Category Archives: Book Reviews

Book Review – The Message of Esther (David Firth)

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The Bible Speaks Today series is still missing a few Old Testament volumes, and it has been a while since a new one came out, but it looks as if they are rectifying this, with this volume on Esther being published recently and a couple more due to come out later in the year (Obadiah, Nahum & Zephaniah by Gordon Bridger and Ezra & Haggai by Robert Fyall).

Introduction

The introduction fills us in on the historical background to Esther, and tells us about the three versions there are of the book. Firth describes the book of Esther as a ’dramatized history’. He introduces us to each of the main characters, and explains the significance of Haman being an ‘Agagite’.

Commentary

Though the book of Esther is notable for its lack of explicit mention of God, Firth does think we can detect various allusions to other Biblical passages. He is cautious not to read more into the text than the author says, but on the whole interprets Mordecai and Esther’s decisions positively – e.g. “Esther neither sought entry to the harem, nor advancement within it, yet both came to her”. He does however think it likely that her failure to reveal her Jewish identity would inevitably mean that she could not retain a kosher lifestyle.

He draws out lessons of remaining faithful to God’s purposes, even in an antagonistic culture, and it is as we do this that we see his providence at work. He picks up on the foolishness of alcohol-fueled decision making. He also reflects on the need for God’s people to challenge evil when we see it, and to speak out from a biblical perspective, taking the risks of faith that God has led us to.

He sees Esther as embodying wisdom in contrast to Haman’s folly. As one would expect there is plenty of discussion of the providence of God, working in ways and with timing that are not what we would expect. He attempts to soften the rather bloodthirsty sounding edicts issued by Esther, by proposing that they were only to be fulfilled in self-defence against those who explicitly attacked the Jews.

Verdict

I found this an interesting read and a good guide to the book of Esther. It fulfils the goals of the Bible Speaks Today series as it both illuminates the text and draws out principles for application. Sometimes I wondered whether he overlooked some of the moral ambiguities surrounding Mordecai and Esther’s behaviour. There was no real attempt to find echoes of the gospel story in the book. Arguably that may be a good thing, as those who do so often seem to need to put a lot of “spin” on various characters and events to make it fit, but I would have appreciated some discussion of where Jesus is to be found within the book. My favourite Esther commentary is Karen Jobes’ NIVAC commentary, but this one has a slightly different perspective so complements it well.

Book Review – The Message of Ezekiel (Chris Wright)

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This volume of the Bible Speaks Today series takes a slightly different approach in that it does not work through the book in strictly linear fashion. Wright prefers to group together passages with similar themes, and there are even one or two bits that don’t get covered at all.

In his introduction, he helps us understand Ezekiel’s context and life story. One of Wright’s strengths is bringing Ezekiel as a person to life, so we can understand how he is feeling, and his hopes and aspirations. Ezekiel is passionately God-centred, and understood that the reason God saved people is ultimately for his own glory. In fact, Wright is almost Piper-esque as he shows how Ezekiel’s primary motivation, even above compassion for people, is the glory of God in everything. Ezekiel is appointed by Yahweh as a “watchman”, but ironically, it is Yahweh himself who is the enemy that Ezekiel must warn the people about.

Wright is very good at helping you picture the scene as Ezekiel performs his bizarre prophetic mimes, becoming a virtual tourist attraction. In keeping with the goals of the series, he also brings out plenty of practical application both personally and for the church as a whole. He prophetically cautions that the church, like ancient Israel, has often been tempted into unholy and idolatrous alliances with the world.

Misson is another theme he picks up throughout the book, showing Ezekiel does have a concern that the nations come to know Yahweh in a saving way. His treatment of the final chapters of Ezekiel avoid fanciful speculation and show how the vision primarily is concerned with the return of the presence of God and the restoration of the worship of God.

The exposition runs to 368 pages, so the book is covered in good depth. I would wholeheartedly recommend this for those who find Ezekiel an impenetrable book, and especially to those willing to take the time to work their way through the whole thing. His breadth of concerns is impressive, ranging from social issues such as the environment and the poor, through to mission to the nations, through to matters of great theological importance such as holiness and the glory of God. It’s one of my favourites in the BST series, having read it twice now.

Book Review – The Message of James (Alec Motyer)

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Introduction

In his introduction, Alec Motyer argues that James is a preacher, and that his book is a sermon with a coherent plan. In other words, despite the often abrupt changes of topic we find, Motyer thinks he can determine an overall plan. This basically involves James introducing his key topics in chapter 1, expanding on them in chapters 2-4 and returning to them in chapter 5.

