The New Testament in Color: A Multiethnic Bible Commentary by Esau McCaulley

The New Testament in Color: A Multiethnic Bible Commentary Reviews

• 
  Richard Propes

  While theological reading is not uncommon for me these days, the truth is that since I finished seminary and I've been outside a formal ministry role for a bit I've seldom delved into the deeper world of academic theological writing and commentary.
  
  This is partly fueled by my frustration at the lack of diverse voices in theology. I've grown weary of the Eurocentric, patriarchal theological lens and thus I've preferred to immerse myself into the writings of diverse voices outside the academic world.
  
  You can likely imagine my excitement then when provided the opportunity to read "The New Testament in Color: A Multiethnic Bible Commentary" featuring essays from the likes of Lisa Marie Bowens, Mateus F. de Campos, Diane G. Chen, Miguel Echevarria, Dennis R. Edwards, Daniel K. Eng, Rodolfo Galvan Estrada III, Christin J. Fort, Michael J. Gorman, Gene L. Green, T. Christopher Hoklotubbe, Marcus Jerkins, Esau McCaulley, Daniel I. Morrison, Julie Newberry, Janette H. Ok, Osvaldo Padilla, Amy K. Peeler, M. Sydney Park, Madison N. Pierce, Eric C. Redmond, Jordan J. Cruz Ryan, Kay Higuera Smith, Ekaputra Tupamahu, Jarvis J. Williams, and Danny Zacharias.
  
  The journey is electrifying. It's exhausting. It's informative. It's thought-provoking. It's immersive. It's all these wonderful things and so much more. It's more than I could possibly describe within the context of this review and it's more than I can possibly even think about in one sitting.
  
  There's literally no doubt that "The New Testament in Color" is a book I will be reading again and again.
  
  Did I agree with everything? Absolutely not. However, everything made me think and feel and reflect and research and pray and so much more.
  
  If there's a weakness in "The New Testament in Color," it's the lack of a strong disability voice (and yes, I would argue disability is more a culture than a diagnosis).
  
  Reading these diverse voices offers an opportunity to learn, grow, be challenged, and to explore the Bible from a broader perspective.
  
  This is a one-volume commentary on the New Testament, though it runs right around 800 pages, written by a multiethnic team of scholars holding orthodox Christian beliefs. Exegetical expertise is companioned by each scholar's unique interpretive lens that allows a brighter illumination toward biblical interpretation and historicity. "The New Testament in Color" meets a desperate need for a richer and more diverse commentary.
  
  Rather that conflicting with Scripture, these biblical scholars are grounded in a trustworthiness of Scripture that allows for diverse interpretive possibilities enhancing faithful understanding of God's Word and God's World.
  
  Magnificently and very thoroughly researched and resourced, "The New Testament in Color" is ideal for those who want to dig deeper, think more, feel deeply, and enhance one's knowledge and one's faith.
  
  I just finished reading "The New Testament in Color" and I look forward to reading it again.
• 
  Rachel

  The New Testament in Color is an extensive one-volume commentary that focuses on the voices of people of color and how their experience and tradition informs their interpretation of Scripture. Some might look at this commentary and say that it is a resource for seminarians, academia, or people in multicultural ministry. I would caution against such an assumption. The reality is that this commentary was a necessary addition to the range of commentaries already published because the vast majority of biblical commentaries have come from male, white, European or American contexts or contributors. By utilizing this commentary in preparation for sermons or study in majority white churches or institutions, it is providing the reader with the opportunity to consider a perspective different from there own. God cannot be confined to one culture and by bringing together multiple voices, it then expands and enriches the interpretation of Scripture for study and proclamation.
  
  The way that this commentary is structured is first with introductions to the interpretive traditions of African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics, Turtle Island, and Majority-Culture. Then for each book of the New Testament it gives an introduction to the book, context of the contributor, author/date, genre, setting, and critical issues. It then gives a passage-by-passage commentary (i.e Acts: 1:6-11) with asides on things like Pharisees, Sadducees, and leprosy. In addition, it includes important chapters on wider themes such as Gender in the New Testament and Immigrants in the Kingdom of God.
  
  This commentary belongs on the shelf of every pastor and scholar in the United States, if not on an even larger scale. It is comprehensive, well-written, well-researched, and eye-opening. I recommend without reservation.
  
  Thank you IVP Academic and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
• 
  Scott Ward

  Perhaps you’ve read a familiar scripture verse or passage and had it mean something new to you—because you’re in a new stage in life like dating, marriage, divorce, widow-hood, being a child of a parent and now a parent, early career versus late career or retirement, migration from rural to urban or vice versa. Similarly, if you have a different familial history or geographic origin than the majority culture, the scripture passages might appear differently to you. Thus we can learn much from the contributors to the “New Testament in Color.” They provide a commentary on each of the books of the New Testament (Greek scriptures) as well as several other essays. The introduction to the Gospel of Mark is worth the price of the whole book. They do not exegete each verse but provide a minority perspective on the theme(s) of a passage throughout the book(s). We get to read insights from Black (African American), Asian American, First Nation, Hispanic (Latino/a), minority female scholars and more.
  
  They acknowledge that they are approaching this as North American residents, some from many generations on the margin, sometimes 2nd generation immigrants or transplants from another country. Thus, their perspective is somewhat limited by the time lapse from their family’s original culture. Still these commentaries are scholarly, personal and insightful. For example, though outside the scope of this work, one contributor illuminates the coldness of First Nations people to embrace easily the Israelites crossing the Jordan—as perhaps an act of colonization—to displace the current inhabitants of Canaan.
  
  There were a few places I thought a more non-European perspective could be expressed but wasn’t: the jailer’s household being baptized because of the patriarch’s experience with Paul and Silas; the silent conflict of Philip (one of the original apostles) warning Paul on his return to Jerusalem because Paul is ignoring the elders of the community; the provoking of anger perhaps when Jesus praises the centurion’s faith over his own disciples’, the crowd’s, his mother Mary’s and the baptized John’s. And there were a few where better insights are given. Such as Peter’s vision in Acts 10 and being told to eat unclean food just before being summoned to a Roman centurion’s household: most interpreters focus purely on the cultural challenge—one Peter has already faced—while this book’s interpreter here focuses on the socioeconomic power clash between Peter, a poor Jew, and Cornelius. Like the power conflict between an urban Black and White metro law enforcement officer, who’s been taught that blacks are criminals and it may be the only portion of that group they’ve interacted with. Both would be totally unfamiliar with each other except as powerful/powerless, oppressive/rebellious stereotypes.. The centurion would have been educated that the Israelites were kicked out of Egypt so many generations ago so that their diseases (aka the plagues) wouldn’t contaminate the Egyptian populace. The centurion then wouldn’t have wanted to engage much with the “slum-dwelling” Jewish inhabitants, and yet kneels contritely before Peter.
  
  If you’ve never been challenged to ask different questions when you read scripture—like you haven’t read this book or “Misreading Scripture Through Western Eyes”—then you really need to pick up this commentary.
  
  I’m thankful for the publisher allowing me to see an early copy.
• 
  Su Thor

  This is not a new translation of the New Testament but is a commentary on the books within the New Testsment. It gives good introductions to each of the books and gives a good incite into current theological thinking.
  It is a commentary written in black and white text and not colour, as the title suggests. That isn’t technically a problem, but the back text is so tiny it cannot be easily read on a phone or a kindle. To be able to read it properly you need to view it on a computer. However, that beside I found the commentary helpful for bible study preparations and for reading before writing talks each week for Sunday worship.
  
  I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
• 
  Simone

  I will post a detailed review on my blog on the publication date (August 6).