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BYU New Testament Commentary
Testimony of Luke
Enthroned above all creation towers the exalted, glorified Christ. Descending into the darknest recesses of human agony and sin reaches the warm, caring Jesus. These two are the same person. Luke's testimony introduces us to this man become God-God the Son. He comes into our world already bearing a divine nature, already carrying divine qualities. His birth is a miracle; he is "Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11)
The most distinguishing element of this line-by-line, word-by-word commentary is its use of Latter-day Saint scriptures-the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price-to illuminate Luke's Gospel. For example, important LDS doctrines arise from Jesus' activity in the spirit world immediately after his death.
More than all other Gospel accounts, Luke captures the compassion and love of the Savior. Such sweet concern manifests itself particularly for the downtrodden and those forced to the margins of society. Within his text, Luke discloses the deep, divine love that runs through his narrative of the Christ.
The most distinguishing element of this line-by-line, word-by-word commentary is its use of Latter-day Saint scriptures-the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price-to illuminate Luke's Gospel. For example, important LDS doctrines arise from Jesus' activity in the spirit world immediately after his death.
More than all other Gospel accounts, Luke captures the compassion and love of the Savior. Such sweet concern manifests itself particularly for the downtrodden and those forced to the margins of society. Within his text, Luke discloses the deep, divine love that runs through his narrative of the Christ.
- GenresReligionLdsNew Testament
1213 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2015
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39 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 13, 2019
When I heard that BYU was going to do a series of New Testament commentaries, I was ecstatic. I love reading scholarly books and articles about the Bible, but because of the many view-points (some faithful, others not) within the Bible scholar community, and also because of my complete lack of scholarly training or expertise with the Bible, I am often left wondering what is right. Even when I read the materials of believing Bible scholars, I am concerned that I am getting a view through an evangelical or Catholic lens. I really wanted to read the perspective of an LDS Bible scholar that takes his or her scholarship seriously, but also brings an LDS point of view to their work. The BYU New Testament Commentaries seemed poised to do just that.
So I purchased this commentary on Luke with some pretty high expectations. The book met many of my expectations. It incorporates perspectives from the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants as it discusses Luke's account of the Savior's life. It takes seriously Jesus's divinity, his atonement and resurrection. It even looks for hints of uniquely Mormon doctrine within Luke's Gospel.
But the book also has some serious flaws. First and foremost, its treatment of the Joseph Smith Translation is confused and confusing, even contradictory. For example, the title of this commentary -- "The Testimony of Luke" -- is apparently based on a common misconception about the changes JS made to the titles of the four gospels. (This misconception is propagated by the footnotes in our LDS versions of the Bible). Brown even acknowledges in his book that JS did NOT change the title to the Gospel of Luke to the "Testimony" of Luke, as JS did with the books of Matthew and John. And yet, the title of this commentary is what it is. Brown relies on the JST throughout the book, often times appealing to it as the ultimate and final authority on the original text of the book of Luke. But other times, Brown ignores or even discounts the JST's more problematic changes to the text. Without a discussion of what the JST actually is (i.e., an unfinished but inspired effort by JS that was often intended to clarify but not always to restore the text of Luke's account), there is no unifying or clear framework for Brown's use of the JST, leading to confusion and contradiction throughout the commentary.
The second biggest flaw with the commentary is Brown's efforts to support his theme: Jesus cares about families. I have no doubt that the Savior does indeed have great concern for families, but that is simply not Luke's point in his Gospel. In fact, Luke repeatedly tells of the Savior's teachings that families will be divided by His doctrine. Luke makes clear that discipleship comes before family relationships. Brown does not satisfactorily address this clear theme in the book of Luke. Rather, he makes stretch after stretch to support his contention that the Savior wants families to be strong and unified.
Finally, I feel that Brown inadequately address -- and sometimes even ignores -- strong Bible scholarship that opposes his views. For example, it is apparently Brown's position that Luke did not use Mark's account at all when Luke wrote his gospel. I am NOT a Bible scholar, but based on what I have read, the view that Luke's account relies on Mark's is very well established. Brown's analysis of this issue focuses entirely on the differences between Luke and Mark; he never addresses how there can be so many striking similarities in the two accounts, if Luke did not in fact use Mark's account, at least as one of his apparently many sources.
Having identified these three biggest flaws, I want to reemphasize that I liked reading this book, and I plan to purchase other books as they come out in print (I can't read these types of books on my Kindle). But I hope that other books in this series take a more analytical approach to contrary views in the field of Bible scholarship.
So I purchased this commentary on Luke with some pretty high expectations. The book met many of my expectations. It incorporates perspectives from the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants as it discusses Luke's account of the Savior's life. It takes seriously Jesus's divinity, his atonement and resurrection. It even looks for hints of uniquely Mormon doctrine within Luke's Gospel.
But the book also has some serious flaws. First and foremost, its treatment of the Joseph Smith Translation is confused and confusing, even contradictory. For example, the title of this commentary -- "The Testimony of Luke" -- is apparently based on a common misconception about the changes JS made to the titles of the four gospels. (This misconception is propagated by the footnotes in our LDS versions of the Bible). Brown even acknowledges in his book that JS did NOT change the title to the Gospel of Luke to the "Testimony" of Luke, as JS did with the books of Matthew and John. And yet, the title of this commentary is what it is. Brown relies on the JST throughout the book, often times appealing to it as the ultimate and final authority on the original text of the book of Luke. But other times, Brown ignores or even discounts the JST's more problematic changes to the text. Without a discussion of what the JST actually is (i.e., an unfinished but inspired effort by JS that was often intended to clarify but not always to restore the text of Luke's account), there is no unifying or clear framework for Brown's use of the JST, leading to confusion and contradiction throughout the commentary.
The second biggest flaw with the commentary is Brown's efforts to support his theme: Jesus cares about families. I have no doubt that the Savior does indeed have great concern for families, but that is simply not Luke's point in his Gospel. In fact, Luke repeatedly tells of the Savior's teachings that families will be divided by His doctrine. Luke makes clear that discipleship comes before family relationships. Brown does not satisfactorily address this clear theme in the book of Luke. Rather, he makes stretch after stretch to support his contention that the Savior wants families to be strong and unified.
Finally, I feel that Brown inadequately address -- and sometimes even ignores -- strong Bible scholarship that opposes his views. For example, it is apparently Brown's position that Luke did not use Mark's account at all when Luke wrote his gospel. I am NOT a Bible scholar, but based on what I have read, the view that Luke's account relies on Mark's is very well established. Brown's analysis of this issue focuses entirely on the differences between Luke and Mark; he never addresses how there can be so many striking similarities in the two accounts, if Luke did not in fact use Mark's account, at least as one of his apparently many sources.
Having identified these three biggest flaws, I want to reemphasize that I liked reading this book, and I plan to purchase other books as they come out in print (I can't read these types of books on my Kindle). But I hope that other books in this series take a more analytical approach to contrary views in the field of Bible scholarship.
July 16, 2020
In my experience with Brown’s book, I have found that he draws regularly on the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible, connecting firmly to Latter-day Saint scriptural literature that embraces the world of the Bible. Consistently, he pulls in the JST to provide backdrop or context to a passage of Luke’s gospel. What I do not see is any argument from him that the JST presents the original text of Luke. In Brown’s hands, the JST simply illuminates the gospel’s text; it does not replace it. Furthermore, Brown’s copious use of supplementary scholarly commentaries and footnotes is surpassed only through his contributory analysis casting further light on his personal commentaries. These analyses alone are an invaluable tool in the hand of the serious-minded student of the scriptures, in particular the Gospel of Luke. In my home, Brown’s Testimony of Luke is an essential resource in my personal religious library.
December 28, 2020
Some interesting things about this book.
There are about 80 pages of introductory material before the start of text about Luke 1.
This translation is in parallel columns with King James translation on the left and this translation on the right, making it easy to see difference. Some of the time a person familiar with King James will find little difference between them.
The 69 page text of this translation is available on Amazon Kindle for free. The 1200 page book is not free, but now a Kindle version is available. Hurrah! I bought my copy straight from BYU. As of today, the price for the print version is the same from both places. This review is of the print edition.
Each chapter is broken up into a section for each pericope. As our family read Luke together this December, I got comments that the paragraph breaks in their King James printings differed from the breaks within a chapter in this book. Each pericope is followed by a paragraph covering phrases in those verses, followed by “Analysis,” which to some extent repeats the phrase comments.
At the end of the chapter it often points out items from that chapter that differ from the same event in Mark. I found these differences convincing me that the are not from a common source. Quelle (often just called Q) was always a theoretical construct anyway. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_source)
Item that show Luke’s appreciation of Women and of Home are often pointed out. These are things that I had not noticed before. They make sense.
Joseph Smith Translation (JST) differences are sometimes identified. Typically this is to show how Joseph Smith added additional information that clarifies disputed points.
There are about 80 pages of introductory material before the start of text about Luke 1.
This translation is in parallel columns with King James translation on the left and this translation on the right, making it easy to see difference. Some of the time a person familiar with King James will find little difference between them.
The 69 page text of this translation is available on Amazon Kindle for free. The 1200 page book is not free, but now a Kindle version is available. Hurrah! I bought my copy straight from BYU. As of today, the price for the print version is the same from both places. This review is of the print edition.
Each chapter is broken up into a section for each pericope. As our family read Luke together this December, I got comments that the paragraph breaks in their King James printings differed from the breaks within a chapter in this book. Each pericope is followed by a paragraph covering phrases in those verses, followed by “Analysis,” which to some extent repeats the phrase comments.
At the end of the chapter it often points out items from that chapter that differ from the same event in Mark. I found these differences convincing me that the are not from a common source. Quelle (often just called Q) was always a theoretical construct anyway. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_source)
Item that show Luke’s appreciation of Women and of Home are often pointed out. These are things that I had not noticed before. They make sense.
Joseph Smith Translation (JST) differences are sometimes identified. Typically this is to show how Joseph Smith added additional information that clarifies disputed points.
April 24, 2019
This book is a terrific compendium to a study of Luke. It took me a while to go all the way through it but I will be returning to it again and again as I continue my study of the New Testament.
March 3, 2016
This is an excellent commentary. It combines the best academic scholarship with the perspective of a faithful Latter-day Saint. I learned a lot from it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews