TNTC Acts

Tyndale New Testament Commentaries #5

by I. Howard Marshall

In the book of Acts, the story of Jesus begun in the Gospel of Luke broadens into the story of the Holy Spirit, guiding the fledgling church to proclaim the saving reality of Jesus. While attentive to Luke's roles as a literary artist and theologian, I. Howard Marshall focuses primarily on Luke's role as a historian. He provides the reader with an accurate, balanced and holistic picture of the church's monumental first years as it sought to fulfil Christ's mandate to preach the gospel to the ends of the earth.This classic commentary has been completely retypeset and presented in a fresh, vibrant new large paperback format, with new global branding.

Genres: Reference, Biblical Studies, Theology, Christian, New Testament, Nonfiction, Christianity

447 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Ian Howard Marshall (12 January 1934 – 12 December 2015) was a Scottish New Testament scholar.[1] He was Professor Emeritus of New Testament Exegesis at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. He was formerly the chair of the Tyndale Fellowship for Biblical and Theological Research; he was also president of the British New Testament Society and chair of the Fellowship of European Evangelical Theologians. Marshall identified as an Evangelical Methodist. He was the author of numerous publications, including 2005 Gold Medallion Book Award winner New Testament Theology.[2] He died of pancreatic cancer in 2015.[3]

Reviews

[Whitney Dziurawiec · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not amazing, not horrible. Fairly dry 😝 He felt the need to defend each narrative's historicity which I guess I appreciate but it got old kind of fast. Dude seems to have a big beef with some other scholar named Haenchen - literally he addresses the man on almost every page. We get it - you don't agree! Maybe just do a disclaimer at the beginning and don't waste our time!!

[Stephen Bedard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great commentary for preparing for sermons or Bible studies. Not as comprehensive as some but still excellent.

[Jason Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid commentary. A bit dated now. It's written in the era when commentators felt they needed to address every absurd notion a skeptic dreamed up. The Acts of the Apostles: A Commentary is the skeptic that comes up ad nauseam in this case. But overall, a helpful commentary and relatively succinct considering the length of Acts.

[John Brackbill · Rating 3 out of 5]

At times very helpful.

11 Commentaries I used cover to cover through an expositional series through the book of Acts. Of course, this ranking doesn't take into account that some that are lower were higher in specific ways, but all of these "made the cut" for me to spend the time each week to read.
1. Peterson, Schnabel, Polhill
2. Bock
3. Bruce
4. Kistemaker
5. Marshall, Stott
6. MacArthur
7. Custer, Kent

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Far and away the most useful help in preparation for speaking on Acts 12 this morning in Bathurst.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are many well written commentaries on the book of Acts.  Some of these commentaries are un-engaging while others have so much filler that they are absolutely useless.  Thankfully there is one that is both practical and academic.  The Tyndale New Testament Commentary series is constantly changing yet while the series is going though a major overhaul there is one commentary which has been in it's repertoire for over forty years and is still one of the greatest volumes of the series.  This commentary is written by top notch scholar Howard I. Marshall.

Due to Acts size any well written and profitable commentary is be large in size as well.  Marshall's commentary while an introduction level commentary is just shy of 450 pages in length.  In this vein the commentary has the depth to be useful to pastors and scholar's alike while accessible enough to be helpful to the laymen.

I therefore highly recommend this volume in the TNTC to any an all who look to study the book of Acts.

This book was provided to me free of charge from IVP Academic in exchange for an unbiased, honest review.

[Joe Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a novice commentary reader, I generally appreciate the Tyndale series. This volume as usual had a solid intro, but the commentary too often simply repeated the text using more words. Simple ideas were often repeated and the whole book often felt mundane even to a novice. The other issue is that the author was often criticizing another author with whom he disagreed. It was rather like listening to a one sided phone conversation.
To be fair, I'm not sure how exactly you would write a commentary on Acts as it is unique in Scripture since it is church history. The life and theology of Jesus and the kingdom that permeates the Gospels and the Pauline theology of his many letters are missing here. This is more a commentary on a work like Josephus' histories than a tradition New Testament book. Since I'm an armchair historian, I may simply have been exposed to better writers of and about history and history books.
There are moments of insight and I'm sure the book has uses for pastors with little historical knowledge.

