Romans: Volume 6 Volume 6

By: Thomas C. Oden

Book Overview

Christianity Today Book of the Year

St. Paul's Letter to the Romans has long been considered the theological high-water mark of the New Testament. It was no less regarded by the ancient church, and patristic interpreters have left us an abundance of valuable comment on Romans.

This Ancient Christian Commentary on Romans collects the best and most representative of patristic commentary and homily on Romans, and it brings...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 083081356X
• ISBN13: 9780830813568
• Release Date: October 2005
• Publisher: IVP Academic
• Length: 434 Pages
• Weight: 2.33 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.3" x 1.4" x 10.2"

Customer Reviews

Review of Purchase

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Balanced Patristic Commentary

It is discouraging to read some negative reviews printed twice under the same name and to see so many negative reviews without details under "reader." This commentary indeed includes condemned heretics like Origen and Theodore of Mopsuestia. However, Origen was described by Gregory of Nyssa as the "touchstone of us all" and continued to be influential as a biblical critic throughout the Middle Ages. Theodore of Mopsuestia and Tertullian were similarly influential. Before the Muslim conquests and Iconoclasm ossified positions among Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and so-called Oriental Orthodox Christians, these were the writers who were widely read, admired - and yes - sometimes refuted. I recommend it as an adjunct to the International Critical Commentary (ICC). Skip the Anchor commentary, which covers much of its liberal bias, and commentaries from conservative publishers that do the same. Use the ICC to uncover the scholarly issues of our day and the ACCS as a pastoral voice, generally in agreement but hardly monolithic, from before the medieval controversies. Since the editor (a Baptist, I believe) has rendered a number of translations himself, it always is worth going to the original sources (preferably in the original language) to follow up on what is attractive, disturbing or unclear.

Don't Be Put Off!!!

In light of all the negative reviews below, I'd like to add another perspective. While I do agree that there is a need for a more in-depth and scholarly collection of ancient comments on Scripture (yes, Anchor would probably do a fine job), this series is a great resource for the busy pastor. When I was in seminary, or in positions where I wasn't preaching every week, going to the original documents was expected and even enjoyable. But as the pastor of a church plant, I'm thrilled to have these books to quickly see how my interpretations (and those of modern commentators) square with the thoughts of our ancient brethren. If you're an academic, a student, or want to really wrestle with what the ancients had to say, then yes, a more extensive collection is desirable. But if you're pressured with the weekly grind of preaching, yet still want to take your congregation a bit deeper, these commentaries can be a real blessing.

A place to begin

The ACCS series, of which this volume on Romans is a part, is a place to begin in terms of patristic commentary, not a place to end. If this series had claimed to be an in-depth and comprehensive collection on the Church Fathers' statements on Scripture, then many of the critiques leveled at it would be justified. However, these negative reviews are aiming at a straw man.The ACCS series provides selected commentary by various thinkers in the early centuries of Christianity regarding the various books of the Bible. Even with its selectivity, these books are hundreds of pages long (compared to the at most thirty or so pages of the actual Scriptural text). To try and be as comprehensive as some reviewers seem to be demanding, the volume on Romans would no doubt have to be at least three large volumes itself.The series creators hoped these volumes could help encourage cross-denominational discussion with these formative thinkers. It is a starting place for thinking and discussing, not the end. Perhaps the best use of these volumes are as time-savers. Even the best Patristics scholar will not have the location of every comment on a particular Scripture verse by the Fathers right of the top of his/her head. And they may not want to spend the time of going through the index of, say, every volume in the Ante-Nicene, Nicene, and Post-Nicene Fathers series (all, what, 28 of them?). Instead, the scholar can look quickly at this volume from the ACCS, looking to see what various Fathers had to say, then go to the original document to see the topic in context, where the various commentaries can be compared. Certainly, the ACCS volume on Romans is useful for that.If one is looking for every comment from every Church Father on Scripture, this is not the series for you. But, then again, that's not what this series intended to be in the first place. But, as a starting place for further research, it is excellent.

Reading Scripture With the Early Church

After 20 years of reading and studying the Bible, I have never been more encouraged with a commentary series. The study on Romans is exceptional! I am neither Roman Catholic or Protestant and have found this Ancient Christian Commentary series a BLESSING. I had grown weary of the Reformation, Lutheran, Calvinist readings of scripture. It is so encouraging and refreshing to see what the first 3 centuries thought about Romans before Christianity became Christendumb (sic).