The Biblical Foundations Book Award
The Center for Biblical Studies is pleased to announce the winners and runner-ups of the Biblical Foundations Book Award 2019 in the categories of Old Testament, New Testament, and Biblical Theology.
You can read the original announcement of the Biblical Foundations Book Award here. You can also read the finalists for each category: Old Testament, New Testament, and Biblical Theology. Please note that the Biblical Foundations Book of the Year will be announced on Monday, February 24, 2020.
The CBS would like to thank our panel of distinguished jurors: T. D. Alexander, Mark Boda, Jason DeRouchie, Peter Gentry, Gregory Goswell, Tremper Longman, and Andrew Steinmann (OT); Craig Blomberg, Jeannine Brown, Lynn Cohick, Andreas Köstenberger, Thomas Schreiner, and Robert Yarbrough (NT); and T. D. Alexander, Jason DeRouchie, Benjamin Gladd, Andreas Köstenberger, and Thomas Schreiner (Biblical Theology). We have included endorsements from our jurors for each respective winner and runner-up. We would also like to thank our sponsoring publishers: Baker Academic, Baylor University Press, B&H Academic, Christian Focus, Crossway Books, Wm. B. Eerdmans, Oxford University Press, InterVarsity Academic, Kregel Academic, Lexham Press, Sheffield Phoenix Press, T&T Clark, Westminster John Knox, Wipf & Stock, and Zondervan Academic. We congratulate each of the authors for their outstanding work.
OLD TESTAMENT
CO-WINNER
An Obituary for “Wisdom Literature”: The Birth, Death, and Intertextual Reintegration of a Biblical Corpus
By Will Kynes
Published by Oxford University Press
“In his monograph Will Kynes has not only overturned what has been assumed for the past century regarding the texts we associate with wisdom, but has provided a way forward for greater attention to the voice of these texts within the broader canonical witness.”
—Mark Boda, McMaster Divinity College
CO-WINNER
The World around the Old Testament: The People and Places of the Ancient Near East
Edited by Bill T. Arnold and Brent A. Strawn
Published by Baker Academic
“The World Around the Old Testament provides an up-to-date look at the peoples and cultural contexts in which the Old Testament is set. It is destined to replace older works as a textbook for introducing students to the Ancient Near East, its peoples, and their place in the Old Testament world.”
—Andrew Steinmann, Concordia University Chicago
OT COMMENTARY
WINNER
Isaiah: A Mentor Commentary, Volumes I–II
By Paul R. House
Published by Christian Focus
“House’s appraisal of Isaiah as a unified text offers an important alternative perspective to that adopted in much scholarly discussion of the book of Isaiah.”
—T. D. Alexander, Union Theological College
NEW TESTAMENT
WINNER
Christobiography: Memory, History, and the Reliability of the Gospels
By Craig S. Keener
Published by Eerdmans
“Keener’s Christobiography is a long-needed, thoroughly investigated and appropriately nuanced study of the kind of historical reliability we should expect to find in the Gospels in light of their similarities and differences from first-century Greco-Roman biographies. It has major apologetic value, provides detailed overviews of primary source material and interacts with a voluminous amount of secondary literature on this crucial topic in today’s postmodern world often dominated by aggressive atheists.”
—Craig Blomberg, Denver Seminary
RUNNER-UP
Myths and Mistakes in New Testament Textual Criticism
Edited by Elijah Hixson and Peter J. Gurry
Published by IVP Academic
“Myths and Mistakes in New Testament Textual Criticism breaks new ground, and although it eschews simplistic solutions, gives us new confidence that the Bible is the word of God.”
—Tom Schreiner, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
NT COMMENTARY
WINNER
Colossians and Philemon (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament)
By G. K. Beale
Published by Baker Academic
“Beale breaks fresh ground in Colossians interpretation, affirming Pauline authorship and showing how Paul often draws on Old Testament truths, as well as the gospel of Christ, to instruct the Colossian audience.”
—Robert Yarbrough, Covenant Theological Seminary
BIBLICAL THEOLOGY
WINNER
God’s Relational Presence: The Cohesive Center of Biblical Theology
By J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays
Published by Baker Academic
“Duvall and Hays rightly and persuasively argue that God’s relational presence binds all of Scripture. Accessibility and a pastoral concern for the church mark their work.”
—Benjamin Gladd, Reformed Theological Seminary
RUNNER-UP
All Things New: Revelation as Canonical Capstone
By Brian J. Tabb
Published by IVP Academic
“In this fine addition to the popular NSBT series, Brian Tabb provides an excellent synthesis of Revelation as the ‘canonical capstone’ of Scripture. He appropriately starts with the triune God (the sovereign Creator, the Lion and the Lamb, and the sevenfold Spirit of prophecy) and works his way through other significant themes in the book, such as worship and witness; judgment, salvation, and restoration; and the word of God. The volume epitomizes biblical-theological methodology at its best. Highly recommended!”
—Andreas Köstenberger, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
REFERENCE WORKS
WINNER
T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism
Edited by Daniel M. Gurtner and Loren T. Stuckenbruck
Published by T&T Clark
“Magisterial in its scope, this two-volume encyclopedia will supply the new 21st century standard for grasping the field of second temple Judaism. What an amazing resource!”
—Jason DeRouchie, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary