God with Us: Themes from Matthew

by D.A. Carson

Book by D. A. Carson

Genres: Reference

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Donald A. Carson is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He has been at Trinity since 1978. Carson came to Trinity from the faculty of Northwest Baptist Theological Seminary in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he also served for two years as academic dean. He has served as assistant pastor and pastor and has done itinerant ministry in Canada and the United Kingdom. Carson received the Bachelor of Science in chemistry from McGill University, the Master of Divinity from Central Baptist Seminary in Toronto, and the Doctor of Philosophy in New Testament from the University of Cambridge. Carson is an active guest lecturer in academic and church settings around the world. He has written or edited about sixty books. He is a founding member and currently president of The Gospel Coalition. Carson and his wife, Joy, reside in Libertyville, Illinois. They have two adult children.

Reviews

[Dogeared Wanderer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short book but packed with an excellent overview of the main themes of the gospel of Matthew. It is designed for Bible study or individual study and contains study questions after each chapter, with an optional teacher's guide available from the publishers.

Each chapter covers a couple chapters of Matthew and gives the big picture. This is not an exhaustive commentary and there are many questions that arise which would be better answered from further study in other commentaries. It is a good basic introduction to the book and helpful for new Christians.

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, but fairly surface level - a lot of it is stuff you'd find in a good study Bible (like the NIV Study Bible, which Carson worked on).

[Abigail Hartman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three word review: Helpful, light, thematic.

This book is exactly what it says on the tin: a commentary on Matthew for laymen. As such it is necessarily brief and broadbrush, but (since this is Carson) never trite. Covering the whole scope of Matthew, it is extremely helpful in seeing the writer's repeated themes, particularly the contrast between the Kingdom Jesus inaugurated and the kingdom the Jews - and the disciples - expected the Messiah to bring. Carson himself states at times that the book is not intended to be detailed, and since we tend to read the Gospels chapter by chapter, it was helpful to step back and see the book as a whole.

Also, judge not this book by the backcover blurb (if it happens to me the same edition I read): I'm pretty sure the person who wrote it never read the book. "Energize your life"? What does that even mean?