Colossians
Weight | 1.20 kg |
---|---|
Dimensions | 22.3 × 14.3 × 5.6 cm |
ISBN | 9780851519098 |
Binding | Cloth-bound |
Format | Book |
Page Count | 944 |
Series | Geneva Series of Commentaries |
Scripture | Colossians |
Original Pub Date | 1627 |
Banner Pub Date | Aug 1, 2005 |
Book Description
C. H. Spurgeon, in his famous work, Commenting and Commentaries, placed Davenant on Colossians in the first rank of commentaries on this Pauline epistle and approvingly quoted the words of Charles Bridges about this volume: ‘I know no exposition upon a detached portion of Scripture (with the single exception of Owen on the Hebrews) that will compare with it in all parts…in depth, accuracy, and discursiveness.’
On the title page of an old Latin edition a satisfied reader made a note of his deep appreciation for Davenant’s masterpiece: ‘Don’t abuse this good old book: for it is an extraordinary piece, and the best Exposition on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Colossians that ever was published…and I am afraid there will never be a better so long as the world endures.’
The Methodist preacher James Hervey expressed his appreciation of this commentary in more measured terms. ‘For perspicuity of style and accuracy of method; for judgment in discerning and fidelity in representing the Apostle’s meaning; for strength of argument in refuting errors, and felicity of invention in deducing practical doctrines, tending both to the establishment of faith, and the cultivation of holiness, it is inferior to no writing of the kind; and richly deserves to be read, to be studied, to be imitated, by our young divines.’
On the strength of such high recommendations as these, the Trust is making available this ‘much praised’ commentary with the prayer that it will continue to instruct, encourage, and sanctify the faith and life of Christian people in the 21st century.
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Volume 5: John Part 1 - Chapters 1-6
Description
A ‘much praised’ commentary, which has instructed, encouraged and sanctified the faith and life of God’s people since its first publication (in Latin) in 1627. 964pp.
Description
A ‘much praised’ commentary, which has instructed, encouraged and sanctified the faith and life of God’s people since its first publication (in Latin) in 1627. 964pp.
Richard C Ross –
More heresies will be found in this commentary than any other commentary I know. And Davenant does his considerable and impressive best to slay them right and left. I’m reminded of the lines of John Dryden: ‘Thrice he routed all his foes; and thrice he slew the slain’. For all but students of historical heresies, much of this will be largely irrelevant – I’ve yet to be persuaded that ‘Bellarmin’ is the quite the problem for us as he was for our author. As these polemics soak up a great deal both of Davenant’s energy and ink, this ought to be kept in mind by prospective purchasers.
Davenant is thorough in his research of those who perpetrated heresy and of those who had, in early times, rebutted these heresies; he is exhaustive in his survey of older commentaries on the Epistle and in his own treatment of the text. Often his observations or applications are telling; at times they seem entirely to miss the Apostle’s acutely focused purpose, for instance in 1.19, that most majestic of references to Christ, Davenant’s method seems to diminish the text, employing a typical piece of scholasticism: exegesis by dissection; while continuing to exhume the bones of every ‘papist’ distraction. Too frequently the exposition misses the Apostle’s direct engagement with the purveyors of the ‘Colossian heresy’. This Epistle is one of the most acutely and keenly targeted of Paul’s Epistles. It is essential that an expositor presents his readers with those deliberate (often provocative) links with the nature of the Colossian heresy.
This commentary has been highly esteemed, and has attracted the highest commendation from a considerable number of the most significant authorities and it is, without doubt, a hugely impressive piece of work of its kind, and a very handsome volume to boot. But it would be more deserving of these golden opinions had it offered a more direct reflection on Paul’s supreme purpose in this Epistle: the exaltation of Christ, over all else that is
Miller thomson –
It is the best commentary I have read on Colossians.
I place it with Owen on Hebrews.
I place it with John brown of Wamphrey on Romans
Also Robert Leighton on St Peter