseacres as to think or say that you can expound Scripture without assistance from the works of divines and learned men who have laboured before you in the field of exposition. If you are of that opinion, pray remain so, for you are not worth the trouble of conversion, and like a little coterie who think with you, would resent the attempt as an insult to your infallibility. It seems odd, that certain men who talk so much of what the Holy Spirit reveals to themselves, should think so little of what he has revealed to others. '
I agree wholeheartedly with Spurgeon's remarks.
But I would add that I find that many who seem to despise commentaries are those who have been studying the Bible for decades. Thus it is all very well for them to sit down with the Greek or Hebrew text and ignore the commentaries, but what they fail to realise is that they are not working commentary free. I know from experience that it is very hard, even impossible, to turn off any commentary that may be running from my own memory. As you read the text, ideas gleaned from previous Bible studies, sermons and reading on that text replay constantly. Even the fact that you're reading from the original language demonstrates prior learning and a significant edge on newcomers to the text. Thus the 'wiseacres' that Spurgeon speaks of are using commentaries, they just don't acknowledge it.
If this is true, then depriving help from those who need it is not good advice - in fact it is hypocritical. Younger pastors are still very new to the text. Common misunderstandings are easily made and need to be rectified quickly. And if the young man does not consult the commentaries, he will often fall straight into such misunderstandings and then proceed to teach them on Sunday. I know, because I used to do it. But then I started using commentaries and thanking the Lord for them.
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