Commentary

The commentary includes the text of the RSV version and, like a number of the Bible Speaks Today volumes on New Testament letters, is very thorough. Every phrase of the book of James gets attention. Motyer is careful to show how each section relates to what has gone before, and I think manages to demonstrate some persuasive evidence for his proposed structure.

Of course, a practical book like James lends itself extremely well to an expository commentary – there is lots for us to take on board and apply. In particular the challenges concerning our care for the poor and our attitude towards money are made forcefully.

The Bible never teaches that wealth is wrong … everything depends on how it has been acquired, how it is used, and what place it holds in the heart of the possessor.

If we would follow the Lord Jesus then it must be our glory, as it was his, to be incessantly and preponderantly on the side of the poor, the underprivileged, the disadvantaged and the oppressed.

Money still does the talking far too loudly in Christian circles, and where and when it does, the glory of Christ departs.

When he comes to the supposed tension between Paul and James, he resolves it as follows:

To Paul the question was “How is salvation experienced?” and the answer “by faith alone”. To James the question was “How is true and saving faith recognized"?” and the answer “by its fruits”.

He says that for James, “works” means all that should be distinctive about the person who believes and is saved. Faith promotes works, faith needs works and faith precedes works. One of the applications he draws out is the need for Christians to pressure governments to address human need.

Motyer’s understanding of the structure of the book is that the main three “points” of James’ sermon are three characteristics of true religion: the controlled tongue, care for those in need, and personal holiness.

He shows that for James, control of the tongue is not merely evidence of spiritual maturity, it is the means to it. Motyer is also very challenging on the issue of divisions amongst Christians, which we tend to treat as of little consequence – we should consider these as grievous as wars and murder.

Another point of interest is his handling on the matter of prayer for the sick person. He takes some time to disagree with the Roman Catholic concept of “extreme unction”, and steers a moderate line on the subject of healing. The onus is placed on the elders of the church to pray genuine “prayers of faith” that a person will be healed, although Motyer notes that there are also times for “prayers of rest” where we commit ourselves to whatever the will of God may be. His take on confession is also interesting. He discourages generally confessing sins to those we have not sinned against – the confession to one another in view then is confession to those we have wronged.

Verdict

Bible Speaks Today volumes are great for personal study, as well as aids for preparing small group studies or sermons, and this is no exception. Motyer doesn’t simply explain the message of James, but drives home the challenge of his message. At over 200 pages it is not as concise as some of the others in the series, but it is worth making the effort to reflect in depth on this powerful book of the Bible.

We need to examine ourselves; … A thing as potent as the new birth, if it has taken place, cannot be hidden; it cannot fail to make its presence felt. To have the life of God in us and to remain unchanged is unthinkable.

Book Review – Joshua (Dale Ralph Davis)

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The Focus on the Bible series is similar to the Bible Speaks Today series, in that it reads more like a expository sermon than a commentary. The intention is very much to go beyond merely understanding the text, to allowing it to speak to us today.

Dale Ralph Davis is something of an expert in the historical books, having written the Focus on the Bible volumes on Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings. He writes as a pastor rather than a scholar, even though he does have a good grasp of Hebrew and is willing to interact with the issues raised by the more academic commentaries, often in footnotes.

He unashamedly approaches the text as “bread from God” – in other words, he writes from the settled conviction that God intends to speak directly to us through every part, even the lists of towns and cities that can seem so “dry” to us. He even criticises other commentators at various points for getting so bogged down in historical debate that they neglect to ask what God is saying to us. His writing style is engaging and he has a knack of presenting drawing out fresh insights from both well-known and obscure portions of Scripture.

Having said that, he is always cautious not to draw more from the text than is warranted. He does not fall into the trap of assuming that if any story triggers a particular devotional thought, then that must be the point of the story. He seeks to be faithful to the writer’s intention.

The subtitle to the book is “no falling words”, which is to say that the great theme of Joshua is that none of God’s promises fail. His approach is roughly one chapter of exposition per chapter of Joshua, although some of the chapters on the allocation of the land are treated as a unit. He often points out the significance of the way the story is structured, to help get to the heart of what the writer is trying to say.

Overall I would say this is a great model of how the Old Testament historical books should be approached. He demonstrates the importance of understanding the historical context and a careful exegesis of the text, but refuses to stop there, believing passionately that all Scripture is profitable and that it should never be “cold”.  If you haven’t read any of his commentaries it is well worth checking one out.

Book Review – Tyndale NT Commentary on Colossians & Philemon (N T Wright)

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The Tyndale New Testament Commentary series is pitched at a level that falls somewhere in the middle between academic and devotional focuses. They are relatively small paperback volumes, but there is enough space for each verse to be covered with at least a couple of paragraphs. Despite its age, IVP are in the process republishing the entire series which is testament to how highly regarded they are.

