Commentaries on Genesis 1-3 (IVP Academic)

Genesis is one of the books of the Bible that I have read many times over. I'd like to say it's because I am a scholar of Genesis and wanted to understand all its intricacies and nuances. The reality is that I have read it so many times, because I have tried to read the Bible from start to finish, and Genesis is the first book in the Bible. I did succeed once in making it from Genesis to Revelation, but it was tough! Let's get back to Genesis. I think all those times reading Genesis has made it one of my favorite Biblical books, and if I was to get even more specific, I love the first three chapters most of all. Today, I'd like to tell you about a book that explains those three chapters.

Commentaries on Genesis 1-3 is a collection of commentaries by Severian of Gabala and Bede the Venerable. Most every Catholic recognizes the name Bede, but Severian is not one many would. He has a very mixed history associated with him. He was a bishop of Gabala and known as a great preacher. However, he was an opponent of St. John Chrysostom and had him banished. It seems to be a case of jealousy and pride on his part, and it was clearly a foolish error on his part. Knowing that, I read his section of the book with caution. Before each author's section, there are ample introductory notes, which tell who the authors are, the historical setting for their lives and their writings, and information on their writing styles.

Severian's writings were homily format, and they come across as very technical. He walks his audience/congregation through the Scripture phrase by phrase, and stops on certain words and expounds on them. There are times when this comes off as fascinating, and other times, it comes off as tedious. One of the fascinating parts was when he compared the beginning of Genesis with the beginning of the Gospel of John. Moses (Genesis' author) tells us that "God made," whereas John tells us that God was. Moses focused on God the Creator, and John focused on God the Eternal Being.

Bede's writings are actual commentary format, and verse-by-verse format at that. This is my preferred way to read commentaries, so it was a welcome text to read. Instead of focusing on the parts of the commentary that dealt with the days of Creation, I found the explanation of the flowing rivers from Eden to be very fascinating. I was wondering if Bede would have had better insight that modern scholars on Eden's location, but instead he defers to scholars and their accepted understanding of the modern names for the four rivers. This particular section has always fascinated me, and while he provided no answers/speculations of where Eden was, it was still an interesting read.

Overall, I have mixed feelings about this volume. On the one hand, it was interesting to read the writings of Severian, because he is not one I have had the ability to read before. On the other hand, he was an opponent of Chrysostom, so I have to ask, why they didn't pick someone else to fill this volume. I personally would have picked Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, or my personal favorite, Ambrose's Hexameron. If they were insistent of Severian, then they could have also published Chrysostom. They were opponents after all, so a side-by-side comparison of their writings, would have made perfect sense. I think I would give this book between 3 and 3.5 stars. It was interesting, but when you have the ability to publish the words of the saints, why would you print the words of someone who opposed a saint?

This book was provided to me for free by IVP Academic in exchange for an honest review. If you found this review helpful, please click here and hit Yes!

Greek and Latin Commentaries on Revelation (IVP Academic)

The Book of Revelation is the most widely interpreted of all the books in the Bible. Coming from a Protestant background, I was exposed to this book at an early age. Taught by those with an apocalyptic viewpoint, I was schooled in the thinking that you could pick up a newspaper and the Book of Revelation and the two would connect to form a picture of the end of the world. It took a lot of years and a lot of reading to erase that slant. That reading came in the form of Catholic Scripture commentaries and from reading Church Fathers. InterVarsity Press Academic has released two commentaries on Revelation in their Ancient Christian Texts Series - one Greek and one Latin. Allow me to tell you about them.

Greek Commentaries on Revelation is a 250 page hardcover, which contains the commentaries of Oecumenius and Andrew of Caesarea. There is not a consensus on who exactly Oecumenius was, but there is a general consensus that his commentary was written in the early 7th century. His interpretation of Revelation focused more on the spiritual meaning than literal meaning, much like Origen. He also focuses on the three ages (past, present, and future) within Revelation. Lastly, he places great emphasis on both the Incarnation of Jesus and the seven seals in Revelation and how they related to Jesus.

