How Good are NT Wright's for Everyone's Series?
Hello!
For those of you who own them, how good are NT Wright's for Everyone's commentaries in terms of application, depth, theology, etc. I think $60 bucks for most of them is not a bad deal, but wouldn't want to add more New Testament resources if they basically give you similar information that the other commentaries give you. Anyway, any input will be appreciated!
Blessings!
DAL
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I just bought them myself. My initial impression is that they are more devotional, as you would expect in a "for everyone" commentary set. I have been impressed with what I have read. One interesting thing… at least in Mark, he has given his own free flowing translation.
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Don't expect but academic commentary but it is top notch overview material.
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DAL said:
For those of you who own them, how good are NT Wright's for Everyone's commentaries in terms of application, depth, theology, etc.
Don't hesitate.
For each passage, Wright gives his own dynamic equivalent translation. (These are collected and sold separately as well, so you get an entire translation.)
Then he tells a story that has some modern parallel to that pericope.
Then he explains what the passage means and how it applies to us.
They are popular rather than academic commentaries, but under the surface (unexpressed mostly) lies Wright's very significant scholarship. So I do refer to them even when preparing more academic material.
My wife and I bought the entire series of For Everyone commentaries on paper before they were available in Logos, and at any point in time several of them are missing from our shelves as people want to read them. We then bought them in Logos as well (on pre-pub). And the ones that are not in Logos yet, we buy on paper. For example, I just taught as 12-session survey of Revelation, using Wright's Revelation for Everyone as the text.
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alabama24 said:
I just bought them myself. My initial impression is that they are more devotional, as you would expect in a "for everyone" commentary set. I have been impressed with what I have read. One interesting thing… at least in Mark, he has given his own free flowing translation.
Those translations have been gathered together into a stand-alone New Testament bible callled The Kingdom New Testament:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0062064916
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Comment deleted by me
"No man is greater than his prayer life. The pastor who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying." Leonard Ravenhill
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Thank you all for your input. I'll be getting those to check them out, if they don't suit my needs, then I guess I can always return them within the 30 day trial period. Thanks again!
DAL
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From what understand, Wright is famous for new Pauline studies, so I bought (besides his three books from the collection of Christian Origins) his volumes on Romans and on Paul.
For other books I still have other authors :-)
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At $3.75, buy one and see for yourself. As far as I can tell they are structurally and stylistically the same. And the best advice in the world can't beat a trying it out, IMHO. I've bought too much stuff based only on recommendation and good reviews only to be disappointed. I wouldn't buy the all of them ($60), without trying one ($3.75). You have another week to take advantage of the Madness sale.
As far as application, depth, theology ... After reading something of his which on the surface isn't "deep theological" study I find much of it to be clear, simple explanations and insights from a deep thinking scholar. It can be at times, "well, duh. Why didn't I see that before." Of course, his theology (in some points very controversial) does come through. But even if you don't wholly agree with his theology, you can gain some great (yet simple) insight. On the other hand, I wouldn't do in depth study with just this.
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Timothy Ha said:
From what understand, Wright is famous for new Pauline studies
He's also famous for being a historical Jesus person, so you might need the titles on the 'evangelists', too. [:)]
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Johann said:
It can be at times, "well, duh. Why didn't I see that before."
... and I *LOVE* those moments. It is, in fact, the reason that I refer to commentaries so frequently.
"I read dead people..."
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Buy them all. They are awesome, and they are dirt cheap. You will thank me!
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Thank you. (I already did). [:)]
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They are terrific--an accessible and friendly combination of devotional reading along with his theological and historical conclusions layered in. If you want to read the New Testament as the climax of God's covenant with Israel, as the story of God becoming King, as well as God's incarnation on earth, this is the easiest way to do it!
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As I've said on a previous thread, these works are excellent! I once heard it said that 'if you want to be able to explain Gospel truths simply, you need to be able to understand them profoundly, but of course once having understood them profoundly you need to be able to explain them simply - and N T Wright is the master of this!!! His more popular works are often underestimated, but if you read them carefully you will suddenly come to appreciate that your understanding of things has just got a lot bigger - and long may it continue.
I wouldn't hesitate to get these, they contain a lot more theology than would first appear on the service.
