A Commentary on the New Testament (Volume III)

By Ronald Knox “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.” These famous words of Saint Jerome make for a stirring challenge in the Christian life. For while Sacred Scripture does indeed bear the words of eternal life, those same words also throw difficulties into the path of understanding—apparent contradictions, obscure sayings, parallel passages, variant readings, and so forth. Yet the fact remains that the God who reveals himself to man is the true Light, “full of grace and truth,” and not a God who delights in obscurantism. On these grounds stand Monsignor Ronald Knox’s three volumes of Commentary on the New Testament, originally published in 1952, 1954, and 1956. Intended for a lay readership, rather than scholarly, Knox’s work aims to resolve, at least in part, those difficulties of the New Testament for those who “want to read the Bible for themselves without shirking the difficulties.” In this third volume, Knox offers clear and refreshing commentary on St. Paul’s epistles to Timothy and Titus, Philemon and the Hebrews; the letters of St. James and St. Peter, St. John and St. Jude; and, lastly, the Apocalypse of St. John. “What things soever were written,” writes St. Paul, “were written for our learning, that, through patience and the comfort of the scriptures, we might have hope.” The virtue of Knox’s Commentaries on the New Testament is that they lighten the burden and increase the joy of that learning. “He who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.  (These words I was bidden write down, words most sure and true.)” (The Apocalypse of the Blessed Apostle John)   Ronald Knox (1888–1957) was an English Catholic priest, theologian, and author, and one of the most prominent twentieth-century converts from Anglicanism to Catholicism. Best known for his contemporary English translation of the Scriptures (the “Knox Bible”), he wrote numerous works of apologetics and collections of ser­mons, retreat conferences, and lectures, as well as six detective novels. * * * Paperback: 292pp. ISBN: 978-1685954802