Mark

This book wasn’t in too bad of condition at first appearance but there were 14 or more former habitations for insect larvae found in between the back cover and the book jacket and the binding of the hard bound book was falling away from the spine. Definitely not “like new”.

It is in very good shape and has lots of information about how the Church Fathers perceive/interpret the verses and chapters of Scriptures. God Bless! Thanks! Fr. Chris

. . .of an amazing series of commentaries.This commentary on Mark's Gospel, from the perspective of the Fathers of the Church is a long-awaited and much needed reference for Christians eager to explore the Scriptures as they were seen by those who used them in the earliest days of the Christian faith. If the rest of the series lives up to the standard of "Mark", we have a lot to look forward to.Only in the "Computer Age" could such a project be feasibly undertaken. Kudos to Oden and company for their effort.Highly Recommended.

This volume (and I wager the rest of the series) is useful if one approaches it with the right perspective. Certainly, this book is not (and could never be) a substitute for reading and examining the Church Fathers and their considerations on Scripture. However, if one uses this work more for quick reference and leads, it can be most helpful. After all, the sheer volume of the Fathers' works prevents even the most learned patristics scholar from remembering who commented on what verse. As an example, I have used this volume to quickly find some comments on the verse regarding rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar's - seeing some of the comments listed, I then went to the source and read the Fathers' comments in context. This volume, then, is a tool (perhaps a shortcut) to find certain texts that may be of use.Is this volume comprehensive? No. But, even in its current state, it is over 200 pages (when the Gospel of Mark, in the New American version, is about 35 pages) - trying to collect all the commentary by the Fathers would extend the length much more. As such, it is a starting point, useful for quick reference. It should not be held to a higher standard than that.

This first book in a series of commentary on the scriptures is highly recommended. Many modern commentaries are concerned with historical background, sources, etc., which are useful in their way, but once you get past that and want to just dwell on what it means spiritually, this is a great way to do it. This book includes the text of the gospel of Mark in short sections, so you don't have to flip back and forth between the book and a copy of the Bible, but can just stay with one book. Underneath each section, the commentary proceeds verse by verse with selections from different early Christian writers. This structure makes the book easy to use in slow, meditative reading of both the Bible text and the commentary on it, so you can dwell on it a verse or two at a time, or you can go at a faster pace if you wish to. And while it's very good for devotional reading, it is not sugary or overly sentimental, as some modern devotional writing can be sometimes. It's just good, solid stuff from intellectual and spiritual giants who had pondered the meaning of the scriptures for a long time before they put their thoughts on paper. Some years ago, I had occasion to see a Jewish commentary on the first five books of the Bible that included sections of quotations from ancient Jewish rabbis commenting on the meaning of the passages. I remember thinking at the time that I wished Christians could have a commentary like that too, using ancient Christian writings. So it's wonderful to see this first volume and I'm looking forward to getting others in the series.