Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture

[Jordan Henderson]

Greetings in Christ!

This is an impressive site!

I was wondering if anyone here is familiar with the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (ACCS) which is being published by InterVarsity Press. I am particularly interested in the volume(s) which have been published on the Old Testament. Have any of you found them useful, and would you recommend them?

I have very much liked what little I have read from Thomas Oden (the general editor of ACCS). I am about to finish his Agenda for Theology: Recovering Christian Roots.

Forgive me if this has already been discussed.

Wishing you all a blessed Lent,

Jordan

[Razhden Guriadze]

Jordan,

Thank you for bringing this "commentary" to our attention.

While this commentary may be the greatest thing since "sliced bread" ,be very wary.

I have not done a lot of investigation of it(which I will),however, it's endorsements seem to be mostly, if not all, by converts,Catholics, and Protestants.

I did not see any names of older Orthodox theologians.

I think that sending a link to their(ACCS) site to the Patriarchs of the world would be a good idea. One or two of them might respond.

I don't want to sound like I have any knowledge of this (ACCS) work.I certainly don't want to condemn something without proper investigation.

I have seen a lot of writings which at first glance seemed to be good.Then, find out that they had insidious "little" errors, or misleading statements.

Go with God,
ICXC,
Razhden

[John Wehling]

Jordan,

Glory to Jesus Christ! I have used the ACCS volume on St Mark's Gospel, but none of the others. I find it helpful if you are seeking to learn what various Fathers said about a given passage of scripture. There is no modern commentary offered at all. The editors have simply chosen which texts/Fathers to use and organized them. The only real danger of non-Orthodox influence, then, is what a given editor might have chosen to use or to leave out. All "Fathers" are not created equal, of course, so there might be too much Augustine at times, or Jerome perhaps, to please Orthodox Christians. But at least in the volume on St Mark there is good Patristic representation and diversity.

Another issue is the length of each Patristic quote. It is important to read things in context, and this style of commentary (like the Catena) cannot help but extract selections from the Fathers. It is better to read St John Chrysostom's entire homily on a passage, for example, than to just pull out a paragraph or two. But the ACCS is aiming at something else obviously, seeking to give a broader treatment of a text from the commentary of several Fathers, and this has its place too.

So, from my limited exposure, I think the ACCS is worthwhile, and certainly much better than nothing.

A Blessed Lent,
John Wehling

[Jordan Henderson]

Thank you for your responses, John and Razhden.

John wrote:


I have used the ACCS volume on St Mark's Gospel, but none of the others.

I believe Thomas Oden edited that volume, and as I said, I have very much liked what I have read of his works. I just finished reading his Agenda for Theology tonight, which calls for modern Christians to return to "...the ancient ecumenical consensus of Christianity's first millenium, particularly as expressed in scripture and in the Seven Ecumenical Councils..." (p. xii).

Of course, as Fr. John Whiteford noted in his "Sola Scriptura" article, if Oden follows this thinking to its logical conclusion, he will become Orthodox.


All "Fathers" are not created equal, of course, so there might be too much Augustine at times, or Jerome perhaps, to please Orthodox Christians.

Not to mention the fact that many times, heretics such as Origen, Tatian, and Tertullian are referred to as 'Church Fathers' by Protestants.


It is better to read St John Chrysostom's entire homily on a passage, for example, than to just pull out a paragraph or two.

I agree, which brings a question to mind. Since I am particularly interested in the Church's interpretation of the Old Testament, does St. John Chrysostom have any commentaries (translated into English) on the books of the Old Testament? I'm aware of his commentary on Genesis. Are there others?

In Christ,
Jordan

[John Wehling]

Jordan,

There is a 2 volume commentary on Psalms that was published by Holy Cross a couple of years ago, trans. by the same fellow who did the Genesis commentaries, Hill I believe. It is incomplete, covering about half or less of the entire Psalter.

