22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great on the Pastorals and Solid on 1, 2 and 3 John, April 24, 2007
This review is from: Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians, Volume 1: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on Titus, 1-2 Timothy and 1-3 John (Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians Set) (Hardcover)
This is a very well written commentary on six New Testament books. Dr. Witherington does a good job of bringing out the meaning of the text. The first 390 pages covers 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. He argues persuasively that the voice behind these letters is the voice of Paul, but the hand that wrote down the documents is the hand of Luke. He gives many different examples of how Luke's style of writing has appeared in these letters.
The commentary begins with a useful article about pseudepigraphy (writing a letter and signing it with a famous name to try and convince people that it is the famous person who really wrote it). Witherington contends that this is not what we have in 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, and that Paul was responsible for these letters which were prepared with his authorization.
He shows in 1 Timothy 1:7-10 how Paul uses the term arsenokoitai to describe those who have sex with men. Therefore in his view, Paul is clearly condemning this activity.
In 1 Timothy 2:8-15, Witherington comments that Paul is not permitting the Ephesian women to teach because they are astray theologically just as Eve was in Genesis 3. He rejects the notion that the Ephesian women are prohibited from teaching because of their gender (but what about the appeal to the creation order in verse 12?).
Witherington also shows that with the definite article in 1 Timothy 2:15, Paul is saying that women will be saved through THE child-bearing, meaning that they will be saved through the nativity and coming of Christ.
There are also closer looks at the use of the word "Savior" in the Pastorals, as well as the meaning of the term "godliness."
In 2 Timothy, Witherington contends that we have a poignant closing word from Paul himself, who knew that his time on earth was nearly over.
In Titus and in 1 Timothy, the requirements for being an overseer are that he is to be a "one woman man." Dr. Witherington states that this means that he is faithful to the woman he is married to, and is not meant to exclude divorced or widowed persons from being a church leader.
The last 220 pages of the book is a discussion of 1, 2 and 3 John. Witherington states that 1 John was written as damage control after a number of people had left the church (1 John 2:18-20). He sees a Wisdom Christology in these letters, especially in the Prologue (1 John 1:1-4) and in 1 John 2:7-14.
I have to compliment Dr. Witherington on how well written this commentary turned out to be! Ben uses a lot of adjectives and a lot of alliteration throughout the book, as opposed to the hanging adverbs employed by lesser writers.
This is a great commentary to read from cover to cover. Some parts of the commentary are focused on exegesis, some parts are focused on theology, and still other parts feature the historical or rhetorical background. I found it to be a rich and satisfying read.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Today is Good Friday and a great day to reflect on Witherington's 3 volume set of "Letters & Homilies", April 22, 2011
This review is from: Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians, Volume 1: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on Titus, 1-2 Timothy and 1-3 John (Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians Set) (Hardcover)
The Trilogy is a masterpiece for the aggressive God seeker. Individually, the volumes are superb; however only in the set do you get the grit and substance of the range and amplitude of the earliest churches in time and place, and among specifically Jewish temple Christians & `distant' Gentile grafts back in to the vine of God's grace.
The "Letters and Homilies" under Witherington's masterful intellect describe the churches of men struggling to comprehend the unified essence of Jesus teachings to accomplish the one Church of Christ. The cultural chasms among the new believers have been underappreciated in our own time. In one generation, individuals of fierce cultural differences are witnessed to become unified under the one ideal of Christianity. There is no modern parallel to look back upon to compare the magnitude of the attraction to Jesus `cult' that lives on to this day.
As to the trilogy, a straight through read is simply too daunting I think. I took a year and a half to complete the 3. Reading the entire trilogy is a different experience then the individual books. After thinking through it, the Witherington's approach to consider the specific natures of the audiences that heard these letters is profound. In total, the multi-authored Jesus message is amazingly and consistently coherent as the tiller of Christian ideals. The NT will never be the same to me after this slice from Witherington. I can hear a verse, and I can recall the context, the visuals, and sometimes the smells of the original as it was spoken.
As individual books, they are an effective commentary of great depth. A negative is that for some passages, the commentary feels pedantic for lack of a better word. Not every verse is spring loaded for meaning. Witherington is a main stream Protestant church theologian. He leans towards analogy over literal interpretations. The reader will recognize this departures from your own theological understanding and you will decide veracity as you will. There's no `rapture' theology with Witherington. There is high order translation skill given Witherington's application of state of the art increasing knowledge of 1st century Greek in context.
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