I read just a little of this commentary. But in the first 13 pages I read (I did not start at the beginning) I learned that we as Christians “ought to follow the new testament rather than the old testament in ethical matters” as the “old testament is far too often exclusivist and brutal in a way that cannot possibly be called Christian.” On the other hand, I learned that the New Testament authors often completely misunderstood the Old Testament stories and that I should rely on John Gibson for the better interpretation. Skimming a few more pages I learned that the writer(s) of Genesis were not quite as fluent in Hebrew as this author and on a whole they were less enlightened and not very profound even in writing their fiction. God is a presented as a divine savage. The apostle Paul was a careless and unfeeling writer. I decided I better stop. I was learning way too much! I was only left to wonder why someone would bother to give us devotional thoughts out of a book called the Bible which has so little credibility. I love the format of this commentary series. It has many great contributions. Too bad this one had to be the first. Too be fair, the author is no doubt himself trying to wrestle with hard passages and be honest with his thoughts. But the ease of criticism and judging rather than genuine wrestling with the text (or God) is what it most concerning. I did go on to read more of this commentary and have found helpful reflections in it. But on a whole, not one I would recommend.

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