Jesus Creed

Jesus Creed

Pastor’s Bookshelf: Acts of the Apostles

posted by Scot McKnight | 3:48pm Friday April 17, 2009

StLuke.jpgThere was a time, and not that long ago, that more than one good commentary on Acts was hard to find. There were some old ones, and FF Bruce’s two (very different) commentaries were consulted, but it ended there. But not now. There are some golden gems. I begin with FF Bruce because he was the first one I read:

F.F. Bruce, The Book of the Acts (New International Commentary on the New Testament)
.

But I don’t go to him first anymore. I now began with C.K. Barrett’s 2-volume, meticulously-researched ICC volumes: Acts 1-14, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles (International Critical Commentary), Volume 1
, which has a one-volume condensation: Acts of the Apostles: A Shorter Commentary (International Critical Commentary)
.

Then I go to J.A. Fitzmyer’s volume in the Anchor Bible Commentary:The Acts of the Apostles (The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries)
.

Then I go to Ben Witherington: The Acts of the Apostles : A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary
.

Then I consult Jimmy Dunn’s small, but very useful, commentary: The Acts of the Apostles (Epworth Commentary)
.

Finally, I now will be consulting R. Pervo’s Hermeneia commentary: ACTS: A Commentary (Hermeneia: a Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible)
.



Previous Posts

This blog is no longer active
This blog is no longer being actively updated. Please feel free to browse the archives or: Read our most popular inspiration blog See our most popular inspirational video Take our most popular quiz

posted 3:10:39pm Aug. 31, 2010 | read full post »

Our Common Prayerbook 30 - 3
Psalm 30 thanks God (vv. 1-3, 11-12) and exhorts others to thank God (vv. 4-5). Both emerge from the concrete reality of David's own experience. Here is what that experience looks like:Step one: David was set on high and was flourishing at the hand of God's bounty (v. 7a).Step two: David became too

posted 12:15:30pm Aug. 31, 2010 | read full post »

Theology After Darwin 1 (RJS)
One of the more important and more difficult pieces of the puzzle as we feel our way forward at the interface of science and faith is the theological implications of discoveries in modern science. A comment on my post Evolution in the Key of D: Deity or Deism noted: ...this reminds me of why I get a

posted 6:01:52am Aug. 31, 2010 | read full post »

Almost Christian 4
Who does well when it comes to passing on the faith to the youth? Studies show two groups do really well: conservative Protestants and Mormons; two groups that don't do well are mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics. Kenda Dean's new book is called Almost Christian: What the Faith of Ou

posted 12:01:53am Aug. 31, 2010 | read full post »

Let's Get Neanderthal!
The Cave Man Diet, or Paleo Diet, is getting attention. (Nothing is said about Culver's at all.) The big omission, I have to admit, is that those folks were hunters -- using spears or smacking some rabbit upside the conk or grabbing a fish or two with their hands ... but that's what makes this diet

posted 2:05:48pm Aug. 30, 2010 | read full post »

Advertisement
Comments read comments(7)
post a comment
jeremy bouma

posted April 17, 2009 at 8:52 pm


If you do this again next year, hopefully you can add Joel B. Green’s FF Bruce NICNT replacement to the list. I LOVE his Luke NICNT volume and I believe his Acts complement is supposed to be available Fall 2010. Given Green’s mastery over Luke’s 1st volume, I have high hopes for the 2nd.
-jeremy



report abuse
 

RevKevCollison

posted April 17, 2009 at 10:25 pm


The Interpretation series is certainly different than these, but I wonder what anyone makes of Willimon’s commentary. I have it coming in the mail.



report abuse
 

Patrick

posted April 18, 2009 at 2:04 am


I don’t read Greek, so I can’t judge the big exegetical books, but when I led a class on Acts a while back I got a lot from Robert Wall’s commentary in the New Interpreter’s Bible, and from LT Johnson’s Sacra Pagina volume. There were good things in Beverly Gaventa’s Abingdon volume.



report abuse
 

tim atwater

posted April 18, 2009 at 10:22 am


i too await Green’s volume
and second Gaventa and Wall.
blessings



report abuse
 

Connie Hower

posted April 18, 2009 at 9:34 pm


I would like to have some information about ministering to my pastor and what duties he has that we don’t even know about so that we could help him.



report abuse
 

Jeff

posted April 18, 2009 at 9:37 pm


I think you read Acts apart from Luke Johnson to your peril. While I am certainly more “conservative” than he is, and I don’t think his “prophet” paradigm for Jesus and the apostles covers all the territory, he is very insightful and does a great job with literary and theological patterns.



report abuse
 

Jared

posted August 24, 2009 at 4:07 pm


Acts is a favourite I return to so have built up a lot over the years, the most recent being Justo Gonzalez, who brings a different cultural point of view which helps in translating cultural applications, and David Peterson’s mammoth tome which I have also found more helpful than I thought it might be. Bruce was written in a time when the historical/non-historical debate was uppermost so you tend not to get the missional flow quite so well, but he’s also a nostalgic read since he examined my Master’s dissertation!



report abuse
 

Post a Comment

By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.

Share this story


About Beliefnet

Our mission is to help people like you find, and walk, a spiritual path that will bring comfort, hope, clarity, strength, and happiness. More about Beliefnet.

Help

Media Kit

Subscribe

Legal

Copyright © Beliefnet, Inc. and/or its licensors. All rights reserved. Use of this site is subject to Terms of Service and to our Privacy Policy. Constructed by Beliefnet.

Advertisement

Report as Inappropriate

You are reporting this content because it violates the Terms of Service.

All reported content is logged for investigation.