Andrew of Caesarea's commentary occurs shortly after Oecumenius's commentary, as he uses it as a reference for his own. In fact, very little of Andrew of Caesarea's commentary could be called original. A lot of people might see this as a bad thing, but it is quite the opposite, as novelty and heresy usually go hand in hand. His commentary became the one that was most widely accepted in the Byzantine tradition, and his is also my favorite commentary on Revelation. He has an interesting way of dividing the book. He divides Revelation into 24 books (for the 24 elders mentioned in Revelation). He the divides each of those books into three chapters, which corresponds to the body, soul, and spirit of man. This creates 72 chapters and very brief commentary on each of his chapters with the occasional depth where he deems necessary.

Reading the two commentaries, it is clear that they do not agree on many points, even though they were written so closely together. In fact, Andrew uses Oecumenius' commentary in his merely to show where he offers a differing viewpoint. In addition to these great translations, there are also brilliant introductions which give us insight on the two commentators and valuable insight into their methods regarding their commentaries. This book is a wonderful resource to those interested in how the early Church viewed the Book of Revelation and a must have for the serious student of Scripture. I would highly recommend this volume and then if you are still thirsty for more knowledge, get Latin Commentaries on Revelation.

Latin Commentaries on Revelation is a 250 page hardcover book, which contains four commentaries on Revelation from Victorinus of Petovium, Apringius of Beja, Caesarius of Arles, and Bede the Venerable. I confess to being ignorant of all of these men. except for Bede. Thankfully, the introduction contains information on each of these four men. Victorinus was a bishop in the 3rd century. Apringius was a bishop in the 6th century. Caesarius was also a bishop in the 6th century. And Venerable Bede was a monk in the 8th century. Thus, these Latin commentaries all occurred fairly close in time to one another, if you consider that the Church is over 2000 years old. In addition to providing biographical information on these four men, there is also background on their other writings and their commentary style of Revelation.

Victorinus' commentary was surprisingly short at only 22 pages. Each chapter of Revelation only received about one page of commentary, except for the first chapter. At times, it reads more like a summary than an actual commentary. Apringius' is slightly more robust at 40 pages in length. He takes a verse-by-verse approach with his commentary, and if I'm being honest with myself that is how I like my commentaries. Since he borrowed the bulk of his commentary from Jerome's editing of Victorinus, the only parts in this section that are his are commentary on Revelation chapters 1 through 5 and 18 through 22. Caesarius' section is composed of nineteen homilies, which appear addressed to monks. It is mainly expositions, but it also contains personal messages to his audience as well. Bede's commentary is the longest and most intact, and it too follows the verse-by-verse approach. I particularly enjoyed reading about Chapter 21, as Bede walks us through the significance and meaning of each of the precious stones of the Holy City.

The real jewel of this work is Bede's commentary. The other three are a nice bonus and given an interesting perspective of how earlier Christians viewed this controversial book of the Bible. It also provides a sort-of timeline view of how the Church's view of this book changed as well. With some of the commentaries, primarily Apringius', you'll have to take into account the cultural bias in what is said. It was not as good to me as the Greek Commentaries on Revelation, but if you can get it for a good price, you should so that you can have both an Eastern and Western view of the book of Revelation.

These books were provided to me for free by InterVarsity Press Academic in exchange for honest reviews. If you found these reviews helpful, please click here and/or here and hit Yes!

The Four Gospels (Holy Trinity Publications)

Recently, I received the book The Four Gospels in the mail to review. I knew the author's name, Archbishop Averky (Tasushev) by name, but I didn't know much about him. However, I have a great love for Scriptural commentaries, so I knew I wanted to read this work. Before I tell you about it though, let me tell you about Archbishop Averky (Taushev). He was born in 1906 to a noble family, and had a deep desire for monasticism at an early age. In 1931, he was tonsured a monk and ordained a deacon. The following year he was ordained a hieromonk. In 1951, he began teaching at Holy Trinity Seminary, and in 1960 he was elected the fourth abbot of the Holy Trinity Monastery.

