I just finished this book today, and I must say that it is a very easy-to-read commentary. During this last school year, I was able to read parts of many different commentaries. Through writing various papers, I had to dig into the ideas of different authors to get their take on particular passages of Scripture. I have looked at the World Biblical Commentary series, the New American Commentary series, and the John MacArthur New Testament Commentary series (which I own). Through a gift from a church I have forgotten, Union students in the Christian Studies department, received many free books back in the spring. I grabbed about 5 books from this series, the John Phillips Commentary series. I had never heard of the man prior to that day. But it was an opportunity to get some free books, so I went ahead and grabbed them.
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This book is a general overview of the Bible. It goes from Genesis to Revelation, summarizing the Bible in 250 pages. I have been really impressed with this book. I cannot rate it as compared to these other commentaries that I have read (or read parts of), but I can say that it would rank high on my list. Some others that I have read were really good, but they were sometimes written in such a way that they were a hard read. Although I gained a lot of insight, it took a while to work through the material. This book is different in that, it provides deep insight with an easy read. He does have many outstanding theological connections, but it was a much easier read. Once again, I cannot say that one is better than the other, but I did enjoy the easy read that Phillips provided.
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Also, I enjoyed his outlines. For each book of Bible, he had a detailed outline. This helped divide each book up into its sections, showing the organization that many of these books truly have. One interesting thing I found was how he compared Isaiah's 66 chapters to the 66 books of the Bible. He also connected the books of Poetry and Wisdom to the Books of Law. There are 5 books in each section, and he made some interesting parallels. I guess that I am saying his craftiness was very clever, and he pointed out many ideas that I had never heard or thought of prior to reading this book.
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I am currently trying to decide what to read next. I have some more of these books that I could read, but I am not sure if I want to right now. I did look ahead to his commentary on Genesis and was impressed with his 20+ page outline of the book. If that books is anything like this general overview, I am guessing that it too will be an easy read that is filled with deep theological ideas.
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Overall, I would encourage anyone who is interested in digging a little deeper into Scripture to grab one of his books. I think it is great for thosewho are pursuing some type of ministry and for those who are just a student of the Word. He is an author who can really connect with all audiences.
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So I may actually take a break from reading for the next couple of days. I have read several books this summer, and I think I am about caught up on my summer reading. I have 1.5 months left in summer, so I need to save something for the end. But do not worry, there will be more book reviews coming. There are still many books that I have read in the past that I can write about.
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Matt
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