The Gospel According to Matthew (Collegeville Bible Commentary) (Vol 1) Review

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(More customer reviews)The Collegeville Commentary series is a Catholic set of commentaries for the books of the Bible. Most of the commentaries are individual (ie: one commentary for one book of the Bible), and the commentary on Matthew is one of those. When I say that it is a Catholic commentary, I mean that it is written by someone of the Catholic faith, and as such all interpretation will be done from the Catholic standpoint. The commentary is a paperback book of over 100 pages. The top portion of each page contains the actual Biblical verses, while the lower portion of each page contains the commentary. The two are easily delineated, and the format is not confusing. Another nice feature to the individual books (like this one) as compared to the compendium (you can buy the Old or New Testament commentaries as single books) is that these contain pictures of sites important to Jesus' ministry, and where appropriate maps of the areas as well. Also, the compendiums do not have the Biblical verses but only contain the commentaries (presumably to save space). The cost of these books is relatively cheap and if you only need a commentary on a book or two of the Bible these are much cheaper to buy than large bulky commentaries. If you want the whole set though, I suggest you buy the compilations of the OT and NT, which though they lack the pictures found in the single books are much reduced in cost. Overall, these are very good books to learn from and read if you are a Catholic. It is one of the very few "Catholic Commentaries" that you can find that covers the entire Bible.

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The Gospel According to Mark (New Collegeville Bible Commentary series) Review

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(More customer reviews)My professional study of Mark's Gospel began with a course at Catholic Theological Union given by Don Senior, C.P. After receiving my M.A. from CTU I have taught Mark's Gospel and preached it over several liturgical cycles.
To my enthusiastic awe, this commentary gave me many new insights. To highlight a few: 1) Marie Noonan Sabin's explanation of one of Mark's key words, "ectasy" opened up meaning in the conclusion of Mark's Gospel at chapter 16:8. Her translation: "And going out, they fled the tomb, for trembling and ecstasy possessed them, and they said nothing to anyone because they were filled with awe." 2) This translation then helped to discount with careful explanation the later addition of endings to Mark's Gospel. 3) She comments on the Transfiguration in this way: "Mark has not placed the scene of Jesus' resurrection at the end of his Gospel but here in the middle, where it illuminates both halves of his Gospel." 4) Her portrayal of Jesus as a Wisdom figure is illustrated in numberous ways through the Gospel. 5) She emphasizes the difference in the treatment by Mark of women, contrasting it with Mark's treatment of men disciples. 6) Her comments on the scene in the Garden: "...all the elements of the transfiguration scene are reversed. ...instead of being radiant and dazzling, Jesus is troubled and distressed. Instead of ascending up a mountain, Jesus falls to the ground. Instead of being blessed by the Father, Jesus cries out to the Father to take away his coming suffering and death. Peter, who is so roused by the moment of transfiguration that he wants to celebrate it, falls asleep. ...Mark shows Jesus not addressing him here as Peter but reverting to Simon, the name he had before he became a disciple." 7) She elucidates Mark's direct reference of the Hebrew Scriptures as well as veiled references.
The commentary is in understandable language which nourishes one's relationship with Jesus.


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