The Four Gospels is a beautiful, purple hardcover book that is billed as Volume I of the series "Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament." For some foolish reason, I thought this volume meant that there were individual volumes for each of the four Gospels, and that Volume I just covered Matthew. However, it instead encompasses all four Gospels in one and weaves them together to arrange the sections chronologically. The volume begins with an impressive 40 page introduction, which covers the New Testament canon, language of the New Testament, when the New Testament was written, why there are four Gospels, and the characteristics of each Gospel. This is one of the best introductions I have read to the New Testament and worth the price of the book alone. At the end of the introduction, Archbishop Averky (Tasushev) tells us about others who have attempted to synthesize the Gospels and the three part natural division of the Gospels - 1. The coming into the world of Jesus, 2. the preaching of Jesus, and the last days of the earthly life of Jesus. The book itself is divided (fittingly) into seven sections:

1. The Coming into the World of the Lord Jesus Christ
2. The Public Ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ: Events of His Life Before the First Passover
3. The First Passover of the Public Ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ
4. The Second Passover of the Public Ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ
5. The Third Passover of the Public Ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ
6. The Last Days of the Earthly Life of the Lord Jesus Christ
7. The Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ

At the end of this work are sources, notes, a subject index, and a Scripture index. The two indices prove to be exceedingly helpful. Reading through this volume, you can see the immense knowledge of Scripture that Archbishop Averky (Taushev). For example, we all know that Jesus' ministry was three years, but more light was shed on Jesus' ministry by dividing it into Passovers and proved a useful framework. Some sections are found in all four Gospels, and where this happens Archbishop Averky (Taushev) points out little details that a certain Evangelist noted that the others didn't. Though this book was written by an archbishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, I find it suitable for Catholics and Protestants as well. So whether you have never read the Gospels or read them hundreds of times, you will be spiritually enriched with your reading of this commentary. I cannot wait for Volume II on The Epistles to be released.

This book was provided to me for free by Holy Trinity Publications in exchange for an honest review. If you found this review helpful, please click here and hit Yes!

Incomplete Commentary on Matthew (Intervarsity Press)

Think about the best book that you have ever read. What makes it so great? How many times have you read it? Is your life changed for the better because of it? Now, imagine if that book had never been finished, or if parts of it were just missing. You saw parts of the picture, but you couldn't see the whole image. How disappointed would you be? Well, that is exactly how Thomas Aquinas felt with the books that I am reviewing today. There exists an incomplete anonymous commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, which Intervarsity Press has published in two volumes as part of their Ancient Christian Texts series. The translator, James A. Kellerman, had this to say in his introduction: "As Thomas Aquinas was approaching Paris, a fellow traveler pointed out the lovely buildings gracing that city. Aquinas was impressed, to be sure, but he sighed and stated that he would rather have the complete Incomplete Commentary on Matthew than to be mayor of Paris itself." Before, I get to what is present in the two volumes, let's cover what is missing. For starters, it abruptly ends at Matthew 25, so that is three chapters missing right there. There are also gaps of Matthew 8:11-10:15 and 13:14-18:35. That's another five complete chapters missing and pieces missing from four other chapters. It's not exactly half of the commentary missing, but I can see how it feels like it.

Volume 1 contains 27 homilies on Matthew, which span from Matthew 1 to Matthew 11, except for those passages I mentioned above. Volume 2 also contains 27 homilies, which span from Matthew 12-25. That is very impressive considering most of the missing texts occur after Chapter 12. The Prologue begins with an explanation of why the Gospel was written. In the time after Jesus' Resurrection and Ascension, there was a great persecution in Palestine, which put Christians at risk of being scattered and without a teacher, i.e, an Apostle or one of his successors, Therefore, they asked Matthew to compose the history of Jesus' life and also "teach the disposition of an evangelical life." For that reason, he ordered his Gospel into seven sections: 1. Christ's birth, 2. His Baptism, 3. His temptation, 4. His teachings, 5. His miracles, 6. His Passion, and 7. His Resurrection and Ascension. 

So what do the homilies look like? Let me put it this way, these are not your typical Sunday morning homilies. In fact, the one on Matthew 1 is approximately 30 pages, and with a book that measures 7" x 10" this is truly an impressive feat. In this homily, the anonymous writer chooses not to gloss over the genealogy of Jesus by picking a few big names out to talk about, but instead he explains the importance of over 25 of Jesus' descendants. He then explains the significance of Matthew's genealogy and also why it is divided into three sections of fourteen. Let that sink in for a minute, and think about your average Catholic Mass-goer. Today, some of us get annoyed/antsy in Mass when a priest's homilies goes over five minutes long. Can you imagine them sitting through this homily? You have to truly admire the faith and thirst for spiritual wisdom of the early Christians.

