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The Grace Commentary

A Free Online Bible Commentary

Approach

Big Macs and Bible Study

November 4, 2012 by Jeremy Myers Leave a Comment

The Grace Commentary will focus heavily on providing historical and cultural background studies for each book of the Bible. It is my conviction that these studies not only help bring the Bible to life, but are more important than word studies, grammatical analysis, or other types of research that can be performed on any particular text.

Some may wonder why cultural and background studies are important or necessary for understanding the Bible. They want to know why they can’t just “read the Bible for what it says.” The answer is that you can “read the Bible for what it says,” but only if you understand what it says. And cultural and background studies help us understand what the text says. If you don’t know the culture, then you won’t know the way people thought back then, and if you don’t know the way they thought, you won’t know the meanings of the words they used, and if you don’t know the meaning of the words, you can’t just “read the Bible for what it says.”

Big Mac

I recently found an illustration in Bruce Malina and Richard Rohrbaugh’s Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels which helped me explain this in a way that makes more sense (p. 9). They write that when we in the United States read about a “Big Mac” we don’t need someone to tell us that it is “Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun” (remember the old Big Mac commercial?). We know what a Big Mac is and we don’t need someone to unpack it for us.

But suppose I wrote a letter to you, and in it, I mentioned how much I love Big Macs.

Now suppose that my letter gets miraculously preserved for 2000 years until a future archeologist discovers it. Upon translating the letter, the archeologist decides he wants to research what these “Big Macs” were that I loved so much. So he does some investigation, and immediately discovers that some people in 21st Century America are called “Mac.” So he decides that “Big Macs” are guys named Mac who are really large, and in my letter, I express my special affinity for them. He publishes his findings in a leading archaeological journal of his day.

Another scholar comes along, who has a degree in computer science, and he remembers reading something somewhere about “Mac” computers during the 20th and 21st centuries. He goes back and finds his notes and discovers that there were little Macs, called MacBooks which could be carried around, and other, bigger Macs which sat on a desk. He decides the bigger macs must be “Big Macs” and publishes his findings. He is invited to speak at the TED Conference in the year 4014.

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Benefits of an Online Bible Commentary

October 25, 2012 by Jeremy Myers Leave a Comment

onlineThere are so many benefits to “publishing” a commentary online rather than in print format. Below are a few (feel free to add more in the comments):

1. It’s expandable. As I come across new information, rather than think “I wish I had put that in the print version!”, I can simply add it!

2. It’s editable. Most everything on this site is “written in pencil.” If I later change my views on a particular passage (either through further study of my own, or in light of the comments that are made in the forum), I can easily go change what I have written.

3. It’s free for you! Just like grace, this commentary is free. You don’t have to go buy expensive books, or use up shelf space on your bookshelves.

4. It allows feedback. Ever wish you could ask a writer for further clarification or elaboration? Now you can.

5. It allows discussion. Now you can talk about the passages with others online, for the free exchange of ideas and viewpoints. Alternately, feel free to print some pages for family devotions or small group Bible studies.

6. It is worldwide. Wherever there is internet connection, people can study and learn along with the rest of us!


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Bibliography

October 24, 2012 by Jeremy Myers Leave a Comment

Each commentary will include its own Bibliography page. The page will list all the books which I reference in the individual posts for that particular book of the Bible.

The posts themselves will not contain any bibliographic information, but will include footnotes with links to the book on Amazon or somewhere else on the web if the resource is available. The bibliographic references on each post will be placed in footnotes at the bottom of each post, and will follow this pattern:

Name Date:Page.

Here is an example:

[contentblock id=1 img=html.png]23

To find all the details for this book, you may visit the appropriate Bibliography page for whatever book of the Bible you are studying, or you may simple click on the link to be taken to the Amazon page for that book. Either way, the reference above indicates that a man named “Bosch” wrote a book in 1991, and I am referencing page 23. The Bibliographies are arranged alphabetically by author and publication date (see below), so you can find more details about the book quickly and easily.

Introduction Bibliography

Here is the Bibliography for all the “Introductory” material to the Grace Commentary:

Bosch, David J. 1991. Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis.

Lewis, C. S. 1972. God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Wright, N. T. 1991. “How Can the Bible Be Authoritative? ” Vox Evangelica 1991:21, 7–32. Last Accessed January 13, 2009.


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New Approach to Scripture

October 23, 2012 by Jeremy Myers Leave a Comment

scriptureUltimately, this commentary is an attempt to flesh out a new approach to Scripture which I call Redemptive Incarnational Hermeneutics. This is an approach to Scripture I have been thinking through for about two years now. But recently, I have stumbled across several authors and teachers who already use elements of this approach for quite a while. (One author I have not yet read is William Webb, who has written about Redemptive Hermeneutics.)

