‘Dictionary of the New Testament Use of the Old Testament’ wins 2023 SWJT Book of the Year award
Edited by G. K. Beale, D. A. Carson, Benjamin L. Gladd, and Andrew David Naselli, Dictionary of the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, was named the 2023 Book of the Year by the Southwestern Journal of Theology in the fourth annual edition of the honors, David S. Dockery, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, announced today.
The award recognizes a top overall Book of the Year and the top book in 13 categories related to theological academia and ministry. Books are nominated by the residential faculty of Southwestern Seminary and Texas Baptist College (TBC), the seminary’s undergraduate school. Dockery and Malcolm B. Yarnell III, editor of the Southwestern Journal of Theology and research professor of theology, coordinate the process which also identifies books that receive honorable mention commendations in each category.
Thanking Yarnell for his work in coordinating the selection process, Dockery said he was “grateful for the thoughtful input from various faculty members across the Southwestern faculty regarding the 2023 Book of the Year process.”
“These are excellent resources that have been recommended by the faculty, including some quality contributions from Southwesterners,” Dockery added. “We are grateful for Southwestern’s ongoing contributions to quality research, publication, and scholarship in service to the churches and the broader evangelical community.”
Coleman Ford, assistant professor of humanities at TBC, won the top prize in the “Discipleship/Spiritual Formation” category for his B&H published book Formed in His Image, while Jacob Shatzer, affiliate professor of ethics at Southwestern, was awarded the Book of the Year award in the “Christian Education” category for Faithful Learning: A Vision for Theologically Integrated Education, also published by B&H.
Other faculty-authored or edited works that were given honorable mention included Dan Darling, assistant professor of faith and culture at TBC, with Agents of Grace: How to Bridge Divides, one of the honorable mentions in the “Preaching/Ministry/Leadership” category. Dockery co-edited A Handbook of Theology alongside Southwestern alumnus Daniel L. Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, and Nathan Finn, director of the Institute for Transformational Leadership and professor of Christian studies and history at North Greenville University in Greenville, South Carolina, which won an honorable mention in the “Theological Studies” category.
Additionally, Yarnell contributed to Baptist Political Theology, which won top honors in the “Baptist Studies” category and was edited by Thomas S. Kidd, Paul D. Miller, and Andrew T. Walker, and The Trinity in the Canon: A Biblical, Theological, Historical, and Practical Proposal, edited by Brandon Smith, the honorable mention for the overall Book of the Year award. Dockery provided one of the endorsements for the book, as well. Yarnell also contributed to A Handbook of Theology and provided an endorsement for Lord Jesus Christ by Daniel Treier which was the top awardee in the “Theological Studies” category.
Craig A. Blaising, senior professor of theology, authored an essay in Dictionary of the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, and Robert W. Caldwell III, professor of church history, penned an endorsement for An Infinite Fountain of Light: Jonathan Edwards for the Twenty-First Century by George M. Marsden, which was one of the honorable mention winners in the “Church History/Biography” category. Dockery provided endorsements for Darling’s work and John Piper’s Foundations for Lifelong Learning: Education in Serious Joy, which was an honorable mention in the “Christian Education” category.
Southwestern alumni also authored works that were recognized, including Heath Thomas, president of Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Oklahoma, who won honorable mention honors for The Minor Prophets: A Theological Introduction in the “Biblical Studies” category, and Wyman Lewis Richardson, pastor of Central Baptist Church in North Little Rock, Arkansas, also received honorable mention in the “Baptist Studies” category for editing The Collected Writings of James Leo Garrett Jr. 1950-2015. Volume Seven: Church, State, and Religious Liberty. Both Thomas and Richardson were honored recently by Southwestern with academic awards for their respective works.
Noting Dockery established the annual award recognitions, Yarnell said “generating a Books of the Year list is highly beneficial for two reasons.” He explained the list proves “beneficial to the evangelical academy, for it highlights the great theological literature being produced by evangelicals in general” while it is also “beneficial to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, for it highlights the deep reading habits and the deep writing habits of our own stellar faculty.”
“The faculty of Southwestern Seminary and Texas Baptist College have chosen the awards on the basis of a book’s quality and contribution in a scholarly theological discipline,” Yarnell added, noting the institution’s “tradition” of naming the books “shows how important is the ministry of evangelicals in general and how significant is the ministry of Southwestern Seminary in particular.”
Dictionary of the New Testament Use of the Old Testament was announced as the Southwestern Journal of Theology, the academic journal of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2023 Book of the Year. Thirteen other books were honored as the Book of the Year in differing categories related to theological academia and ministry.
