Great book and value!

Terrific book. Well written and full of more information that I expected. Definitely worth the investment.

The Holman Apologetics Commentary on the Bible (HACB) is an ambitious commentary series that looks to interact with the various shades of contemporary challenges to the Bible and the biblical worldview. The primary purpose of the HACB is to equip readers to defend the reliability of Scripture and the historic evangelical understanding of its teachings (p. 1). This series is designed to be used primarily by general readers such as pastors, students, and laymen. Although scholars and teachers will be certain to welcome the series considering the lineup for the inaugural volume, The Gospels and Acts, which includes, Michael Wilkins on Matthew, Craig Evans on Mark, Darrell Bock on Luke and Acts, and Andreas Kstenberger on John.

The content of the present volume is superb and unparalleled among apologetic literature written in the defense of the Gospels and Acts. Still there are at least two things that should be noted about the commentary. First, this is not a traditional verse-by-verse commentary. According to the General Editor, Jeremy Royal Howard, the authors were provided an index that identified verses known to be relevant to the topics of apologetics and biblical reliability. They restricted their comments to these verses, plus any others that they recognized as germane to the aims of this project (p. 6). Second, the comments on each passage are concise and specific, and may result in the reader being unsatisfied and wishing another perspective or topic was addressed (i.e. there is no discussion surrounding the Islamic argument against the deity of Jesus from Matthew 21:18-22 or Mark 11:12-14). But at roughly 800 pages, this will be few and far between. Typically, the comments are narrowly aimed at specific issues related to apologetics or biblical reliability, which is stated at the offset of the comment, though some passages may require multiple issues to be addressed and are treated accordingly.

Overall the reader will be very pleased with the HACB The Gospels and Acts. It sets out to accomplish a much-needed task in our post-postmodern context, and it delivers tremendously. If I had to make any suggestions it would be the addition of a cross-reference system to identify parallel passages to point the reader to other entries that may address the topic(s) from a different angle. Although the Subject Index (pp. 789-796) provides the reader with a wealth of navigational insight for the various topics covered and where they can be found in the volume.



One of the most exciting things about our present day is the breadth of biblical commentaries available to the average reader. What this has done in our current context is force scholars and publishers to think outside of the box as they survey the landscape of biblical commentaries to construct new projects that better serve specific needs of the contemporary reader. It is within this reality that The Holman Apologetics Commentary on the Bible: The Gospels and Acts should find a welcome place on the shelf of every pastor, teacher, student, and layman.

I received this book for free from B&H Academic for this review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.