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The Book of the Acts (New International Commentary on the New Testament)

The Book of the Acts (New International Commentary on the New Testament)

List Price: $40.00
Your Price: $26.40
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Overall, a classic. For those looking for Biblical Exegesis
Review: F.F. Bruce is a great scholar and many of his commentaries have held the attention of many pastors and laymen to this day. No matter what your view is of his conclusions, his exegesis is almost always a force to be reckoned with.

Moderate/conservative and reformed in his roots, this commentary wins five stars because of it's valuable sholarship. I would also recommend Acts commentaries by I. Marshall Howard (Tyndale) and Richard Longenecker (Expositor's) if you are looking for exegesis and sholarly contribution... if you want "application" and "light devotional" material there are plenty of others to choose from (that are generally mediocre in terms of interpreting and explaining the meaning of the text).

A word of caution to the traditional "charismatic": You may not agree with all he has to say about the traditional "baptism of the Spirit" proof text passages... I still recommend reading it so that you may be challenged to interpret Acts again.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Overall, a classic. For those looking for Biblical Exegesis
Review: F.F. Bruce is a great scholar and many of his commentaries have held the attention of many pastors and laymen to this day. No matter what your view is of his conclusions, his exegesis is almost always a force to be reckoned with.

Moderate/conservative and reformed in his roots, this commentary wins five stars because of it's valuable sholarship. I would also recommend Acts commentaries by I. Marshall Howard (Tyndale) and Richard Longenecker (Expositor's) if you are looking for exegesis and sholarly contribution... if you want "application" and "light devotional" material there are plenty of others to choose from (that are generally mediocre in terms of interpreting and explaining the meaning of the text).

A word of caution to the traditional "charismatic": You may not agree with all he has to say about the traditional "baptism of the Spirit" proof text passages... I still recommend reading it so that you may be challenged to interpret Acts again.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Avoids crucial issues
Review: I have used this commentary in my personal study of the book of Acts. Though Bruce is a good scholar, he does not do a good job here. He avoids the crucial issues that automatically sufaces when one reads the text. Often he just restates what the text has already said. I suppose this shows the difficulty of writing a commentary on a historical book, compared to a "teaching" book. Put your money on Marshalls Tyndale commentary instead. He has a remarkable ability to forecast which questions the reader will have.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: I'm not so sure
Review: I haven't really gotten a great deal from this book... although I know that F.F.Bruce is one of the great scholars on the book of Acts. I know they say that sometimes the art and artist critique the critic-- and what you say reveals more about you yourself than about the great master. That could definitely be the case here. No doubt this man 1) knows the Scripture, and 2) has written and ministered with the power and authority of God...

But, if you can only buy one book (commentary) on Acts, go try Adjith Fernando's NIV Application Commentary.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Very good resource
Review: Mr. Bruce does an excellent job of giving the reader the necessary background information underlying the text of Acts. I found his commentary to be highly readable and easy to follow. It is not overly technical, but does make frequent mention of textual variants found in the Greek manuscripts.

Overall, I found this to be a solid intermediate-level commentary written from a moderate conservative perspective. Very helpful...

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Very good resource
Review: Mr. Bruce does an excellent job of giving the reader the necessary background information underlying the text of Acts. I found his commentary to be highly readable and easy to follow. It is not overly technical, but does make frequent mention of textual variants found in the Greek manuscripts.

Overall, I found this to be a solid intermediate-level commentary written from a moderate conservative perspective. Very helpful...

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Well done
Review: Overall, this commentary is rather well done. Bruce does an excellent job at providing an insightful commentary, and has a very strong command of the history, geography, and culture of Palestine and Rome, and the persons mentioned in the book of Acts.

It is especially interesting to see that Bruce seems to be rather Pentecostal in his interpretation of the outpouring of the Spirit passages. However, he avoids popular phrases such as "the baptism of the Holy Spirit" and "initial evidence" and the like. He also shows that he seems rather open to such a modern phenomenon, citing the biography of Sundar Singh, who was a missionary in India claiming to have had a Damascus like experience where he saw Christ.

However, some of the commentary seems a little lacking. The last 10-15 chapters of the commentary seem a lot skimpier than the earlier parts. Perhaps because there is not as much controversy with these parts, or who knows, maybe Bruce was under some sort of deadline. This is the main reason I don't rate this commentary 5 stars.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Solid and Lucid Exegesis
Review: There are better commentaries on Acts, but this is the one that most other modern commentators have built upon. The introduction is very brief, but the exegesis is solid and lucid. Bruce provides excellent background material and the work is very helpful when used along with the work of Ben Witherington (Socio-Rhetorical Commentary published by Eerdmans), and I. Howard Marshall (Tyndale series).

I must admit that the introduction in this volume seems inadequate, but Bruce provides a much better introduction in his commentary on the Greek text of Acts which is still available. At any rate, this is still a very valuable and helpful contribution to the study of Acts.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Readable and interesting
Review: This commentary on Acts offers a great deal of historical background on the people, places, and events of the 1st century Christian church. In some places it gets a little bogged down with the names of all the people, but quite often Bruce offers interesting insights into the climate of the times. Taking the time to slow down and review some of the accounts in Acts really opens your eyes to details that are easily missed, or left out in the translation. There could have been more discussion of theological issues in the commentary, but Bruce seemed to be content in describing historical aspects. The commentary did convey a respect for the book of Acts as the Word of God, and would be a good place for a reader to get some additional insight into Acts.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Readable and interesting
Review: This commentary on Acts offers a great deal of historical background on the people, places, and events of the 1st century Christian church. In some places it gets a little bogged down with the names of all the people, but quite often Bruce offers interesting insights into the climate of the times. Taking the time to slow down and review some of the accounts in Acts really opens your eyes to details that are easily missed, or left out in the translation. There could have been more discussion of theological issues in the commentary, but Bruce seemed to be content in describing historical aspects. The commentary did convey a respect for the book of Acts as the Word of God, and would be a good place for a reader to get some additional insight into Acts.


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