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Luke: Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible
The volumes in Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible from Westminster John Knox Press offer a fresh and invigorating approach to all the books of the Bible. Building on a wide range of sources from biblical studies, the history of theology, the church's liturgical and musical traditions, contemporary culture, and the Christian tradition, noted scholars focus less on traditional historical and literary angles in favor of a theologically focused commentary that considers the contemporary relevance of the texts. This series is an invaluable resource for those who want to probe beyond the backgrounds and words of biblical texts to their deep theological and ethical meanings for the church today.
333 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 2, 2010
73 people are currently reading
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About the author
Justo L. González
154 books187 followersJusto L. González, author of the highly praised three-volume History of Christian Thought and other major works, attended United Seminary in Cuba, received his MA at Yale, and was the youngest person to be awarded a PhD in historical theology at Yale. He is one of the few first generation Latino theologians to come from a Protestant background. He helped to found the Association for Hispanic Theological Education and the Hispanic Theological Initiative. Dr González is now on the faculty of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 28, 2025
I love how Gonzalez’s heart comes through in his commentary. This work is encouraging and informative. I would highly recommend to clergy and the educated for it gets to the crux of self examination when studying Scripture. This is how we should approach the Bible. With authenticity and humility that Justo Gonzalez embodies so well. The greatest thing about this commentary is that it is a bolster to one’s own faith while gaining insight into Luke.
December 12, 2017
A good, accessible commentary on Luke. Justo Gonzalez brings primarily a church historian background from his previous work but here he shows himself a careful listener to the text. There are some really good insights he brings into the structure and some helpful readings of Luke's telling of the story of Jesus.
April 12, 2024
This was my favorite of all the commentaries I read on the gospel of Luke. He consistently brought our unique insights to the text, especially in application, that no one else was. It is accessible and useful for lay people as well as clergy. If you could only have one commentary on Luke, this would be the one to get.
February 17, 2025
Wow. This was incredible. Will be something I return to consistently
May 1, 2025
Fantastic commentary
November 13, 2025
Justo González is treasure and a blessing for the church. He is consistently solid, gracious, and historically rooted in the Christian tradition. His books have been edifying and helpful works, and his commentary on Luke is no exception.
Justo González is a theologian and trained church historian. He was born into a Protestant family in the majority Roman Catholic country of Cuba. He studied and received theological education at a variety of institutions, including being the (at the time) youngest person to receive a doctorate in historical theology from Yale. González’s background gives him sympathy with many different contexts. He comes from a Latin America Christian theological tradition which has historically been ignored. He is also coming from a minority Protestant position in a Roman Catholic country, so he has experienced exclusion within his own culture. Yet he also has received prestigious degrees from Yale and has served as a professor at Columbia Theological Seminary and published many books. This gives him authority, privilege, and prestige greater than many of his own countrymen and of many in the majority culture. He occupies then a unique place in terms of where he is coming from.
One of González’s strengths lies in his attitude. He comes from a background which has traditionally been excluded from theological discourse. And he writes in a way which is sympathetic to the concerns of both the people of Latin American and minority theologians. Yet he lacks a skepticism towards tradition and the Christian past, and instead is consistently charitable towards positions in the past, even when he thinks they are wrong. This approach and attitude are pleasant to read and is a helpful model of what charitable discourse can look like.
His commentary on Luke is also solid. He has a good grasp of the narrative material and the overall themes of Luke’s gospel. He is consistent throughout in highlighting the themes of the great reversal, where the last shall be first, way of suffering is the way of glory, poor are exalted and rich are brought low, etc.
Justo González is a historian, and he brings a historian’s knowledge of different theological controversies around different aspects of the text. He brings this up when relevant, but he does a good job of not letting tangentially matters dominate the commentary. He is trying to let the questions arise out of the text instead of bringing questions to the text.
His commentary is also theological through and through. It has some weaknesses that I will point out next paragraph, but a real strength lies in the consistent theological and practical interpretation González. González’s interpretation is one which points to a living God, and his interpretation is one that speaks to us today.
His exegesis does have some weak points. He highlights early on the importance of typology for Luke but misses some important aspects of typology. At times he for a more universal reading of Luke which downplays some of the first century Jewish context. More of an engagement with the New Perspective on Paul would have been appreciated by this reader. Despite those weak points however, Justo González has still written a commentary well worth reading and engaging with.
Justo González is a theologian and trained church historian. He was born into a Protestant family in the majority Roman Catholic country of Cuba. He studied and received theological education at a variety of institutions, including being the (at the time) youngest person to receive a doctorate in historical theology from Yale. González’s background gives him sympathy with many different contexts. He comes from a Latin America Christian theological tradition which has historically been ignored. He is also coming from a minority Protestant position in a Roman Catholic country, so he has experienced exclusion within his own culture. Yet he also has received prestigious degrees from Yale and has served as a professor at Columbia Theological Seminary and published many books. This gives him authority, privilege, and prestige greater than many of his own countrymen and of many in the majority culture. He occupies then a unique place in terms of where he is coming from.
One of González’s strengths lies in his attitude. He comes from a background which has traditionally been excluded from theological discourse. And he writes in a way which is sympathetic to the concerns of both the people of Latin American and minority theologians. Yet he lacks a skepticism towards tradition and the Christian past, and instead is consistently charitable towards positions in the past, even when he thinks they are wrong. This approach and attitude are pleasant to read and is a helpful model of what charitable discourse can look like.
His commentary on Luke is also solid. He has a good grasp of the narrative material and the overall themes of Luke’s gospel. He is consistent throughout in highlighting the themes of the great reversal, where the last shall be first, way of suffering is the way of glory, poor are exalted and rich are brought low, etc.
Justo González is a historian, and he brings a historian’s knowledge of different theological controversies around different aspects of the text. He brings this up when relevant, but he does a good job of not letting tangentially matters dominate the commentary. He is trying to let the questions arise out of the text instead of bringing questions to the text.
His commentary is also theological through and through. It has some weaknesses that I will point out next paragraph, but a real strength lies in the consistent theological and practical interpretation González. González’s interpretation is one which points to a living God, and his interpretation is one that speaks to us today.
His exegesis does have some weak points. He highlights early on the importance of typology for Luke but misses some important aspects of typology. At times he for a more universal reading of Luke which downplays some of the first century Jewish context. More of an engagement with the New Perspective on Paul would have been appreciated by this reader. Despite those weak points however, Justo González has still written a commentary well worth reading and engaging with.
August 7, 2019
An accessible commentary on Luke's Gospel. At times, I worried Gonzalez's work became strained and thin by virtue of wanting to appease many different traditions inside (and, dare I say?) outside the church. E.g., Little quotes are scattered here and there throughout the book, but its hard to not be distracted with you see John Calvin endorsed via citation on one page, then Rosemary Radford Ruether cited on the next. I'd rather he just pick a tradition or set of commitments and stick to them.
May 15, 2014
Gonzalez is known mostly as a historian. His commentary on Luke is filled with references to commentators and theologians through the ages. He also accentuates the role-reversal themes in Luke.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews