The New Testament in Color - Esau McCaulley and Amy Peeler

OnScript

Episode: We are culturally embedded and socially embodied, and this impacts how we interpret Scripture. Esau McCaulley and Amy Peeler, who form part of the editorial team for The New Testament in Color: A Multiethnic Bible Commentary, answer questions about the book's origins, scope, and unique features. They also anticipate possible objections to the project and speak of its power to transform the church. Listen, and discover how our monochromatic readings can receive an exciting technicolor adjustment. Cohosted by Matt Bates.

The Book: Esau McCaulley (Editor), Janette H. Ok (Co-editor), Osvaldo Padilla (Co-editor), Amy L. B. Peeler (Co-editor), The New Testament in Color: A Multiethnic Bible Commentary (IVP Academic, 2024). 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. (Publisher’s description).

Guests:

Rev. and Dr. Esau McCaulley is the Jonathan Blanchard Associate Professor of New Testament and Public Theology and a contributing opinion writer on religion for the NYT. He has previously been our guest on OnScript for his book, Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope (IVP Academic). He also penned a memoir, How Far to the Promised Land (Convergent Books). Dr. McCaulley holds a Ph.D. in New Testament from the University of St. Andrews, 2017.

Rev. and Dr. Amy Peeler. Amy is the Kenneth T. Wessner Professor of New Testament at Wheaton, where she serves in the Graduate program. She holds a PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary. She has previously been our guest on OnScript for her book, Women and the Gender of God (Eerdmans). She also has a new commentary on Hebrews (Eerdmans) in the Commentaries for Christian Formation Series.

OnScript’s Review: The New Testament envisions the gathering of people from all tribes, tongues, and nations under the banner of King Jesus. The New Testament in Color provides a unique blend of theory and commentary from a multiethnic perspective. It exposes the guild's monochromatic biases, allowing us to reframe the New Testament in accordance with its multiculture aims. I'm eager to use it in the seminary classroom. — Matthew W. Bates, author of Why the Gospel?; professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary.

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