The Narnia 3 Book Review Blog

To Purchase Click on Image

Tom Carter (editor). Spurgeon?s Commentary on Great Chapters of the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1998. 336pp. $17.95 (paper).

Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-92) is widely regarded as the greatest preacher in the history of the English speaking church. He was typically a ?textual? preacher, not a systematic expositor through the Bible. In fact in his enormous written corpus Spurgeon only produced two biblical commentaries, his seven volumes on the Psalms, entitled The Treasury of David and a brief commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew: The Gospel of the Kingdom, which was actually completed by his wife and personal secretary after his death.

Spurgeon?s sermons were published weekly and compiled in annual volumes. Tom Carter, who previously edited a compilation of Spurgeon quotations in Spurgeon at His Best (Baker Books, 1988 [a work the publisher inexplicably let go out of print in favor of, in this reviewer?s opinion, a vastly inferior work of a similar nature]), has brought together the little known biblical expositions of Spurgeon. These verse by verse expositions, which appear interspersed with the sermons in volumes 38-63 of The Metropolitan Pulpit (MTP). These brief expositions were often given on a weekday gathering or as an ?aside? on a Sunday service.

In this book the editor has assigned titles to the expositions not originally from Spurgeon (p. 9) and has also edited the Victorian English of Spurgeon to update it as well as substituting the New International Version for the King James Version of Spurgeon?s day (ibid). There are expositions on 31 passages of Scripture, ranging from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22. They were selected by the editor as the ?great chapters? of the Bible. He admits that the selections are subjective on his part, but nonetheless this compilation is a delight for those who enjoy Spurgeon. The expositions are not purely exegetical, but they demonstrate as one friend stated, ?his exegesis was seldom wrong. He spared no pains to be sure of the exact meaning of the text? (Spurgeon, Autobiography, 2:346). The researcher of Spurgeon will have one complaint. Carter has failed to give the original MTP citation for each exposition, a small but annoying omission. Despite this one flaw we enthusiastically recommend this work.

D. A. Carson. New Testament Commentary Survey (fifth edition). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 2001. 142 pp. $9.95 (paper).

Solomon declared that of the “writing of many books is endless” (Ecc 12:12) and in the genre of biblical commentaries, endless is perhaps too meek a term. An unscientific survey by this reviewer of the catalogues which come into his office showed that there are several dozen commentary series’ in process, several more are in the planning stages, and several long finished series have been or are being revised. The individual or stand-alone commentary titles currently in print number in the thousands. With all of these works available from every possible theological, denominational and methodological angle it is a daunting task to even make an effort to keep up with the literature, much less make informed recommendations.

Several bibliographies specializing in biblical commentaries are available. The one bibliographic series that has attempted to maintain a level of currency is the 5th edition of New Testament Commentary Survey. Continuing the work in the first two editions by Anthony C Thiselton, D. A. Carson, the long-time professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, has now produced three editions of this eminently useful commentary survey of New Testament commentaries. The author has stated as his purpose to provide theological students and ministers with a handy survey of the resources, especially commentaries, that are available in English to facilitate an understanding of the NT” (p. 8).

The work is divided into four sections (1) Introductory Notes; (2) Supplements to Commentaries; (3) Individual Commentaries; and (4) Best Buys. There is also an author index and a listing of abbreviations of commentary set titles. In the introductory section the author briefly details the purpose of commentaries and the relative strength and weaknesses of various types. He ably discusses the oft-asked question by students whether or not to buy a particular set of commentaries or individual works. He covers both current and older sets dividing them up by multiple author and single author. In the section he briefly lists works of New Testament introduction and New Testament theology. The author’s “Best Buy” section is a listing of two or three individual commentaries on each book of the New Testament

The bulk of this work centers on the listing of individual commentaries on each New Testament book. Instead of a simple listing of each work with comments, the author has developed a running narrative approach which is refreshing and much more readable than the traditional bibliographic method. He lists title, publisher name and the list price (per the information which he had available). The strength of this work is the brief comments on each title. Carson readily admits that he is rightly accused of being “trenchant” in his comments. “I have tried to be careful, but in a survey this condensed I prefer to be a shade too trenchant than too bland” (p. 9). The comments are interesting, provocative and occasionally acerbic. He has taken the same tact as Charles Spurgeon did in his Commenting and Commentaries (London: Passmore and Alabaster, 1876) as far as the comments are concerned and he upholds that tradition well.