This volume, covering Colossians and Philemon was written by the prolific author and historian, N T Wright in 1986. The thing that immediately stands out is his engaging writing style. There are few commentators who have such a way with words. Although the Tyndale Series is primarily intended to be exegetical rather than expositional, Wright has a knack of drawing out penetrating insights and points of application with a remarkable economy of words (e.g. on Col 3:20-21 "Children need discipline; so do parents.").

I read this commentary at the same time as working through Douglas Moo’s much larger and more technical commentary on Colossians and Philemon. Many of the points made are of course very similar, but Wright does bring a fresh perspective to most subjects he looks at, and this commentary is no exception.

He argues that the false teaching Paul opposes in Colosse was actually simply Judaism, which is a minority view amongst evangelical commentators. He does a good job of showing how this holds together, although I was not entirely convinced. He views the main emphasis of the letter as a call to maturity, and agrees with O’Brien that we can view Paul as the author.

Some of the concepts I found helpful in his commentary on Colossians were his emphasis on the "new Genesis", and "new Exodus" that Christ represents, as well as his explanation of the significance of baptism as a transition from old to new "solidarities". Wright spends considerable time analysing the poem of Col 1:15-20, which he views as presenting Christ as God’s Wisdom, his Torah.

On Col 3:6 Wright explains his conception of hell as a place where people become less and less human, until the image of God is obliterated in them, but rejects the suggestion that hell does not exist, or that it will be unpopulated.

His commentary on Philemon is equally strong. He draws out fellowship (koinonia) as the key theme of the letter. His best material is on the parallels between Paul’s work of reconciling Philemon and Onesimus, and Christ’s reconciling work in the gospel:

Here, at the climax of the letter, we witness nothing less than the radical application of the doctrine of justification to everyday living. No Christian has a right to refuse a welcome to one whom God has welcomed. Faith in Christ, the basis of justification, is the basis also of koinonia. … Onesimus’ debts are to be put in the ledger under Paul’s name: and there they will find that they are more than cancelled out. They disappear as totally as the sins placed to Christ’s account on the cross.

So I highly recommend this commentary to anyone wanting to study or preach from Colossians or Philemon. It is hard to imagine you could read it without benefit, even if you had access to some of the more in depth commentaries such as those by O’Brien or Moo.

Book Review – Pillar Commentary on Colossians & Philemon

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The Pillar New Testament Commentary series is often described as a mid-level commentary, falling somewhere between popular level expositions on the one hand and more academically minded exegetical commentaries on the other. However, weighing in at 450 pages, a more detailed exegesis than his previous Pillar offering on James, so don’t expect a light read.

Colossians Intro

In his introduction to Colossians, Moo deals with two major questions. First is the identity of the author, and second the identity of the false teachers. On the authorship question, he begins by surveying the case against Paul, before providing his own response to it. As with O’Brien’s commentary on Ephesians, he strongly rejects the pseudepigraphical hypothesis. Moo thinks it most likely that Paul wrote it from Rome in AD 60-61.

As for the identity of the false teachers, Moo settles on a syncretistic mixture of paganism, local folk Judaism and Christianity, following Clinton Arnold’s proposal. The best section of the introduction though, is his brief analysis of the theological themes in Colossians. Unsurprisingly the centrality and supremacy of Christ is picked out as the key theme, and there is some interesting material on demythologising the powers (which he returns to in his commentary on 1:16), as well as some helpful thoughts on the place of “rules” in the Christian life.

Colossians Commentary

The commentary itself as extensive and thorough with each verse having a few pages of comments. Moo gives a great deal of attention to structure, especially in introductions to sections. Unsurprisingly, given his involvement with the NIV, he also shows a lot of interest in English translation choices. The commentary itself is based on the TNIV, and Moo will often highlight which translations he feels give the best sense of a verse. In some places he chooses to provide his own paraphrase, which is a helpful way of summarizing, especially if multiple options have been considered.

Colossians is a densely packed epistle. Barely a verse goes by without some tricky concept requiring explanation. Moo sure-footedly guides us through the exegetical possibilities, outlining the major interpretive options before giving us his judgment. He is rarely dogmatic, usually indicating with words like “perhaps”, “probably”, or “tentatively” the degree of certainty he feels about his conclusions. Paul’s statements are often illuminated by considering them in light of the false teaching, in light of his other writings, and detecting many echoes of OT language.

