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Endorsements for 1 & 2 Thessalonians
1 & 2 Thessalonians (Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary). By Linda McKinnish Bridges. (Smyth & Helwys, 320 pp., $45.00)
What a gold mine this commentary is for preachers and teachers of the Bible! Linda McKinnish Bridges’ volume on I and II Thessalonians combines sound scholarly research, wise pastoral reflections, thought-provoking feminist critique, and a plethora of vivid images that will stir the imagination for many years to come. It is also beautifully written, allowing us to enter into a deep conversation with a scholar who reads the Bible with her heart as well as her head. If I were to have but one commentary on these often overlooked books of the Bible on my shelf, this is the one I would choose. It is stellar.
-- Leonora Tubbs Tisdale Seldom does a commentary break new ground, but Linda Bridges has written a cogent interpretation of the Thessalonian letters that draws on recent social science research. By identifying the Thessalonian believers as members of a tenement community or artisan church rather than a house church, she brings new insights into the composition of the community, its ethos, and the work ethic Paul maintains. It is also refreshing to see that cutting edge scholarship does not need to be obscure. Written in a flowing, conversational style, this commentary will provide engaging reading for every reader and speak with a fresh voice to issues facing the church today. -- R. Alan Culpepper With care and insight, McKinnish Bridges unfolds the texts of the Thessalonian correspondence to show us a Paul very different from the one many of us think we know. Paul’s words to his beloved friends in Thessaloniki speak again to today’s readers. -- Sandra Hack Polaski This beautifully written and lavishly illustrated book is a wonder. Bringing a deeply-rooted historical sensibility to her impeccable interdisciplinary research and interpretation, Linda McKinnish Bridges invites us to re-imagine Paul’s Thessalonians as a thriving workshop community, where male artisans were bound together not only as young believers tying the rituals of their lives to the teachings of Jesus, but as productive, hardworking craftsmen committed to the act of creating. Professor Bridges presses us to re-think our assumptions about Paul in light of his identity as an artisan leader of a new-found faith, and acknowledge that his formative early Christian conceptions were intended to serve an essentially male-only world of work and ceremony. Thoughtful, accessible, and provocative, this new volume on 1 & 2 Thessalonians for the Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary series strikes important new ground and will be the benchmark text for years to come. -- Michele Gillespie |
