Pros: Readable, Understandable, Pertinent, Available
Cons: Finally available again after many years out of print!
The Bottom Line: Ironside's commentaries explain the Bible using its own scriptures giving the believer a good grounding in knowledge of the various parts of the New Testament. Highly recommended
George_Chabot's Full Review: H.A. Ironside - Matthew
Matthew, by Henry A Ironside (2005)
The Bible is one of the most widely available books yet is one of the least understood - why is that? The subject has always fascinated me and I have often pondered the meaning of the scriptures, which I believe are the true word of God. If God has called you to read his word, one of the most helpful means I've found of understanding the often confusing passages are the commentaries of Henry A Ironside. These are Bible studies long out of print but brought back and published by Kregel. Ironside's Bible commentaries span the entire New Testament and cover 24 of the books of the Old Testament.
What brought me to Ironside's commentaries? I was raised a Catholic and attended all the CCD classes up through high school, but felt that something was missing and began to read an old Bible that my mom had. In those days the Catholic Church did not emphasize Bible reading; they had missals - books with excerpts from the Bible that were read in the Mass, various prayers, etc. I don't know what else the missals had because that was years ago and I stopped being a devout Catholic when I read through that Bible and realized they had not told me of its importance. If they were willing to withhold that important a thing from their adherents I didn't want to know what else they were withholding.
In my opinion, after much thought on religious matters, I asked myself if I were God, how I would introduce myself. I decided the best way I could think of to introduce myself to people would be through the written word. That way, everybody would get the same message. Sure, people can talk about these things and help convert themselves, but the source material would have to be written. That way no matter how times or society or even the individual changed the words would still remain and a person could read them any time and receive the same message.
After a lot of fruitless reading of various commentaries I learned that whatever is necessary for Bible understanding will be explained in the Bible itself. Ironside's studiesare some of the most helpful I've found because he uses the Bible to explain itself and that is how the Bible is to be read.
The Bible is not a book of all knowledge, rather, the Bible is a book that teaches a person what salvation is. It uses God's own story and words to teach a person ready to accept that Jesus is the son of God. That doesn't mean that people do not use the Bible for all sorts of improper teaching, for both good and evil purposes, but the real meaning is just what I told you. If you want to believe the Bible guarantees prosperity or any other idea it is not biblical, in my opinion.
Ironside explains that Matthew is one of the three synoptic gospels; that is Gospels with the same general view; literally, seen with the same eye. Why were there three similar Gospels - Matthew, Mark, and Luke? The answer is because they were aimed at three separate audiences. In the first century when these books were being circulated there were three separate audiences - Jews; Greeks (pagans); and converts to Judaism. Each of these segments had a message tailored to their understanding and had attributes that would be meaningful to them. Matthew was aimed at the Jewish believers in Christ and is believed to be the work of the tax collector who was one of the twelve Disciples of Christ. Ironside explains that Matthew was of the despised profession and the fact he was chosen shows that the legalism of traditional Judaism was being dispensed with. Grace was the hallmark of Christ's message. Recognition of sin; repentance from dead works, and reunion with the Deity were the key features of Christ's gospel as preached on the Sermon on the Mount.
The Matthew commentary is very helpful in disclosing a lot of the symbolism used by Christ in his various parable teachings. Find out how you can know that Christ is the King of Israel - certainly one of his roles as Son of David. Learn why Matthew used the term Kingdom of Heaven so frequently unlike the other gospel writers. Learn that the Sermon teaches how to recognize one who is saved - those who walk according to faith; human effort at righteousness is doomed ever to fail. It points out obeying the teachings of Christ is like building your house on the rock - it shall never fall.
The Commentary on Matthew is hard cover and consists of 272 pages of text. If you are interested in the meaning of the Bible, this commentary by Ironside will be a good place to start.
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