best commentaries

I have 1,276 commentaries in my Library. Different types such as expositional, exegetical, homiletical, and devotional. They range from many different traditions such as Anglican, baptist, wesleyan, pentecostal, presbyterian and reformed. There is a website called bestcommentaries.com that can aide someone to find a really good commentary. The best teacher though is the Holy Spirit. Here is my take and advice on commentaries.

Stay away from Calvinistic commentaries as they promote eternal security and discourage woman in ministry. When it comes to the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the scriptures that speak about him, stay away from John MacArthur and his commentaries because he limits the power of the Holy Spirit. Especially when it comes to His giftings and the miraculous.

Adam Clarke provides solid thoughts in his commentary that aren’t shallow thoughts but are deep theologically that at the same time is understandable for the common lay person.

William Barclay’s Daily Study Bible is another one that you have to watch out for because of his theological convictions. He denied the virgin birth of Christ, was a universalist(Which believes eventually everyone will be saved) and he was a believer in evolution. So most of what he comments on the advent of Christ, hell, heaven and creation should be dismissed.

David Guzik and his enduring word bible commentary is one of my favorite commentators if not my favorite as he lays it out in an easy to understand outline format and is theological sound. It is also free online!

The New International Commentary is another solid one. Written by evangelical and conservative scholars. Easy to read and understand for most lay people and includes good language study.

For devotional study the Life application commentary which is best on the widely popular life application study bible is one of the easiest commentaries to understand. So it would be a wise choice for new believers. It offers practical insight, vivid illustrations, and a lot of background and cultural information on the text.

This isn’t an exhaustive list by far. As I said at the beginning, the best teacher is the Holy Spirit. Thank you and God bless.