Dr. Stein has provided an excellent source for the study of the synoptic gospels. He writes in an easy-to-understand manner while still providing a great amount of detail. There are several useful charts and diagrams, and the parallel synoptic passages are written in neat, vertical columns for easy cross referencing.

The first section of this book discusses the literary relationship of the synoptic gospels. After establishing the clear literary dependence between the synoptics, Stein provides a very compelling argument for the priority of Mark and its subsequent utilization as a source for Matthew's and Luke's gospels. Those unfamiliar with Markan priority will learn a great deal from this section. The existence of Q as a written work is the next topic tackled. Objections to Markan priority and the existence of Q are handled well.

The second section covers form criticism and the oral transmission of the gospel materials prior to their use in written form. This area will again be very informative to those new to the topic. In the final section, Dr. Stein discusses redaction criticism and its applicability to hermeneutics. Stein comes from a conservative theological background, so I'm sure some conservative readers may be questioning whether or not critical scholarship is of any use. Clearly the author believes that it is, and I would agree. As for the issue of biblical authority, Stein believes that although Matthew and Luke used Mark as a source, and also that they altered their source in some cases, Matthew and Luke provide an inspired translation of Mark in those parallel passages where one writer differs from another.

This is an excellent resource for anyone interested in studying the relationship between the synoptic gospels. I know I'll be referring to it for a long time.

Having read all the works of this author over time, unquestionably this is his finest. One should plan to put all other tasks aside before beginning the book because once begun, it must be finished without interruption. There is fertile ground here for intense media interest, i.e., a movie or mini-series. This reader could not put the book down!

Great book! I had started reading another book by Robert Stein, Apollyon, and then I switched over to reading Vengeance Equation and couldn't put it down until I finished. I'm ready to start on his next book. Very good read.

This book will take you on a one way ride to another time era, when life was not supposed to be so complicated, yet, one man who becomes rich beyond anyone's wildest dreams, uncovers the truth behind the death of his parents, and that of the Holocaust. This book would make for a great movie, and I urge anyone in the movie business to buy the book and read it for yourself. You would make a zillion dollars, and the world would come to know the truth about uncovered truths regarding the Holocaust.

Robert H. Stein, a capable evangelical scholar, has given us perhaps the best volume of the NAC series. It is well-written and insightful, giving good treatment to the introductory matters and contextual issues. The one disappointing feature of the commentary, however, whether it by by the creation of Stein or the editors of NAC, is the format of the verse-by-verse notations, instead of opting for a continuous paragraph format. This feature makes the commentary seem tedious. However, this is offset by a discussion of the context of each pericope followed by a theological discussion of each passage. I've used this book twice as a textbook for undergraduate courses on Luke. While the commentary is long, the theological exposition makes it the best choice among one-volume commentaries.

I find this book to be full of all information required to study the Gospel of Luke intensively. It gives not only the information on the dating of the book, but the authorship, the reasons why it was written and to whom it was addressed to, Theophilus. Luke teaches us to how to understand the Word of God through the ministry of Jesus. This comentary explains explicitly each verse by verse in the Gospel of Luke to give an understanding that you can walk away from and retain this information. I really gained alot of knowledge coming from my Bible and referring to the comentary for deeper explanations.

By positing homosexuality as a normal variance from heterosexuality and apparently agreeing with the official medical stand that being gay isn't a mental illness, editors Robert Cabaj and Terry Stein may also be debunking Masters' and Johnsons' opinion in the 1950's that being homosexual and lesbian is a choice. That may well be the most controversial issue in this comprehensive, amazingly detailed resource for just about any and all questions about homosexuality. Addressed essentially to the professionals whose work brings them into contact with gays and lesbians, we get a fairly extensive history of homosexuality and its relationship to the mental health profession, from its early days when it was thought to be "curable" by treatment to the 1973 decision that removed it as a psychiatric disorder, then to contemporary issues. Along the way, though, diverse dynamics such as genetics, demographics, environmental cues, psychological and pre-determinant factors, substance addiction, violence, suicide, religion and, of course, AIDS are thoroughly dissected. Further, the editors even include issues unique to bisexuals and minority gays, subjects that have generated little serious published discussion. This book is not and does not pretend to be for casual reading and, instead, targets mental health, medical and religious providers. But it should also be required of the judiciary whose judges still continue to sentence gays charged with various offensives perceived as sexual in nature to counseling and therapy because they gay, a contradiction to the official psychiatric line that homosexuality is not a mental illness. For anyone shuffling through the mountain of books about homosexuality (most of which advance "cures" and religion as getting on the straight and narrow) but not interested in opinion and pontificating, this is the one excellent resource to consult with questions that require little more than "yes" and "no" answers. Incredibly, it gives us answers to questions we might not think even exist.

I checked this book out from the library and realized right away that I had to have a copy of my own to refer to over and over in the coming years. I'm a graduate student studying to become a counselor. Through the course of my studies I have continually been amazed and disappointed at how little knowledge most people in the helping professions have about homosexuality. With about 10% of the population being gay, lesbian, or bisexual, this textbook should be self-required reading by all those in the helping fields - psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors (both secular and religious), sociologists, doctors, nurses, and so on. This amazing text starts with the early history of homosexuality and the mental health profession, ends with spirituality and religion in the lives of lesbians and gay men and thoroughly addresses every other important issue in between. This book is a giant leap forward in the desparately needed advancement in education concerning homosexuality and mental health in this country.

