True to the Faith

I own around a dozen commentaries on the Book of Acts and this is by some distance the best of them. David Gooding combines a remarkable variety of expertise - linguistic, literary, theological, philosophical - with the experience of a lifetime of teaching the Bible to bring us a fresh, original and brilliant analysis, with compelling logic and accessible style. In addition to the superb exposition the reader - and especially the Bible teacher - will find much in the way of contemporary application to some of the biggest issues facing the church: Christianity's supernaturalism, the uniqueness and deity of Christ, the definition of the Gospel, violence, anti-semitism, money, spiritual experience. Having taught Acts in a number of different settings I can personally attest to the outstanding helpfulness of this commentary. Just get it!

What's the Point of the Book? To offer a refreshing commentary on the book of Acts, that doesn't follow a verse by verse format but looks more at literary structure. In so doing, David Gooding aims to establish some facts about the beginnings of Christianity, highlight features in the text that show a separation from Judaism and differences with naturalism, differences with spiritualism and what the Christian attitude should be in this world. Basically, Luke has a point in writing the letter and it's not merely listing the historical beginnings of Christianity. The Good? The Table of Contents reflects the presented structure of Acts. The Sections have the verses in parenthesis so a person can follow along with their own Bible. There is contextual quoting of portions throughout the book. Gooding starts each section with preliminary observations and then delves into the passage always working from one portion to the next. Always the teacher, Gooding makes it a point to remind the readers of previous movements when continuing forward in the piece. David's writing style is sharp and yet attainable. The comparative charts are outstanding. Personally I have found this method of study exceedingly helpful. Luke's writing amazed me when Gooding takes these portions and puts them next to each other showing how much thought Luke put into things. The Bad? The glue in the binding is bad. I've read the book twice and some of the pages are starting to come out. Content wise, nothing bad. The Ugly? Can't find anything ugly here. The book jacket is well designed, the typeface is readable, the conclusions he offers seem to follow logically from the text so all in all, this book is all out goodness. Star Rating. This book is outstanding. At the very least, it offers people another way to study that is super-refreshing. The way Gooding looks at things gives me personally a feel for what the Biblical writer is saying in the narrative and the why of it all. I give this book an unashamedly five stars with a recommendation of must buy. Buy it. Now.