Letters to the Romans and Galatians and Letters to the Corinthians (Liguori Publications)

Today, I am reviewing another two volumes from the Liguori Catholic Bible Study series. There are 21 volumes in this series (if I counted correctly), and all of the books are written by Fr. William A. Anderson. Fr. Anderson, like many Bible study leaders, places a great emphasis on Lectio Divina. The two volumes, which I am reviewing today are Letters to the Romans and Galatians and Letters to the Corinthians.

If you are going to do a study of Pauline Epistles, I'd recommend starting with Letters to the Romans and Galatians. The reasoning for this is because Romans is arguably one of St. Paul's most important works and Galatians is one of his earliest works. Both these epistles also share a common theme of "assimilating the Old and New Covenants." What this means is that the Church was no longer completely made up of former Jews, but instead was now a mixture of Jews and Gentiles. Because of their different backgrounds, there were conflicts and arguments that had to be resolved. Thus, Paul and his epistles helped to mediate these clashes, so that the communities would not be divided.

The book begins with an introduction on Paul and the two Biblical books. Fr. Anderson clarifies authorship on the Pauline Epistles, and he also tells us which ones it is accepted that Paul wrote and which ones that Paul's disciples probably wrote. After this. there are seven lessons total in this book, with five devoted to Romans and the remaining two devoted to Galatians. They are as follows:

1. The Righteousness of God
2. Justification Through Faith
3. Justification and Christian Life
4. Jews and Gentiles in God's Plan
5. The Duties of Christians
6. Loyalty to the Gospel
7. Freedom for God's Children

Each chapter includes study questions, guided Lectio Divina, and of course commentary on the passages you are reading. The lessons on justification are vitally important for understanding our Christianity and our Catholicism, but Lesson 5: The Duties of Christians is important for everyone to read. Fr. Martin tells us that we must be living sacrifices, practice love for all, and live and die for Christ. There are certainly other duties of Christians, but the ones in Romans are essential. If you are looking for a beginning guide to St. Paul's Epistles, in small group or alone, then I recommend starting here.

After reading through Letters to the Romans and Galatians, I recommend moving on to Letters to the Corinthians. In the introduction to this volume, Fr. Anderson provides a bit more information on the man who was Paul. He also clues us in on the Corinthian audience to whom Paul was writing, when and where Paul wrote the letters, and brief outlines of both letters to the Corinthians. This Bible Study volume also has seven lessons, which seems to be Fr. Anderson's preferred length for a study. It's long enough to educate you, but short enough that you won't feel like you have to dedicate the rest of your year to it. It also means you can knock out four a year with plenty of time for rest in between studies or a weekly postponement here or there when life happens. There are four lessons for 1 Corinthians and the remaining three are for 2 Corinthians, and the titles are as follows:

1. Condemnation of Disorders
2. Temples of the Holy Spirit
3. Offerings to Idols
4. Spiritual Gifts
5. Ministers of the New Covenant
6. An Acceptable Time
7. Boasting in the Lord

Chapters 12 through 14 of 1 Corinthians are some of the most well known verses in the two books to the Corinthians. St. Paul firstly talks about spiritual gifts, what the different kinds are, and how not everyone has the same gift. After talking about all these amazing gifts, St. Paul then goes on to explain how worthless they are if one is lacking in love. Fr. Anderson's commentary on these three chapters was spot on, as he made sure to emphasize at the end that we must not become overconfident with our gifts, lest we fall to ruin. The lesson I found most interesting was Lesson 7: Boasting in the Lord. This phrase sounds odd, because Christians are called to be humble, but St. Paul talks about boasting in the Lord. Paul boasted about the sufferings he encountered, the visions he had, etc. However, St. Paul kept things in perspective and acknowledged that God was responsible for everything and not Paul at all. I enjoyed this Bible study, primarily because it enlightened me on two of St. Paul's epistles that often get overlooked, except for the wedding reading of "Love is patient. Love is kind." If you would like to understand these epistles better, then I highly recommend this book by Fr. William A. Anderson.

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

The Acts of the Apostles (Liguori Publications)

The Acts of the Apostles is another volume in the Liguori Catholic Bible Study series, written by Fr. William A. Anderson. Like other books in this series, it begins with an introduction to the series, a basics on Lectio Divina, and tips for how to use the book. There is then introductory material on Acts, which includes the author, audience, and themes found in this book of Scripture. There are then eight lessons, each with a segment for group study and individual study (with the exception of Lesson One). This is done to encourage you to study Scripture together, and also to expose you to all of the particular book of the Bible in a reasonable timeline. If you tried to study every chapter as a group, it would take a lot more than eight lessons. The lesson titles are:

1. Preparing for Mission
2. The Mission in Jerusalem
3. Persecutions in Jerusalem
4. The Mission in Samaria and Judea
5. The Gentile Mission
6. Paul's Missionary Journeys
7. Paul Imprisoned
8. Paul Brought to Rome

Each group lesson comes with questions to discuss and prayers. Each individual study spreads out your study over several days and focuses on important passages to meditate on using Lectio Divina. I appreciate this format as Lectio Divina has always been difficult for me. There are two things I would have placed emphasis on in this book that I didn't notice Fr. Anderson did. First, while Fr. Anderson did point out that Luke was the author, I think he should have made it clear that the Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles are basically two parts of one book. You can't and shouldn't read one without reading the other. Secondly, what always helped me understand Acts was breaking it into two parts, the book of Peter and the book of Paul. Those complaints aside, this was still a useful study and I would recommend it to any group looking for a Bible study book on Acts. Four stars!

