Romans (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament)

Rating:
Summary: The Best Single Volume Commentary on Romans
Review: As a pastor, I have used many commentaries on Romans in my preaching and teaching. This volume by Schreiner is now the best single volume commentary on Romans. This may surprise many, since Moo's NICNT is also a recent release. However, while Moo is also outstanding in many ways, I prefer Schreiner both exegetically and theologically. While Moo's book is a little larger and more detailed, he sometimes loses the forest by focusing on the trees. Schreiner never loses the narrative progress of the the letter, and thus his discussions of the individual passages is always consciously contextual. Additionally, Schreiner is more nuanced in linguistics and semantics, and thus his exegetical decisions are more discerning. When Moo and Schreiner disagreed, I usually found Schreiner's arguments more compelling. My first pick is Scheiner, but I would not want to be without Moo either. My advice is to consult both (along with Cranfield and Murray) for any in depth teaching or preaching in Romans.

Rating:
Summary: Great Commentary
Review: Schreiner's work is excellent as the other reviews have suggested. A few comments before you buy it:

First, Schreiner examines Romans section by section, not verse by verse. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but if you wish to lookup a specific verse you have to read through several paragraphs (or pages!) to find the discussion on the verse. Individual verses are not marked in the text.

Second, a knowledge of Greek is most helpful. When beginning a discussion on a phrase or sentence, Schreiner writes it in Greek and then provides the transliteration and the English in parentheses. For the rest of his discussion, however, he only uses the Greek letters. Often his discussion will go on for a few pages which makes it difficult for non-Greek readers to figure out which words he is talking about. I found myself frequently flipping pages trying to find out what the word he was discussing meant. Students with an elementary knowledge of Greek should not have a problem.

Schreiner's commentary is an excellent presentation of the reformed faith. However, if you have no knowledge of Greek you are probably better off using Douglas Moo's commentary.

Rating:
Summary: Superb aid to understanding Romans
Review: We have been studying Romans in our bible study group, and I have been using Hendriksen, Bruce and Schreiner to help me to understand the text we are trying to come to grips with. The other 2 writers are helpful, but Schreiner is superb. As has been stated before, he is excellent at explaining the flow of the argument.

I find that he nearly always answers the questions I am asking, and very often, makes me see things I would never have noticed without his assistance.

If you already have this work and enjoy it, you may also find his Pauline Theology, "Paul: apostle of God's glory in Christ" very beneficial. I have also greatly appreciated The Race Set Before Us, which he co-authored with Ardel Caneday.