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Can someone comment on the other NT Wright titles that are also currently on sale but are not part of the Everyone's Series? Are they all theological / academic in nature or are some also pastoral / devotional in approach?
Thanks in advance.
Peter
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PL said:
Can someone comment on the other NT Wright titles that are also currently on sale but are not part of the Everyone's Series? Are they all theological / academic in nature or are some also pastoral / devotional in approach?
In general, Tom writes his academic stuff as N T Wright (Nicholas Thomas) such as NTPG, JPG, and RSoG, whereas he writes his popular stuff as Tom Wright, e.g. Surprised by Hope.
That distinction falls down when 2 different publishers handle his work, and Logos does not maintain the distinction, so you'll have to check Amazon or Book Depository to see what the author is as published. (I'm kinda glad that Logos doesn't make the distinction, so I can search my library for N T Wright and get them all.)
The opening 2 chapters of NTPG are heavy going as he establishes an epistomology of story. After that, he switches to story (consistent with the epistomology he just established) and the style becomes easier. They're not inaccessible.
Having said that, you can't really read Tom while you're half-asleep. He is usually leading you to consider things that are outside of what you already know and ways you already think, so while the Tom Wright works are more accessible they do make you think. That's part of their value.
I have 40 of his works in Logos. Other than a couple of liturgically based ones, I find them all valuable.
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There are some things that I don't agree with N. T. Wright on. I am not yet sold on the "New Perspective" on Paul. However, I have enormous respect for the guy's scholarship and ability. I do want to hear what he has to say and give it lots of consideration. So I was glad to pick up more of his work, including the "Everyone's commentaries."
While the "Everyone's commentaries" are not critical commentaries like NICOT/NT, Word, or Pillar, they are very good for what they are intended to do. Helpful and well worth picking up, especially at 75% off. This is a great buy.
I have some of Wright's more scholarly work, and it is very good, whether one fully agrees with him or not. After all, I don't want to close my mind so tight that I can't get any ventilation in there. You can't go wrong buying Wright at 75% off.
Just my opinion, and I am the expert on my opinion.
"In all cases, the Church is to be judged by the Scripture, not the Scripture by the Church," John Wesley0 -
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I enjoy the modern perspective that he brings to each passage. It gives me food for thought as I approach the Scriptural text.
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I was just curious about how this set would compare with the Bible Speaks Today or the IVP NT Commentary series. The price is great, but would there be a benefit to add this set?
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Norman Low said:
I was just curious about how this set would compare with the Bible Speaks Today or the IVP NT Commentary series. The price is great, but would there be a benefit to add this set?
They are different, Wright's are much more devotional. To give you a comparison, I opened up the Luke volumes to the Genealogy of Jesus
:
Note that Wright
- is the largest (which surprised me, but then again it seems he allots the same amount of space to each pericope, meaning the Nativity is trated in the same size and focused on one relevant point, not like a spot, not brightly lit out into all areas and niches of the text)
- follows always the same structure
- he gives his own translation
- introduces with a link of the text to the modern reader, here the Maori genealogies
- exposition (it reads often more like spoken than written language, as if he was giving a radio message on the pericope)
- zoning in on a point of application or significance
- will be more consistent than BST (half of it is one author) or IVPNTC
IVPNTC here comes accross more like a technical commentary than an expository one (but this may vary within the series). Now that I bought Wright, I wouldn't want to miss any of the three (unfortunately, as you may recognize from the screenshot, the IVP is not in Logos...)
Have joy in the Lord!
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Kenneth Neighoff said:
I enjoy the modern perspective that he brings to each passage. It gives me food for thought as I approach the Scriptural text.
"modern perspective" False doctrine I'd say!!! so to the OP:
Don't buy NT Wright books. He sounds like a Jehovah's Witness read for yourself [[Comments from Ephesians 1:11-14]]:
"But what is this new promised land? What is the promised inheritance?
The standard Christian answer for many years and in many traditions has been: ‘Heaven’. Heaven, it has been thought, is the place to which we are going. Great books like John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress have been written in which the happy ending, rather than an inheritance suddenly received from a relative, is the hero reaching the end of this worldly life and going off to share the life of heaven. But that isn’t what Paul says, here or elsewhere.
