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Title: Mark (Ancient Christan Commentary on Scripture, New Testament 2) by Thomas C. Oden, Christopher A. Hall ISBN: 0-8308-1487-6 Publisher: InterVarsity Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 1998 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $40.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.6 (5 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: The first published volume. . .
Comment: . . .of an amazing series of commentaries.
This commentary on Mark's Gospel, from the perspective of the Fathers of the Church is a long-awaited and much needed reference for Christians eager to explore the Scriptures as they were seen by those who used them in the earliest days of the Christian faith. If the rest of the series lives up to the standard of "Mark", we have a lot to look forward to.
Only in the "Computer Age" could such a project be feasibly undertaken. Kudos to Oden and company for their effort.
Highly Recommended.
Rating: 4
Summary: A place to start, not to end
Comment: This volume (and I wager the rest of the series) is useful if one approaches it with the right perspective. Certainly, this book is not (and could never be) a substitute for reading and examining the Church Fathers and their considerations on Scripture. However, if one uses this work more for quick reference and leads, it can be most helpful. After all, the sheer volume of the Fathers' works prevents even the most learned patristics scholar from remembering who commented on what verse. As an example, I have used this volume to quickly find some comments on the verse regarding rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar's - seeing some of the comments listed, I then went to the source and read the Fathers' comments in context. This volume, then, is a tool (perhaps a shortcut) to find certain texts that may be of use.
Is this volume comprehensive? No. But, even in its current state, it is over 200 pages (when the Gospel of Mark, in the New American version, is about 35 pages) - trying to collect all the commentary by the Fathers would extend the length much more. As such, it is a starting point, useful for quick reference. It should not be held to a higher standard than that.
Rating: 2
Summary: Selected conservative spin on the Fathers
Comment: Hmmmm.... J.I. Packer, Thomas Oden, and Timothy George giving "advance praise." My first question, after seeing that Intervarsity Press was the publisher of this series, was, "What are conservative evangelicals doing reading the Fathers?" After perusing the Mark commentary, I can see that they haven't, at least in any diverse way. The idea that the "Fathers" were a monolithic entity who were in agreement on "exegesis" runs throughout this book, as well as the Romans volume. Any trained exgete will know that this is madness--there has only been one period in the church when views and scholarship were more multifarious than the present age: the Patristic period!
The particular sort of scholarship as well as the conservative (read: unrepresentative of biblical scholarship as a whole) intent of the series is indicated in a cover blurb from Richard John Neuhaus (NOT a conservative evangelical). Can you detect the ideological underpinnings of the ACCS from this perjorative sentence?: "In the desert of biblical scholarship that tries to deconstruct or get behind the texts, the patristic commentators let the pure, clear waters of Christian faith flow from its scriptural source." Goodness, is that really what is going on in the ACCS? Which Fathers, may I ask--Origen? Universally ignored or maligned in conservative seminaries (the largest of which in the world I am a product), Origen is one of the few really interesting voices in the ACCS, but only his least "dangerous" commentary is allowed in the series, it seems. Same for the Cappadocians, and many others. In any event, it is no "commentary" at all--which manuscripts were being commented on? Were these all from exegetical works, or were the exerpts from the Fathers taken from letters, sermons (polemics) and such? Why these comments, and not others? Is this ALL the Fathers had to say on the issues? Certainly, only a selection could be presented, but again, why these comments arranged in this way? A possible answer: these support the readings of the biblical texts the editors wanted to promulgate.
Sadly, these questions go unanswered, I am afraid. None of the diversity and dissent of the first centuries of the faith shine through in this volume, and that is what is needed in any deeper reading of the Fathers. Early Christian writings can indeed shake up our complacent scholarship and our spiritually devoid lives, but not if they are packaged in such a mundane way. Ideologically-driven scholarship is immediately suspect. I predict that this laborious project will gather dust on the library shelves of mainstream centers of scholarship and seminaries, if they bother to spend budgeted money on it at all after the IPOs hit the bookstores of the world, blaze for a while (nice, slick covers on these volumes), and fade away.
In all, avoid the steep price for these books, unless you want high-dollar Sunday School literature. And it's too bad, too--this is a great idea for a commentary set. Maybe Doubleday ought to take over the idea from IVP; they gave us the Anchor Bible series and dictionaries. Now THAT would be something to be reckoned with.
Next.
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Title: Matthew 1-13: New Testament 1A (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. New Testament, 1A) by Manlio Simonetti, Thomas C. Oden ISBN: 0830814868 Publisher: InterVarsity Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 2001 List Price(USD): $40.00 |
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Title: Matthew 14-28 (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. New Testament, 1B) by Manlio Simonetti ISBN: 0830814698 Publisher: InterVarsity Press Pub. Date: 01 June, 1998 List Price(USD): $40.00 |
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Title: Luke (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament, 3) by Arthur A. Just ISBN: 0830814884 Publisher: InterVarsity Press Pub. Date: 01 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $40.00 |
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Title: James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. New Testament, 11) by Gerald Lewis Bray, Thomas C. Oden, Gerald Bray ISBN: 0830814965 Publisher: InterVarsity Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 2000 List Price(USD): $40.00 |
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Title: Romans (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Vol 6) by Gerald Lewis Bray, Gerald Bray ISBN: 0830814914 Publisher: InterVarsity Press Pub. Date: 01 December, 1998 List Price(USD): $40.00 |
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