Henry Cowles strove to make the original words of Scripture understandable to today’s church. Cowles aimed for sound interpretation, bringing out the truest sense of the passage, while illuminating its historical context, its audience, and the intent of its author. In this way, Cowles’ works affirmed that the Bible is a practical book, useful for Christians of every time and place.
Each volume begins with a lengthy introduction that provides contextual information. Much of the commentary on the text is verse-by-verse, with the exception of the Pentateuch and historical books, which are treated topically in chronological order. Although Cowles makes full use of his expertise in the original languages by explaining the literary and linguistic background as necessary, this commentary series is accessible for English-only Bible study. It is beneficial for both pastors and scholars, as well as laypersons.
Many of the volumes also contain appended essays on theological topics relevant to themes in the book, including an essay on atonement in the volume on Hebrews, an essay on prophecy and eschatology appended to Revelation, an essay on theodicy appended to the volume on the Pastoral Epistles, and several others.
