Customer Reviews

The Message of Acts (Bible Speaks Today)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

John R. W. Stott, The Message of Acts: The Spirit, the Church & the World. Leicester, England, and Downers Grove, Illinois, 1994 (originally published in 1990, my edition is the 13th printing 2005), 428 pages (including Study Guide), ISBN 0-8308-1236-9.

I have been a great admirer of John Stott, and in particular of his books, for many years; I have even translated some of them into German. Stott's explanations and commentaries on Scripture are lucid, full of enlightening remarks and overflowing with quotes not only from other Bible books or from the latest theological expositions, but also from the great thinkers and churchmen of the patristic, reformation and, occasionally, Puritan and evangelical periods. On the whole, Stott's book on Acts lives up to this statement pretty well, and his treatment of Paul's missionary journeys and his enforced trip to Rome are masterly, with Stott cleverly combining a re-telling of Luke's text with other historical information normally not so easily available. All during the second half of the book I found myself more or less glued to its pages, always happy to read more than I had originally planned. However, I still want to reduce my evaluation to four stars instead of five because of one point which rather disturbed me. For all his attempts at fairness and balance, Stott here seems to me to miss the mark when it comes to Luke's treatment of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit among the first Christians. Stott is so determined to see everywhere his theory of a "single Christian initiation" that he gets himself caught up in obvious logical problems, as well as missing the exegetical point in a number of passages and glossing over facts which don't seem to suit him in others. It would take too long here to argue this through, so one example will have to suffice. Stott's insistence on a single Christian initiation (something that, in fact, probably no born-again Christian will deny) seems to include water-baptism. And yet (and Stott is an Anglican paedo-baptist!) it would be very unlikely and, today at any rate, unusual for someone to be converted and baptized all at the same time. So what is the problem with a baptism in the Holy Spirit which takes place at a slightly different time from conversion? I found myself disagreeing with Stott's conclusions at all the places where such a work of the Holy Spirit is mentioned in Acts. Stott tries to argue against Pentecostals and Charismatics, but he tends to erect a "man of straw", denying statements that surely only the most unguarded of (neo-)Pentecostals would make. Personally having studied these texts in detail, I must say that I find the broad Pentecostal-charismatic way of expounding these passages to be much more natural and intellectually satisfying than Stott's way of arguing around them (each new case of Spirit-infilling being explained away as the beginning of a new phase of church evangelism among new people-groups, something that doesn't really ring true in Acts 8, is theoretically possible in Acts 10, but which goes against the whole thrust of Luke's text in Acts 19). So, generally, I would say any Bible-loving Christian will gain a lot from this book but should examine the whole Holy Spirit issue with a more open mind than Stott was able to bring to this matter.

John Stott is a thought-provoking writer with dozens of helpful titles in print, from books about his travels [People My Teachers: around the world in 80 years], books about his life-long habit of bird-watching [The Birds Our Teachers] to the many helpful books about Christian teaching, guides to the Bible and commentaries on specific books of the Bible.

His exposition of Acts has been a great help to us in our bible study group, as we are ploughing through Acts. He gives you several interpretations of controversial issues, but also lets you know his own thoughts. If you want a conservative, evangelical treatment of Luke's book about the Early Church, you will appreciate this book.

The study guide is helpful, but bear in mind that it is intended to be a guide to Stott's book, not to Acts itself. As we were not studying Stott's book, but Acts, we adapted the questions to suit ourselves, and did not find this too difficult to do.

Highly recommended. I am also finding Howard Marshall's Tyndale Commentary useful, as I prepare the studies for our group.

John Stott provides masterful exposition and commentary on the Acts. The Acts is an important book to master for any serious Bible reader; Stott's book may be the best one available for the lay student. Easy to read, non-technical, full of practical and insightful commentary. See my review of Stott's Romans commentary also. Complete the Study Guide at the back of the book and you will come away with a deep practical knowledge of Acts.

