First Corinthians: Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture [CCSS] -eBook

George T. Montague, SM (STD, University of Fribourg), is professor of New Testament at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas. He is the author of more than twenty books, including Understanding the Bible. In 1995 he began a new religious community in the Marianist family, the Brothers of the Beloved Disciple.

George Montague's First Corinthians is a great addition to the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Of all Paul's letters, First Corinthians is the one that enables us to see the reality of a first-century Christian community and read Paul's reflections thereon. Drawing from what Paul wrote, Montague shows the continuity between the Church of God at Corinth and the Catholic Church of the twenty-first century. It is as insightful about the one as it is the other.
-Raymond F. Collins,
visiting scholar, Brown University

The CCSS is a long-awaited addition to Catholic books on the Bible. It is clearly written, sticks to the facts, treats the Bible as true history, and does not get lost in idle speculation and guesswork about the sources of the Gospels and the other books. Homilists will find here the pearl of great price and the treasure hidden in a field. Laypersons who are looking for a truly Catholic interpretation of the Bible will find it here. Those who want to know more about God's holy word in the Bible will want to purchase the whole set.
-Kenneth Baker, SJ,
editor, Homiletics and Pastoral Review

This series of commentaries is just what the Church needs today. It combines sound exegesis with pastoral and spiritual sensitivity and is accessible to any Catholic who wishes a reliable commentary on Scripture that is understandable, solid in its scholarship, and applicable to life. Recommended.
-Ralph Martin,
director graduate theology programs in the new evangelization, Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Archdiocese of Detroit

Those who preach and teach will find their burden lightened and turned into delight with the help of these commentaries. In a time when much biblical scholarship is written for other biblical scholars, these authors understand that the Bible is the book of the Church, the entire people of God.
-Richard John Neuhaus,
author ofAmerican Babylon: Notes of a Christian Exile

Mary Healy and Peter S. Williamson, with Kevin Perrotta, have launched an exciting and most promising Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. I plan to read and use it as a basis for preaching and am already profiting from the advanced segments.
-Michael Scanlan, TOR,
chancellor, Franciscan University of Steubenville

This new Bible commentary series is based on solid scholarship and enriched by the church's long tradition of study and reflection. Enhanced by an attractive format, it provides an excellent resource for all who are serving in pastoral ministry and for the individual reader who searches the Scriptures for guidance in the Christian life.
-Emil A. Wcela, Auxiliary Bishop (retired),
Diocese of Rockville Centre; past president, Catholic Biblical Association

Direct, clear, and spiritually rich, the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture is just what we need today: patient exposition of God's Word that illuminates and is illuminated by the teaching and practice of the Church.
-R. R. Reno,
professor of theological ethics, Creighton University

This new commentary series should meet a need that has long been pointed out: a guide to Scripture that will be both historically responsible and shaped by the mind of the Church's tradition. It promises to be a milestone in the recovery of a distinctively Catholic approach to exegesis.
-Aidan Nichols, OP,
John Paul II Memorial Visiting Lecturer, University of Oxford; Fellow of Greyfriars, Oxford

In the four decades since the Second Vatican Council, Catholics of all backgrounds have been blessed with quite a number of excellent commentaries on the Sacred Scriptures. Many of these were very scholarly and others more popular. There has long been a need for a commentary that provides a certain amount of depth while still being very accessible to people of all backgrounds--preachers and teachers of the Word, lay or ordained, as well as ordinary Catholics. Peter Williamson, Mary Healy, and Kevin Perrotta have put together a team that is now writing a seventeen-volume New Testament series entitled The Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Following the theological principle of Dei Verbum 12, that Scripture should be interpreted 'in accord with the same spirit by which it was written,' these volumes seek to integrate Scripture with Catholic doctrine, worship, and daily life. The authors and consulting editors are world-class theologians and Scripture scholars, the format is easy to read, and the price is hard to beat!
-Adam Cardinal Maida,
Archbishop of Detroit

