Judas and the Gospel of Jesus: Have We Missed the Truth about Christianity? – By N. T. Wright

Religious Studies Review • VOLUME 33 • NUMBER 3 • JULY 2007

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history and theology. The central question here is not the“how” of stewardship, but the “why” of stewardship itself.Select contributions in this volume represent new trajecto-ries. For example, L. Sideris’s work on environmental ethicsand natural selection is a welcome addition to this conver-sation. Classics in the field of environmental stewardshipalso find a place (e.g., J. Sittler and D. J. Hall). This volumehas an unavoidably disconnected sense to it. Scientists, pub-lic policy experts, journalists, and scholars of religious studiesall offer musings on the theme of “stewardship.” Many of thearticles are nuanced, carefully crafted, and clearly advancespecific arguments in the field of environmental ethics.Other articles are cursory and beg complex questions thatgrip the field. The volume generally neglects critical insightsas to how sex, gender, race, class, etc. shape understandingsof “stewardship.” This text will appeal to undergraduatestudents in ecology and religion classes or to seminarianssearching for a general synopsis of this conversation.

Daniel McFeeMercyhurst College

Greece, Rome, Greco-Roman PeriodMENSCH UND RAUM VON DER ANTIKE BIS ZURGEGENWART. Edited by A. Loprieno. Colloquia Raurica,9. Munich: K.G. Saur Verlag, 2006. Pp. ix + 221; plates,maps. €64.00, ISBN 978-3-598-77380-8.

Many readers may be put off by the vast subject matterindicated by the title of this volume. This would be a pitybecause each of the ten contributions (one in English, ninein German, of which three deal with Egypt, one with the OT,two with the Greeks [including an intricate plotting of thetemporal and spatial coordinates of a Greek novel], one withthe medieval Alexander romance, one with Arabic travelliterature, and two, more generally with theatrical and sculp-tural space) offers a stimulating vignette, accessible to theinterested readers, of particular texts or artifacts that pointto the diverse conceptions of different societies concerningspace and humanity’s space within it. While the specificityof the discussions opens up theoretical considerations, itdoes not become bogged down with them. Even scholars inareas that are not dealt with here will be stimulated to recon-sider their own material within the spatial frameworks pre-sented here.

Jenny Strauss ClayUniversity of Virginia

Christian OriginsTHE DEAD SEA SCROLLS: WHAT HAVE WELEARNED? By Eileen M. Schuller. Louisville, KY: West-minster John Knox Press, 2006. Pp. xvii + 126. $17.95, ISBN0-66423-112-8.

A slightly expanded version of her 2002 John Albert HallLectures, the chapters in Schuller’s brief and accessiblework take up a series of questions about what we have

learned from the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls. After a help-ful decade-by-decade survey of the nearly sixty years sincethe discovery of the scrolls, each of the next three chaptersis devoted to an area of inquiry wherein the scrolls haveplayed a major role and continue to hold great promise:textual criticism and composition history of scripture;prayer, worship, and other liturgical matters; and the placeand role of women, both at Qumran in particular and in earlyJudaism more generally. The book ends with a brief descrip-tion of future directions for Scrolls study, including the par-ticipation of more voices in an interdisciplinary discussion.Indeed, Schuller’s own work demonstrates well the contri-bution that social scientists, literary critics, and others canmake beyond the tremendous work already accomplished bytextual critics, philologists, and historians. While the latter’swork is by no means completed, the former can draw uponit and extend it toward even greater syntheses of what wehave learned.

Shane KirkpatrickAnderson University

COPTIC IN 20 LESSONS: INTRODUCTION TOSAHIDIC COPTIC WITH EXERCISES AND VOCAB-ULARIES. By Bentley Layton. Leuven: Leuven, 2006.Pp. viii + 204; illustrations. $34.00, ISBN 978-90-429-1810-8.

Having published what has become the standard refer-ence grammar of Sahidic Coptic (A Coptic Grammar, Harras-sowitz, 2000), Layton has now come out with an introductorygrammar based on that earlier work. In his analysis of Copticgrammar Layton has introduced a radically new terminol-ogy. For example, “second tenses” are gone, replaced by“focalizing conversion.” “Adjectives” are back, however,called “genderless common nouns” in the earlier work. Lay-ton’s book is now clearly the one to use in teaching Coptic.Students who can get through it will be prepared to take onCoptic texts. The only problem I see is that Layton is com-pletely silent about why he is replacing the older terminol-ogy standard in Coptic editions and scholarly literature withthe new one. I would counsel the teacher using this work tocomplement it with relevant sections from Thomas Lamb-din’s Introduction to Sahidic Coptic (Mercer, 1983).

Birger A. PearsonUniversity of California, Santa Barbara

THE MESSIAH IN THE OLD AND NEW TESTA-MENTS. Edited by Stanley E. Porter. Grand Rapids, MI:Eerdmans, 2007. Pp. xiv + 268. $29.00, ISBN 978-0-8028-0766-3.

Ten participants in a 2004 Colloquium at McMasterDivinity College in Hamilton, Ontario supply herein theirvaried perspectives on the Messiah in the Old and NewTestaments. L. Stuckenbruck finds no unified picture of theMessiah in the apocalyptic writings of early Judaism; as aresult, the question “why did not the Jews recognize Jesusas Messiah?” is misplaced. For T. Thatcher, JohannineChristology counters the contentions of the Antichrists by

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affirming the earthly ministry of the man Jesus. S. Porterdiscovers in Luke–Acts a twofold theme: Jesus is both aneschatological prophetic messianic figure, as well as an earthlyscion of the Davidic lineage. According to I. H. Marshall,Mark and Matthew regard and report the words and deedsof Jesus, and from them fashion an explanatory picture thatreinterprets preexisting Jewish notions of the Messiah. ForS. Cummins, Paul’s conversion brought him to the realiza-tion that this very Jesus was the one through whom theexpectations of Israel were to be fulfilled; through Jesus, thelife of the Spirit was infused into the community of believers.C. Evans summarizes the proceedings and offers his owncritique: messianism as a concept may not be found in theBible, but the elements that later went to constitute it cer-tainly are. In sum, the contributors provide valuable insightsinto a biblical topic that will never lose its vitality.

Casimir BernasHoly Trinity Abbey

MASTERING NEW TESTAMENT GREEK: ESSEN-TIAL TOOLS FOR STUDENTS. By Thomas A. Robinson.Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2007. Pp. x + 230; CD-ROM.$19.95, ISBN 978-1-56563-576-0.