[Ethan McCarter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't been as impressed with the Tyndale NT commentary series as I have with other commentary series like the Word Biblical Commentary or Zondervan's Exegetical Commentary series. Really, there's not much that stands out in the TNTC or TOTC series. Marshall's is no exception. There's some decent insights into the text at certain points though not much that you won't find in any number of other commentaries on Acts. He interacts a lot with modernist scholarship particularly the text critical and German schools of thought. Most of those arguments are outdated and have little relevance outside of certain schools of thought especially in academic settings; and the TNTC series is certainly not for academic settings. Overall, it's an OK commentary, which is why I gave it 3 instead of 2 stars, but unless you already have it on your shelf there are better options available if you're preaching through Acts.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

A comprehensive but concise rebuttal of skeptical commentators, especially Haenchen. Marshall approaches Acts with an eye on Luke's theology and historicity. He doesn't go very deeply, but that is the nature of this commentary series. It's intentionally brief and devotional in nature. Some volumes have more insightful comments than others. For in-depth discussions of the theological matters of Acts, look elsewhere.

[Rebecca Davidson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read the majority of this - a decent commentary, covered major points in Acts. A different style of commentary than I'm used to, often critiquing other scholars. Perhaps useful but not for me personally 😅

[Bryn MacPhail · Rating 4 out of 5]

This commentary is the best for helping you "peek behind the scenes" to understand the peculiarities of the culture and era in which Luke writes Acts. While this is a more technical commentary it is written in an accessible style.

[Craig Archer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice succinct commentary that I used as a companion for my journey through Acts. Good information. His rebuttals to Haenchen get old after awhile. Would recommend as an approachable resource to guide you through Acts and while not getting too incredibly deep into the details.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I use this book every time I teach Acts.

[Trevor Rolls · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good academic commentary on Acts. I read this as a text-book in an undergraduate course.

[Anthony Hayden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good academic treatment of the material in Acts. Lacked a bit in the devotional and pastoral department, but overall worth consulting for a conservative view on Acts

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although it makes an adequate guide through the Book of Acts, it won't be popular with biblical literalists, and in fact I found that aspect to be a bit disconcerting.

[Justin DeVantier · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good account of the history of the early church. Marshall does an excellent job of painting the picture of the early church sans the critique of modern scholarship which denies the historicity of luke's work. Well paced and very informative. A must read for those wanting a deeper appreciation of the early church.

"Nothing that men can do can stop the progress and ultimate victory of the gospel."

[Pamela Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by my New Testament Professor from back in the day. I can hear his voice gently lecturing on this. It's very readable as an introduction to the book of Acts. If you are studying Acts in a group or prepping a sermon series it's worth getting this book.
I still use it to this day.

[Russ Skinner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dilatory entry of this book. I read the Kindle edition, which doesn't show in Goodreads. (It was read at the same time earlier this year as the other commentaries on Acts that I read.)

Found this quite helpful; in fact, I've added this series to the ones I consider when I'm starting to study a different NT book.

[Rebecca Tredway · Rating 5 out of 5]

I clicked five stars ("it was amazing") because I don't know how else to rate this. It's not amazing reading, it's a bible commentary. But it's a good one! LOL. This was one of my textbooks for my first course at Covenant Theological Seminary entitled "Life and Letters of Paul." And that class explains why I quit reading for fun the past few months. But now I'm free! Until January!

[CJ Bowen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. Clear, succinct, responsible. Far more worried about Haenchen's critical objections than I will ever be.

[Ted Newell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful -- one of two must-turn-to's for sermon prep.

[Russ Skinner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite good. Occasionally pedantic, but then, aren't we all?