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

Liguori Catholic Bible Study - Introduction and The Gospel of Mark (Liguori Publications)

With the start of a new year, people make lots of resolutions. Some they end up keeping. Others not so much. One popular resolution among Catholics and other Christians is to read through the Bible in one year. If you have never done this before, I will testify as a survivor that it is doable. I use the word survivor, because it feels like a war of attrition. You have to average approximately 4-5 chapters a day, and books like Leviticus or Numbers can really weigh you down and make you question your decision. I do believe that everyone should read through the Bible once in their life (albeit not in the span of a year), and I believe the best way to do that is slowly. This year I am using the commentary series Liguori Catholic Bible Study. It isn't new (been around since 2012), but it is new to me! Today, I will be featuring two of the books from this series.

Introduction to the Bible is a 100 page book which not only serves as a guide to the Bible but is also an excellent jumping off point for the Liguori Catholic Bible Study. Before diving into the meat of the book, there is an introduction to the Bible study series and Lectio Divina. Fr. Anderson then begins by describing what the Bible is. A lot of people mistake it for one book, but it is in fact a whole library of books bound together. There are history books, prophetic books, wisdom books, etc. He then explains coventantal theology, talks about the Dead Sea Scrolls, and addresses different translations of the Bible. He seems to encourage use of the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE), which I agree with, because that is what we hear at Mass every Sunday.

Chapters Two and Three walk us through the books of the Old Testament, providing summaries, key figures, key events, and/or historical context. The remaining chapters focus on the New Testament, but in a different way than the Old Testament was focused on. First, we see a chapter dedicated to what life was like in Palestine during the time of Jesus, which included politics, religious groups, and religious feasts. Next, we see a chapter that explains what life was like after Jesus' death and when the books of the New Testament were written. This chapter, like the previous one, again touches on the political rule of the time, but it also talks about the different sources the writers used when composing their New Testament book(s). The last chapter talks about the message from Jesus and the New Testament and how the ways we receive the message, study the message, and interpret the message have changed.

Overall, this was a very brief, but thorough introduction to the Bible. It was simple enough that anyone could understand it, but it waded into the deep end occasionally to keep the more advanced reader interested enough to continue reading. I appreciated that every chapter had review and reflection questions. These types of questions are vital for small group leaders, especially those lacking experience in leading a Bible study. The only thing that I wish would have been different is the end of the book. It felt like a very abrupt ending. I would have preferred a couple of closing pages that point you in a direction on what to do next. Perhaps, the author could have said something like, if you're completely new to reading the Bible, start with The Gospel of Mark, or if you have studied the Synoptic Gospels before try The Gospel of John. That gripe aside, I still recommend this book as you need some background before embarking on Bible study.

The Gospel of Mark is the first commentary from the Liguori Catholic Bible Study that I decided to study. It is approximately 150 pages, like most of the commentaries in this series and also includes an introduction to Lectio Divina and a how-to guide for both individuals and group study. There are eight lessons total with all of the lessons containing sections for group study and individual study, with the exception of Lesson One, which only has a section for group study.

Both group and individual study have ample review questions and opportunities for Lectio Divina with the individual study dividing the readings up into days of the week between group studies. The thing that surprised me most was that the individual sections didn't invite you to study Scripture passages from the group sections more deeply but instead focus on  passages that were not covered. It took a bit of getting used to, but I defer to the wisdom of those more experienced than me when leading Bible studies. The other surprising element was that the Scripture was not provided in the book. You have to have your own Bible. This is a pro (the book is smaller) and con (less convenient having to remember two books).

The aspect I enjoyed most about this book is that in addition to providing commentary on the passage you just read, there is also a guided reflection to ponder for Lectio Divina. I don't know about you, but my biggest stumbling block with Lectio Divina is that I never really know what I'm supposed to focus on when reading a Scripture passage and can oftentimes miss the forest for the trees. I have not completely worked my way through this book, as I am trying to go through it slowly, but I felt the need to share my positive experience with this book. It is very practical and provides you with an insight into how it was during Jesus' day and what message we can take from it presently. I look forward to continuing with this book as well as others in the series, so stay tuned as I plan to feature another one in the coming months.

These books were provided to me by Liguori Publications in exchange for an honest review. If you found them helpful, please click here and/or here and hit Yes!