Like other vocabulary-building tools, this volume pre-sents Greek vocabulary words in order of descending fre-quency—with the distinctive twist that the main list is basednot on frequency of individual words, but of cognate groups.To the proven collection of tools found in the earlier editions,this third iteration adds three new features. One, the “MiniGreek-English Cognate Dictionary” (section six) is a reversecounterpart to the “Derived English Words” section. Thelatter links known English words that are derived fromGreek words to those words, while the former provides alist of Greek roots that have made their way into English.Another (section seven) uses diagrams to provide a visualunderstanding of the various prepositions. Perhaps the mostinteresting addition is Index Two, a list (presented in reversealphabetical order) of Greek word endings. One suspects thatmany will find this addition to be extremely helpful; to astudent confronted, e.g., by a word ending in -σοισθε, theIndex quickly reveals its parsing as future optative middlesecond plural. The CD includes a software version of thistool, along with audio programs to help learn the (Erasmian)pronunciation of Greek, and vocabulary review and testingprograms; the programs installed easily and ran smoothly.In all, this is a fine collection of tools. Because the instructoris persuaded that a cognate-based approach to vocabularyacquisition is the better route, this is an excellent, attrac-tively priced instructional volume.

Michael W. HolmesBethel University

A SYNOPSIS OF THE APOCRYPHAL NATIVITYAND INFANCY NARRATIVES. By J. K. Elliott. NewTestament Tools and Studies, 34. Boston: Brill, 2006.Pp. xxvii + 170. $159.00, ISBN 978-9-004-15067-6.

This book is a synopsis in ET of apocryphal nativity andinfancy narratives. Although critical edition informationappears in the bibliography, because it lacks original lan-guage layout and a critical apparatus its utility as a researchtool is limited. Elliott, however, makes every attempt to basehis ET on modern critical editions (when available). Becausethe texts are lengthy, the layout is not in parallel columns.Instead, relevant portions of texts are laid out in blockswith subheaders (e.g., Joachim’s Offering Rejected; AnnaLaments). Although this layout is helpful with identifyingsimilar blocks of narrative across various texts, the lack ofparallel columns diminishes its comparative value. The bookprogresses through the texts, placing relevant pieces of eachtext within a bigger narrative cycle created by Elliott: Mary’sbirth/upbringing; annunciation; Mary’s visit; Mary’s preg-nancy; Jesus’ birth; Jesus’ adoration; Magi; infants slain;Egypt; Jesus’ childhood. In order to find the narrative con-tinuation of a particular text, Elliott uses a coded system. Atthe end of each “gobbet” Elliott places a set of letters andnumbers (e.g., /5Di: the continuation of the narrative can befound in chapter five, subsection Di). The texts included inthe synopsis: Prot. Jas.; Inf. Gos. Thom.; Ps.-Mt.; Arundel 404;Gos. Bir. Mary; Hist. Jos. Carp.; P. Cairensis 10735; (Arab.)Gos. Inf.; Irish Versified Inf. Gos. Thom.; Leabhar Breac;Liber Flavus Fergusiorum.

April D. DeConickRice University

THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO THE GOSPELS.Edited by Stephen C. Barton. Cambridge Companions toReligion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.Pp. vii + 300. Cloth, $75.00, 0-521-80766-2; paper, $27.99,0-521-00261-3.

In the introduction of this delightful companion, Bartoncriticizes the narrow vision of most introductions to the gos-pels that address the historical and literary significance ofthese texts, but fail to consider their role as canonical liter-ature. With this in mind, the essays in this volume have beenwritten and divided into three parts. In Part One, “Approach-ing the Gospels: Context and Method,” each of the authors—including L. Alexander, F. Watson, R. Hays, S. Fowl, and S.Schneiders—addresses relevant hermeneutical and method-ological problems. Part Two, “The Gospels as Witnesses toChrist: Content and Interpretation,” includes contributionsfrom S. Barton, J. Green, J. Squires, and M. Meye Thompson,focusing on the gospels themselves, drawing attention totheir uniqueness and commonality. And lastly, in Part Three,“The Afterlife of the Gospels: Impact on Church and Society,”F. Young, D. Matzko McCarthy, G. Mursell, and S. Bader-Saye each explore how the gospels have shaped the churchand society from past to present. This wide-ranging andrefreshing approach to gospel studies will only foster agreater appreciation of these sacred texts, rewarding thelayperson, student, and scholar alike.

Matthew R. HaugeAzusa Pacific University


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GRAMMATICAL CONCEPTS 101 FOR BIBLICALGREEK: LEARNING BIBLICAL GREEK GRAMMAT-ICAL CONCEPTS THROUGH ENGLISH GRAMMAR.By Gary A. Long. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers,2006. Pp. xxiii + 239; illustrations. $19.95, ISBN 1-56563-406-3.

Long wrote this book to “assist the entry-level biblicalGreek student in learning basic grammatical concepts.” Dur-ing his years teaching Greek and other ancient languages,Long came to a realization: while his students were learningGreek, many were also being forced to learn English gram-mar, which they had never really mastered. In his survey ofgrammar, Long begins with the building blocks of phon-ology, vowels and consonants, then moves on to explainthe concepts of declension, gender, number, and case. Hearranges paradigms in the order nominative–accusative–genitive–dative, and discusses basic syntactical functions(e.g., of the genitive.) His discussion of verbs includes sec-tions on both aspect and (very briefly) Aktionsart, beforemoving on to tense, voice, mood, etc. He fully discusses theEnglish and Greek features of each topic surveyed. The finalsections introduce semantics and discourse analysis. Thisbook is not without weaknesses. Chief is Long’s frequent useof obscure and technical jargon (e.g., “acrolect,” “basilect,”“prestige” [as an antonym for “dialect”], “irreal,” etc.) whereplainer (and more comprehensible) terms would suffice.Thus, I would not recommend this book for individualsattempting to learn Greek on their own. Vocabulary aside,Long’s descriptions are overwhelming, dense, and packedwith valuable information. Professors who use this book mayneed to explain Long’s explanations for their students. Thesereservations notwithstanding, teachers of biblical Greekwhose students need help with basic English grammar willfind this book a helpful and profitable tool, if used with care.

Perry L. SteppKentucky Christian University

COLLECTED PAPERS IN GREEK AND GEORGIANTEXTUAL CRITICISM. By J. Neville Birdsall. Edited byD. C. Parker and D. G. K. Taylor. Texts and Studies, ThirdSeries, 3. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2006. Pp. xviii +288. $85.00, ISBN 1-59333-098-7.