The inheritance he has in mind, so it appears from the present passage and the whole chapter, is the whole world, when it’s been renewed by a fresh act of God’s power and love. Paul has already said in verse 10 that God’s plan in the Messiah is to sum up everything in heaven and earth. God, after all, is the creator; he has no interest in leaving earth to rot and making do for all eternity with only one half of the original creation. God intends to flood the whole cosmos, heaven and earth together, with his presence and grace, and when that happens the new world that results, in which Jesus himself will be the central figure, is to be the ‘inheritance’ for which Jesus’ people are longing.
At the moment, therefore, the people who in this life have come to know and trust God in Jesus are to be the signs to the rest of the world that this glorious future is on the way."
Wright, T. (2004). Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon (12). London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
Plus his style sucks. It sucks in that he always starts with some dumb arse story of him and then tries to push to much a point trying to make it fit by forcing it into the text and according to him that's his "scholarly" explanation and application. Plus in his dumb translation he adds words that aren't even on the text greek text. Bloody him for shame!
LOL
Giovanni
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And the bully steps out onto the beach and runs over and kicks over the sand castle, yelling its only a dumb sand castle. No one appreciates it, but it accomplishes its purpose, which is to draw attention to the bully.
"For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power"
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Jerry M said:
And the bully steps out onto the beach and runs over and kicks over the sand castle, yelling its only a dumb sand castle. No one appreciates it, but it accomplishes its purpose, which is to draw attention to the bully.
Well isn't that what JW's teach? If you say no you're in denial...LOL...After hitting the lotto tonight I'll go visit NT Wright and tell him in his face he's wrong about this earth being renewed in the future and that he's just a JW in disguise...LOL
The worse thing is people buy into his false conclusions because they love "his modern perspectives" LOL Modern? that started with the JW's before 1914.
Roger that...queesssssssssssssssh...over!
[6] [;)]
Giovanni
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Dear Giovanni,
Here's a good passage you might want to consider when reading NT Wright or anybody else: 1 Thessalonians 5:21. Now let me ask you: If NT Wright said in his commentary to "Go and jump off a cliff" would you do it just because he said it? No, right? Now if he said, "Be loyal to God and try your best to serve Him" would you do it -- I know I would. So the point is "Prove all things, hold fast that which is good." There are no perfect Bible commentators because that's all they are "Commentators" and each one is going to add their own personal "theology flavor" to a passage. Just make sure to double check with Scriptures before you take their word for it (Acts 17:11).
Thanks and blessings!
DAL
Edit: PS. Personally, I like NT Wright's style. It's used a lot by public speakers to get people's attention. Tell a story, make a point...tell a story, make a point. Craig Valentine uses it and Darren Lacroix uses it also and they are both very effective. You should try it some time.
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Thanks for all the information!
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Giovanni Baggio said:
He sounds like a Jehovah's Witness read for yourself
You really had me laughing here trying to imagine an Anglican Jehovah's Witness. Unfortunately the language of your last paragraph turned my laughter into a scowl.[:(]
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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I want to thank almost everyone for their posts on N. T. Wright. I do not own any of his books and have considered purchasing them at this great price. The only thing I know of the author is from what I have read concerning his New Perspective on Paul. I appreciate the screen shots and the comments, which were very helpful. I will make a purchase this morning.
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I like his writing style. I think he can be 'deep' and thoughtful but not lose the common man. He is (was?) the Bishop of Durham if that makes any difference to anyone.
As for him being a Jehovah Witness, that's a bad joke, right?
You can find most of his stuff accessible for scrutiny or nit-picking or however you are moved here: http://www.ntwrightpage.com/
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PL said:
Can someone comment on the other NT Wright titles that are also currently on sale but are not part of the Everyone's Series? Are they all theological / academic in nature or are some also pastoral / devotional in approach?
Thanks in advance.
Peter
In addition to the comments made about his trilogy (Jesus and the People of God, etc) and the commentaries, I wanted to say that I love his "Surprised by Hope" book. Not overly academic, but I don't find it devotional, either. renewed my understanding of life with God in more concrete terms, regarding the new heaven/earth, and the implications of that for life here-and-now.
I like Apples. Especially Honeycrisp.
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