Matthew Chapters 5 through 7 are where the Sermon on the Mount occurs, and thankfully these the homilies for these important chapters remain intact. The commentary on the Beatitudes was beautiful, but I especially enjoyed reading his exposition on The Lord's Prayer. Matthew 7:21-23 are perhaps some of the scariest in the Bible. In this passage, it talks about people who think they will be saved, but at the very end, Jesus tells them that He did not know them and to depart from Him. After reading the homily on this particular section, I felt a little bit comforted with the Scripture passage. Though, I'm not sure if I was supposed to feel this way or not. The commentator equates those who are cast into the fire as eternal liars. Even after their death, they are still liars. Therefore, it made me feel that those cast in the fire were not ones who did good works for the Father but lacked faith, but instead these were ones who lied about doing good works for the Father when in reality they did not.

The depth and beauty of these homilies make them truly a worthwhile read. The commentator applies an allegorical method in them, but unlike strict allegory, he doesn't ignore the literal meaning of the Scripture as well. If you love the Gospel of Matthew and want to read what St. Thomas Aquinas read, then these are two volumes that you won't want to miss out on!

These books were provided to me for free by Intervarsity Press in exchange for an honest review. If you found these reviews helpful, please click here and/or here and hit Yes!

Commentaries on Galatians-Philemon (InterVarsity Press)

This is my second review in the Ancient Christian Texts (ACT) series available from InterVarsity Press. If you recall, at the beginning of March, I posted a review on Ambrosiaster's Commentaries on Romans and 1-2 Corinthians. This month I am reviewing his Commentaries on Galatians - Philemon. This is the second volume of his entire commentary on the Pauline Epistles. As a refresher, I am providing you with some similar information from the other review, in case you didn't get to read the first review or don't remember who Ambrosiaster is and don't feel like looking it up on your own.

Ambrosiaster ("Star of Ambrose") was an anonymous author of the earliest complete Latin commentary on St. Paul's thirteen epistles. The commentary was written during the reign of Pope Damasus, which occurred from 366-384. Originally, these commentaries were attributed to St. Ambrose. However, it was Erasmus who shed doubt on the author being St. Ambrose, and he was later proven right. The Latin text differs from the Vulgate and is probably taken from the Bible version known as the Itala. In fact, it seems he was opposed to St. Jerome's efforts to revise the old Latin version. Ambrosiaster's commentaries do not search for hidden or allegorical meanings, but instead focus on the plain and simple. He is more interested in logical or literal meaning of the text. Knowing this, it clearly distinguishes him from St. Ambrose who was very interested in a higher, mystical meaning of Scripture.

At approximately 190 pages, the Commentaries on Galatians - Philemon volume is a lot thinner than I expected it to be, especially since it's counterpart is approximately 300 pages. It's not like there is a significant difference in number of Biblical chapters 45 (Romans and 1-2 Corinthians) vs 42 (Galatians-Philemon). This is not something the publisher could help, but just an observation. Each book of the Bible contains a preface by the author that range from one paragraph to one page. The commentary is verse-by-verse, meaning that each verse is followed by an explanation from Ambrosiaster on what the text means. I personally like Ambrosiaster's style/attitude. He is not above calling a group of people stupid, i.e., the Galatians, for turning their back on the true Gospel and accepting a false gospel. As in my last review, here are a couple of quotes from key verses in these Pauline epistles.

Galatians 2:20 - I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Paul is nailed to the cross of Christ because by walking in his footsteps he is not bound by any desire of the world. By living to God he appears to be dead to the world. There is nothing unclear in saying that Christ lives in the person who has been delivered from death by faith. By granting pardon for sin to someone who is worthy of death, Christ dwells in him, for it is by his help that such a person has been rescued from death.

Ephesians 2:8-10 - For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God - not because of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

It is true that we must render all thanks to God who has given us his grace to recall sinner to live even when they are not looking for the true way. Therefore there is no reason for us to glory in ourselves, but rather in God, who has regenerated us to a heavenly birth through the faith of Christ, so that tested by the good works, which God has appointed for those who are already born again we may deserve to receive the things promised.