In many respects, Birdsall was an underappreciated par-agon among NT textual critics. One reason may be that Bird-sall published virtually all of his work in essay form, andthus much of it flew beneath the usual radars. This volume(planned by Birdsall but appearing posthumously) drawstogether many of his most exemplary and valuable contribu-tions, providing welcome access to studies that reveal Bird-sall’s breadth of interests, extraordinary depth of learning,and remarkable bibliographical control. Twenty-three essayscover general studies, the text of Photius, manuscript stud-ies, exegetical studies, Georgian studies, and other versionsand the Diatessaron. Of these, one may note particularlychapter one (his previously unpublished inaugural address),chapters five and nine (on the Bodmer and Beatty papyri),

chapters three and eleven (on the origins of Codex Bezae),and chapter twelve (on conjectural emendation). These areinstructive and indispensable reading for any student of NTtextual criticism for the light they shed on method and prac-tice. Perhaps the publication of these will bring fresh atten-tion to three valuable essays too long to include: “The NewTestament Text” (in The Cambridge History of the Bible, vol.1 [1970], 308-377); “The Recent History of New TestamentTextual Criticism (from Westcott and Hort, 1881, to thepresent)” (ANRW 2.26.1 [1992] 99-197); and “Textual Trans-mission and Versions of the New Testament” (in The OxfordHandbook of Biblical Studies, ed. Rogerson and Lieu [2006],237-49). In all, a fitting tribute to a master of his craft.


FROM THE MACCABEES TO THE MISHNAH. ByShaye J. D. Cohen. Second Edition. Louisville, KY: Westmin-ster John Knox Press, 2006. Pp. xiv + 250. $29.95, ISBN 978-0-664-22743-2.

Cohen has revised his twenty-year-old earlier edition(1986) by clarifying many paragraphs, making additionaluse of the Qumran literature, inserting a section on women’sJudaism, fleshing out the introduction to the Mishnah, andupdating footnotes and the list of Suggestions for FurtherReading. The seven chapters explain the salient points ofJudaism as it existed in the chosen time period described inthe title: chronology and definitions; Jews and Gentiles; prac-tices and beliefs of the Jewish “religion”; the community andits institutions; orthodoxy and sectarianism; the canon ofscripture; the beginnings of Rabbinic Judaism. Outstandingare many of Cohen’s formulations: his thoughts on the Sec-ond Temple period; reward and punishment; Judaism as stri-ated (what a felicitous word) by numerous holy men, eachwith a band of supporters (think Jesus); the God of Israel andthe gods of the nations; Jews and nationality; the end of thetribal structure; baptism as administered to those enteringJudaism; action (deeds) as the essence of religion; prayer inIsrael; the genuine meaning of ritual observance. Cohen’ssweeping strictures of Christian anti-Semitism lack nuance.But aside from this, his explanation of Judaism at the timeof the rise of Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism forms oneof the finest short introductions available in English. Anabsolutely first-rate book.


THE NEW TESTAMENT IN CROSS-CULTURAL PER-SPECTIVE. By Richard L. Rohrbaugh. Matrix: The Bible inMediterranean Context. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2007.Pp. xv + 211. $25.00, ISBN 978-1-59752-827-6.

In this collection of eleven previously published essays,Rohrbaugh phrases the interpretive problem in an unusualway: how can we read the Bible in a time and in an environ-ment in which it was never intended to be read? This ques-tion is especially relevant because the Bible is now being

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subjected to hermeneutical methods (sociological, linguistic,among others) that the original authors never envisaged. Inresponse to his query, Rohrbaugh roams over a large land-scape of biblical books and topics: Jesus as a village artisan;Luke’s Jesus; Jesus’ knowledge of who he was and when heknew it; Zacchaeus as the defender of the honor of Jesus; theprodigal son as member of a dysfunctional family; gossip inthe NT; urban social relations; Nicodemus and his meetingwith Jesus. All the essays in this extremely worthwhile con-tribution to biblical science bear out the fact that the Bibleis not a Western book, and that in attempting to understandit we are of necessity engaged in a cross-cultural endeavor.


HEARING THE OLD TESTAMENT IN THE NEWTESTAMENT. Edited by Stanley E. Porter. Grand Rapids,MI: Eerdmans, 2006. Pp. xii + 316. $29.00, ISBN 0-8028-2846-9.

Twelve essays by ten contributors make up this volumethat originated in 2003 at a Colloquium held at McMasterDivinity College, Hamilton, Ontario. Many comments standout. M. P. Knowles believes that T. S. Elliot seized an ideacentral to that of Matthew’s Gospel, which was written in atime of social upheaval comparable to our own, when somecollaborated with the political and military ascendancywhile others were interested in following the proper calen-dar. S. E. Porter sees outlined in Luke 4:18-19 the missionof Jesus and therefore the meaning of the Kingdom of God(simple solution, but too often forgotten). P. Miller, relyingon the Gospel of John, believes that we must associate withpersons of other religions, but precisely as Christians. Christis not just one way among many to the truth; his wordsshould be taken seriously. S. C. Keesmaat provides fine com-ments regarding Christ as the new Adam and image of Godin Phil 2:5-11; he is the one who is truly human. K. AndersRichardson finds Job as the exemplar in the Letter of James;before being prodded by the Satan, God had no intention oftesting Job. In conclusion, these essays show clearly thatthere are many ways of hearing the Old Testament in theNew. The early Christians did and so must we.


CHRIST IS THE QUESTION. By Wayne A. Meeks. Lou-isville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006. Pp. x + 166.$19.95, ISBN 0-664-22962-X.

Originating as lectures given at various institutions ofhigher learning, these six essays, presented in a less formalstyle than is customary with academic subjects, treat theidentity of Jesus from an intensely personal point of view.The question, for Meeks, is how Jesus of Nazareth, the car-penter from Galilee, became the God-in-the-flesh figure oflater ages? This is hardly a new question. It has been askedand answered for as long as Christianity has existed. Meeksbelieves that modern answers have erred through the falla-

cies of literalism (truth and meaning are supposedly thesame), cognitivism (belief and doctrine define faith), individ-ualism (religion is a private matter), and romanticism (feel-ing surpasses reason). The place of Ps 110 (LXX 109) in thedevelopment of early Christian belief in the lordship (andultimately divinity) of Jesus is well expressed. There aremany other fine insights throughout the work. The paradox-ical nature of Meeks’s presentation at times will tempt read-ers to a ready rejoinder, for example, his statement that whata text meant is not necessarily what it means. All thingsconsidered, Meeks challenges students and scholars to sharein his own insights into the perennial question: who andwhat is Jesus?


JESUS AND THE EYEWITNESSES: THE GOSPELSAS EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY. By Richard Bauckham.Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2006. Pp. 521. $32.00, ISBN978-0-8028-3162-0.

