New Books!! Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture Series

Well, I finally got around to spending my two Amazon gift certificates I got for Christmas, one from my wife and one from my sister/brother-in-law. I'm aways in a quandary as how to spend (or is it redeem?) these things; not because I don't appreciate them, but because I appreciate them so much and want to spend them on just the Right Thing. I know there's lots of things on Amazon that I could get (CD's, DVD's, mp3 downloads and whatnot), but it usually (OK, always) comes down to books. Alright, so I'm a dyed-in-the-wool bibliophile: sue me (or write a good book about it so I can read about it). Should I buy one, immense (usually hard-core scholarly) reference tome that I've had my eye on for a long time but could never justify putting out that kind of change for, or do I go with two or three smaller, more immediately interesting, books that I might read and enjoy once (maybe two or three times if they're really good) and then find a place for them on my already bulging and overflowing bookcase?

This time, I decided to do both (minus the gathering dust on the bookshelf bit). As Providence would have it, Baker Academic recently came out with the next two volumes of their Catholic Commentary On the Sacred Scripture series. These two new volumes cover Paul's Letter to the Ephesians and Second Corinthians (I also was able to order volume 3 of a scholarly Scripture journal "Letter and Spirit," but that is for a another blog, perhaps).

I already have the first two volumes in the Catholic Commentary series (the Gospel of Mark and First and Second Timothy/Titus) and they are excellent for a number of reasons.

First, they contain scholarly rigor, without being stuffy of obscurely academic. They are meant for the Catholic layman and Bible student to use and understand, but it meaty enough nourish your mind and offer some direction to dig deeper with further study.

Second, it is the only completely orthodox Scripture study series I know of (which, in itself, is a major bonus) that uses the New American Bible (NAB) translation (the text of which is included in the Commentary. Now, I don't use the NAB as my translation of preference (preferring the Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition), but I do use it as a secondary reference. More importantly, most Catholics do use the NAB exclusively as that is the translation (more or less) we hear at Mass on Sundays. Using this translation makes this commentary more accessible to the average Catholic. It also helps me and others who lead Catholic Bible studies attended by fellow Catholics who might use the NAB exclusively.

In addition, you will find numerous infomational sidebars, footnotes, cross references and (a few) pictures and charts. For example, the Gospel of Mark volume has sidebars on "the temple," "exorcisms," and "Herod and Herodias," to mention just a few. The "Reflections for Application" at the end of each major section are especially helpful for personal and small group study.

Finally, the books in this series are also completely Catholic in their viewpoint (with citations and references to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and papal encyclicals), but not so much so that non-Catholics won't find them useful as well. In fact, I was interested to find that this series recieved some favorable reviews on Protestant blogs. You can see those here and here.

Anyway, I'm REALLY looking forward to receiving my next two volumes of this series, due to arrive later this week. Thanks, Sweetheart--thanks, Joy and Ruben!