Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture

[Salvatore]

I’m not very well versed in the bible, but I enjoy reading with commentaries. My experience has been in using the Navarre series, the Ignatius Study bible series, the Catholic Exchange bible studies, the Catholic Apologetics Study bible, and I have even recently looked at purchasing the Haydock bible for its commentary.

Just the other day I received an offer in the mail from InterVarsity press touting their series of books of the bible with commentary from the Church Fathers. It looks quite impressive. The write up can be found at gospelcom.net/ivpress/accs/

Knowing that InterVarsity is not Catholic, is this series safe and useful for Catholics? Or, should I stick with the programs listed above?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

 

[cestusdei]

There is a growing interest in patristics among evangelicals. This is all to the good. However, keep in mind that they will not have a “catholic” take on several major issues. You might be able to use them in conjunction with catholic ones, but I would have to review the series to see if that is advisable. Until you are better versed you might want to stick to catholic sources. I would want to see how the deal with John 6 on the Eucharist and other such passages. But it looks promising at least to introduce evangelicals to the world of the Fathers.

 

[Pax]

You have to be careful when getting materials on the Early Church Fathers from non-Catholic sources. Believe it or not, these texts are sometimes edited and important passages are thereby deleted. In the particular materials I looked at, the editors had removed some of the words of St. Ignatius of Antioch in his letter to the Church at Smyna. The passage they removed referred to the Eucharist “as the body and blood of Jesus Christ.”

This is not to suggest that this happens in every case, or even in most cases. It’s just something you need to be aware of.

 

[Mystagogy]

Salvatore:

I’m not very well versed in the bible, but I enjoy reading with commentaries. …

I received an offer in the mail from InterVarsity press touting their series of books of the bible with commentary from the Church Fathers. …

is this series safe and useful for Catholics? Or, should I stick with the programs listed above?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Every editor will conform that which is edited to some perspective. I would question whether the editor would adequately reflect a Catholic perspective.

My suggestion (without knowing the product) is that you become familiar with the Bible, the CCC, a variety of encyclicals and several of the major apologetics works (i.e. Keating’s Fundamentalism and Catholicism and Madrid’s Surprised by Truth series) before allowing possible subtle influences to work on you.

Scott Hahn has commented that the NIV Study Bible has very good notes for Catholics, IF you recognize the errors in it – the challenge is that there is no peer review as yet, to point those errors out to us.

 

[Disciple96]

I know this is a really old thread, but I also know that others will stumble upon it like I just did. So I’m going to comment on it. The IVP series is one that I’ve been aware of since it began many years ago. It’s highly recommended by Catholics I respect: Dr. Brant Pitre and Steve Ray for ones I can remember right off. Dr Pitre recommends it in a series of his. I think it’s this one: Apostle Paul: Unlocking the Mysteries of his Theology. (I have several and I’m too lazy to back through to find for sure where he mentions it, but I’m reasonable sure it’s this one. I’ve listened all the way through twice, on the third listen I’ll take notes.)

Here’s what Steve Ray says about the IVP set on his Resources page:

PATRISTIC QUOTATIONS AND STUDY OF THE BIBLE

Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (multi-volume set; I have linked to the individual volume of Romans to get you started) (P–though quoting Catholic Fathers) InterVarsity Press. Excellent resource for the comments of the early Christians verse-by-verse through the Bible.

Some of the volumes were done by Catholics, some by Anglican, some by other Protestants, some of whom have since become Catholic. And do note that the volumes go through the Bible verse by verse giving the Fathers commentary. That right there makes it valuable. I’m going to buy the set to use in Verbum (Catholic version of Logos). I’ll let you know if I’m pleased or disappointed with it after I use it for a while.

 

[thistle]

This is a 13 year dormant thread. Such threads are not to be resurrected.
Even if you wish to discuss the same topic you should start a new thread.