Saint Benedict Press: The Gospel of the Holy Spirit: Meditation and Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles

When looking for some reading about the Early Church, most people look for the Early Church Fathers like Clement of Rome or Polycarp of Smyrna. However, I would recommend going a little further back and opening the Bible. You could read some of the Epistles Paul wrote to various churches and note how the issues afflicting those churches are still present today. I personally would recommend starting with the Acts of the Apostles and reading about historic events such as the Martyrdom of Stephen, the Conversion of Saul, and the Council of Jerusalem. When reading any book of the Bible, though, you should read it with the Church's guidance, perhaps with a commentary such as The Gospel of the Holy Spirit.

The Gospel of the Holy Spirit is written by Fr. Alfred McBride, a priest with about 60 years of service and a doctorate in religious education.  He is considered one of the most influential religious leaders of the 20th Century. In this commentary, Fr. McBride starts by dividing the Acts of the Apostles into two separate books - "The Book of Peter," which covers Acts 1 to 13 and "The Book of Paul," which covers Acts 14 to 28. Even though I have read Acts several times, I never noticed this natural division in the book.  Now that I have seen it explained on paper, it makes perfect sense. There are 29 chapters in this book, which means you could work through this book solely over the period of a month. You could also decide to use it in a group study.

I really like that each chapter is broken down into three parts - the commentary, reflection questions, and a concluding prayer that ties in elements of what you just learned. One should always pray when reading the Scriptures, and this helps reinforce that. I always like to try and find a favorite part in a book I review, but that's hard when it comes to commentaries. However, I did find the section on Pentecost (Acts 2:1-12) to be absolutely fascinating. The way Fr. McBride compared the events of that day to different Old Testament events, especially from the book of Exodus, was eye-opening and made me look at the birth of the Church in a whole new light.

If you have never read a book of the Bible before or want to read the Bible deeper, I would recommend reading a synoptic Gospel, preferably Luke first, and then picking up The Gospel of the Holy Spirit   Why Luke? Luke and Acts are essentially two volumes of a larger book, so you will get a fuller picture of the message Luke was trying to convey by reading both, rather than one or the other. I would love it if Fr. McBride would do a book like this one for the Gospel of Luke, because this was a 5-star book. If he doesn't though, one can always take his Catholic Course on The Christ, which covers all four Gospels.

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Anselm Academic: The Pauline Letters

When I was going through college, both for a BA and an MBA, I never read the textbooks. In fact, I stopped buying them my last few years, because you never got a fair price when they bought them back. Now that I have graduated though, I find myself reading more textbooks than I read in college. I attribute it to actually being interested in the subject matter. If I could do it all over again, I'd have gotten a degree in Theology. I'm not sure what I'd do with it, but I'd have enjoyed it more than my degree in Psychology. That's for sure.

Today, I am reviewing The Pauline Letters by Daniel J. Scholz. This book is a systematic study of Paul, his writings (both undisputed and disputed), and writings from the period after him. This book is divided into two main parts - the "Undisputed Letters" and the "Disputed Letters and Post-Pauline Writings." Before reading this book, I didn't realize that the authorship of so many of Paul's thirteen letters was disputed. However, only 1st Thessalonians, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Romans, Philippians, and Philemon are undisputed.

Apart from just being rich in information, there are many aspects I like about this book. For starters, Dr. Scholz organized his book chronologically. It's always interesting to me to read about the historical context of a book of the Bible and arranging the letters chronologically enhances that for me. Another aspect I appreciated was the outlines of each letter. Each letter, undisputed or disputed, in this book comes with an outline of it's message. When you pair that with the PLETHORA of charts and tables in this book, it makes studying these works both enjoyable and rewarding.

There are also questions both for review and reflection at the end of every chapter. These questions help reinforce the author's main points and give the reader a chance to reflect on certain points. The reflection questions especially can make good dialogue in class or a group Bible study. They also would make good essay topics for all you professors out there. I think my favorite feature is the "Recommendations for Further Reading" at the end of every chapter. So many authors just tell you to read these extra sources; Dr. Scholz takes the time to tell you why to read them.

Just from a superficial reading of this work, I learned so much. As mentioned earlier, I learned that not all thirteen letters attributed to Paul are considered undisputedly written by him. I learned about post-Paul writings like the Acts of Paul and Thecla and the Apocalypse of Paul, which the author claims to have influenced Dante's Inferno. I also learned that Paul's ministry didn't begin until 33 CE (author's dating), but his first letter wasn't written until approximately 50 CE. It makes you wonder if he didn't write anything during this period of if Paul's earlier writings have been lost or destroyed.

No person, apart from Jesus, had a greater influence on the shaping of Christianity than St. Paul. If you want to know more about this great man and his writings, pick up this 5 star book and read it. Then, go back and study this book. Work your way through it systematically with a Bible next to you. Take time to reflect and answers the questions at the end of every chapter. Then, when you've finally done that, pick up Jesus in the Gospels and Acts.

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