Jeremy Manuel

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Jeremy is Currently Reading

Jeremy Manuel is currently reading

The Count of Monte Cristo

by Alexandre Dumas

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Mar 23, 2026 01:04PM

Jeremy Manuel is currently reading

The Iliad

by Homer

bookshelves: currently-reading

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progress:

(page 99 of 614)
— Jan 12, 2026 10:14AM

Jan 07, 2026 06:41AM

Jeremy Manuel is currently reading

Acts for Everyone, Part One: Chapters 1-12

by Tom Wright

bookshelves: christianity, commentaries, acts, new-testament, currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in January 2018

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Jeremy Manuel said: " It always impresses me when acclaimed scholars can write in ways that non-academics can utilize and appreciate. N.T. Wright seems to be one of those scholars who can do just that. I don't exactly know how you'd classify this book. It's kind of like a It always impresses me when acclaimed scholars can write in ways that non-academics can utilize and appreciate. N.T. Wright seems to be one of those scholars who can do just that. I don't exactly know how you'd classify this book. It's kind of like a commentary, but not really. It's a walk through the book of Acts that everyone can appreciate.

The book is set-up one section of Acts at a time. Wright presents the text that he'll be working with and then presents almost a mini-sermon on it. He starts with a story or illustration on each section and then will work through the story of the passage. I found it very enjoyable and insightful. Wright also includes a glossary at the end of the book with definitions for terms that people may or may not know.

While I enjoyed it quite a bit, there are some aspects of the book that could be viewed as potential negatives. First, this isn't an academic commentary. I'm not judging it as one and that's not its purpose. Even so I think it can hold its ground against a good number of official commentaries even though it's not really trying to be one. So go in understanding this.

The second thing is connected to this first point. Wright doesn't really present any kind of references for any of his work. This is most likely because it is not trying to be an official commentary or an academic source, but for some that may be problematic. If you're familiar with the more academic work of Wright, then you probably aren't too worried about this, but I'll put it out there anyhow.

Third, Wright's illustrations and stories are hit or miss. Personally, this didn't bug me because I was usually more interested in how he handled a certain passage rather than how he introduced it. Plus I think that is the nature of trying to take that approaching, coming up with that many illustrations for various sections of Acts would be hard to do in a consistent manner.

Last, I find it rather weird that this is divided into two parts. Maybe there is a good reason for it, but I just found it kind of strange. Again this is not a big deal, but just something that I didn't really expect when I was looking for the book.

Overall, I found this to be a useful little book. Personally I've found it very helpful as a resource when preparing a Bible study that I help lead at my church. I understand that there are some things people may take negatively about the volume and I find it's a little weird to be split into two parts. Despite that I still recommend this book highly. I think that everyone could find something of use in this look at Acts, even those who may want something a little more academic. ...more "

progress:

(page 43 of 212)
— Jan 12, 2026 10:13AM

Dec 03, 2025 10:33AM · see review

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Jeremy’s Quotes

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
― Martin Luther King Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches

tags: darkness, drive-out, hate, inspirational, light, love, peace

78540 likes

“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.”
― Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time

tags: deadlines, humor, humour, work, writing

32164 likes

“The story so far:
In the beginning the Universe was created.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.”
― Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

tags: fantasy, humor, scifi

23480 likes