BOOK OF THE YEAR
Dictionary of the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, edited by G. K. Beale, D. A. Carson, Benjamin L. Gladd, and Andrew David Naselli (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2023)
Honorable Mention
The Trinity in the Canon: A Biblical, Theological, Historical, and Practical Proposal, edited by Brandon Smith (Brentwood, TN: B&H, 2023)
BIBLICAL REFERENCE/BIBLICAL BACKGROUNDS
Bridging the Testaments: The History and Theology of God’s People in the Second Temple Period, by George Athas (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2023)
Honorable Mention
All the Genealogies of the Bible: Visual Charts and Exegetical Commentary, by Nancy S. Dawson, with Eugene Merrill and Andreas Köstenberger (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2023)
Exegetical Journeys in Biblical Greek, by Benjamin L. Merkle (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2023)
BIBLICAL STUDIES
Union with the Resurrected Christ: Eschatological New Creation and New Testament Biblical Theology, by G. K. Beale (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2023)
Honorable Mention
How to Read and Understand the Psalms, by Fred Zaspel and Bruce K. Waltke (Wheaton: Crossway, 2023)
The Minor Prophets: A Theological Introduction, by Craig G. Bartholomew and Heath A. Thomas (Downers Grove: IVP, 2023)
THEOLOGICAL STUDIES
Lord Jesus Christ, by Daniel Treier (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2023)
Honorable Mention
New Testament Theology, by Eckhard J. Schnabel (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2023)
A Handbook of Theology, edited by Daniel L. Akin, David S. Dockery, and Nathan Finn (Brentwood, TN: B&H, 2023)
CHURCH HISTORY/BIOGRAPHY
Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation, by Collin Hansen (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2023)
Honorable Mention
C. S. Lewis in America: Readings and Reception, 1935-47, by Mark A. Noll, Karen J. Johnson, et al. (Downers Grove: IVP, 2023)
An Infinite Fountain of Light: Jonathan Edwards for the Twenty-First Century, by George M. Marsden (Downers Grove: IVP, 2023)
BAPTIST STUDIES
Baptist Political Theology, edited by Thomas S. Kidd, Paul D. Miller, and Andrew T. Walker (Brentwood, TN: B&H, 2023)
Honorable Mention
The Collected Writings of James Leo Garrett Jr. 1950-2015. Volume Seven: Church, State, and Religious Liberty, edited by Wyman Lewis Richardson (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2023)
Looking in the Other Direction: The Story of the Believers Church Conferences, by Teun Van Der Leer (Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2023)
WORLDVIEW AND APOLOGETICS
Remaking the World: How 1776 Created the Post-Christian West, by Andrew Wilson (Wheaton: Crossway, 2023)
Honorable Mention
The Augustinian Way: Retrieving a Vision for the Church’s Apologetic Vision, by Joshua D. Chatraw and Mark D. Allen (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2023)
Street Smarts: Using Questions to Answer Christianity’s Toughest Challenges, by Gregory Koukl (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2023)
DISCIPLESHIP/SPIRITUAL FORMATION
Formed in His Image, by Coleman Ford (Brentwood, TN: B&H, 2023)
Honorable Mention
Digital Liturgies, by Samuel James (Wheaton: Crossway, 2023)
On Getting Out of Bed: The Burden and Gift of Living, by Alan Noble (Downers Grove: IVP, 2023)
CHURCH MUSIC/WORSHIP/CHRISTIANITY AND THE ARTS
Let Us Draw Near: Biblical Foundations of Worship, by Ron Man (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2023)
Honorable Mention
Abundantly More: The Theological Promise of the Arts in a Reductionist World, by Jeremy S. Begbie (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2023)
A Thousand Words: Reflections on Art and Christianity, by Mary Elizabeth Podles (Chicago: St. James Press, 2023)
APPLIED THEOLOGY/ETHICS
Critical Dilemma: The Rise of Critical Theories and Social Justice Ideology: Implications for Church and Society, by Neil Shenvi and Pat Sawyer (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 2023)
Honorable Mention
Bulwarks of Unbelief: Atheism and Divine Absence in a Secular Age, by Joseph Minich (Bellingham, WA: Lexham, 2023)
Toxic War on Masculinity: How Christianity Reconciles the Sexes, by Nancy Pearcey (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2023)
PREACHING/MINISTRY/LEADERSHIP
The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It
Take to Bring Them Back?, by Jim Davis, Michael Graham, and Ryan Burge (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2023)
Honorable Mention
Shepherding the Pastor: Help for the Early Years of Ministry, by Phil A. Newton and Rich C. Shadden (Greensboro, NC: New Growth, 2023)
Agents of Grace: How to Bridge Divides, by Daniel Darling (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2023)
EVANGELISM/MISSIONS/GLOBAL CHURCH
The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God, by Justin Brierly (Wheaton: Tyndale, 2023)
Honorable Mention
The Missionary Movement from the West: A Biography from Birth to Old Age, by Andrew F. Walls and edited by Brian Stanley (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2023)
Crossing Cultures with the Gospel, by Darrell L. Whiteman (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2023)
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
Faithful Learning: A Vision for Theologically Integrated Education, by Jacob Shatzer (Brentwood, TN: B&H, 2023)
Honorable Mention
Transformational Teaching: Instructional Design for Christian Education, by Kenneth S. Coley, Deborah L. MacCullough, and Martha E. MacCullough (Brentwood, TN: B&H, 2023)
Foundations for Lifelong Learning: Education in Serious Joy, by John Piper (Wheaton: Crossway, 2023)
COUNSELING/YOUTH/CHILDREN
Mental Health and Your Church: A Handbook for Biblical Care, by Helen Thomas and Steve Midgley (Charlotte, NC: The Good Book Company, 2023)
Honorable Mention
The Christian Counselor’s Medical Desk Reference (2nd edition), edited by Charles Hodges Jr. (Greensboro, NC: New Growth, 2023)
A Quiet Mind to Suffer With: Mental Illness, Trauma, and the Death of Christ, by John Andrew Bryant (Bellingham, WA: Lexham, 2023)