I won’t go into details on his exegesis, but I’ll mention a few highlights. I found him very helpful on circumcision and baptism in 2:11 and on the meaning of the “elements” (στοιχεῖα) in 2:8. I also gained a new perspective on 3:9-10 where he argues that the concept of the “old self/man” does not refer to a nature or part of the individual human being, but rather that the “new self” is a corporate entity (c.f. Eph 2:15 – one new man / humanity).

Philemon Introduction

The introduction to Philemon addresses two main issues. The first, more briefly, he considers a recently proposed alternative to the "traditional" view that Onesimus was a runaway slave. That is, the idea that Onesimus had deliberately gone to Paul in order that he might act as mediator in a dispute. Moo slightly prefers the traditional view.

The other major issue he addresses is that of the New Testament attitude to slavery. He outlines the usual reasons why the NT lacks the explicit condemnation of the institution of slavery that many modern Bible readers would like to find, but does go a little further by tentatively suggesting that the NT writers themselves had not necessarily reached a place where all the implications of their views were fully worked out. Although this sounds like it could be an uncontrolled hermeneutical framework, allowing justification of almost anything, Moo does at least attempt to constrain it by affirming that the NT writers were prevented from writing anything that contradicted the implications of the gospel.

Philemon Commentary

Again, the commentary is thorough. Whenever there is a phrase that could be taken in more than one way (several examples are found in Philemon 6), Moo will carefully outline the possible options, together with supporting evidence, before opting for his favourite. Sometimes I felt that he considered the merits of options that did not seem substantial enough to warrant the space devoted to them (e.g. on verse 9).

Moo considers “fellowship” to be one of the key themes of the letter of Philemon. Whilst he acknowledges that we cannot be sure, he does think that v16 and 21 do hint that Paul is hoping that Onesimus would be set free.

Conclusion

No one who has read any of his previous commentaries will be surprised to learn that this is another excellent offering from Moo. The attention to detail will be a blessing to anyone wanting to home in on a particular word or phrase, but at the same time may make for slow progress for those who like me are working through the entire book.

For my purposes, I would have gladly sacrificed a little detail on structure and allowed Moo to elaborate on some of his interesting ideas such as that of biblically oriented environmentalism mentioned in his comments on Col 1:20. But it would appear that Moo has decided to leave the preaching mainly to Paul and only give pointers towards how he would preach the passage himself.

It is not hard to imagine that Moo will take over the baton from O’Brien of having written the premier evangelical commentary on Colossians & Philemon (which I confess to not having read yet). That is not to disparage O’Brien’s highly regarded work in any way, but Moo’s is more up to date (O’Brien’s was published in 1982), slightly longer, and the Pillar series layout is significantly more reader-friendly than the Word Biblical Commentary series.

Book Review – Sweetheart (Mark Driscoll)

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Driscoll-Sweetheart-Book

I was privileged to receive a pre-publication copy of Mark Driscoll’s forthcoming book, thanks to the good folks at re:Lit. It should be appearing soon at all good booksellers, so here is my review to whet your appetite.

In this book, Driscoll explores what it means to be a “real man”, lamenting the fact that too many Christian guys have got completely the wrong idea about how they should behave. He exposes the lie that manhood is somehow all about courage and strength, and calls us to lay down the tough guy exterior to reveal your “inner sweetheart”.

The book is organized into three main sections, each exploring a different facet of biblical manhood:

1. Crying

A moving chapter on John 11:35 demonstrates that real men cry. Lots. He tells the tragic story of one pastor who was so hard-hearted he remained dry-eyed right the way through Sleepless in Seattle. He explains how in choosing Peter, himself a cry-baby (Matt 26:75), Jesus shows the type of sensitive soul that he is looking for in church leadership.

2. Caring

The way some people talk, you might think that being a man is all about feats of strength and endurance, winning wrestling matches or climbing mountains. But Driscoll shows that the real way to be a man is to care for beauty. Those men closest to God have always enjoyed what some might consider “girly” interests. He illustrates this with examples of Calvin’s love for poetry, Stott’s love for bird-watching, and Don Carson’s gift for interpretive dance.

3. Cowering

One of the real problems with being a macho man, is that by confronting problems you could get hurt. And God doesn’t want any of his little preciouses getting hurt, does he? Driscoll shows how the great masculine heroes of the Bible knew when to run and hide. The great apostle Paul set the example for us by hiding inside a basket rather than facing up to his opponents (Acts 9:25).

Of course, the greatest example of what it means to be a man is Jesus. Driscoll unpacks from Matt 12:19-20, the need to avoid conflict, speak quietly, and have gentle and soft hands (he recommends this hand cream).

