Sinclair Ferguson on Romans pt.2

When a man of God like Sinclair Ferguson devotes his whole life to the study of Romans, we ought to ask questions and listen. In the first post on Sinclair Ferguson on Romans, I asked him about his approach to reading this Epistle. I followed up by asking him what was the commentary on Romans that he found the most helpful over the years. Here is his spiritual wisdom:

Roman by John Murray

I have always had a very special affection for John Murray’s Commentary on Romans–partly because he was a very significant influence on my development as a late teenager when I first heard him (the first time I heard him he opened a new world for me), but also because of his deep reverence for the text and the sheer weight of its theology. I especially appreciated the fact that in his handling of issues one could always see the point at which one diverged from him (if at all!) and where he diverged from other commentators.

Romans by Anders Nygren and Robert Haldane

I was also very appreciative of the wonderful Luther-like vibrancy of the Swedish Lutheran Anders Nygren’s Commentary on Romans. In places I found Calvin wonderfully helpful, as was true also of Robert Haldane (and the story behind his commentary is thrilling).

Romans by Cranfield and Dunn

Of the more recent commentaries I have gained a good deal from working with Cranfield and Dunn–often as foils for my own thinking–for the former fairly consistently follows a line of thought different from Murray on what I think are major elements in Romans (although perhaps even more so than Murray one can always tell the point at which one’s own understanding begins to differ with Cranfield); James Dunn, whose name is so often associated with the “New Perspective” (he coined the phrase) has a particularly interesting treatment of Romans 7:14-25 where, in many respects surprisingly, adopts one for of the classical Augustinian view of the passage.

Others

Over the years I’ve worked with many others, from the Fathers through to Douglas Moo’s very fine replacement of Murray (though I would still side with Murray on some of the important points of divergence) and more recently Tom Wright’s contribution to the New Interpreter’s Series.

Advise on Beginning in Romans

I am sure there are at least 50 or 60 commentaries on Romans on my shelves–too many– but if I had none and were starting now I’d always look for two to begin with–one that was recent, indeed the best recent reliable commentary (with the flurry of commentaries today, the more recent ones are likely to give you access to the exegesis of the others without spending forever reading every commentator… life and preparation time is too short for that); and then another that either nourished me in a special way (or I hoped it would) or one that really makes me think through and thus stimulates creativity in the good sense.