As one can see from these two quotes, Ambrosiaster is very intelligent and straightforward in his commentary. Though, I believe the price should be less than $60, given the size, I understand the price since it is an academic work. If you are a serious student of Biblical interpretation or interested in lesser known Latin commentaries on the works of St. Paul, this would make a great addition to your library.

This book was provided to me for free by InterVarsity Press in exchange for an honest review. If you found this review helpful, please click here and hit Yes!

Commentaries on Romans and 1-2 Corinthians (InterVarsity Press)

Any serious student of the Bible and Patristics is well aware of and perhaps very familiar with InterVarsity Press' Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (ACCS). I eyeballed this series for years, read samples, and talked to people about it. One thing always kept me from biting the bullet and purchasing this series. It always just a felt a little incomplete to me. In the ACCS, each passage/verse of Scripture is accompanied by commentary text from various Church Fathers (including Augustine, Chrysostom, and Origen to name just a few). On the one hand, this is great because you get a wide variety of viewpoints on a specific passage. On the other hand, to someone like me who would like to read that Father's viewpoint on the whole book and not just passages, it felt incomplete to me. Luckily for me, and people like me, there is a somewhat new series out called Ancient Christian Texts (ACT). From the general introduction, "This series extends but does not reduplicate texts of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (ACCS). It presents full-length translations of texts that appear only as brief extracts in the ACCS. I will be reviewing this series on my blog over the coming months/year, starting today with Commentaries on Romans and 1-2 Corinthians by Ambrosiaster.

For those in the dark, like me before reading this book, Ambrosiaster ("Star of Ambrose") was an anonymous author of the earliest complete Latin commentary on St. Paul's thirteen epistles. The commentary was written during the reign of Pope Damasus, which occurred from 366-384. Originally, these commentaries were attributed to St. Ambrose. However, it was Erasmus who shed doubt on the author being St. Ambrose, and he was later proven right. The Latin text differs from the Vulgate and is probably taken from the Bible version known as the Itala. In fact, it seems he was opposed to St. Jerome's efforts to revise the old Latin version. Ambrosiaster's commentaries do not search for hidden or allegorical meanings, but instead focus on the plain and simple. He is more interested in logical or literal meaning of the text. Knowing this, it clearly distinguishes him from St. Ambrose who was very interested in a higher, mystical meaning of Scripture. To illustrate his writing style, I am going to quote his commentary on a few well-known Scripture passages.

Romans 8:28 - We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.

Paul says this because the prayers of those who love God, even if they are inept will not fail them. God knows the intention of their heart and their ignorance, and will not give them things they ask for if they are harmful. Rather, he teaches them what out ought to be given to people who love God. This is what the Lord said in the Gospel: For your Father knows what you need, even before you ask him. Those who are called according to the promise are those whom God knew would be true believers in the future, so that even before they believed they were known.

1 Corinthians 13:13 - So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Love is the greatest because while faith is preached and hope pertains to the future life, love reigns. As 1 John says: By this we know his love, that he laid down his life for us. Love is therefore the greatest of the three, because by it the human race has been renewed.

It is clear just from these two passages how simple and straightforward Ambrosiaster's commentaries actually are. We can also see he has a good knowledge not only of Pauline epistles, but of the Gospels and catholic epistles as well. The beautiful thing about his commentaries are that they are verse by verse. Some ancient Christian writings were "merely" homilies, which covered whole chapters. Therefore, if there was a particularly troubling verse, it might not be covered in the homily. This isn't true with Ambrosiaster. Every chapter and every verse is covered beautifully. I am very pleased with this book Commentaries on Romans and 1-2 Corinthians and I can't wait to tackle his next book Commentaries on Galatians - Philemon. If you are a lover of Scripture and Patristics, like me, you need these commentaries. Ambrosiaster is a large unknown, and he shouldn't be because he could be the most significant source of Latin Patristics between Cyprian and Jerome.

This book was provided to me for free by InterVarsity Press in exchange for an honest review. If you found this review helpful, please click here and hit Yes!