“The Book of Acts, A Commentary,” C.Peter Wagner

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At the time Wagner wrote this commentary by his records there were already 1,398 commentaries on this magnificent book of the Bible. So he approached his version by way of emphasising two key elements of the book:

1. Power ministries, that is, supernatural acts of healing, prophecy, etc, and
2. Missiological issues involved in the cross-cultural expansion of Christianity.

Therefore, it’s not a verse-by-verse commentary and in fact skips through some major sections of Acts particularly the final third. However, Wagner has clearly studied many of those other commentaries and there is repeated reference to a number of key ones almost on every page. Hence, this is a very comprehensive study when taking into account it’s two primary focuses.

Wagner’s study gives us a powerful picture of the worldliness of the major cities in that time: Athens idolatry, Corinth’s immorality, Ephesus’ emphasis on magic and Rome’s dominant political persuasions. In particular, the study in chapter 19 when Paul was in Ephesus was enthralling especially when one reads his epistle on Ephesians and emphasis on spiritual warfare. I now plan to study Ephesians and incorporate Wagner’s insights.

As far as commentaries go this reads easily in layman’s terms. It is a long study and requires plenty of deliberation and meditation but is an enlightening reference tool.