The Hodder Bible Commentary: James by Daniel K. EngMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
It's been a while since I read a Bible commentary. This was interesting to read, but also a bit slow going because the writing style is pretty academic. Or maybe I haven't read a non-fiction book in too long haha. Pretty sure the messed up formatting* also contributed to some of my difficulty following some of the points.
James includes insight that's timely for these trying times - perseverance in hard times; how the church should be fair and just, not favouring the rich and powerful; judging others in the church vs not of the church; taming the tongue; heavenly vs earthly wisdom; submission to God; social injustice, etc.
(Also slightly amused by the connotation that "eat the rich" could possibly have originated from James HAHAHA)
There's food for thought about how some of the things stated by James had different cultural meanings to the original audience (diasporic Jews) and what it means to us now. And how some of these still parallel Eastern cultures/understanding of community instead of Western Christianity.
* I just wish that these publishers would format a proper ebook ARC instead of sending a PDF conversion, because all the tables were messed up (as well as most formatting to show the chiastic structure). It's super annoying, and I had to download it on the NetGalley Shelf to see what was going on there.
Note: I received a digital ARC of this book from Hodder & Stoughton via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
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