Bauckham argues that eyewitness testimony aboutJesus was a significant constituent of the NT Gospels, inkeeping with ancient historiographical ideals. The Synopticsincorporate multiple testimonies by eyewitnesses (disciplesand “minor characters”), and Mark contains hints ofPeter’s perspective. Against the form-critical model of long,anonymous chains of transmission, the Synoptic narrativeepisodes are consistent with how eyewitnesses retell signif-icant life events in stereotyped story forms, according toresearch on memory. The Jerusalem church and designatedlocal teachers supplied additional control over Jesus tradi-tion. The whole Fourth Gospel was written by the BelovedDisciple, an eyewitness called John outside the Twelve, asthe second-century Ephesian church understood. This is animportant and controversial monograph, focusing on Mark,John, Papias, memory, testimony, and Gospel tradition. Theauthor often briefly acknowledges ways in which a traditioncould change over time (e.g., tricks of memory, intertextualrefashioning, evangelist’s redaction) but undercuts this byresisting the current tendency to interpret historical texts asfundamentally about the time of their authors and by insist-ing that the best epistemological stance for interpreting tes-timony is trust, not skepticism. The argument is generallyimpressive and often brilliant within the wide debatinggrounds that it sets. However, for clarifying and testing thethesis, further interaction would have been welcome withresearch on Q-material and on scriptural contribution toJesus tradition, as well as with specific theological and his-torical reasons why the NT Gospels have been thought toreflect the concerns of the evangelists’ settings.

Catherine PlayoustCambridge, MA

JESUS ON TRIAL: A STUDY OF THE GOSPELS. SEC-OND EDITION. By Gerard S. Sloyan. Minneapolis, MN:


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Fortress Press, 2006. Pp. vii + 159. $18.00, ISBN 0-8006-3829-8.

To discover the reality behind the trial and death ofJesus, Sloyan goes behind the plain narratives of the Gospelsin order to ascertain their sources and editorial tendencies.In this way he hopes to get closer to the historical reality ofwhat really happened; as he freely admits however, “closer”still only implies likelihood, not certainty. On face value, theGospels present Jewish religious leadership as devising thedeath of Jesus for political and religious reasons by accusinghim before Pilate, who ultimately executed Jesus out of expe-diency. At a later time when the Church was on its way tobecoming predominantly Gentile, the Gospel narratives ofthe passion and death of Jesus helped to widen the breachbetween the competing Jewish sects of (incipient) rabbinicJudaism and Christianity. For Sloyan, no one comes outunscathed: neither Jews, nor Romans, nor Christians. Prob-ably that is the best that can ever be said about the matter,regardless of any further advances in scholarship which,when all is said and done, will continue to remain open topersonal speculation and interpretation.


JUDAS AND THE GOSPEL OF JESUS: HAVE WEMISSED THE TRUTH ABOUT CHRISTIANITY? ByN. T. Wright. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2006. Pp. 155.$18.99, ISBN 978-0-8010-1294-5.

After some preliminary remarks in chapter one (“NotAnother New Gospel?”) the Bishop of Durham discussessecond-century Gnosticism in general (chapter two) and theGospel of Judas in particular (chapter three). He uncriticallyaccepts the interpretation of Judas’ role and actions in theGospel of Judas put forward by M. Meyer and B. Ehrman inthe first published translation, according to which Judas isa hero and Jesus’ best friend. Of course, he does not accepttheir assessment of the gospel as a needed corrective totraditional Christianity. Wright sets up a contrast betweenthe messages found in the “early” canonical gospels and the“late” non-canonical ones (chapter four), and mounts a vig-orous defense of the traditional view of Jesus’ teachings andactions (chapter five: “Lord of the World or Escaper from theWorld?”). He takes on the North American scholars who usethe non-canonical material to propound a “new myth ofChristian origins” (chapter six). In the final chapter (“TheChallenge of ‘Judas’ for Today”) Wright suggests the possi-bility that, just by reading the nonsense found in the newgospel, people might begin to see that “there is somethingin classic Christianity after all.”

Birger A. PearsonUniversity of California, Santa Barbara

THE NEW Q: A FRESH TRANSLATION WITH COM-MENTARY. By Richard Valantasis. New York: T & T Clark,2005. Pp. x + 238. $19.95, ISBN 0-567-02561-6.

For the sake of the uninformed, as Valantasis points out,one must not come to “Q” expecting to find a genuine docu-ment from antiquity, but rather a scholarly reconstructionof a hypothetical source supposedly used by Matthew andLuke to complete their rewriting of the Gospel of Mark. Assuch, the words of the reconstruction already exist in Matthewand Luke; they are not utterances found in some long-lostbut newly found apocryphal Gospel. However that might be,Valantasis provides a new translation and commentary thatis invigorating, inspiring, and worthy of a special place inthe growing collection of studies on “Q.” For Valantasis, “Q”is yet one more way among many of hearing Jesus. Subjec-tivity, social relationships, and symbolic universe—all helpin our understanding of the past; they do not hinder compre-hension; nor should they be eschewed for the sake of someprofitless objectivity. Jesus came proclaiming an alternative“empire” to that of the Jewish and Roman power structuresof the time (Valantasis prefers “empire” to the usual trans-lation “kingdom” for “basileia”). Paul, who had never heardthe words of Jesus, in his turn heard Jesus speak through“revelations” (“a word from the Lord”). Apocalypticism wasyet another way of hearing Jesus continue to speak. ForValantasis, what is important is the listening and the hearing,no matter where the words may come from. This, in sum, isa splendid book; it is a model of how to make scholarshipcome alive as scholarship, yet at the same time nourishingbelief and not attenuating the respect that is due to the textsand to the person of Jesus who lurks behind the texts.


DIAKONIA IM NEUEN TESTAMENT: STUDIEN ZURSEMANTIK UNTER BESONDERER BERÜCKSICHTI-GUNG DER ROLLE VON FRAUEN. By Anni Hentschel.WUNT 2 : 226. Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck, 2007.Pp. xiv + 498. $142.50, ISBN 978-3-16-149086-6.

