Anyone used this?

[xristos.anesti]

Anyone know anything abou this?

What are your thoughts?

 

[AureateDawn]

Ooooh. That looks sweet.

 

[Padraig]

Anyone know anything abou this?

What are your thoughts?

I use them occasionally, but there are a few points to consider:

1. Incomplete text of Scripture. They do not provide the complete text of all passages of Scripture. Some verses are omitted for the sake of space and the commentary itself, so these cannot be used by themselves as an adequate source for Bible study.
2. Spurious "Fathers" are quoted. Like the title suggests, this is an "Ancient Christian Commentary." In other words, you will find commentary by Pelagius and Marcion alongside Cyril and John Chrysostom.
3. Commentary is incomplete. There are great little snippets of commentary from wonderful sources (along with the spurious ones mentioned above), however, they are just snippets. In order to get a better understanding of what some of these verses mean, I think it would be more beneficial to read the source in context.

Having said all of that, I think they are a decent - if expensive - starting point for commentary. They will not give you a complete rendering of what St Cyril of Alexandria or St John Chrysostom have to say about a particular verse, but they will at least provide a snippet and give you the source so you can go read it in its entirety. In this, it is a very good reference work. The only trouble with this, though, is that some of the source material is not fully translated into English yet.

Whatever its merits may be, it should be noted that there are a great number of Orthodox commentaries being produced now by eminent scholars and churchmen. My own dear Vladyka Dmitri is working tirelessly on more and more commentaries. I would also suggest books by Prof Veselin Kesitch and Fr John Breck. I think there are some Greek and Antiochian priests and scholars working on commentaries as well. These will give the reader a firmer Orthodox understanding of Scripture without the need to weed out the spurious texts included in this series.

Dn Kevin

 

[E.C.]

Too Western.