Every so often there are those individuals who are so enamored with the Bible that they embark on a journey to unearth its meaning and message in fresh new ways for the church as a whole. This describes Timothy and Jerry Clontz, the editors of The Comprehensive New Testament, who spent over a decade translating the New Testament and mapping out 40,000 cross references from the Bible to a vast array of secondary literature.
The stated goal of the editors in their Cross Reference Index is summarized as follows:
To better understand how the New Testament answers questions for us today, it is helpful to see how the New Testament answered questions in its ancient setting. That ancient world still exists in whole libraries of documents which are cross referenced in an extensive index. The cross references are arranged by topic, passage, and verse. The cross reference index is designed to be used with the topical reference index to facilitate locating references for common New Testament topics. The cross reference index includes over 40,000 references for:
Old and New Testaments
Old Testament Apocrypha
Apostolic and Patristic Writings
Dead Sea Scrolls
Dhammapada
Epic of Gilgamesh
Golden Verses of Pythagoras
Greek Literature
Nag Hammadi Library
New Testament Apocrypha
Pseudepigrapha
Rabbinic Writings
Tacitus
The Egyptian Book of the Dead
Works of Josephus
Works of Philo
Works of Plato
The Accordance edition is interlinked with all texts currently available in our Library, and contains separate modules that index the cross references from the Bible to secondary literature. In addition we created separate modules that go from Josephus, Philo, Apostolic Fathers, and Qumran to the Bible and other works. Finally, we have the English translation and Notes.
If you’re interested in understanding the Bible in its broader context, then the Comprehensive Crossreferences modules are a must have — and a steal at only $49.99.
For a closer look at these modules in action, check out this short screencast and see why this release was an instant favorite for scholars and pastors alike at the recent ETS/SBL meetings.