In this doctoral dissertation accepted in 2005 bythe Friedrich-Alexander-Universität at Erlangen-Nürnberg,Hentschel begins with a survey of the copious recent litera-ture on diakonia (with its cognates and derivatives), includ-ing feminist positions on the question of ministry andservice rendered by both men and women in the NT. Thetreatise continues in traditional dissertation fashion: mean-ing and use of the diakonia word-group in the Greek worldand Hellenistic-Jewish literature; its use in Paul, includingdiakonia in the list of Pauline charismata and in the collec-tion of 2 Corinthians; its use in Luke–Acts; in the Deutero-Pauline letters; in the noncanonical Apostolic Fathers(Didache, First Clement; Ignatius). For Hentschel, the termdiakonia stands for various tasks of service, including thatof preaching; it is related to the development of officials(including those explicitly called ministers) in the earlyChristian community; surprisingly, the term appears fre-quently in the Pauline literature and especially in the post-Pauline Epistles of the NT. The ministry of preachingaccompanied the development of the churches; this in turn

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led to the development of a structured officialdom. The dia-konoi, unlike Apostles, were not obliged to justify their mis-sion by appealing to a mandate from the risen Christ, butwere called and empowered by God/Christ through the inter-mediary of the Christian community. While Paul often spokeof male and female coworkers, by the end of the first centurythose with an official ministerial role to play were all men(cf. 1 Tim 3:8-13). Because this is an historical study, and theevidence is often ambiguous, Hentschel wisely leaves asidethe question of the role of women in the Church today. Toanswer that question, moderns will necessarily interpret thehistorical evidence according to their own presuppositions(and prejudices).


THE EARLIEST CHRISTIAN ARTIFACTS: MANU-SCRIPTS AND CHRISTIAN ORIGINS. By Larry W.Hurtado. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2006. Pp. xiv + 248.$20.00, ISBN 978-0-8028-2895-8.

The volume’s title states the author’s thesis: early Chris-tian MSS comprise one of the earliest—if not the earliest—bodies of artifacts produced by the emerging Christianmovement. Aims include drawing attention to an overlookedbody of data, providing a basic overview of key issues (andbibliography), and advancing discussion at points. The fivemain chapters cover the texts of early Christianity, its pref-erence for the codex format, nomina sacra (the earliest evi-dence of a Christian visual culture; the “suspended form ofthe name of Jesus”—the two letters IH—“was likely the origi-nating device from which the whole scribal practice of thenomina sacra then developed”), the staurogram (the earliestvisual representation of the crucified Jesus), and other earlyscribal features. With respect to the first two goals, the bookis very successful, a gem for anyone needing a quick over-view of the covered topics. As for the third goal, the resultsare more ambiguous, partially as a result of one of the book’sstrengths (his exemplary transparency about the assump-tions he makes) and in part to the nature of the evidence:artifacts are silent regarding the questions we most wish toask (about “why” or “how”). Also, one of his key assumptionswhen discussing format (that the format of a copy offers aclue to the format of its exemplar) is dubious. Overall, how-ever, he surely succeeds in showcasing early Christian MSSnot merely as carriers of texts, but as artifacts in their ownright.


THE SHAPE OF THE GOSPEL: NEW TESTAMENTESSAYS. By Robert C. Tannehill. Eugene, OR: CascadeBooks, 2007. Pp. xv + 237. $28.00, ISBN 978-1-59752-511-4.

A continuation of Tannehill’s earlier collection of essayson Luke–Acts, ten of the eleven contributions contained herewere previously published elsewhere, beginning as long agoas 1977. The collection consists of three parts: aspects of the

Gospels in general; the Gospel of Mark; Paul’s Gospel. ForTannehill, the Gospels disclose their original social contextsonly in a general way. Their later usage in the early Churchin turn presupposed diverse social settings. Modern schol-arship has rightly attempted to discover and clarify thesesettings, but this process can be both a blessing and a curse.The fact that the original settings of the Gospels remain forthe large part indeterminate means that they have not losttheir value for the present and the future; they can beapplied constantly to new settings and are not simply ossi-fied in the past. The Gospel of Mark makes use of manynarrative techniques, among them the enticement to falsehopes on the part of Jesus and his disciples and a delay inthe revelation of their true mission; all of which containlessons for the readers of Mark. Tannehill uses the exampleof sport fans’ personalities that are formed as the fans iden-tify with the fate of their favorite teams; the team’s victoryis their victory; in a similar fashion, Christ identifies himselfwith the suffering world so that his victory is its victory. Insum, Tannehill’s essays have stood the test of time; theirassemblage here will deservedly make them better known.


A FEMINIST COMPANION TO MARIOLOGY. Editedby Amy-Jill Levine and Maria Mayo Robbins. Cleveland, OH:Pilgrim Press, 2005. Pp. 256. $21.00, ISBN 0-8298-1700-X.

Twelve essays (some republished here), plus an Intro-duction by Levine, constitute this survey of Mariology,which is at times “feminist” only because of the gender ofthe person being studied. In a thought-provoking article,J. D. Crossan considers the conception of Jesus as most likelyillegitimate; Crossan goes on to explain the possible originsof the virginal conception tradition. G. H. Tavard treats thegenesis of Mariology from the viewpoint of the problems ithas created for later ages; Mariology in the early church wasnot a deviation but rather part of the main event in thedemonstration of Christian truth; Vatican II advocated aMariology rooted “in the mystery of Christ and the Church.”B. Roberts Gaventa speaks of the modern Protestant silenceregarding Mary and a possible antidote to it by consideringMary as the first disciple (“behold the handmaid of theLord”). J. van den Hengel sees Mary as an exemplar for the“extraordinariness of the ordinary”; later ages extrapolatedfrom the meager biblical evidence about Mary more andmore Marian titles and devotions. J. Økland finds Lutheranwomen attracted to Mary because of the modern feministmovement. V. Abrahamsen examines the identity, historic-ity, and functions of the “various Marys” in the early churchin order to explain, among other things, why they werevenerated alongside the male God of Christianity. Rangingin tone and content from ultracritical to piously respectful,these and the remaining essays provide readers with anattractive entrance into a neglected field of study.



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SEEING THE WORD: REFOCUSING NEW TESTA-MENT STUDY. By Markus Bockmuehl. Grand Rapids, MI:Baker Academic, 2006. Pp. 297; illustrations. $21.99, ISBN978-0-8010-2761-1.

Bockmuehl graphically illustrates his diagnosis for themalaise that afflicts modern NT scholarship (which lacksboth a method and a subject matter) by visually reproducingand then explaining a fifteenth-century Flemish-illuminatedmanuscript which depicts St. Luke painting an image of theVirgin and Child (by then a long established theme). Whatis striking is the visual difference between the sitting modelsof Mother and Child and the painted image as it appearson Luke’s easel-mounted surface. The models’ figures arereversed and their countenances have been transmuted frommundane to sublime. The illuminator has shown graphicallyhow biblical themes are changed by the hands of an inter-preter; changed, but not falsified; sublimated but not therebydisfigured. In the remaining chapters, Bockmuehl offers sup-porting arguments and helpful insights for his thesis. Scrip-ture relies on unity and diversity to maintain its equilibriumof truth; for example, tradition has been able to interpret,accept, and reconcile the tension between the missions ofPeter and Paul. As Bockmuehl writes toward the end of hisvery successful diagnosis, the tradition of biblical interpre-tation has for long been hospitable to the outsider (i.e., othercultures): from Matthew’s Magi at the beginning of the NTto the final page of the Apocalypse, where the nations bringtheir own reflected glory to the city of God. Very well put.


