Up to Date (Book of Acts)
Catching Up on the Latest Biblical Commentaries (2019-2024)
This is a series called “Up to Date,” where I do a sweeping survey of the latest and greatest biblical commentaries. In 2020, I published a little book called The New Testament Commentary Guide: A Brief Handbook for Students and Pastors (Lexham Press, 2020). I’m proud of my “little orange book,” but a resource like this gets outdated. If you are looking for commentary classics and “best picks” I suggest picking up my book. In this Substack series though, I will be looking at what has been published in the last five years (2019-2024).
Important Recent Book of Acts Commentaries (2019-2024)
**Click images to purchase or learn moreWISDOM COMMENTARY (Mary Coloe)
Story of God Bible Commentary (Dean Pinter)
There are very few devotional/lay-level commentaries that I would recommend; this was is superb. Pinter’s scholarship is very good, but most strikingly is his prose and formational tone that is winsome, warm, and pastoral. There is a Eugene-Peterson-esque quality to Pinter’s work (Pinter studied at Regent with Peterson). This would be a great resource for a church group.
New Cambridge Bible Commentary (Craig Keener)
In 2015, Craig Keener—the “Bible backgrounds guy”—published his massive multivolume commentary on Acts (with Baker Academic). In this 2020 follow up (with Cambridge University Press), Keener offers a condensed version of that larger bookset. But at 700+ pages "“condensed” is relative!
Book of Acts as Story (David Bauer)
This isn’t a traditional commentary, but it is definitely worth mentioning. David Bauer (Asbury Seminary) has written an excellent guide to a narrative-critical reading of Acts. First, Bauer delves into the methodology and how it works, and then he offers an extensive study of Acts section by section and the insights gained from this approach. This is a must-read in my opinion.
Christian Standard Commentary (Patrick Schreiner)
Patrick Schreiner is a very gifted Gospels and Acts scholar, and this is easily one of my favorite commentaries on Acts. Schreiner is a sensible, thoughtful, and well-organized writer. He’s a big picture thinker and helps lay out the best ways to understand Acts as a whole. But where his work really shines is in the area of theological interpretation of Scripture. Schreiner has strong canonical sensibilities and likes to draw connections between various passages across the whole canon; of course he prioritizes links between Luke and Acts. As I have been working on lectures for an Acts course, this has been a helpful companion. (The CSC series is an update of the older NAC series. Some updates have been newly commissioned like this volume.)
COMING SOON: WBC (Steve Walton)
And—finally—we will have the long awaited Word Biblical Commentary (2 volumes) from the world’s leading Acts scholar, Steve Walton, to be published Oct 29, 2024. Steve gave me a sneak peek at his outstanding work, fresh translation, meticulous detailed work, and sensible conclusions on all the major exegetical debates.
Up next: stay tuned for new commentaries on ROMANS next week!
It’s amazing how often Acts is the missing or last or oldest commentary in a set. Need to look at Keener’s. A condensed version is tantalizing.
When you consider Keener and Bauer's work on this list, plus everything else Keener and Witherington have written on Acts, it's clear that Asbury has become a hub for Acts scholarship.