The Epistles and The Apocalypse (Holy Trinity Seminary Press)

Archbishop Averky (Taushev) was the fourth abbot of Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, New York. He was one of the leading teachers of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 20th Century and is probably best known for his exposition on the New Testament. Holy Trinity Publications has published these books in three volumes, and I have been blessed to read and review each volume. Today, I am wrapping up this series with Volume Three - The Epistles and The Apocalypse. The book is a beautiful hardcover, like the previous two volumes and is divided into four main parts:

1. The Epistles of the Holy Apostle Paul
2. The Pastoral Epistles of the Holy Apostle Paul
3. The General Epistles
4. The Apocalypse (The Book of Revelation)

Part One contains Romans to Second Thessalonians. Part Two contains First Timothy to Hebrews, which is still debated if Paul wrote or not. Part Three contains James to Jude. Part Four is strictly Revelation. With the Pauline Epistles, we have an introduction that covers the significance of his epistles and why they are difficult to study, a context for the epistles, and a fascinating section covering the life of St. Paul. Each epistle is then given its own specific introduction, which covers subjects such as purpose, place and time, authenticity, structure, and the meat of the book - a lengthy section on exegetical analysis. The section on Revelation follows the same format. However, the exegetical analysis is much more in-depth, and feels verse-by-verse, as opposed to the briefer analysis given to the epistles. I imagine this is because Revelation has been so misconstrued and misinterpreted over the years that it needed an in-depth analysis.

This book is not only beautiful in its presentation and layout, it is also beautifully written. Even though, Archbishop Averky was a wise teacher in his own right, he also drew on the writings of other saints when doing Biblical exegesis. His primary two sources of wisdom and inspiration were St. John Chrysostom and St. Theophan the Recluse. However, for the Apocalypse, he also relied heavily on St. Andrew of Caesarea, who is THE best Church Father to read when it comes to reading the book of Revelation. If you are looking for a brilliant and approachable exposition on the New Testament, I highly recommend this three volume set from Holy Trinity Publications!

This book was provided to me for free by Holy Trinity Publications.