Mark (Vol 2) (The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0830814876 ISBN 13: 9780830814879

Publisher: Inter-Varsity Press,US, 1998

Synopsis

The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture is a unique twenty-eight-volume series encompassing all of Scripture and offering contemporary readers the opportunity to study for themselves the key writings of the early church fathers. Arranged by the books of the Bible, each portion of commentary allows the living voices of the church in its formative centuries to speak as they engage the sacred page of Scripture, rendered throughout the series in English in the ecumenically accepted Revised Standard Version of the Bible. The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture does what very few of today's students of the Bible could do for themselves. With the aid of computer technology, the vast array of writings from the church fathers - including much that is available only in the ancient languages - have been combed for their comment on Scripture. From these results, scholars with a deep knowledge of the fathers and a heart for the church have hand-selected material for each volume, shaping, annotating and introducing it to today's readers. Each portion of commentary has been chosen for its salient insight, its rhetorical power and its faithful representation of the consensual exegesis of the early church. The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture is an ecumenical project, promoting a vital link of communication between today's varied Christian traditions and their common ancient ancestors in the faith. On this shared ground we listen as leading pastoral theologians of the church's first several centuries gather around the text of Scripture and offer their best theological, spiritual and pastoral insights. Today the historical-critical method of interpretation has nearly exhausted its claim on the biblical text and on the church. In its wake there is a wide-spread yearning among Christian individuals and communities for the wholesome, the deep and the enduring. The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture seeks not to replace those excellent commentaries that have been produced in the twentieth century. It supplements them, framing them with interpretive voices that have long sustained the church and only recently have fallen silent. It invites us to listen with appreciative ears and sympathetic minds as our ancient ancestors in the faith describe and interpret the scriptural vistas as they see them. The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture is a postcritical revival of the early commentary tradition known as the glossa ordinaria, a text artfully elaborated with ancient and authoritative reflections and insights. An uncommon companion for theological interpretation, spiritual reading, and wholesome teaching and preaching.

About this title

Review

"The Scriptures have been read with love and attention for nearly two thousand years, and listening to the voice of believers from previous centuries opens us to unexpected insight and deepened faith. Those who studied Scripture in the centuries closest to its writing, the centuries during and following persecution and martyrdom, speak with particular authority. The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture will bring to life the truth that we are invisibly surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses."--Frederica Mathewes-Green, Commentator, National Public Radio

"We speak abstractly in scholarly circles of the need to transcend looking at Christianity through the spectrum of modern presuppositions. This series, based on the commentaries of early Christians, gives us a concrete way to do this. It's a great idea."--Don S. Browning, Alexander Campbell Professor of Ethics and Social Sciences, The Divinity School, University of Chicago

"In the desert of biblical scholarship that tries to deconstruct or get behind the texts, the patristic commentators let the pure, clear waters of Christian faith flow from its scriptural source. Preachers, teachers and Bible students of every sort will want to drink deeply from the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture."--Richard John Neuhaus, President of Religion and Public Life, and editor in chief of First Things

"Contemporary pastors do not stand alone. We are not the first generation of preachers to wrestle with the challenges of communicating the gospel. The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture puts us in conversation with our colleagues from the past, that great cloud of witnesses who preceded us in this vocation. This commentary enables us to receive their deep spiritual insights, their encouragement, and guidance for present-day interpretation and preaching of the Word. What a wonderful addition to any pastor's library!"--William H. Willimon, Dean of the chapel and Professor of Christian Ministry, Duke University

"The conspectus of patristic exposition that this series offers has been badly needed for several centuries, and the whole Christian world should unite to thank IVP for undertaking to fill the gap. For the ongoing ecumenical conversation, and the accurate application of early Christian thought, and the current hermeneutical debate as well, the Ancient Christian Commentary will prove itself to be a really indispensable resource."--J. I. Packer, Sangwoo Youtong Chee Professor of Theology, Regent College

"This volume continues the valuable exploration of patristic interpretation."--Mark Bilby, Religious Studies Review, September 2009

"A 'must' for all theological libraries."--International Review of Biblical Studies, Vol. 55, 2008-2009

"A wealth of information for the classic Bible scholar."--Ravonne A. Green, American Reference Books Annual, 2006, Volume 37

"Contemporary Christians would do well to draw the hermeneutical circle broadly enough to include not only cross-cultural voices from around the world but also the voices to be found in the Ancient Christian Commentary series. This is an excellent sermon-preparation resource for pastors."--The Christian Century, May 2, 2006

About the Author

Oden was active in the Confessing Movement in America, particularly within the United Methodist Church and was president of The Institute for Classical Christian Studies. He suggested that Christians need to rely upon the wisdom of the historical Church, particularly the early Church, rather than on modern scholarship and theology and said his mission was "to begin to prepare the postmodern Christian community for its third millennium by returning again to the careful study and respectful following of the central tradition of classical Christianity."

Edition details

• Publisher: Inter-Varsity Press,US
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0830814876
• ISBN 13: 9780830814879
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272
• Editor: Oden Thomas C., Hall Christopher A.