Informed by careful scholarship, yet accessible to a wide audience, the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture belongs in homes, parishes, college classrooms, and anywhere that a clear, lively, faithful guide to Bible study is welcome. Catholics delving into Scripture will find here a first-class resource for discovering, or rediscovering, the spiritual riches of the New Testament.
-Paul Thigpen,
professor of theology, Southern Catholic College, Dawsonville, Georgia, and editor of The Catholic Answer magazine

The Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture employs the Church's methodology of studying Sacred Scripture in a faithful, dynamic, and fruitful way. With interest in Catholic Bible studies growing rapidly, the repeated question has been, 'can you suggest a reliable commentary?' The Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture is now the go-to resource that I can enthusiastically recommend to all my students.
-Jeff Cavins, founder,
The Great Adventure Catholic Bible Study System

This new Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture (New Testament) grew out of a perception that there was a need, yet to be met, for commentaries oriented to Christian faith and life today. The first two volumes--The Gospel of Mark and First and Second Timothy, Titus--indicate that this series promises to be spiritually and doctrinally informative, based on careful, solid biblical exegesis. The method and content of this work will be helpful to teachers of the faith at different levels and will provide a reliable guide to people seeking to deepen their knowledge and thereby nourish their faith. With the advance of secularism in our times Christian conviction and evangelization need sustained support, especially through Sacred Scripture. I strongly recommend the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture.
-Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor,
Archbishop of Westminster

Pope Benedict XVI has reminded the Church that continuous encounter with the Word remains the source of her renewal and the font of 'a new spiritual Spring.' The Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture affords its readers a helpful guide for encountering the books of the Bible in a way that respects both the whole of Scripture and the givens of Catholic faith. Many will discover in the volumes of this collection wellsprings of spiritual refreshment.
-Romanus Cessario, OP,
professor of systematic theology, St John's Seminary

Besides being a clearly written, comprehensive, and pastorally instructive guide to the Bible for Catholics, the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture is also a great commentary for Protestant readers. By being faithful to the Church's teaching and by drawing so much from the wisdom of all of church history, it offers much to Protestant readers who want to read Scripture through the Great Tradition.
-David Mills,
editor of Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity

After twenty years of teaching priests as well as teaching Catholic laypeople, seminarians, and deacons in formation, I can say with confidence that the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture is a landmark achievement in theological interpretation of Scripture in and for the Church. Everything about it is inviting and edifying, from the format, photos, background notes, and cross-references (to Scripture and the Catechism) to the rich exposition of the text, quotations from the Church's living tradition, and reflections for contemporary life. It is a wonderful gift to the Catholic Church and a model for the rest of us. Highly recommended for all!
-Michael J. Gorman,
professor of Sacred Scripture and dean of the Ecumenical Institute of Theology, St. Mary's Seminary and University, Baltimore

When the Scripture is read in the liturgy, it is heard as a living voice. But when expounded in a commentary, it is too often read as a document from the past. This fine new series unites the ancient and the contemporary by offering insight into the biblical text--verse by verse--as well as spiritual application to the lives of Christians today. I particularly like the sidebars inserted into the text called 'Living Tradition' that feature memorable sayings from great Christian teachers or brief explanations of puzzling terms and ideas.
-Robert Louis Wilken,
William R. Kenan Jr. professor of the history of Christianity, University of Virginia

There's something about this series that is notable: the authors explain the Bible in theologically orthodox ways and explain the text clearly, succinctly, and without a lengthy apparatus of the history of interpretation or discussions of alternative views. Solid exegesis; discussion of the evidence as needed; not much bibliographical reference. Just expounds what the text says and moves on. In other words, this could be the first commentary read by a pastor preparing a text and could be read easily by a Sunday School teacher preparing a text, and it would be an excellent commentary for a college Bible class…The Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture will prove itself to be a reliable, Catholic--but ecumenically open and respectful--commentary.
-Scot McKnight