Catalyst: Contemporary Evangelical Perspectives

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BUILDING A NEW TESTAMENT LIBRARY: MATTHEW—ACTS

One of the pivotal responsibilities of every Christian generation is to engage the Scriptures critically, exegetically, and theologically. A number of fine commentaries are available to assist this task. During the 2006-07 academic year, Catalyst will provide a four-part series discussing the best and more recent contributions to evangelical commentary on the NT writings.

Among the more extensive commentaries now available on the Gospel of Matthew, many students and pastors will appreciate the volume by C.S. Keener (Eerdmans, 1999). Keener’s work is marked by his special interest in the socio-historical contexts of the First Evangelist and his first-century audience, combined with pericope-by-pericope suggestions regarding the nature of Matthew’s exhortations to his predominately Jewish Christian audience. The result is an accessible commentary that is genuinely helpful in illuminating the message of Matthew. Theological reflection on Matthew will be aided by adopting as reading companions the works of F.D. Bruner (2 vols.; rev. ed.; Eerdmans, 2004), who concerns himself with exploring the doctrinal and ethical significance of the book in a missional setting; and M. Simonetti’s two-volume contribution to the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (ACC; InterVarsity, 2001-02), which indexes Christian writing on Matthew’s Gospel during the first eight centuries. For critical detail, students may turn to J. Nolland’s up-to-date contribution to the New International Greek Text Commentary (NIGTC; Eerdmans, 2005), and to the massive contribution to the International Critical Commentary (ICC) by W.D. Davies and D.C. Allison Jr. (3 vols.; T. & T. Clark, 1988-97). Happily, for those for whom this three-volume effort is overly ambitious, Allison has now prepared a one-volume version (549 pp.; T. & T. Clark, 2004).

Recent years have seen the production of a virtual cornucopia of monographs and special studies on the Gospel of Mark, and these are now joined by a steady stream of commentaries on the Second Gospel. Not long ago, the single best commentary on Mark was the Word Biblical Commentary on Mark 1:1-8:26 (WBC; Word, 1989), which remained unfinished due to the untimely death of its author, R.A. Guelich. His contribution continues to model close attention to exegetical detail in concert with literary and theological sensitivities. Guelich’s work is now partnered with that of C.A. Evans, writing on Mark 8:27-16:20, to complete the WBC (2001). Also on the Greek text is R.T. France’s work in NIGTC (2002)—a reliable, verse-by-verse commentary of this “biography,” which France unpacks as a “drama in three acts.” The ACC on Mark, by T.C. Oden and C.A. Hall, provides a registry of insights from the early church (1998). In the Sacra Pagina series, J.R. Donahue and D.J. Harrington’s focus is on intratextual (reading Mark as Mark, rather than with reference to its prehistory) and intertextual (how the text of Mark draws on other texts, especially the OT, to interpret the person and mission of Jesus) forms of analysis (SP; Liturgical, 2002). Finally, J. Marcus has completed the first of his projected two volumes in the Anchor Bible (AB; Doubleday, 2000); Marcus situates the Gospel against the apocalyptic backdrop of the Jewish War.

An impressive assemblage of commentaries is available to the student of the Gospel of Luke. Two are of particular interest to those seeking to read Luke as Luke. First, L.T. Johnson’s contribution to the SP series (1991) is focused on literary-theological questions and is oriented around his identification of Jesus as “the prophet” in Luke. The commentary on Luke in the New International Commentary on the New Testament (NICNT; Eerdmans, 1997), by J.B. Green, brings together socio-cultural and narrative concerns so as to allow an extended engagement with Luke’s literary art and his theology, ethics, and spirituality. The admirable work of F. Bovon, previously available in German and French, has begun to be translated into English (Hermeneia; Fortress, 2002). In his introduction, Bovon lays claim to his theological commitments and ecclesial location as partners in the interpretive enterprise, and it is precisely this combination of commitments, judicious care and trust, that we find in the pages of Bovon’s first volume, Luke 1:1-9:50. From the ACC, we now have the volume on Luke by A.A. Just Jr. (2003), a valuable window into the first eight centuries of interpretation of the Third Gospel.

For useful, all-around companions for study of the Gospel of John, A.T. Lincoln’s contribution to Black’s New Testament Commentary is a welcome resource (BCNT; Hendrickson, 2005), as is G.R. O’Day’s older but sensitive and reliable work in the New Interpreter’s Bible ([NIDB; ed. L.E. Keck; Abingdon, 1995] 9:491-865). In his commentary, H. Ridderbos prefers to explore the significance of the gospel message as found in the Fourth Gospel “as the Christian Church adopted it,” and the result is a useful study to be appreciated by preacher and student alike (Eerdmans, 1997). For its bent toward socio-historical analysis, readers of John will want to turn to C.S. Keener’s two-volume study (Hendrickson, 2003).

On the Acts of the Apostles, students should be aware of four eminently useful works. The first comes from the pen of B.R. Gaventa in the Abingdon New Testament Commentaries (ANTC; Abingdon, 2003) and combines erudition and accessibility, two attributes not often found in tandem. Her emphasis on Acts as a story of divine activity provides a welcome and engaging, theological reading of this important book. Second, students and pastors will be impressed by the canonical perspective and theological interests that distinguish R.W. Wall’s work contribution to the NIB ([1995] 10:1-368). Hendrickson has published F.S. Spencer’s highly creative and stimulating work under the title, Journeying through Acts (2004); relatively short in compass (about 250 pages), it is nonetheless genuinely fresh in its engagement with the text of Acts. Finally, L.T. Johnson’s companion to his commentary on Luke, also published in the SP series (1992), is worth consulting not only for its literary acumen but also for the way it elucidates the text of Acts within the sociohistorical context of Roman antiquity.

By Joel B. Green, John Wesley Fellow and Elder in The UMC, author of 1 Peter in the Two Horizons Commentary on the New Testament (Eerdmans, 2007).