Customer Reviews

Colossians & Philemon (MacArthur Bible Studies)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

MacArthur provides thorough Scriptural commentary throughout this book.

He starts by providing a thorough background about the book of Colossians and Philemon. This includes information about the author, the city of Colossae, the church at Colossae, and the situations that were occurring there at the time. MacArthur also provides the same for Philemon.

MacArthur's commentaries are mainly expository. Meaning, he takes scripture and explains it with other scripture. He does digress into other scripture or theological topics at times, but I believe he does this so anyone reading this commentary would be able to understand the other scriptural passages that he references.

I would highly recommend The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Series to anyone looking for an in-depth Biblical explanation of Scripture.

Highly recommended for a small Bible study group or a SS class. We are using the book for a SS class of 30 people and the questions presented for the reader hit home on each lesson.

THE BEST. Excellent. I highly recommend.

As with all of Dr. John Macarthur's works, this is

packed with life changing Biblical TRUTHS, wisdom and sound doctrine.

I suppose that my low appreciation of this commentary is a direct result of my high expectations of the commentary. Many colleagues, friends, pastors, and teachers have recommended the writings of John MacArthur. As an opening caveat, I must say that I am very unfamiliar with the majority of MacArthur's writings and what I have found with this commentary may be solely a problem with this one. What I found in this commentary was both shocking and disappointing.

For a preacher, known for his expositional approach (allowing the text to speak within its context to the modern context) to the Scriptures, his tendency towards a more textual approach (using the text as a "springboard" to launch from a feature within the text to other texts and contexts) is puzzling. One of my seminary professors has suggested that this format is due to a lack of time on the part of the writer during his preparation; simply picking a word in a verse (e.g. "faith") and preaching on that word throughout the whole Bible can be far easier that dealing with that word in the context of the passage at hand.

On several occasions, MacArthur digresses for extensive discussions on minor features in the text. One such example is MacArthur's discussion of the word "called" in 3:15. Although election is an important implication of the word, a multiple page discussion of Calvinism is hardly reasonable at this point. Another example of an unnecessary digression can be found in the discussion of the term "blood" in 1:20. MacArthur dives into a multiple page discussion of whether the "blood" in this passage is simply a reference to Christ's death or to His actual blood. Such a minor point is hardly worth the number of pages of wasted space in a book with so few pages. On very few occasions does MacArthur weigh in on interpretational difficulties in the book; however, he does interpret many of the difficulties throughout the book, giving the reader the ability to determine MacArthur's position on these difficulties.

To his credit, the writer does eloquently explain some features of the text in a way wholly lacking in some of the more technical commentaries. Furthermore, MacArthur is doctrinally sound and does not flirt with liberal doctrine. Such an approach is of great help to Christians still developing their approach to Scripture. For these reasons, I will give the commentary 2 stars. If pressed, I could up the rating to 2.5.

I am aware that this review may anger some readers (maybe even some of my friends), but I honestly do not believe I have unfairly characterized this commentary. I am still interested in obtaining some of MacArthur's other books and commentaries, because I feel that his extensive popularity must have some merit; I just do not believe that his commentary on Colossians is up to par with the claims regarding his other writings. I now know of several individuals, all of them with far greater levels of scholarship than mine, who have discontinued their use of this book in their expositional studies of Colossians due to failures similar to the ones I have listed above. For a commentary that follows the text of the book of Colossians closer, avoids unnecessary banter, discusses interpretational difficulties, and applies the text to life in a fresh and eloquent manner, Homer Kent's Treasures of Wisdom: Studies in Colossians & Philemon (Kent Collection) has proven to be far more profitable to me.

As with the rest of MacArthur's commentaries this volume publishes his sermons from the text. This expositional commentary proves to be helpful in prepartion