Customer Reviews

Matthew and the Margins: A Sociopolitical and Religious Reading (Bible & Liberation)

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In Matthew And The Margins: A Sociopolitical And Religious Reading, Warren Carter (Pherigo Chair in New Testament at the Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City) provides readers with a new, informative, challenging, and thought provoking commentary emphasizing the roles of marginality and empire in the Gospel of Matthew. Verse by verse, Carter presents this key gospel as a counter-narrative shaping the followers of Jesus as an alternative community, resisting the authorities of both synagogue and state. Highly recommended for students of New Testament studies, Matthew And The Margins reveals and documents how the Gospel anticipates the time when Jesus' return will establish God's reign over all -- including the imperial powers of the state.

Matthew and the Margins: A Socio-Political and Religious Reading by Warren Carter is a stupendous book that I would recommend reading for anyone looking for greater depth than Mel Gibson's movie The Passion or Rick Warren's pop book The Purpose Driven Life, both of which are in vogue as of the writing of this review. The book is a verse by verse introductory commentary to the Christian Gospel of Matthew and could appeal to believer, nonbeliever and agnostic alike, although it is written from social scientific and religious viewpoints. The focus of the book is on the social marginality, or alienation, of the Christian figure Jesus as depicted in the book of Matthew. By marginality, Carter means living on the fringe of society rather than being a part of the political and religious established center of society. The author, I believe rightly, contends that the book of Matthew is a book of resistance against th Roman imperial control and the Jewish synogogue leaders of the day, although certainly not the Jewish people. The author avoids being a know it all and admits he doesn't know who wrote the book or who Matthew was. Unlike most relgious commentaries on books of the bible, this book is highly readable. Even if you just want to gain a better appreciation and understanding of the Christian story without necessarily becoming a believer, I would commend this book to you. Nonetheless, Carter points out that the book of Matthew was originally written for "consenting readers." However, Carter doesn't write what he believes his audience wants to hear - which he calls "cheap assent." True to the social marginality theme, this book probably won't be a best seller like some of the pop Christian books currently in vogue (Prayer of Jabez, Purpose Driven Life, etc.), nor will it gain the acclaim or wealth to its author such as a movie like The Passion, but it is an indelibly "experiential" book just like a good movie is. I highly commend this book to skeptic, agnostic, and believer alike. As this reviewer likewise aspires to a marginal role, I have elected to remain anonymous to hopefully allow the interested reader to find this intriguing book on his/her own possibly through this review.

I find myself using this commentary during the A (Matthew) Cycle of the Lectionary. It is very enlightening and challenging. The author shows a remarkable familiarity with non-Gospel (especially Roman and Greek) sources which offer some perspective on the text. He also is continually exploring connections with the Hebrew Scriptures. The footnotes and bibliography show a familiarity with extremely wide and diverse sources. The theme of marginality comes through in many different ways. The Kingdom of Jesus is truly in opposition to the dominant Roman kingdom and those allied with it, Herod, the chief priests and the scribes. The subtitle of the commentary is "A Sociopolitical and Religious Reading". Both of these aspects are amply fulfilled. I would recommend this book highly.