The Lectionary Commentary, Vol. 2: The Acts and the Epistles
Overview
An unprecedented, monumental work, the three-volume Lectionary Commentary offers superb exegetical essays on 513 biblical texts from the Revised Common Lectionary spanning the three-year liturgical cycle. The present volume, The Second Readings: Acts and the Epistles, covers the lectionary readings for the final selections of Acts and for all of the New Testament Epistles, from Romans to Revelation. Unique to this volume is an excellent essay by Colin E. Gunton on preaching from the Letters.
Top Highlights
“Integrity involves both these citizenships. We cannot have integrity in our everyday affairs if we are not willing to take seriously our responsibilities as citizens of heaven. And we cannot possibly have integrity as citizens of heaven if we neglect our interpersonal, social, and political responsibilities as citizens here on earth.” (Page 364)
“Finally, this passage ends with an emphasis on the communal nature of this new life. I am not a new person. We are a new people. This new life is plural, not singular. Holiness is not any individual’s own possession; it exists when someone loves another. The kind of holiness that comes from the ‘living stone’ exists only in community.” (Page 553)
“He affirms three things about our status as God’s children. First, our relationship to God in Christ is certain: ‘See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are’ (3:1). Second, we are God’s children even if the world does not recognize us as such (3:2). Third, we are God’s children now, even when it is not apparent, even before it has been fully revealed to the world (3:2b).” (Page 584)
“This is John’s way of reminding his readers that the communion of saints is a communion of sufferers who will ultimately conquer, not conquerors who happen to suffer.” (Page 608)
“God is the actor, but all God’s actions, from the plan before creation to the consummation of all creation, are done in and through Christ.” (Page 304)
An excellent tool for studying the texts of the lectionary.
—Clergy Journal
A remarkable achievement for its scholarly exegesis and its concern to provide a basis for exposition...Will pay handsome dividends for preachers and congregations.
—Expository Times
- Title: The Lectionary Commentary, Vol. 2: The Acts and the Epistles
- Editor: Roger E. Van Harn
- Publisher: Eerdmans
- Publication Date: 2005
- Pages: 643