Hey All,
I was wondering what the Paideia Commentary Series is like and if it is useful for a Reformed Christian Preacher.
If you have used the series, can you give me some feedback?
I only have 2 volumes in the Paideia Commentary, they are OK. Nothing about them standout as extremely insightful or ground breaking. Now I have a large library and if I owned no commentaries I think this would be classified as a solid commentary offering decent information. I love many of the contributors to this series but the two volumes I own I have really gone over in the past couple days and for myself I concluded they don't offer enough to want me to go after them. The two I have are [Acts] and [Ephesians and Colossians] perhaps the others are more impressive. I really want to like this series but from my use they feel ok but nothing super. Someone else can hopefully praise this series or evaluate much more of this series, I can only tell you how my encounters with this series has been.
-dan
If I'm honest, I've been disappointed with it. It's supposed to be theological, but I never found it helpful in analysing the theology of the text itself. I've just looked up a passage I remember being disappointed in to illustrate what I meant (1 Cor 12:3). I rediscovered that the author describes the verse as "[an] awkward expression", "clumsy", "grammatically odd" and "peculiar". I took that to mean she didn't have a clue what Paul was talking about.
The text is often also glossed over. For example, the 227 words in verses 12-21 are covered in just 300 words, presumably because they aren't deemed theologically important. The Tyndale Commentary (which, at 100,000 words is almost exactly the same size) covers the same text in 900 words, which seems much more appropriate.
I think of it as a literary and socio/cultural commentary. As such, I find it solid but unimpressive as I usually have stronger resources. If I lacked other literary and socio/cultural commentaries, I would find it quite useful.
Hey All, I was wondering what the Paideia Commentary Series is like and if it is useful for a Reformed Christian Preacher. If you have used the series, can you give me some feedback?
You didn’t ask, but for the same discount, and closer to your home, though from LitPress:
https://www.logos.com/product/31267/sacra-pagina-new-testament-commentary-series
These volumes are quite interesting reading. They kind of move between the various interpretive forms (eg critical, etc), but relative to each book being considered. Quite unique. And they seem to be pretty tradition-agnostic.
Thanks all for your input. They were VERY helpful.
Denise - thanks for your suggestion regarding the Sara Pagina. You made a good suggestion for I actually got it during march madness. Although it's a series from a Catholic background, they scholars focus on the text more than their presuppositions, making it a very helping commentary on the text.
I'd go with the Concordia Commentaries. Reformed. I have most of them and not disappointed at all. FWIW.
mm.
Milkman, thanks for recommending the Concordia Series. I had noticed them before and I just borrowed one (Ruth) for a project. It's actually REALLY good.
Question, has there ever been a sale on this series previously? I would love to get the series, but can only afford it probably on a sale