Redemptive Incarnational Hermeneutics

My current thinking to this approach is as follows:

  1. The Bible is first and foremost a history of God’s actions on this earth. It is not primarily a book of theology, a roadmap to life, or a big book of divine promises. Instead, a single story is told over and over throughout Scripture. This repetitive story is one of “redemptive incarnation.”
  2. Redemption: The history of Scripture reveals that nothing and nobody is beyond the scope of redemption. I believe that Scripture reveals that although not everything will be redeemed, everything is redeemable.
  3. Incarnation: God accomplishes this redemption through incarnation. He takes a person, a place, a culture, a nation, a practice, or an event, and injects part of Himself into it. When this happens, beautiful new creations emerge. The original element (whether a person, place, culture, nation, practice, or event) does not cease to exist, but is transformed into something entirely new.
  4. We must look for this story of redemptive incarnation to occur in our own time. Rather than try to copy the redemptive actions recorded in Scripture, we must seek creative redemption of our own lives, times, and cultures through new and unique incarnational activity today. Scripture helps us accomplish this by revealing what has been done in the past.

As I read the New Testament, especially the book of Acts and the Letters of Paul, Peter, and John, it seems that they were injecting Christ into the various cultures they found themselves in. They were reincarnating the incarnation. The book of Acts shows the early Christians trying to be the Body of Christ in their Greco-Roman culture. They are not trying to exactly duplicate the life and ministry of Jesus, but were re-adapting how He lived and what He said to the various cultures they encountered.

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New Approach to People

October 23, 2012 by Jeremy Myers Leave a Comment

grace1My new approach to people can be summed up in one word: GRACE.

Though I used to speak, teach, and write a lot about grace, I wasn’t so good at showing it. I used to have high demands of people, expecting them to study the Bible as much as I did (even though I was a pastor, and getting paid to study!), to have all their problems worked out (even though I didn’t), and to be fully committed to the church (my definition of “church”).

I forgot that we are all different, with different gifts and personalities, and we are all at different places on the path of discipleship (which is a many-forked road). It took several years of God battering my heart for me to begin to soften.

There is still a lot of work for Him to do, but I now try to love all people with the love that I think God has for them. The love of God for people is pervasive in Scripture, and I hope to bring some of that out in this study.

Of course, I will never love with the perfect love of God, but I am trying to accept people for who they are, and love them just as they are. I try not to love some future version of them (“Well, I love you now, but I will really love you once you stop swearing.”). I try to respect the perspectives and viewpoints of others, and listen to what they have to say, even if I disagree. I believe that if I listen properly, I can learn the most from the people I disagree with the most.

And that is one reason for this Grace Commentary. I want people who agree with me and those who don’t to get involved. I want those who are “Bible experts” and those who have never read the Bible to weigh in. I want followers of Jesus and followers of Buddha to provide their insights. I want people who think they have it all together and those who clearly don’t.

This new approach to people pertains to this Grace Commentary website because as I have allowed people to be themselves, and as I have learned to listen to others — even those I disagree with — I have found that other people — even unbelievers — have great insights into Scripture. Sometimes non-Christians bring up insights and objections that Christians never will. So graciously involving other people in the study of Scripture helps me both learn and live the Scriptures.

So jump on in! Let’s learn together!


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Style Rules

October 16, 2012 by Jeremy Myers Leave a Comment

For the sake of consistency and for my own recollection, I am posting some of my style rules here.

Click a link here to jump to that section:

|  Bible Books  |  Bible Versions  |  General  |  Capitalization  |  Greek and Hebrew  |

Books of the Bible References

Non-parenthetical Bible references will be spelled out, while parenthetical references will be abbreviated. E.g., “The greatest essay on love ever penned is found in the Bible (1 Cor 13:1-13).” vs. “The greatest essay on love ever penned is 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.

Abbreviate titles of biblical books without punctuation when giving both chapter and verse(s). E.g., Rom 8:28-29

Spell out titles of biblical books when they begin a sentence. E.g., First John 1:9 is an important…

Spell out titles of biblical books when giving only the chapter(s): E.g., Romans 8 or Romans 8–11.

A regular dash (-) separates verses, while an en dash (–) separates chapters. E.g., (Rom 8:38-39) vs (Romans 8–9).

When separating biblical references in lists, use semi-colons. E.g., Rom 5:8; Eph 4:9; Rev 1:2-5.

When consecutive verses within a reference are given, use a hyphen. E.g., Rom 10:9-10; Eph 2:8-9; Rev 20:21-22.

Verses in the same chapter but which are separated by one or more verses are separated by commas. E.g., Rom 10:5, 9-10; Eph 2:4, 8-9.

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New Approach to God

October 16, 2012 by Jeremy Myers 1 Comment

One reason I am writing this Grace Commentary is to feel out and flesh out a new approach to God that I have been mulling over in my head.


Is God a Sum of His Attributes?

god isProbably the primary area of theology that has changed in the past few years is my view of God. I used to think of God as the sum total of His attributes, and depending on what point in theology I was trying to make, I would focus on one attribute or another. If you look in most theology books, this is how God is viewed. The sections on “Theology Proper” are often little more than a cataloged list of God’s characteristics and attributes. The one God is then a sum of all His attributes.

I also had a hierarchy of attributes to God, which helped shape my understanding of Scripture.

