Customer Reviews

The People's New Testament Commentary

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Here is a one-volume commentary on the New Testament with up to date information that is also very much in line with what contemporary Christians believe. I am tempted to say, "This is the commentary for you." Because I firmly believe that every household should have one handy reference work that helps them understand Scripture, and you would find this book to be exactly that.

Yes, I know you will tell me that we live in the age of the Internet with many commentaries available on line. But have you noticed? It is not always easy to tell whether you are reading a blog by someone with a theological axe to grind or some dusty old eighteenth century "divine" who, scholarly as he may have been, is unquestionably passé.

You need fear none of that with these authors, Eugene Boring is anything but boring. He is the Briscoe Professor Emeritus at the Bride Divinity School of Texas Christian University. Fred Craddock is Distinguished Professor of Preaching and New Testament Emeritus at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. Dr. Craddock is undoubtedly America's dean of contemporary preaching and Biblical interpretation. Published by the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s Westminster-John Knox Press, it is rooted firmly in the Reformed tradition, and designed to serve a broad range of Christians well. It was also one of the top selling religious books of 2004.

Looking inside, each New Testament book is treated in this way, first with background information about the author, sources, readership, date and place and structure and outline. There are a few choice suggestions "for further reading". Then the outline of each book is fleshed out with up to date information. There are sidebar articles about such things as "Interpreting the Miracle Stories" and "Testing Prophesy." As one further inducement, there is a fine article called "Interpreting Revelation's Violent Imagery". All well worth your time and attention. Also, the authors include "Figures" that show summaries of The Sermon on the Mount, Apostles Listed in Scripture, Comparative Chronology of the Passion and Form of Greeting in Letters. These are all tremendously helpful study tools.

The meat of the book offers insights on the verses of Scripture. The Introduction does an outstanding job of setting the tone, describing terms such as "Testament" "New" and the realities of the formation of the cannon. There is a good summary of that time period, called "The Church's Book" in which the authors remind us that the New Testament was written by, selected by, edited by transmitted by and translated by "the Church." As the authors state in the Preface, "...This commentary is an expression of the fundamental conviction that the New Testament is the people's book The book and the community of faith belong together, and out of the conversation between the text and the people come the preaching, teaching, believing and behaving of the church."

The book is handy in size (about the size of a hardback novel) and convenient to use. The print, while on the small side, is crystal clear and easy to read. Long after pseudo pundits of the faith have been forgotten, this work will still be a sure and steady reference. I encourage you to buy it and

For years I've used study bibles, but I too often got bogged down in the footnotes as I read. And lately the notes in my well-used NIV study bible began to seem a very narrow way of looking at the text. A pastor recommended this commentary, and I've fallen in love with reading the bible again. I now most often read from a bible with no study notes, and *after* I've read and opened myself up to a book, story, chapter, or verse, I look at the notes. Sure, I could have done that with my old study bibles, but somehow the format made me feel obliged to read every note. As an added bonus, my new (non-study) bible is a lot lighter and easier to carry.

I don't agree with every note in this commentary (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), but I trust the authors' scholarship and am willing to hear what they have to say. I'm gaining confidence in my understanding of the bible as an amazingly varied anthology of the sacred stories of my faith, and I look forward to learning more.

The other other is Fred Craddock. These two teachers are among the best and I have used others of their many books. This one is simple enough for the non-specialist without being insulting to those who specialize in Biblical studies. I found it at a very opportune moment when I needed an additional commentary for some work I happened to be doing.

I have many commentaries for my seminary classes and sermon preparation, this is the one I use the most and the one that reflects my reformed Presbyterian views the best, great commentary.

This book is so comprehensive, that it boggles the mind. So many of my reference books have short snippets of information, but this one is overflowing with all matters of source material along with clear understanding of their interpretation.
Fred Craddock and M Eugene Boring have knocked this one out of the park.

This book is very interesting. The writers have obviously done a lot of research to translate scripture to their understanding. Some of their opinions differ from other commentaries that I have. This would be expected. If everyone interpreted the Bible the same we wouldn't need so many different denominations. As I study with my group, we'll include discussion of the opinions in this book, we'll see how well I like it.

This is a great reference when studying the NT. In depth explanations make studying fun.