JEWISH CHRISTIANITY RECONSIDERED: RE-THINKING ANCIENT GROUPS AND TEXTS. Editedby Matt Jackson-McCabe. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press,2007. Pp. 248. $35.00, ISBN 978-0-8006-3865-8.

The ambiguous nature of “Jewish Christianity” ismatched by the paucity of modern studies on its nature andorigins. This is partly due to the fact that just as there weremany Judaisms, so there were many Jewish Christianities.The eleven essays in this collection by as many contributorsattempt to counterbalance the situation. For M. Jackson-McCabe, the conjunction of “Jewish” with “Christianity”puts in question the boundaries that are conventionallyassigned to each group; boundaries that may have beenmuch more fluid than normally suspected. C. C. Hill exam-ines the Jerusalem Church and believes that it was bothJewish and Christian. In a long article on the Q-Document,W. Arnal concludes that Q calls into question the notion thatJudaism and early Christianity were separate religious tra-ditions vis-à-vis one another. P. J. Hartin comes to the con-clusion that the Letter of James is immersed in the thoughtworld of Second Temple Judaism (which was itself no mono-lithic entity); yet James also moves in the world of earlyChristianity with its confession of Jesus as the Christ. Fromthese few samples and from the general tenor of this entirecollection, one may safely conclude that Jewish-Christianity

deserves far more appreciation as a commingling of the twotraditions and as an important intermediate stop on the roadto their final separation.


THE LAST DAYS OF JESUS. By François Bovon. Trans-lated by Kristin Hennessy. Louisville, KY: Westminster JohnKnox Press, 2006. Pp. 112. $17.95, ISBN 978-0-664-23007-4.

Although Harvard scholar Bovon has performed the taskrequested of him, namely, to provide a general introductionto the problems and probabilities of the Gospel Passion Nar-ratives, one may be disappointed at the book’s tendency to“split the difference.” Problems are never too problematicalto endanger basic historicity; the gospel accounts are closeenough to what we know of Jewish and Roman law; theTestimonium Flavianum is probably genuine if one edits outthe problematical portions. It all begins to look quite differ-ent as soon as one takes seriously the possibility of extensivegospel borrowing from Josephus. If the Passion of Jesus isbased on that of Jesus ben Ananias, if the cleansing of thetemple is based on that by Simon bar-Gioras, if the Markancrucifixion account is based entirely on scripture—well, thewhole thing is up for debate. He mentions and rejects, withno real refutation, the Brandon Zealot hypothesis and Cros-san’s “Cross Gospel” theory. Both require much more atten-tion than Bovon accords them. And if Bovon’s goal is toconsider and report the state of scholarly debate and discus-sion of the Passion, the result is quite skewed toward con-servative apologetics. The reader must and will receive theimpression that, once again, “the old Book has withstood theblows of time and criticism.”

Robert M. PriceJohnnie Colemon Theological Seminary

CROSS-CULTURAL PAUL: JOURNEYS TO OTHERS,JOURNEYS TO OURSELVES. By Charles H. Cosgrove,Herold Weiss and (Khiok-Khng) Yeo. Grand Rapids, MI:Eerdmans, 2005. Pp. vii + 293. $25.00, ISBN 0-80282843-4.

This book stands out among attempts to read the Biblefrom different cultural contexts in that each author attemptsto read Paul not only from his own cultural perspective, butalso from that of a culture that is not his own. Weiss looksat Paul first from the setting of his own Argentine culture(destiny, the cult of personality, and death) and thenfrom the perspective of Russian Christianity (salvation asdeification). Cosgrove interprets Paul in the light of his ownAnglo-American culture (individual rights, freedom, andself-realization) and then from an African-American per-spective (peoplehood). Yeo reads Paul first in the light of aConfucianist encounter with Christianity (the relationship ofcosmology and ethics) and then from a Native Americanperspective (earth and creation). The authors demonstratethat cultural concerns can richly illuminate the interpreta-tion of Paul’s theology. At the same time, they make it clearthat Paul’s theology challenges aspects of every culture. This

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book can be used by students of Paul at various levels as amodel of intentional contextual study, in order to give Paula fresh hearing, to foster harmonious cultural diversity, andto hold up one’s own culture to critical light.

David W. KuckUnited Theological College of the West Indies

THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS AND THE NEW TESTA-MENT. By Clayton N. Jefford. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson,2006. Pp. xii + 267. $19.95, ISBN 978-1-56563-425-1.

Jefford, a specialist on the Didache, considers thechronological, theological, and geographical relationshipsbetween the so-called Apostolic Fathers (AF) and the canon-ical NT. A substantial expansion of issues raised in TheApostolic Fathers: An Essential Guide (Abingdon, 2005), thework begins with a survey of introductory questions beforemoving to a more topical presentation. Jefford acknowledgesthe tentative nature of some of his conclusions, offeringthem as working hypotheses while granting that specialistsmay disagree with certain judgments (for example, when hedates 1 Clement prior to 70 CE). In chapters two throughfour, Jefford addresses the genres of the AF and the tradi-tions they contain (e.g., letters, homilies, creedal fragments,isolated logia), forms and styles of ethical argumentation(e.g., household codes, virtue and vice lists, the “two ways”),and the extent to which the AF borrow (or simply share) thelanguage and imagery of the NT. Chapters four and fiveexplore how the texts reveal differing responses to theJewish tradition and to Greco-Roman society (respectively),as Christian communities developed a distinctive sense ofidentity. Chapter seven draws the arguments of the preced-ing chapters into a geographical survey of early Christiandevelopment. The result might be considered a modest sum-mary of emerging orthodox Christianity that emphasizesboth diversity and continuity. Recommended for seminari-ans, graduate students, and theological libraries.

James N. RhodesSaint Michael’s College

CONSTANTINE’S BIBLE: POLITICS AND THE MAK-ING OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. By David L. Dungan.Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2007. Pp. xii + 224.$17.00, ISBN 0-8006-3790-9.