Verdict: This makes essential reading for Christian men, who are so easily made to feel ashamed of their love for lime green cardigans and herbal tea, and suffer under the crushing pressure of being expected to achieve things or take a lead. Driscoll sets us free from all that false guilt, and proves once and for all that the true symbol of manhood is not the sword, but the daisy.

Book Review – CBC Jonah (Richard Patterson)

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My quest to work my way through the twelve minor prophets with the help of the Cornerstone Biblical Commentary Volume 10 has reached its end with perhaps the best known and loved of the minor prophets.

Introduction

Patterson briefly defends Jonah against those who charge the author with historical blunders, rejecting the view that the book is an allegory, and accepting the traditional 8th century B.C. dating.

Commentary

Like the commentary on Obadiah, Jonah seems to get proportionally a little more space than some of the others in this volume, meaning that the “notes” section covers exegetical issues in reasonable detail.

Again, as is typical of the series, the “commentary” section moves quickly from explaining the text to linking its teaching in with the rest of the Bible. Obviously, this means some exploration of the parallels between the story of Jonah and that of Jesus. Patterson also makes connections between the calming of the storm and the stories of Paul’s shipwreck in Acts 27 and Jesus calming the storm in Mark 4.

Conclusion

I guess the challenge of writing an introductory level commentary on a book like Jonah is that it is hard to bring out anything that people have not heard before. This commentary on Jonah serves as a decent introductory level guide to the prophet’s story and message, and connects its key themes to other parts of Scripture.

Book Review – CBC Obadiah (Richard Patterson)

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25 pages are devoted to the single chapter book of Obadiah in the Cornerstone Biblical Commentary Volume 10. I have always viewed Obadiah as one of the more difficult books to get anything out of, and so I was looking forward to what is the first commentary I have read on it.

Introduction

We know little for certain of Obadiah’s identity, and Patterson does not state clearly what date he supposes, putting forth cases for both the sixth and ninth centuries BC. The basic theme of the book is the judgment of Edom.

Commentary

Perhaps due to the brevity of the book, this commentary is more detailed than others in the volume, who normally devote around three or four pages to a chapter as compared to almost 20 here. This means that the “notes” section is unusually thorough, allowing various exegetical issues to be discussed for each verse.

Patterson draws out various moral lessons for believers from the various sins of Edom that Obadiah draws attention to. Particularly the sin of pride is highlighted as a danger for Christians. The section cataloguing the sins of Edom against God’s people (Ob 1:10-14) gives rise to an extended discussion of when these events might have been dated.

Patterson shows how Jesus took up Obadiah’s metaphor of the “cup” of judgment (Ob 1:16; John 18:11). He explains how the prophecies of the defeat of Edom have come to pass already in history, but that often future events are “telescoped” together – every judgment is in one sense a “day of the Lord”. These prophecies find their ultimate fulfilment in the return of Jesus.

Conclusion

Overall this is a helpful guide to Obadiah’s message of judgment, although it is a little puzzling that after complaining that there wasn’t enough space to cover Amos as thoroughly as I would have liked, Obadiah gets covered in much greater detail.

Book Review – CBC Amos (Andrew Hill)

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Here’s my review of Andrew Hill’s commentary on Amos from Volume 10 of the Cornerstone Biblical Commentary. For those of you who are getting fed up of these, there are now just two more minor prophets to go before I move on to studying some longer books of the Bible!

Introduction

Hill dates Amos’ prophecy to 760-750 BC during the reigns of Uzziah and Jereboam II. Although it was a time of relative prosperity for both kingdoms (Judah & Israel), Amos saw through the facade. Although much of Amos’ message is devoted to pronouncements of judgment, he does include a call to repentance and covenant obedience.

Commentary

The commentary follows the usual pattern I have described before, with “notes” filling in historical and exegetical issues while “commentary” seeks to explain the passage in question and tie it in with biblical teaching. Hill’s approach is slightly different from Patterson, in that he will often pick a single topic to home in on in the commentary section. This did mean that some questions I had were left unanswered. For example I wanted some comments on Amos 2:11-12; 6:10; 8:11-12.

Hill often focuses on the theology of each passage – what it teaches about the nature of God – his justice, sovereignty and universal rule. He shows how Amos eventually comes to terms with the inevitability of God’s judgment because of the covenant breaking through social injustice and religious hypocrisy. He interprets the restoration of David’s dynasty (Amos 9:11-15) in terms of Jesus and the worldwide spread of the gospel based on the teaching of Acts.

Overall, another helpful introduction to a minor prophet, but didn’t always manage to scratch where I was itching.