Book Notice: J.B. Lightfoot on Acts of the Apostles

Book Notice: J.B. Lightfoot on Acts of the Apostles July 26, 2015

J.B. Lightfoot

Eds. Ben Witherington & Todd Still
The Acts of the Apostles: A Newly Discovered Commentary: The Lightfoot Legacy Set: Volume 1
Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2014,
Available at Amazon.com

J.B. Lightfoot (1828-89) was one of the preeminent biblical and patristic commentators of his day. Many had known about the collection of Lightfoot’s notes kept in  the Durham Cathedral library, but no one has analysed them or interrogated them. Then in 2013, Ben Witherington (channeling the investigative skills of his fictional character Art West), decided to rummage through a tall book case in the Monk’s dormitory, happened upon three brown notebooks containing Lightfoot’s detailed exegetical lectures on Acts and a blue box full of other exegetical studies on the Gospel of John, lectures on 2 Corinthians, two notebooks on 1 Peter, and a notebook of reflections on early Judaism.  Ben Witherington and his colleagues have arranged for the publication of these antique commentaries through InterVarsity.

The commentary itself includes an introduction to criticism of Acts where Lightfoot seeks a via media between rationalism and fideism, a position he says is “in accordance with the highest reason and the fullest faith” (p. 42). The commentary proceeds with an introduction for every chapter and then provides a verse by verse description, noting textual and grammatical notes for comment, up to chapter 21. There are a dozen of excursuses like “Primacy of Peter,” “Diaconate,” “Authenticity of Speech of St. Stephen,” and “St. Paul’s Apostolic Journeys.” Among the appendices are an article on Acts that Lightfoot wrote for Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible plus notes on the general historicity of Acts, and then an obituary about Lightfoot.

I did not find anything particularly ground-breaking here in terms of exegesis or historical criticism, however, the volume is a goldmine for the reception-history of Acts in the nineteenth century, and it showcases the formidable historical insights and sobriety of thought that Lightfoot had as a historian. A must have for anyone who is a Lukan aficionado!


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