CartThe Reformation Commentary on Scripture
For Immediate Release (August 2010)
In celebration of Reformation Day (October 31), the anniversary of the date Martin Luther posted his 95 theses to the cathedral door in Wittenberg, InterVarsity Press is pleased to announce the development of the Reformation Commentary on Scripture (RCS). This new series will unveil for the first time a collection of historic comments on the Bible by key figures from the Protestant Reformation. Before Reformation Day slips completely out of sight, InterVarsity Press wants you to be the first to hear about this promising new series.
The unique contribution of the RCS will be its presentation of Protestant Reformation reflections on Scripture as it introduces its readers to the depth and richness of exegetical work that defined the Reformation. While works from the Reformation period have been written and preserved in other languages, InterVarsity Press has undertaken to make all these texts available in English, many of them for the first time. The press is in the process of securing a Who's Who of Reformation Studies from around the world to locate and edit the texts to be included in this new series. In publishing the RCS, InterVarsity Press continues in its commitment to provide academic scholarship that is, "Evangelically Rooted. Critically Engaged."
Bob Fryling, publisher of InterVarsity Press says, "I believe that the RCS will be a great reforming gift to the church in both its scholarship and its pastoral applications. The RCS will bring to light for the first time in English many of the significant teachings of those who invested their lives in adhering to the Scriptures during a time of tremendous church upheaval."
To lead in this monumental task, Timothy George, Dean of Beeson Divinity School and renowned Reformation historian, will serve as General Editor with Scott M. Manetsch of Trinity International University serving as Associate General Editor. Joel Scandrett, InterVarsity Press's Associate Editor of Reference and Academic Books will serve as project editor for this series. The RCS has also established a board of editorial advisors that includes Myron S. Augsburger, Amy Nelson Burnett, Frank A. James III, Arthur A. Just Jr., Herman J. Selderhuis, David C. Steinmetz, John L. Thompson, Graham Tomlin, Timothy J. Wengert, and David F. Wright.
In remarking on this project, Timothy George, General Editor of the RCS says, "The biblical revolution of the sixteenth century was an explosive event that shook the foundations of the church and called all Christians ad fontes - back to the sources! The Reformation Commentary on Scripture brings many of these sources, some for the first time, into the hands of today's preachers and laity. My prayer is that this new series will encourage a fresh engagement with the primary sources of the Christian faith, and that this will result in the kind of God-centered Reformation that shook the world of Luther and Calvin."
The InterVarsity Press editorial team projects that the first of 27 volumes will be published in 2009. The RCS has four goals: First, the series seeks to renew contemporary biblical interpretation through exposure to Reformation-era biblical interpretation. Second, the series hopes to revitalize contemporary preaching through exposure to biblical insights from the Reformation writers. Third, the series will provide a deeper understanding of the Reformation and the breadth of perspectives represented within it. And lastly, the series will advance Christian scholarship in the fields of historical, biblical and pastoral studies.