John Wehling

[M.C. Steenberg]

Regarding the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, this is at its core a very good and helpful series, for Orthodox Christians and any others who are interested in conveniently locating quotations from various Fathers and writers of the early Church on given passages of New Testament Scripture. As John has noted in a previous post, this type of 'compendium' quotation collection is different in form and character (and purpose) from an examination of a given author's exposition on an entire biblical book -- but the purpose of the ACCS is to offer a convenient resource in which one will be presented with a wide-ranging collection of short texts by various early Christian writers as to the exposition of a given passage. For those who may not have a strong familiarity with the contents of the larger corpuses of works by particular Fathers, such volumes as these are exceptionally valuable in terms of offering a 'starting point' as to common patristic interpretation of given texts, from which one can then go on to read the larger works by certain Fathers 'en entiere', if desired.

Regarding the fact that the editors/compilers of these volumes are largely not Orthodox Christians, the fact that the ACCS is purely a source-text quotation (i.e., it presents quotations from early writers, and not new commentary by scholars or others), much of the potential for doctrinal conflict is removed. As John has also pointed out, the primary manner in which any East/West disparity might come about in these volumes is via the selection of Fathers chosen for quotation, and within that selection, the actual texts quoted. In this regard, one must simply take a critical approach to the volume at hand: are the Fathers cited for certain passages primarily those of a Western bent? Is there a good balance? In most cases, there is. In others, there is still much helpful and profitable information to be gleaned from the commentary of Fathers who, although more energetically embraced by the West than the East (e.g. Augustine, Jerome), are nonetheless true Church Fathers for the Orthodox as well.

When in doubt, check with one's bishop as to the 'orthodoxy' of certain Fathers. But generally, the tag of 'ancient' in the title means that most of those quoted will be pre-schism, and thus accepted by East as well as West.

Finally, the fact that there are so few Orthodox (if any) involved with this project, is a sign of the fact that there are (relatively speaking) few Orthodox who go into patristic studies and engage in work on such volumes (though there are some, whose works have included a very helpful patristic commentary on Scripture some years ago). So, to those who are interested in such things...... http://www.monachos.net/mb/clipart/happy.gif

INXC, Matthew

[Jordan Henderson]

Matthew,

If I'm not mistaken, Andrew Louth and Demetrios Constantelos, both of whom I *think* are Orthodox, are included among the editors of ACCS. But most are Protestant...which is great for Protestants because it shows that many Protestant scholars are seeing the shortcomings of the historical-critical method of biblical exegesis and are relying more on the teachings of the Fathers. At least they're on the right track...


...(though there are some [Orthodox patristic scholars], whose works have included a very helpful patristic commentary on Scripture some years ago). So, to those who are interested in such things......

I certainly am interested in such things! Which works are you referring to?

Jordan

[Jordan Henderson]

Also, for those familiar with ACCS, how would you rate the introductions? Do they address the questions of authorship/date of composition, or do they focus completely on the Church's intrepretation of the books?

(I'm sure some are saying by now, "Why doesn't he just buy the books and decide for himself?" I intend to, eventually, but as I am a college student, I'm a little low on funds right now! http://www.monachos.net/mb/clipart/happy.gif )

Jordan

[M.C. Steenberg]

A woman by the name of Johanna Manley, whom I have not met but whom I am sure must be a remarkable person, has compiled three volumes of patristic commentary on Scripture from a very Orthodox perspective:

(1) The Bible and the Holy Fathers for Orthoodx - The Epistle and Gospel readings for each day of the year, arranged according to the Paschal cycle of the Church. For each reading there are one or more commentaries by various Fathers (a great deal, obviously, by St John Chrysostom). This is truly a remarkable work for a single editor to have compiled.

(2) Grace for Grace: the Psalter According to the Holy Fathers - This volume is meant to accompany the above and follows a similar format, providing one or more patristic commentaries for each of the Psalms.

(3) Isaiah Through the Ages - The third volume in this 'series', providing patristic commentary on one of the most important prophetic books of the Old Covenant.

These are very good works, fit to have in one's own home library as well as in a study setting. All are still in print, available from SJKP and elsewhere.

INXC, Matthew