Excellent addition to Luminaire series

Turning the World Upside Down: Studies in the Acts of the Apostles Edmund Janzen. Kindred Productions, 2005. 303 pages.

Choosing as a title a phrase from the exciting story of the early church in the book of Acts (17:6), Edmund Janzen has made an excellent addition to Luminaire Studies, a superb commentary series designed for “the discerning reader and student of the Scriptures.” Janzen is professor emeritus and past president of Fresno Pacific University. His love for Scripture and keen observations, which invite the reader into a deeper experience of the text, are apparent throughout the commentary.

As with other volumes in this series, insightful explanations of a scriptural passage are followed by sections on Application and Teaching/Preaching Points, and by questions designed to foster group interaction or personal reflection on a passage. In this commentary, the reader finds both solid biblical scholarship, and an approach that seeks to have the drama of the early church practically re-enacted in our own context.

Earlier contributions to this valuable series have been authored by David Ewert (Corinthians, Revelation, Thessalonians, Philippians), Herb Kopp (Sermon on the Mount, James), Ray Bystrom (John), and Erwin Penner (Ephesians). Commentaries on Galatians, Romans, and the Pauline Letters are anticipated in the next few years.

Gordon Zerbe is associate professor of New Testament and interim academic dean at Canadian Mennonite University, Winnipeg.