The New Testament in Color - by Esau McCaulley (Hardcover)

About the Book

In this one-volume commentary, a multiethnic team of scholars holding orthodox Christian beliefs brings exegetical expertise coupled with a unique interpretive lens to illuminate the ways social location and biblical interpretation work together. These diverse scholars offer a better vantage point for both the academy and the church.

Book Synopsis

Christianity Today Book Award--Biblical Studies

In a first-of-its-kind volume, The New Testament in Color offers biblical commentary that is:

• Multiethnic
• Diverse
• Contextual
• Informative
• Reflective
• Prophetic
• Inspiring

"I wish someone had handed The New Testament in Color to me twenty-five years ago, and I hope many will read it now." --Nijay Gupta, bestselling author of Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church.

Historically, Bible commentaries have focused on the particular concerns of a limited segment of the church, all too often missing fresh questions and perspectives that are fruitful for biblical interpretation. Listening to scholars from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities offers us an opportunity to explore the Bible from a wider angle, a better vantage point.

The New Testament in Color is a one-volume commentary on the New Testament written by a multiethnic team of scholars holding orthodox Christian beliefs. Each scholar brings exegetical expertise coupled with a unique interpretive lens to illuminate the ways social location and biblical interpretation work together. Theologically orthodox and multiethnically contextual, The New Testament in Color fills a gap in biblical understanding for both the academy and the church. Who we are and where God placed us--it's all useful for better understanding his Word.

Review Quotes

"In my own theological education, I was pressured to suppress my ethnic perspective and experiences, to conform to some sort of disembodied neutrality. Since then I have come to learn that my background, culture, and reading lens can actually enhance my ability to understand Scripture. I am thrilled to recommend The New Testament in Color because this 'library-in-a-book' reflects the beautiful mosaic of a many-colored hermeneutic. I wish someone had handed this book to me twenty-five years ago, and I hope many will read it now."--Nijay Gupta, professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary and author of Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church

"McCaulley, Ok, Padilla, Peeler, and the volume's contributors have broken new ground with The New Testament in Color. Its essays and commentary, written by scholars of the New Testament from across racial, ethnic, and gender identities, emerge from critical, socially located methods and insights that are also informed by the writers' ecclesial perspectives and experiences. The result is an important one-volume commentary on the New Testament that speaks from and reaches out to both academic and ecclesial communities."--Mary Foskett, Wake Forest Kahle Professor of religious studies and John Thomas Albritton Fellow at Wake Forest University

"Reading the New Testament, intentionally, through one's ethnic point of view (African American, Asian American, Hispanic, or Native American) does not violate an objective, traditional reading of Scripture. Rather, reading the Bible in and out of one's location exposes the bias of the (formerly so-called) 'objective' reading as a Euro-white reading and, at the same time, offers to the traditional readings fresh perspectives. Over and over. I thought the essays were worth the price of this book, but I was wrong. The commentaries interact with the essays in a manner that makes this book a required desk companion for anyone who wants to hear all the Word of God has to offer. A must-have for all Bible teachers and pastors."--Scot McKnight, author of The Second Testament: A New Translation and Julius R. Mantey Chair of New Testament at Northern Seminary

"Rooted in a confessional commitment to the trustworthiness of Scripture, this book draws together a diverse group of theologically minded scholars. Together they explore the multiple interpretive possibilities that emerge when Christians read across and within racial and ethnic difference. Here the promise is that God's Word will be more faithfully understood when the colorful tapestry of God's creation of multiple cultures and peoples is embraced. In these ways, this book joins a vital chorus of minoritized biblical scholars who invite readers to ponder the Bible and its readers in rich multiplicity."--Eric Barreto, Weyerhaeuser Associate Professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary

"The contributors of The New Testament in Color are experts not only in the biblical subject matter but also in identifying and sharing the gifts their social location brings to the hermeneutical task. The scope of this one-volume commentary provides a nearly kaleidoscopic vision of richly varied perspectives together with solid exegesis of the texts. The editors and authors have done the church and academy a great service, shaping a resource that promises to be a boon for seminary reading lists, a go-to in church and university libraries, and a must-have on every pastor's desk."--Kara Lyons-Pardue, professor of New Testament, Point Loma Nazarene University