The author does not take a middle road and makes his views quite evident. He has little use, bordering on distain, for dispensationalism and commentaries of that position. He also has little use for “popular” commentaries. Works that are simply edited sermon series often come in for rather critical comments; which will certainly upset some readers whose favorites fall into that category. Occasionally there are ad hominem comments and his references to “poorly trained preachers,” “the mythical well-read layman,” and “unsophisticated Sunday School teacher” seem unnecessarily peevish.

That aside this work is highly recommended for both its informative value and the unique accomplishment for a bibliography, it is interesting and entertaining to read.

Ben Witherington III. The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998. xlviii + 875 pp. $50.00 (paper).

The author, the well-known New Testament scholar of Asbury Theological Seminary, has produced a massive commentary on the Book of Acts. The author’s purpose for producing yet another commentary on Acts is stated as “the rhetorical dimension of Acts has not been much explored in recent commentaries on the book, in part because of the waning influence of classical studies on biblical studies in this century. Nor for that matter has sufficient attention been paid in commentaries to how similar Acts is to other ancient Hellenistic historiographic works” (x). The author claims that the outstanding bibliography he provides is “not intended to be exhaustive” (xiii), but it does cover 37 pages and is one of the most comprehensive that this reviewer has encountered. There is a fine index of authors and Scripture, but remarkably no subject index. The work is massively footnoted, and though not numerous, helpful pictures, maps and charts are incorporated. The reviewer’s main criticism in terms of formatting would be directed toward the publisher who simply shortchanges the customer by placing this massive a work in a paper binding. In fact, the review copy already had the spine split in several places. Most would gladly pay the extra cost for a hardcover binding which would remain serviceable for years instead of months.

The author begins the work with over 100 pages of introductory material. He covers every aspect of introduction, with lengthy discussions of “Acts and the Question of Genre” (2-39) and Luke-Acts as rhetoric (39-49). One of his key points is that “ancient historical works w ere meant to be heard primarily and read only secondarily, and this meant that considerable attention had to be given to the aural impression a work would leave on the audience” (41). Thankfully, the author does an admirable job of demonstrating that the goal of the “aural impression” should not leave one to believe that Luke either invented material or simply put disconnected events or speeches together to fabricate a point. He points out that ancient historians with whom he compares Luke were careful with factual information (49). The author also presents a useful time-line of the events in Acts, starting with an AD 30 crucifixion and Paul’s death at the hands of Nero between AD 65-68 (although strangely, despite the extensive bibliography, he does not reference either Harold Hoehner’s doctoral dissertation on Chronology of the Apostolic Era or his book Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ). He affirms two Roman imprisonments for Paul (contra Paul Jewett) and, with some disclaim er, accepts Pauline authorship of the Pastorals, working the historical events detailed there into the period between the release from his first Roman imprisonment and his final arrest and execution.

In the commentary portion the author further develops his idea of “Acts as Rhetoric,” spending a great deal of time with the various speeches, trials and other official pronouncements that Luke records. He develops the background of these and attempts to demonstrate how they fit into the overall scheme of Luke’s rhetoric. In this regard the author is often forced into some rather subjective speculation on the text, but never outrageously so. He has numerous asides, which he labels as “A Closer Look” on various aspects of background subjects (e.g., “Gentile Godfearers,” “Travels and Travails in "Antiquity,” “Justice, Citizenship and Appeals in the Provinces,” etc.), which are quite helpful and well documented.

This is a commentary that will be of great benefit to those studying the Book of Acts. It contains a wealth of information, interesting observations, and stimulating thought. The student or pastor will want to supplement this volume with something more exegetically driven (such as Cranfield’s two volumes on Acts in the International Critical Commentary series), but the author has enriched the field of study on the Book of Acts with this fine production.