The Sacra Pagina Bible Commentary series is a multi-volume Catholic commentary on the books of the New Testament. The expression "Sacra Pagina" ("Sacred Page") originally referred to the text of Scripture. In the Middle Ages it also described the study of Scripture to which the interpreter brought the tools of grammar, rhetoric, dialectic, and philosophy. Sacra Pagina aims to provide sound, critical analysis without loss of religious meaning. An international team of respected Catholic Biblical scholars wrote these fresh translations of the books of the New Testament, intended for biblical professionals, graduate students, theologians, clergy, and religious educators.

St. Matthew wrote his Gospel from his perspective as a Jew. It is with sensitivity to this perspective that Father Harrington undertakes this commentary on the Gospel of Matthew. After an introduction, he provides a literal translation of each section in Matthew's Gospel and explains the textual problems, philological difficulties, and other matters in the notes. He then presents a literary …

About this book: The Johannine Epistles are today read as an important part of the Johannine literature. Yet the meaning of the text is often unclear. Part of the problem arises because, although 1 John is called an Epistle, it lacks the formal marks of an Epistle. In 1, 2, and 3 John , John Painter illuminates the relationship 1, 2, and 3 John have to each other and to the Gospel. Painter …

About this book: Crisis in the church is not a new phenomenon. In fact, the church has always been—and probably always will be—involved in some kind of crisis. Even in the apostolic period, which is regarded by many as the church's golden age, there were serious crises coming both from the outside, as in 1 Peter, and from the inside, as in Jude and 2 Peter. The three short New Testament …

First and Second Timothy and Titus have for many years borne the collective title “The Pastoral Epistles.” Both their style and their content make it difficult to locate them within the corpus of Pauline letters, and recent scholarship most often considers them pseudonymous, works that imitate Paul’s letters but apply the apostle’s teaching to the concerns of a later time, two or more decades …

What makes this scholarly commentary on the Gospel of Luke stand apart from others is that, from beginning to end, this is a unique "literary analysis" - focusing solely on the Gospel as it appears and not on its source or origin, this commentary richly and thoroughly explores just what St. Luke is saying and how he says it. Luke Timothy Johnson is the Robert W. Woodruff Professor of New …

Although relatively brief, Philippians is one of the most interesting and beloved of Paul's undisputed epistles. In Philippians and Philemon , Professor Thurston makes a convincing case that canonical Philippians is as Paul wrote it, one letter. Although there is not enough specific evidence to "name names," she suggests a number of possible audiences. A translation conforming as closely …

While widely acknowledged as the single most influential document in Christian history, Paul's Letter to the Romans has also attracted the most comment. Standing at the head of Paul's writings in the New Testament and so eloquently delivering his Gospel, Romans has presented Paul to generations of readers: from Augustine in the fifth century, through the Reformation era, down to the present …

One of the most exciting of Paul’s letters, First Corinthians offers a vantage point from which modern readers can reflect on the diversity in Christian Churches today. In First Corinthians , Raymond Collins explores that vantage point as well as the challenge Paul posed to the people of his time—and continues to pose in ours—to allow the gospel message to engage them in their daily lives. …

Second Corinthians is often regarded as the most personal of Paul’s letters. In this letter Paul more than once fiercely counters the attacks of his opponents. He extensively describes both the quality and circumstances of his apostolic existence: the sufferings he endures, the opposition he encounters, and his continual care for the churches. Second Corinthians is, therefore, highly …

Scarcely any book of the New Testament (with the possible exception of Revelation) is so perplexing as the “Letter to the Hebrews.” Not really a letter, but a sermon with some features of a letter added to it, not really by its putative author, Paul, but by an anonymous Christian who wrote some of the most elegant Greek in the Bible, not really addressed to the “Hebrews,” but to Christians, …

The Letter of James provides an important message that challenges us as Christians to put faith into action. In this commentary Patrick Hartin provides a new translation of James that serves as the basis for a detailed explanation of the text. He shows that it is an important writing that sheds light and understanding onto the world of early Christianity. Section by section he provides …

The letters First and Second Thessalonians are traditionally associated with the Pauline foundation of the Macedonian Church at Thessalonica. The first is seen as representing Paul's earliest epistolary efforts and as providing two successive moments in his long relationship as advisor to that community. Soon after leaving the area for the southern province of Achaia, Paul addresses the …

Paul's Letter to the Galatians has played a major role in the history of theology, especially in the Church's teaching on grace, faith, and justification. This commentary argues that Paul's doctrine of justification by faith is essentially social in nature and has important ecumenical implications for the Church today. In its original setting, Galatians established a foundation for the unity …

In The Gospel of Mark Fathers Donahue and Harrington use an approach that can be expressed by two terms currently used in literary criticism: intratextuality and intertextuality. This intratextual and intertextual reading of Mark's Gospel helps us to appreciate the literary character, its setting in life, and its distinctive approaches to the Old Testament, Jesus, and early Christian theology. …

No other book of the New Testament has attracted as much attention from commentators as the Fourth Gospel. It has stirred minds, hearts, and imaginations from Christianity's earliest days. In The Gospel of John , Fr. Francis Moloney unfolds the identifiable "point of view" of this unique Gospel narrative and offers readers, heirs to its rich and widely varied interpretative traditions, …

More than any other New Testament writing the Book of Revelation demands commentary. Its often bewildering text is easily open to less than scholarly interpretation. Father Wilfird Harrington brings his reknowned scholarship to the Book of Revelation and conveys its Christian message. He puts the work in its historical and social setting a first-century c.e. province of the Roman Empire and …

No two works in the Pauline Epistles resemble each other as closely as Colossians and Ephesians. Often recognized for their majestic tone and powerful theological statement, Colossians and Ephesians also present many challenges of interpretation. Most commentaries on these letters seem preoccupied with the same few issues, particularly the question of authorship. As MacDonald addresses these …

The Acts of the Apostles is the second volume in the two-part writing scholars call Luke-Acts. It continues the story begun in the Gospel of Luke, showing how the Good News offered by Jesus was eventually extended “to the end of the earth,” so that Gentiles as well as Jews came to share in the blessings of God. This scholarly commentary treats Luke-Acts as an apologetic history. It takes with …