My First Biblical Commentary!

One of my long-term goals has been to write a commentary on the New Testament, and I’m very pleased to announce that this is starting to come to fruition.

A while back, the folks at Verbum Bible Software asked me if I would design some courses for one of their online platforms, and so I set to work writing the text for one.

The result is my very first biblical commentary, which is on the Gospel of Mark (selected because that’s the Gospel used in the Sunday readings for 2015).

Things I Learned

It was a fascinating project that I really enjoyed doing, and in the process I learned a lot. Going through a text word-by-word always results in new insights, and there are a bunch of gems hidden in Mark’s text.

Some of the things I learned included:

• How Mark parallels the growth of Jesus’ reputation among Jews and Gentiles
• How the Feeding of the Four Thousands is unexpectedly significant
• How the story of the “widow’s mite” may have a significance that you almost never hear about
• How the Transfiguration parallels the Agony in the Garden
• How to understand Jesus’ prophecies in detail
• How to respond to criticisms of Mark’s Gospel made by skeptics

Study Verse-By-Verse or with the Liturgy

I also produced two extensive study guides to help you get the most out of the Gospel:

• One takes you through the Gospel section-by-section, with questions based on the text of the commentary.
• The other goes through the liturgy—on Sundays, holy days, and weekdays—and gives you study questions for every day where Mark is used in the readings at Mass.

I thought I’d let you know that right now the set of all three resources—the commentary and the two study guides—is available for pre-order for people who use Verbum or Logos Bible Software.

A One-Time Offer

It’s available for only $19.99, and that’s the least expensive that this set will ever be. As a special reward to those who help in the pre-order period, Verbum/Logos gives a special discount that won’t be available again. It’s a one-time thing.

So if you’re interested, now’s the time to order! (And, at less than $20, I personally think it’s a steal. Between the commentary and the two study guides, you’re getting almost 500 pages of solid, Catholic biblical material!)

For the time being, the commentary and the study guides will only be available on Verbum/Logos. I hope eventually to bring them out in other formats, but I don’t know when that will be.

About Verbum Software

I’m a big fan of Verbum software, and I use it literally every day in my research.

If you’re not presently a Verbum user, you can learn about it here, and I can save you 15% when you order it if you use the promo code JIMMY1 at checkout.

Pre-Ordering the Commentary and Study Guides

If you’d like to pre-order the commentary and the two study-guides for only $19.99, click here.

The more people pre-order them, the sooner they can be converted to the Verbum format and released, so if you have friends who you think might be interested, let them know, too (e.g., by Facebook, Twitter, email, etc.)!

Thanks for doing so, and I hope you like them!

Your pal,

—Jimmy Akin

CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE COMMENTARY ON MARK AND THE TWO STUDY GUIDES FOR $19.99

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT VERBUM AND SAVE 15% WHEN YOU USE THE PROMO CODE “JIMMY1”