If you're interested in learning the basics of proper Biblical hermeneutics, this is a book for you. Stein does a good job presenting the material in an easy-to-read fashion, yet writes in a very scholarly manner. The book is divided into two sections: The first section deals with the general rules of interpretation (the first four chapters); the second section deals with how to interpret proverbs, prophecies, poetry, idioms, hyperboles, parables, narratives, epistles, covenants, laws, and songs (chapters 5-13). The book is generally geared towards the average lay person or beginner seminary student. It can be used as a technical hermeneutical aid or as a tool to assist the average believer in how to read the Bible properly during Bible studies and quiet times. Stein's book is a valuable resource that should be available in every Christian bookshelf.

Dr. Stein's text is as good a book as he is a professor. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in sound methods to Biblical interpretation. It is easy to read and very easy to understand. A very good book for lay people in the church who are looking for help in interpreting Biblical passages. Very good!!!

This is a good introduction to Biblical interpretation for the layman. If you're more serious about biblical interpretation at a higher level I'd suggest first having a firm grasp of the basics presented here. My only gripe would be that it seems geared towards a younger audience. Still deserves 5 stars though.

Books on "gnosticism" often tend either to be in the academic stratosphere, or full of new age sensationalism. This volume is very useful in that it presents a variety of interesting viewpoints from (mostly) recognized scholars in the field. It's quite accessible and the closing chapter on modern gnostic revivals is of particular import for those seeking to comprehend the continued draw this ancient philosophy -- as radical or paranoid it may be -- exerts upon some elements of our society today. (I adopted this for use in an undergraduate course on gnosticism I teach.)

Robert Stein has written another exciting story that will hold you from the first line to the end. He's rapidly becoming a force in suspense publishing, and with reason.

As a native Oklahoman who has returned after a 35 year absence I found The Culture of Oklahoma to be very enlightening. The essays reinforced each other in an image of a state full of people who undervalue their strengths and whose devotion to individualism and populism keep them underachieving relative to much of the rest of the country. The same culture creates people who are warm, helpful, friendly and perservering. An image which stands out is the contrast of the "dust bowl" image with the reality of a state which is, by and large, lush, green and water rich. One hopes that younger generations of Oklahoma will grow out of the backwards parts of their past while retaining the positives.

Is there anything more futile then the synoptic problem? A professor of New Testament at a Theological Seminary should certainly realize that the problem is not a literary one. Let me explain. The synoptic problem, as defined by the book, is why luke, mark, and matthew look so much alike. Many possible solutions exist but none have been proven. My concern is what will be gained if this problem is solved? Maybe we could better ascertain the theological preferences of the evangelists but then we will have a bigger problem harmonizing those idiosyncracies then we do now. Beyond that, there is no advantage. For what it is the book does introduce and explain the theories and such, but don't devote your life too it. Too many great minds do alrighty.

Robert H. Stein has succeeded in providing an excellent introduction to the synoptic problem, which is the question of the literary interrelationships of the three gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Stein provides an excellent overview of the arguments that have favored the Two Source Hypothesis, according to which Matthew and Luke have independently used Mark as well as a second source termed Q. This book is required reading for anyone who is interested in the synoptic problem.

The synoptic "problem" is that the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke have enormous similarity (in pericopes, word order, word choices, selection of material, phrases, and so on). Stein gives a good scholarly treatment using biblical criticism constructively, as a good Evangelical.

Destructively, biblical criticism has been used to discredit the Bible or say that people couldn't agree, or that the writers themselves were confused, or that things didn't happen if they disagree.

Stein offers a great alternative: maybe the authors chose to put together the material differently (if there are differences) to make different emphases. Stein notes that Matthew has a more chronological order (using the Greek word 'tote' [then]), whereas Luke uses 'kai' [and], possibly indicating the author's redaction to make a more logical argument.

Stein also addresses issues of biblical criticism in general, dating of the material, how to make sense of quite a few passages and finding emphases.

It's a good reference book for the pastor and the theological student (e.g., seminarian and educated lay-readers) who want to know a strongly scholarly evangelical response.

This book isn't that bad. Unfortunately, the author's lack of writing skills mask the quality of his work.

Robert Stein (Rice University Professor of Political Science) has written a comprehensive study of how municipalities deliver their various public services and what difference does this variation imply for urban public policy. Stein grounds his study thoroughly in theory: Cities must provide services, not all citizens use these services but must contribute to the financing of these services through taxation; this generates an incentive for those who can afford to do so to move out of the city's borders, leaving behind an increasingly dependent population; this will eventually hurt the very fiscal capacity of the city to provide said services: a true urban dilemma. Stein argues that alternative service delivery, services delivered to citizens through a variety of organizational structures, allows cities with more extensive service commitments to meet their service delivery responsibilities while maintaining and adequate balance between their social function and their fiscal or economic function.

Stein adopts a rigorously empirical approach, employing a variety of data sources, but primarily relying on an International City Managers Association survey and Census Bureau data. Stein finds that, indeed the organizational structure of urban service delivery matters for the fiscal performance of municipalities. Alternative service delivery will, in general, reduce expenditures, lower employment rates and reduce wage rates for municipal governments. The primary mechanism for this is the lower benefit and wage packages offered to workers by non-municipal service providers. Stein concludes that these mechanisms offer municipalities a method for continuing to deliver public services even when these services conspire against their fiscal well-being.

Stein makes a real contribution to our knowledge of urban management and policy in this study. This is a book that should be read by anyone with an interest in the future of American cities. However, the methodological and theoretcial sophistication of the tome will prevent a wider audience. The exhaustive quantitative aspect of the study at times threaten to overwhelm the reader. Further, the theoretical arguments are such that the book could be troublesome for use in all except the most advanced undergraduate courses. Graduate courses in urban policy, however, should benefit greatly from this book. Finally, a minor criticism: the index is a bit less detailed that that called for by such an incisive and in-depth contribution.