The Person in the Pew Commentary Series

My good friend, Jim West, has produced The Person in the Pew Commentary series. Here’s a little more about it:

For centuries, most commentaries have been written by experts, for experts—the massive volumes that line pastors’ and professors’ shelves inaccessible without extensive education. Meanwhile, the person in the pew has been largely forgotten. This series is designed to correct this problem, empowering laypeople to read the Bible with understanding. Keeping the forgotten person in the pew in mind, Baptist pastor and professor Jim West makes the best in biblical scholarship available in a form useful for personal devotion, preaching, Sunday school lessons, and generally growing in knowledge of God’s word.

The straightforward presentation features the biblical text in bold, followed by West’s readable commentary. There are no frills, no extensive footnotes, no lengthy outlines, and no overbearing introductions—just the text and what it means. West uses the American Standard Version of the Bible. He guides the reader through the Bible with a warm, pastoral voice, focusing on clearly communicating the main message of each book. At the end of each volume, he provides a bibliography enabling interested reader to go deeper. Whether you’re in the pews on Sunday, or standing in front of them, the Person in the Pew Commentary is an accessible tool that encourages local church members to get into the Word and understand what it says.

The series comes well recommended. Check out some of the endorsements here.

Logos is looking to publish the whole series in electronic format on their platform, but needs a few more pre-orders before giving the green light. If you’re so inclined, then you can head over to Logos and put in your pre-order. I know Jim will be so grateful that he will refrain from imprecatory prayer for at least a month. He may even send you a personalised blessing.

I (left) taught Jim (right) everything he knows.