In my opinion, the Pillar New Testament Series is one of the finest commentary sets available today. And recently Milton Essenburg, longtime editor at Eerdmans, posted the “inside story” on how the series began. In that short history he quotes from a 1992 letter he received from D. A. Carson, who would become the series editor. Carson writes:

Ideally, the Pillar series should be first-class exegesis capturing the flow of the argument, with sufficient interaction with the secondary literature to ensure that the work is current, while at the same time reflecting unselfconscious warmth, a certain spiritual vitality that shows itself in the form of expression and in unobtrusive application. [ht]

The series excels in each of these areas, making it a wonderful resource for pastors preparing sermons and for a much wider audience of Christians looking for reliable advanced resources to boost their own devotional study of the New Testament (I’ve been using the Hebrews commentary of late).

You can read the “inside story” here.

And here’s a list of the current and forthcoming volumes in the series:

• 1988, Romans, by Leon Morris
• 1990, John, by D. A. Carson
• 1992, Matthew, by Leon Morris
• 1999, Ephesians, by Peter T. O’Brien
• 2000, James, by Douglas J. Moo
• 2000, 1, 2, 3 John, by Colin G. Kruse
• 2001, Mark, by James R. Edwards
• 2002, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, by Gene L. Green
• 2006, 2 Peter and Jude, by Peter H. Davids
• 2008, Colossians and to Philemon, by Douglas J. Moo
• 2009, Acts, by David G. Peterson
• 2009, Philippians, by G. Walter Hansen
• 2010, 1 Corinthians, by Roy Ciampa and Brian Rosner
• 2010, Hebrews, by Peter T. O’Brien
• no date, Luke, by Peter M. Head
• no date, Romans, by Colin G. Kruse
• no date, 2 Corinthians, by Mark A. Seifrid
• no date, Galatians, by D. A. Carson
• no date, Pastoral Epistles, by Robert W. Yarbrough
• no date, 1 Peter, by Scott J. Hafemann
• no date, Revelation, by D. A. Carson