Entering a field in which definition of terms is criticaland widely debated, Dungan asserts an idiosyncratic, ten-dentious definition of canon as a “rigid,” sharply differenti-ated list of approved books intentionally created by a“religious elite” whose decisions are legalized and enforcedby governmental action—an “event,” Dungan contends,limited to forth to fifth-century Christianity and seventh-century Islam. Chapter six presents the thesis implied by thetitle: Constantine fundamentally influenced and gave legalsanction to the selection of scripture. Support consists of twopoints. First, Constantine’s “Edict against the Heretics”banned their books, after which “public debate over scrip-ture within the Christian Church withered away” (but

banning books does not meet Dungan’s own definition of“canon,” and public debate scarcely ceased—witness Athana-sius vs. the Melitians three decades later). Second, Constan-tine underwrote the production of fifty copies of scripture(but did not specify the contents—a task apparently left toEusebius, whose Ecclesiastical History is characterized onceas “a most impressive demonstration” of which booksbelonged to the NT and which did not, and twice as present-ing “open-ended” results). The case is fundamentally unper-suasive. Intriguingly, Dungan finds impetus toward a“canon” in the ideology of the Greek polis (which demanded“order, precision, and clarity” [chapters two to three])and Greek philosophical schools (which emphasized “aFounder,” controlled leadership succession, and carefultransmission of genuine writings [chapter four]), elementsthat fundamentally shaped Eusebius’s Ecclesiastical History(chapter five), a major source for canon history. Here Dun-gan usefully brings new considerations to the discussion.


A FEMINIST COMPANION TO THE NEW TESTA-MENT APOCRYPHA. Edited By Amy-Jill Levine withMaria Mayo Robbins. Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press,2006. Pp. 292. $21.00, ISBN 978-0-8298-1754-6.

Thirteen contributors (including the editor) provideessays that deal with women in the Apocrypha. For R. Val-antasis, Christians are something more than merely humanbeings; they possess a new identity, thereby becoming athird genos. When Christianity became the dominant cultureand the decline of moral ideals inevitably set in, the monas-tic movements attempted a return to an earlier standard ofperfection. D. Boyarin affirms that the choice of a woman toremain a virgin in a religious environment was often theonly alternative to the life of marriage and motherhood.These latter vocations at the time precluded any possibilityof following personal proclivities to an intellectual andspiritual life. Consecrated virginity permitted a woman tobecome an author, an abbess, a theologian (such as Teresaof Avila). Thecla, in her varied guises, receives the lion(ess)’sshare of attention in this volume that contains a vast amountof valuable information about some lesser-known writingsin the Christian corpus of literature.


DOUBTING THOMAS. By Glenn W. Most. Cambridge,MA: Harvard University Press, 2005. Pp. xviii + 267. plates.$27.95, ISBN 0-674-01914-8.

In this two-part treatise, Most uses the proverbial imageof doubting Thomas to confront the central issues of faith,evidence, doubt, disbelief, skepticism, and argumentation.In the first part the NT basis is expounded, while in thesecond section a series of later elaborations on doubtingThomas are examined and evaluated. John, by introducingthe figure of Thomas, has made doubt a legitimate mode of


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thinking. The episode in John has had a huge effect on Chris-tian understanding of the nature of a resurrected body:whether and how it can be touched; what evidence suchtouching really provides; does “evidence” destroy faith? Thedramatic action of Thomas also raises questions about skep-ticism even for those who are not Christian. Just how certainis any philosophical knowledge? What are its bases? Mostends his engaging study—which deserves a wide readershipnot only by biblical students, but by all students of thehumanities—with the words: “Thomas stands for us.” This istrue whether we be Christians or not. It is true because weare human beings.


THE QUEER BIBLE COMMENTARY. Edited by DerynGuest, Robert E. Goss, Mona West, and Thomas Bohache.London: SCM Press, 2006. Pp. xviii + 859. £64.99, ISBN 978-0-334-04021-7.

The forty-six chapters of this single volume do not byand large queer the Bible, although there are severalexceptions. Instead, this book collects a wide variety ofgay-friendly readings of biblical passages, especially thoserelating to sex or gender and with particular attention topassages that have been used to attack homosexuality. Inother words, this book does not so much subvert the Bible’sauthority as redirect it, by challenging prevailing “toxic ideo-stories” (M. Carden). The thorny question of the Bible andideology is an important and helpful focus. Thirteen ofthe thirty-one contributors are identified as clergy, and apredominantly Christian “pastoral” orientation is evident atmany points, as is an autobiographical/confessional di-mension. The concept of “queer commentary” is rarelyquestioned. The chapters do not comment verse by verse,but instead survey each book of the Protestant canon, some-times including several books in a single chapter, withspecial attention to controversial or “difficult” passages.However, this book is by no means deficient in scholarship.Included are fifty-eight pages of bibliography, plus an exten-sive name/subject index.

George AicheleAdrian College

THE ONE WHO IS TO COME. By Joseph A. Fitzmyer.Grand Rapids, MI: 2007. Pp. xvi + 205. $18.00, ISBN 978-0-8028-4013-4.

Fitzmyer employs the chronological method in thisstudy of messianism in the Bible and in associated literature.As is evident from the title, Fitzmyer admits his indebted-ness to Sigmund Mowinckel’s He That Cometh, a book thatis deservedly still in print. Included in Fitzmyer’s expositionare the changes in usage found in the Septuagint, as well asin extra-Biblical texts of the Second Temple period. Of spe-cial interest is Fitzmyer’s treatment of the topic in laterassorted Jewish writings: Qumran; the Mishnah; the Tar-gums. Finally we meet the Christians (literally “Messian-

ists”), who, by their confession of Jesus of Nazareth asMessiah, brought to a head the notion of Messiah as anexpected anointed agent of God who was to bring salvationto his people at the end-time. This “rescue” could be bothpolitical (deliverance from the Romans or other oppressors)as well as spiritual (for example, the remittance of theresidue of punishment remaining after the confession andforgiveness of sins). In both cases, however, eschatologicalsalvation is, in the final analysis, rescue from the wrath ofGod, who rewards and punishes sinners according to theirdeeds. In its final form, this Messiah was to bring deliver-ance not only to Jews but to the whole human race. Fitz-myer’s treatise is hardly a popular work for the casualreader. The constant use of Hebrew and Greek type fontsargues against this. But for serious students of the Bible, thetreatise provides in compact form valuable informationabout Messianism and a plethora of subsidiary topics.


MARCION AND LUKE–ACTS: A DEFINING STRUG-GLE. By Joseph B. Tyson. Columbia, SC: University of SouthCarolina Press, 2006. Pp. 224. $39.95, ISBN 1-57003-650-0.