I couldn't bring myself to study Acts because it seemed so long, dry and boring. Boy, how Stott brings Acts to life! What an adventure. What a treasure of great thought. Dynamic principles and deep truths. Stott deftly handles the difficult passages with grace and integrity. This book will change the way you think and live!

John Stott's commentary on Acts is one of the better straightforward works available. It is great for the pastor, Bible teacher, or serious laymen. But it offers standard fare, yet in a concise, clear manner.

Stott does not present any new or ground-breaking information, but rather does a good job of interpreting the text and providing the reader with a basic, generally solid interpretation.

Stott recognizes God's Sovereign Grace (I agree with him here), but he does not embrace the literal fulfillment of God's plans for the physical descendents of Israel (I disagree with him here). He takes the view that Paul's participating in Jewish rituals and sacrifices (Acts 21) was strictly for relational issues (so he rejects the idea that Jewish believers continued to practice Judaism, another point with which I disagree). I don't want to go hard on Stott here, because few teach otherwise.

Overall, this is a solid volume worth getting and using.

This is a great commentary. I appreciated the way that Stott related the book of Acts with the Gospel of Luke. Luke was the author of both, and so Acts is the continuation of the Gospel. Luke is not only a great historian, but he is a great theologian. Stott does a great job showing how Luke was either an eyewitness of the details or he was good at getting information from other eyewitnesses. Even though Luke was one of Paul's traveling companions, you don't hear a lot about Luke. He is careful to record the events of the early church. You feel you are an eyewitness along with Luke.

I enjoyed the way that Stott tells the story of the book of Acts. Even though I know the story of Acts, Stott did very well at making Acts a story from beginning to end. His style is very readable. It was like reading a great book where you were anxious to know what was going to happen in the next chapter. I found the first 15 chapters in particular, very interesting, very well connected. Stott did a great job a showing how each chapter was built on the last chapter and how each chapter led into the next. He did a great job showing the transition of the early church from out of Judaism to Christianity. Most people will appreciate his way of handling the subject of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit or the Receiving of the Holy Spirit. His study in Acts 8 is very instructive.

One nice addition to this book was the chart on pages 18 and 19. It is a chronological table of the events of the early church. I found this chart to be quite informative as I read the book. It gave me a new perspective on the life the early church and of the life of Paul. This was very helpful. I referred to this chart often. I did not realize that Paul spent about 8 years in Tarsus, before the Jerusalem Council in chapter 15 and before his 3 missionary journeys.

The other part where Stott was helpful was with the 5 trials of Paul. This could be considered dry and sometimes boring history. But Stott shows how this is relevant to the making of the Apostle Paul. I had always seen the last chapters of Acts 21-28 as good history without much significance. I mean the 3 missionary journeys of Paul were over. What else is there to tell? Why tell about his trials and travels by ship to Rome? But Paul's life was far from over. The prison epistles all come out of his imprisonment. After 2 years in prison Paul was released and was able to continue his witness in Rome and Italy. The sovereignty of God is seen in the trials and travels of Paul and this comes out very strong in the prison epistles.

I purchased this commentary because it was highly recommended by two of my seminary professors. I have used it numerous times for devotion and lesson preparation. I have since purchased other commentaries on the book of Acts, but this one is still one of my favorites. I enthusiastically recommend it for devtional reading and sermon preparation.

Stott does a good job of recognizing the larger themes in Acts. Many commentators focus too tightly on one or two verses and miss the larger context. Stott usually avoids this mistake. It is not too techincal, although it is not fluffy either. An overall good effort.

Even though John Stott doesn't consider this book and its companions as commentaries, they do the trick for laypersons. There are great explanations of scripture from a conservative theological point of view meaning the Bible is considered the inerrant word of God. He brings competing interpretations into the mix and then tells you his choice and why. Great for small group Bible study leaders for students studying on their own. Best if used with his Bible Study Guides. You can't go wrong with any of his studies or "commentaries."

The time between my order and receiving the book was quite short; I was surprised to get it so quickly. The book was brand-new and exactly as advertised.

The content has been and will continue to be helpful in studying the book of Acts.

Highly recommend!