In the Beginning Was the Word

I picked up this book with high expectation after finishing Poythress' excellent and compact commentary on Revelation (the Returning King). \\r\\n\\r\\nThe book covers a lot of ground (416 pages and 36 chapters). The chapters are relatively short and each chapter can be read in less than 30 minutes. The writing style of Prof. Poythress is clear (like his other books). I have however two major difficulties of this book:\\r\\n\\r\\n1. It is full of assertions and not much explanation. Two examples will suffice:\\r\\nChapter 31 """"The Father loves the Son. And love is an expression of the activity of the Spirit. The Father is the agent. The Son is the patient. The Spirit is closely related to the """"action"""" or activity of loving. In the clause """"The Father loves the Son,"""" the structure of the clause expresses the eternal activity of the persons in relation to one another. Language in this respect is rooted in God's eternal intra-Trinitarian relations. Specifically, the clause structure is related to God's eternal intra-Trinitarian relations"""". (I can't see how talking about the Father loves the Son eventually leads to the assertion that language . . . is rooted in God's eternal intra-Trinitarian relations?). \\r\\n\\r\\nChapter 33 """"When you use a word, you rely on God. Each word shows God's eternal power and divine nature (Rom. 1:20). Each word comes to you in a situation that depends on God's creation of you and of your environment. In its coinherence of aspects,…