Customer Reviews

Acts for Everyone, Part 2 (New Testament for Everyone)

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Tom Wright has written a series of New Testament commentaries that are easy and enjoyable to read. He combines excellent scholarship and insight with reader friendly simplicity. I highly recommend the Everyone series to everyone. In each book a very readable translation of the New Testament book being discussed, is provided by Tom Wright. He follows this by a story or anectedote and then gives his insightful comments on the text itself. At the end of each book is a helpful glossary of terms.

In chapters 1-12 that make up part 1 Wright skillfully walks us through the stories of the ascension, the outpouring of the Spirit in Acts 2, the spreading of the gospel by Peter before the Sanhedrin, the stoning of Stephen that caused the church to move out from Jerusalem into Judea, Samaria, and unto the utmost parts of the earth. This spread of the gospel climaxes with Peter and Cornelius and the spread of the gospel out into the Gentile world.

In part 2 he works his way through chapters 13-28. This will take you through the missionary journey's of Paul, the Jerusalem Council, Paul's trip to Jerusalem, his two years in prison at Ceaserea where he offers his defense before Felix, Festus, and Agrippa, then the trip to Rome, which includes Paul on the isle of Malta, and finally in Rome awaiting trial. Wright takes the position that Luke is taking Paul's life in parallel to Jesus, who set his face toward Jerusalem, where he knew the son of man would be handed over to be crucified. Paul, despite prophecies of warning from Agubus, goes to Jerusalem and causes a stir about the resurrection. He ends up in Rome preaching the Gospel. Wright masterfully walks us through the drama of Acts and does so with simple and easy clarity, but with the backing of great scholarship.

N.T. Wright is (deservedly) famous as a scripture scholar, but in this series addresses a general public. His explanations are well-founded. This is the fruit of biblical scholarship, not biblical scholarship itself and the discussion with colleagues that is so often found in academic commentaries is left out. Because Wright wants to engage, he uses a homiletic style which uses an image, often a story and often about him to introduce the reader to a small section of the text. Sometimes it works not very well, but it always makes a point. A homilist will find that this images can be adapted to make good attention grabbers. The exegesis is well founded and free of novelties for novelty's sake.

I would recommend this series to all who want to understand Christian scripture, to bible study groups, and to priests and all who want to and need to explain scripture. A theology student can certainly do worse for an introduction into an important book of the bible, and will find the interpretation a great help when tangling with the more involved exegesis that academia has to offer.

For those unfamiliar with Wright's "______ for Everyone" series, they are a series of commentaries on the New Testament books by Bishop Wright based on his extensive historical scholarship. He provides his own translation (based on his study of the source languages) which is a very engaging paraphrase. The text is divided up into chronological topic-based segments, followed by a 2-3 page sermonette/commentary based on that section.

This volume covers chapters 13-28 of the Book of Acts, which could be considered as the "Trials of Paul" as it follows the adventures of Paul as he travels throughout the Mediterranean area, preaching the good news and encountering opposition everywhere he goes. The church continues to define its Jewish/Christian identity, chiefly over the circumcision issue and the prerequisites for admission to the fellowship of believers in a time when the Jews are "zealous" for their traditions and national identity under Roman occupation.

Of Wright's commentaries, this edition is unique in that many sections are illustrated with maps to show the areas mentioned and Pauls' journeys. Even though this is the longest volume (249 pages), it reads quickly like a novel, as we see Paul face his trials. Wright suggests that Luke has compiled this chronology as a sort of affidavit for Paul's trial to show that he has not offended against the Jewish traditions, being found not guilty repeatedly while the Jewish zealots attempt to stir up trouble for him.

Wright suggests that Paul's last voyage and shipwreck are Luke's allusion to Jesus' crucifixion and death and the story of Jonah. The end of the Book of Acts, Wright emphasizes, is our beginning.

(NOTE: I did notice an error in Wright's translation of Acts 25:12, which initially made me do a double-take: it is FESTUS, not FELIX, who tells Paul "to Caesar you shall go!")

Just to give you a few of my credentials, which are not many. I have a Bachelor's Degree in ministries. I am almost finished with my master's degree in theology at Liberty University. I have been involved in the ministry for many years. I also own many complete series of commentaries. If there is a series I try to own it in book form, including "Adam Clarke Commentary," "Beacon Bible Commentary," "The Daily Study Bible Series," and others.

The book is very conversational and really easy to read. Matter-of-fact, almost too easy. A young child could read this and understand it for the most part. It gives many down-to-earth illustrations that are up to date. To really grasp my meaning it would be beneficial to read as long of a section before buying. This will really illuminate what I am trying to tell you. The only downfall is there it does seem to stray away from theology and the harder issues. The major strength, due to the readability, would have to be the ability for the reader to grasp the basics of what the scripture means, for the most part. These books are almost perfect for "the average Joe" and for those people I would probably rate it a 4 to 4.5 star rating. The lower rating is because of the lack of theology and avoidance of the hard issues. This book would be a great resource for the average Joe who wants to delve more into the scriptures, Sunday School teachers, laymen and women, or anyone without a theology degree.

For the theologian, that wants to really delve more into the scriptures and study word meanings, theology, or anything in depth, this is probably not the book or books for you. There are some great illustrations that one might be able to use at the pulpit, though. For the pastor, or anyone who has went to seminary, this is probably not the set of books that you want to invest the money to buy. However, it would not be bad if you get asked a lot of times to let someone borrow a book this might be good to purchase for that purpose. If you fall into this category I would have to give this a rating of about 1.5 of 5 stars.

I've been going through Acts with my men's group and this commentary has cleared up some questions we've had while also bringing up life applications that led to more discussion and deeper thought. There's no reason NOT to get this commentary to supplement your personal or group study of the formation of the early Christian church!

An uncommon commentary on the Acts of the Apostles. N.T. Wright does an excellent job of providing a "homily" on each portion of the Gospel message. His comments are different from the "more scholastic" commentaries; not item by item, but more pastoral in nature. Great for the beginner to study the Bible.

Anything and everything by N.T.Wright is from Good to Excellent. I have never read anything below these levels and I have read just about everyting he has writen. The only one of dubious value is God and evil, which shows how difficult the subject is.