CAPTIVATED BY CHRIST:
Seeing Jesus clearly in the book of Colossians
By Richard Chin
Matthias Media. 143 pages. £9.99
ISBN 978 1 925 424 492
In this book, Australian pastor Richard Chin has converted a series of talks into seven chapters working their way through the entire text of Colossians. The result is effective. The chapters do indeed read like talks (rather than a commentary as such): the language is fresh and accessible, the illustrations engaging, the content well laid-out, the applications clear and to the point.
Technical matters (e.g. the nature/ existence of the so-called ‘Colossian heresy’) are generally avoided or, in the odd case, relegated to footnotes, so the flow of the text is uninterrupted. Every few pages a sidebar box appears to deal with a specific issue arising from the passage in Colossians or Chin’s comments on it – ‘Who are “the saints”?’ / ‘Spiritual warfare’ / ‘Five rules for social media’ / ‘What is forgiveness?’, etc.), and these are generally an interesting addition rather than a distraction.