"The American evangelical church has desperately needed this book, The New Testament in Color. For those of us who value the power and authority of God's Word while aware of the diverse experiences and realities that shape our own culturally unique stories, we have longed for this book. This text reminds us that God is a transcendent God who speaks through a transcendent source, but that God is also God with us, immanent in the Word and also in our lives."--Soong-Chan Rah, Robert B. Munger Professor of Evangelism at Fuller Theological Seminary and author of The Next Evangelicalism

"The New Testament in Color is a book I long hoped would eventually be written and is in many ways overdue. The editors have done a superb job of gathering scholars from diverse ethnic backgrounds who interpret the biblical text adeptly using the familiar critical tools of exegesis, and who also demonstrate how reading from their particular social location provides theological insight germane to all of God's people. They show how the New Testament addresses a range of issues important to today's readers, including topics of restorative justice, immigration and hospitality, racial bias and violence, the priority of families and ecclesial communities, and so much more. Not to be missed are the excellent introductory essays, which trace the ethnic histories of peoples of color and their practice of reading the Bible with a hermeneutic of trust. Exegetically precise, theologically orthodox, and prophetically challenging, this book--in a word--preaches!"--Max J. Lee, Paul W. Brandel Professor of biblical studies at North Park Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois

"The New Testament in Color is informative, prophetic, reflective, and inspiring. The authors, drawn from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, are self-aware of their social location and write with a hermeneutic of trust in Scripture. This volume makes an extraordinary contribution to New Testament studies and sets the standard for future commentaries."--Lynn H. Cohick, distinguished professor of New Testament and director of Houston Theological Seminary, Houston Christian University

"This is the book I've been searching for throughout my teaching career. There is academic excellence here, coupled with a prophetic call to hear God's Word through the rich diversity of the authors' cultural, ethnic, and racial perspectives and wisdom. There is pastoral sensitivity to the varied experiences of readers, from the emotional and psychological toll of racialized oppression to the exhortation to humility directed toward White Christians (like me). Professors, students, and all participants in the body of Christ will find The New Testament in Color to be a valuable, instructive, and challenging resource for understanding the Bible, the church, and Christian discipleship."--Caryn A. Reeder, professor of New Testament at Westmont College

"While it is not uncommon to encounter socially located interpretations grounded in a hermeneutic of suspicion, this work speaks from one of trust in the biblical text and a commitment to the central tenets of the Christian faith. It also moves beyond theories about these interpretations (although it does provide those discussions) to commentary on every New Testament book. This volume is a constructive contribution to debates about fundamental matters of interpretation from an impressive set of scholars of diverse ethnicities."--M. Daniel Carroll R. (Rodas), Scripture Press Ministries Professor of Biblical Studies and Pedagogy, Wheaton College

About the Author

Esau McCaulley is associate professor of New Testament at Wheaton College. He is the author of many works including Sharing in the Son's Inheritance and Reading While Black. He is a contributing opinion writer for the The New York Times, and his writing has also appeared in places such as The Atlantic and The Washington Post.

Amy Peeler is Kenneth T. Wessner Chair of Biblical Studies at Wheaton College and an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church (USA). She is the author of Women and the Gender of God (Eerdmans) and a commentary on Hebrews (Commentaries for Christian Formation, Eerdmans).

Osvaldo Padilla is professor of New Testament and theology at Beeson Divinity School of Samford University, where he has taught for the last fifteen years. He has published on the Acts of the Apostles and Paul. He is a member of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas.

Janette H. Ok is associate professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary. She is the author of Constructing Ethnic Identity in 1 Peter (T and T Clark). She is currently writing a commentary on the Letters of John (NICNT, Eerdmans) and To Be and Be Seen, coauthored with Jordan J. Cruz Ryan (Baker Academic).