Customer Reviews

1 Timothy (Reformed Expository Commentary)

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Ryken is a Teacher / Preacher. His teaching is well balanced and I find that he consistently covers every verse. I like that because I want to know ALL of 1 Timothy and not just parts of it. His sermons are probably the easiest to read of anyone I know. He is consistently Preaching and Urging, Preaching and Urging, Preaching and Urging. Similar to what Paul was telling Timothy to do - Preach and Urge.

His coverage of the historical background of 1 Timothy was helpful and also the way that he brought it in at the right times. Paul was writing to Timothy, who was in Ephesus where the goddess Diana was worshipped.

Before reading Ryken's commentaries, I go through each page and highlight every Bible reference with a yellow pencil. For example, I would highlight (2 Cor. 3:16) in yellow. I find his cross-references to other parts of Scripture to be extremely helpful and RELEVENT. While other commentaries also include cross-references to other parts of Scripture, I find Ryken's to be outstanding. So when I use this book for teaching, the cross-references stand out. It is a great aid to me in preparing lessons.

The parts that I found to be most interesting were his teaching on Women in the Church, Slavery and the Church, and Widows and the Church.

His treatment of Women in the Church is well done. I enjoyed the way that he explains their role as - Learning, Ministering, Teaching, but not Preaching to the Church. His teaching is traditional, as you I would expect. But that is what I want to know, not the new stuff that is out there now.

His coverage of Slavery in the Church is very interesting. There is more to the subject of slavery in the Bible than I ever knew. If you read Ryken's commentary on Exodus you will find the subject of Slavery is also covered there. Exodus has at least one whole chapter on OT Slavery. He gives the history of how the church has misused / misunderstood Scriptures when dealing with the topic of Slavery. He shows from Scripture that kidnapping another person demands the death of the kidnapper. You would have to read this book to appreciate the complexity of this issue. He is very sensitive to this issue. I had read that Jonathan Edwards had bought 1 slave girl (really!) and George Whitfield had 75 slaves to help in his orphanage (I was shocked). Also, John Newton continued slave trading for a while after his conversion. He even gave communion to the slaves. The history of Slavery and the Church will make you sad and ashamed. But it needs to be told.

His handling of Widows in the Church was very informative and very interesting. I had never understood all that Paul was saying about Widows and how they are to be treated. They have a ministry they perform for the church as well as needs that should be met by the church. This is a larger issue in the Bible than I had realized and appreciate Ryken's way of teaching this.

Also, his other commentaries on Exodus, Jeremiah, and Galations are absolutely wonderful. I have read the one on Exodus twice now.

Dr. Ryken's commentary of 1st Timothy is clear and concise. Unlike other commentaries which seem to cater to the Theological Elite, this commentary (like the others in the Reformed Expository Commentary series) is designed with the "laymen in the pew" in mind. I appreciate Dr. Ryken's dedication to doctrinal purity and his pastor's heart in conveying the information contained in this great book of the Bible.

I approached this commentary like a calf approaches a new gate. I chose that country metaphor because to me Philip Graham Ryken is big city. He dwells in heights beyond my intelligence. Recently installed as the president of Wheaton College, Ryken holds a D.Phil. from Oxford. He was for many years the senior minister of Philadelphia's historic Tenth Presbyterian Church, as well as an author and editor. He is the coeditor of the Reformed Expository Commentary series. I'm not any of those.

My not holding to Reformed or Covenant Theology, especially accounted for my hesitation. However, there was no reason to fear. This is simply the best commentary I have ever read. Not having (yet) read any of the other commentaries in the series, I can't vouch for the editors' goal of each commentary in the series being accessible to both pastors and lay readers, but this one certainly is. Ryken does a masterful job of getting the point across in a nontechnical, yet scholarly way. His experience as a pastor made him particularly suited to write this commentary. He had a way of getting into Paul, Timothy and my head.

If you want a better understanding of First Timothy, buy this commentary.

This is a great commentary on 1Timothy from a reformed perspective. I highly recommend it to all who are serious about studying the Bible.