Monday, May 29, 2006

What to Buy?

T&T Clark is having a sale and I'm tossing up on which of the following I should get. My criteria is whether or not I'm likely to use the book for both teaching and research? Here's options:

C.K. Barrett, Acts 1-14 £10.00

Risto Uro, Seeking the Historical context of the Gospel of Thomas £10.00

John Painter, Just James: The Brother of Jesus in History and Tradition £10.00

Markus Bockmuehl, Jewish Law in Gentile Churches £10.00

If I had to pick one, on the forementioned criteria, what would it be?

11 comments:

Jim said...

Well-- buying half a commentary is like taking a bite of a sandwich and then spitting it out. So no to Barrett.

Who cares about Thomas?

Painter's book looks to be worth reading.

How many Jewish laws are presently operative in Gentile Churches anyway?

So- I'd say Painter on James.

Cliff said...

Before one dismisses Barrett, I must ask: is it the hardback or the paper back? If it is the former, well I would jump on that quickly. I am thankful that T&T Clark is releasing the ICC in paperback for broke college kids like myself, but I would much rather have them in hardback. Well, that is my humble opinion.

Cliff said...

Mike, you might want to check out this site for books. I cannot believe some of the books that they have are priced so cheap. There are a lot of Sheffield Academic books that are insanely cheap. I am not sure about the shipping to Scotland though, but here is the link:
http://www.labyrinthbooks.com/index.aspx

By the way, this is where I got "A Text-Critical Study of the Epistle of Jude" by Landon at.

Nate Mihelis said...

I have to agree with kvidahl: If Barrett's hardback, 10 pounds is a steal. Further more, regarding the teaching/research angle, I seem to remember a post not too long ago regarding the need for more young guys doing work on Luke/Acts at the grad and post grad level. Since some might plan on taking you up on that idea, it may be good to have Barrett in the arsenal!

Sven said...

Bockmuehl, no question!

Anonymous said...

Markus Bockmuehl, Jewish Law in Gentile Churches £10.00

That is a definite YES!

Sean said...

It's got to be Barrett or Painter. The others are dull...

J. B. Hood said...

None.

Save your pounds, which are worth their weight in gold in dollarsUS, for ETS/IBR/SBL in November. It's easy to get to DC from the UK, and you'll have sweet pickings with the exchange rate they'll give you. 10 pounds will get you 18 bucks...plenty to buy at least one good text at conference prices, with some change left over to spare.

C. Stirling Bartholomew said...

Half a commentary is just fine. I have half of R.E.Brown John AB and never bothered to get the other half. Get Barrett for sure. Painter, I have his "The Quest for the Messiah" second edition, which I picked up for $2 new. It is a little hard to warm up to.

If you want a book you will use get Barrett.

Michael F. Bird said...

The verdict is in:

I've gone with Painer and Barrett. I would like to have got Bockmuehl (it was only £5!) but it was too specialized and it would have almost doubled my postage costs.

Cliff said...

So Mike, was the Barrett a hardback?