Prolific writer Eugene Boring gives us this thorough commentary on I & II Thessalonians in the New Testament Library (NTL) series. A decade earlier he produced the commentary on Mark’s Gospel in this same series. That shows that he has far-ranging interests in New Testament scholarship. You will find that the same areas that he received praise for in the Mark commentary are true here. In short, he excels in historical scholarship and background information.

The book is designed with an introduction to I Thessalonians followed by commentary on it, and then an introduction to II Thessalonians followed by its commentary. I enjoyed the introduction to I Thessalonians much more than that for II Thessalonians because I just can’t agree that the second letter came from some hand other than Paul’s.

He begins the introduction by explaining what it is to read in varying contexts including the reader, the canonical context, the mediating context that reviews church tradition and academic research. He also has some insight on recent scholarship. What follows is the highlight of the introduction: his description of the historical context of I Thessalonians. That includes a look at Paul’s life, the city of Thessalonica, and the church therein. He has a few words on the genre and rhetoric of the letter. After an outline and a brief discussion of structure, he gives his theological perspectives on the book. The commentary proper is quite helpful and teems with great historical information.

The introduction to II Thessalonians is consumed with it being Deuteropauline. Though that is a common thought modern scholarship, I find the arguments particularly weak and circular. The commentary, however, is equal to that in the first letter.

Mr. Boring is one of the most respected writers in this series and I can understand why. This is a fine commentary.

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I’ve thought for some time that the value of the Interpretation Bible Commentary series is in its theological reflection. It’s a critical series, but I often find the theology valuable enough to check out even though I don’t agree with the criticism nor the methodology that’s used. Walter Brueggemann is perhaps the best writer in the series for pulling out these theological gems that no one else thinks of. People all across the theological spectrum are impressed by his creative writing.

The introduction given is hardly an introduction for the books of Samuel at all. In only a few words, he describes the period of the books of Samuel as one of major social change. Going from a tribal system to a monarchy would indeed be quite a transition. He sees three factors in that social change that we can easily agree with. From there, in a few more pages, he provides more introduction to his approach than to the overall books of Samuel themselves. This is not a standard academic introduction.

While he may have had little interest in the introduction, he poured all his efforts into the commentary itself. Again, there are critical perspectives you may not agree with, but there are nuggets all around for those who are looking. Every passage will likely have them. These nuggets will be both theologically profound and exquisitely stated. This commentary is worth looking up.

I received this map free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

This book is unique. There are 60 short chapters that cover many topics. What makes the book stand out on the shelves is that the topics it covers are often those you won’t find many other places. His title suggests his point – we place too many filters on our Bible before we even open it to study. The subtitle “approaching Scripture on its own terms” is a call to fresh study with real attempts to remove those filters.

The 60 chapters are divided into three parts. Part one addresses the broad issues involved in interpreting the Bible responsibly. It’s in this section that he attempts to prove to you that you do, in fact, have unhelpful filters on your Bible. Parts two and three cover the Old and New Testaments respectively. These two sections are different than the first one in that they are not really looking at broad hermeneutical mistakes made in either Testament, but rather specific points where we drop the ball.

If I had a criticism of this book, it would spring from the same place where its celebrated uniqueness comes from. At times, it seems Mr. Heiser interprets on the edges. Too much time on the edges is dangerous for some Bible students because they lose the big picture. To get around this criticism, you must accept this book for what it is: a provocative attempt to force you to see if you are reading from the Scriptures rather than into them.

Several of the topics covered were fascinating. A few I simply could not agree with based on the scriptural evidence. A case in point would be chapter 12 where he claims that all our Genesis commentaries are eight-track tapes. I’m sorry, but what one scholar wrote about in 2010 does not instantly become the gold standard for all Christians, even on an obscure topic like the one in that chapter.

You have got to appreciate what this book is trying to do. We often neither search the Scriptures diligently enough nor think deeply enough. This book will push us to do better and that’s its value. Along the way, you will likely gain some new insights on scriptural subjects you have thought about in some time.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Erhard Gerstenberger replaces Noth in the Old Testament Library (OTL) series with this volume. It strikes me differently than many other volumes in this series. Whereas many volumes in the series make a greater theological contribution than an exegetical one, this one gives us little theology around its exegesis. The whole series is known as a critical one yet in this volume it seems more pronounced to me. Known as a form critic, the author talks much about sources. Those discussions seem nebulous and unprovable to my mind and give the text a devastating uncertainty. How deeply you fall into the critical viewpoint will determine how high you rate this volume. If you’re more conservative like me, you may not find the theological compensations that some others in the series provide.

The Introduction begins by describing difficulties in reading the Bible. The aforementioned subject of sources arises immediately. He describes the audience as “a colorless someone” and does not demonstrate a passion for the book of the Bible that he commentates on that is found in the best commentaries. He discusses authorship, subsequent influence of cultic law, and structure. He takes the critical line across the board.

In the commentary proper, he does provide a lot of exegesis (the best trait of the book) and a lot of detail about the ceremonial things that are foreign to our thinking. He would bring up things like feminist concerns that put him at odds with the text.

In a nutshell, critical scholars will likely rate this book highly, those doing exegesis will appreciate some details, and more conservative readers will likely not enjoy this book as much as several others in the series. In fairness, it could be that the Book of Leviticus doesn’t lend itself to the same kind of theological treatment several others in this series provide.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.