Former commentaries have usually been of two kinds - either abstruse and academic, or over-simplified and out-of-date. These new paragraph-by-paragraph commentaries have been written by modern scholars who are in touch with contemporary Biblical theology and also with the needs of the average layman. They interpret the words of the New Testament for the twentieth century, in the light of the latest archaeological, historical and linguistic research. Professor Caird is an eminent Congregationalist writer. The Gospel of which he treats is notable for its insistence on the life, death, and teaching of Christ as a message of universal salvation addressed to all men. This humanity, and a strong sense of the supernatural (shown in the accounts of the working of the Spirit and the ministry of the angels), combine to intensify the peculiar charm of this Gospel.
