An Analytical Commentary on...


Mark Joseph Young

In his position as Chaplain of the Christian Gamers Guild, Mark Joseph Young applied his demonstrated intellect and decades of Bible studies to presenting a college-level course in the New Testament.  In 2006 he began teaching with Paul's Epistle to the Romans, and continued through all the epistles to the end of Jude, followed by Revelation, and then doubled back to begin the Gospels.  That course is still being taught, and indeed there are still two books to be finished in the series, but they are now being brought to print for personal use as an intensive Bible study or reference book.

Each volume will be added here as it is released:

...The Book of Romans, the longest and perhaps most influential book the Apostle Paul ever wrote, is the basis for a massive commentary analyzing the argument within it point by point.  The intricate logic of the message Paul presents is detailed, and the purpose of the letter revealed.  There is substantial consideration given to the original Greek.

This was the first commentary written for the series, for several reasons.  Top of the list was that two decades before the author had taught it at The Institute of the Great Commission in Pitman, New Jersey, and so already had a fairly strong understanding of the structure of the book and the points in its argument--as well as the misunderstandings so many held about it.  He thus determined to reconstruct his notes, and to find a venue through which to share them.  That turned out to be a sublist of the Christian Gamers Guild's group, and the subscribers began to grow as word spread of the course.  Meanwhile, the teacher pressed forward into other books, himself learning more about the Greek language and the theology of the first century message, and so the books improved--yet because of some affinity between the meticulously rigorous message of Romans and the careful rational approach of the Mensa-qualified analyst, Romans always stood out as a gem in the series.

Writing in the book's Foreword, the Reverend Rodney E. Barnes, M. Div. says, "unmistakable wordsmithing and detailed analysis of the Biblical texts...[o]ne of the most effective tools....It is a deep dive into the detailed meat of the text, drawing from a wide variety of others’ viewpoints on a particular verse, or even word use in a verse...a gold mine of data...."  It ranks among the most valuable books from the author to date.

It is the first entry in the series to be released by Amazon, in both paperback (ISBN 978-1989940754) and Kindle (ASIN B0C64YVVZF) formats.

...The Book of First Corinthians covers so many subjects in such depth that the commentary is published in two volumes.  The first volume covers the first nine chapters, including divisions in the church, immorality, lawsuits, marriage, and meat offered to idols and Christian freedom.  Volume two picks up with chapter ten, completing the discussion of Christian freedom, continuing with conduct in church services, spiritual gifts and the unified body, and the resurrection.

Following Paul, the text delves into denominations, divorce, hair styles and head coverings, tongues and prophecy, stronger and weaker brothers, organization of worship gatherings, and fundamental Christian beliefs.  Many difficult and controversial passages are unraveled to discover what Paul was really saying about these subjects and about modern ways in which they are applied or misapplied.

Volume I is available in paperback (ISBN 1998395111) or Kindle (ASIN B0DN357S32); Volume II is available separately also in paperback (ISBN 199839512X) or Kindle (ASIN B0DN3RVLC3).

Books by Author M. Joseph Young

M. J. Young Net