For example, when I was a hyper-Calvinist, I viewed the Sovereignty of God as His primary attribute. It was at the top of the list. However, about twelve years ago, I began to move away from Calvinism by seeing that IF Scripture lists one attribute of God as primary, it would be the holiness of God (cf. Isa 6:3; Rev 4:8).

Wholly Holy

Transitioning from viewing holiness as God’s primary attribute rather than sovereignty caused a seismic shift in my theology. If God’s primary attribute is sovereignty, then God can do whatever He wants, and it is okay for Him to do it, even though it may appear sinful to us. You will often hear Calvinists say that God causes things like rape and murder, but He is not the author of such things.

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Approach to the Grace Commentary

October 7, 2012 by Jeremy Myers Leave a Comment

commentary imageGrace means “free” and so one of the reasons I have named this the “Grace Commentary” is because I strive to make them available for free. It is the Grace Commentary because it is the Free Commentary. It is free for all to read online at GraceCommentary.com, and when each book is finished, I send a free digital copy to everyone who is on my email list.

But I did not just seek to write a free commentary. I wanted to fill a perceived void within the commentaries that are available. Some commentaries are so academic, they are almost unreadable, and are helpful only to those with advanced seminary degrees. Others, however, do very little digging into the text, and are only one step removed from a daily devotional. Then there are commentaries that focus extensively on referencing the Greek and Hebrew, while others don’t refer to these languages at all.

I wanted to write a commentary that dug deep into the text, dealing with nearly every word and phrase in its context and referencing the Greek and Hebrew where necessary, but do all this in a way that is readable and understandable to the average person. I seek to bring Scripture to life in such a way that the mind and the heart of the reader race together in excitement with the implications of what is being learned. Toward this end, I include as much historical and cultural background information as I can, since this, I believe, is really what helps shed light on Scripture and brings it to life for us today.

I also have tried to consider most of the major streams of theology and Bible interpretation that exist. Many commentaries focus only one tradition of interpretation, and neglect or ignore the others. To the best of my ability, I have tried to consider all. I research the views of Arminians and Calvinists, Catholics and Protestants, Baptists and Pentecostals. I even read Jewish scholars for their input on the Hebrew Scriptures.

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About the Grace Commentary

October 7, 2012 by Jeremy Myers 2 Comments

Bible Commentary StudyI first envisioned this Grace Commentary Series when I was about ten years old. The memory is as vivid as if it was yesterday. I was in the sanctuary of the church in which my father was a pastor, and had just come from browsing through his commentaries and books about the Bible. I was looking over the free literature on the information counter, and noticed that all of the newsletters and pamphlets were of lesser quality than the books on my father’s shelves. There were some basic Bible study guides and devotional material, but little of it was of any value.

It occurred to me, however, that these newsletters and pamphlets were published on a monthly or even weekly basis and then made available for free to anyone who wanted them. Over the course of a year or two, the publishers of these newsletters probably used as much paper and ink to print one set of these study guides and pamphlets as could be used to print one full-length commentary.

I asked myself then, and still wonder today, “Why couldn’t an organization, instead of sending out a monthly newsletter which was of limited value, instead send out a full-length commentary every year or two, from which the readers would greatly benefit in their study and understanding of Scripture?”

The reasons are probably numerous and varied. For example, it is probably easier for ministries to maintain a sizable mailing list by sending out monthly newsletters rather than one book every year or two.  Also, in a sound-bite society, there may not be as much demand for a in-depth analysis of Scripture as there is for short stories and ministry updates that can be read and digested in less than five minutes. So for these and other reasons, most ministries and organizations continue to send out the monthly newsletters.

The internet is changing all this.

Today, with the aid of email and the World Wide Web, it is entirely possible to do both. A ministry can send out free monthly newsletters by email, can post online updates to full-length books they are writing, and also send out free copies of books when they are published.

This is some of what I am doing through my TillHeComes.org blog, and the GraceCommentary.com websites. I have a free email newsletter which comes by email, and I try to send out 3-4 free ebooks per year. As I write my Bible Commentaries, I post each section online for people to read and interact with, and when the commentaries are done, I send out free digital copies to the subscribers on my email newsletter. Books that were sent out previously are made available for sale on Amazon at a nominal price, simply to cover some of the expenses of having a website.

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Bible Version Used

October 6, 2012 by Jeremy Myers Leave a Comment

translation of the BibleWhat Bible translation is being used for the Grace Commentary? I will be using the Grace English Bible. Never heard of it? That is because along with writing a full-length commentary on Scripture, I will also be writing a brand new translation of the Bible.

But a new translation is the last thing we need, right?

Actually, a new translation is exactly what we need.

A New Translation of the Bible

I agree with C. S. Lewis who wrote that “If we are to have translation at all we must have periodic re-translation. There is no such thing as translating a book into another language once and for all, for a language is a changing thing” (God in the Dock, 230-231).

I have no illusions that my translation will be the best Bible translation available, or that it will be used by a large number of Christians for hundreds of years to come. Such an outcome might actually lead to some negative consequences, much as the sole reliance by some Christians upon the King James Version has led to some poor theology and poor practices. I am all for new translations and the reworking of older translations so that people can always read and study Scripture in the common language of their day.

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