Tyson defends the proposition that Luke–Acts was com-posed as an early second-century response to Marcionitetheology. After summarizing arguments for dating Actsbetween 100 and 150 CE, the book devotes itself to demon-strating that Marcionite controversies provide a plausiblecontext for the Lucan writings’ theological emphases. Tomake his case, Tyson dates Marcion’s emergence slightlyearlier than is common (115-120 CE) and explores similari-ties between Marcion’s positions and the theological themesin Acts. Next, the most interesting and perhaps speculativechapter investigates the relationship between two Gospels,Marcion’s and Luke. Tyson contends that Marcion and theauthor of “canonical Luke” both worked from a late first-century document, the latter adding material (primarilyLuke 1-2; 24:13-53) and reworking other parts to create acoherent theological response to Marcion around 120-125 CE. Tyson dusts off and reinvigorates old hypothesesabout the composition and context of Luke–Acts (J. Knox’swork is focal), but that hardly means nothing new is here.This nuanced, engaging volume resists overreaching theavailable evidence. Its explanations of the Lukan materialwill not convince all, but its provocative contributionsshould demand serious and enduring attention from thosewho study Luke–Acts and its place in emerging Christianity.

Matthew L. SkinnerLuther Seminary

THE LIVING VOICE OF THE GOSPELS. By Francis J.Moloney. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2006. Pp. 344. $19.95,ISBN 978-1-59856-065-7.

The first edition of this introduction to a contemporaryreading of the Gospels was published in 1986. Because ofthe advances in biblical science (and especially Gospel

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research) that have occurred since that time, Moloney hasproduced a completely rewritten version of the original. Itattempts, without the use of technical language, to informbeginners about developments in scientific approaches inorder to deepen their appreciation for the work of scholarsas well as to enhance their grasp of the Gospels themselves.After a general introduction, Moloney devotes two chaptersto each of the Gospels. The first expounds general issues; thesecond comments upon a specific text in the chosen Gospel.As an example, after an extensive survey of the text andpossible interpretations, Moloney finds Eucharistic overtonesin John 6. A concluding chapter defines and illustrates thevarious modern approaches to Gospel criticism: source, form,redaction, narrative. Intended readers will find this volumehelpful, though to appreciate its value they should read itfrom cover to cover; because of its structure and personalnature, it does not lend itself to browsing or random searching.


UNDERSTANDING MATTHEW: THE EARLYCHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW OF THE FIRST GOSPEL.By Stephen Westerholm. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic,2006. Pp. 160. $16.99, ISBN 0-8010-2738-1.

Writing in the spirit of D. Bonhoeffer, Westerholmapproaches Matthew’s Gospel in order to know “what Jesuswants.” He admits there are other ways of reading this andany Gospel: as a sociologist, as a linguist, or out of merecuriosity. The danger is that with the passage of time theGospel message has become overlaid with “incomprehensi-ble sermons,” “harsh laws,” and “human institutions.” Reli-gion has been formed by history and takes place withinhistory. It reflects its cultural background. All this must bekept in mind when reading Matthew and attempting tounderstand his message. Westerholm’s study is brief butthought-provoking. It is extremely readable and by no meansboring. It is not a line-by-line commentary, but a series ofreflections on aspects of Matthew whose content is seen inthe titles of the chapters: worldviews and perspectives; don’tworry or be afraid; a dialog with the Almighty; the dawn ofa new Age; the Lord and life of the disciple (Bonhoeffer’sdiscipleship). For Westerholm, the story of Jesus in Matthewwarns against those who would only play at religion in orderto avoid the real demands of God. Open Westerholm’s slimtreatise at random and a telling phrase will leap from thepage. This is biblical popularization at its best.


MARK’S GOSPEL: LECTURES AND LESSONS. ByGarrett C. Kenney. Lanham, MD: University Press of Amer-ica, 2007. Pp. 136. $22.95, ISBN 0-7618-3709-4.

Assuming an undergraduate biblical literature course,Kenney introduces English majors to different interpretativeapproaches through a detailed study of Mark, called “Les-sons.” These “Lessons” invite students to interpret Mark

themselves through close readings. The different interpreta-tions arise largely from these students’ differing theologicalpresuppositions. Eight “Lectures” provide theological (lec-tures one and eight), historical (lecture two), and compara-tive literature (lectures six and seven) foundations for the“Lessons,” as well as a literary overview of Mark’s genre(including embedded, largely form-critical, genres), struc-ture (gradually concealing and then revealing Jesus’s iden-tity), and themes (one knows Jesus’s identity only at the footof the cross) (lectures three through five). As he recognizes,Kenney charts no new ground in Mark’s interpretation—withthe possible exception of his interpretation of 15:37-38 as agiving of the spirit and an exorcism of YHWH from theTemple. Curiously, the work does not interact with classicliterary analyses of Mark (like those of Kermode, Rhoads andMichie, etc.).

Richard WalshMethodist University

JOHN: STORYTELLER, INTERPRETER, EVANGE-LIST. By Warren Carter. Peabody, MS: HendricksonPublishers, 2006. Pp. xvi + 264. $19.95, ISBN 978-1-56563-523-4.

In this new and readable introduction to the Gospel ofJohn, Carter guides the reader through a thoughtful consid-eration of important interpretive issues. In Part One, the firstsix chapters present helpful treatments of: John’s genre asan ancient revelatory biography; John’s plot featuringresponses to Jesus as the revelatory agent of God; John’scharacters as conveyors of and responders to revelation;John’s distinctive dualism; and John’s rhetoric. Part Twoof Carter’s book outlines John’s interpretive approach toScripture and other traditions and provides a brief survey ofapproaches to the history of the Johannine situation. Espe-cially valuable is his developing of the impact of the Romanpresence under Domitian upon the Johannine situation.Part Three outlines the work of the evangelist, beginningwith the authorship and composition of John, and concludingwith its message and reading it in a pluralistic world. Fewnew judgments are made, but the overall approach is help-ful, posing a fair and useful treatment of recent Johannineapproaches and of many important issues.

Paul N. AndersonGeorge Fox University

THE SEARCH FOR ULTIMATE REALITY: INTER-TEXTUALITY BETWEEN THE GENESIS ANDJOHANNINE PROLOGUES. By Dan Lioy. Studies in Bib-lical Literature, 93. New York: Peter Lang, 2005. Pp. 223.$65.95, ISBN 978-0-8204-8121-0.

In a rare combination of interdisciplinary approaches,Lioy analyzes the prologues of Genesis and John in the lightof the search for ultimate reality. Beginning with critiquesof approaches to ultimate reality, Lioy engages his task inan “analytical, integrative, and thematic fashion.” An analy-sis of Gen 1:1-2:3 exposes a polemical diatribe against the


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pagan creation myths of Moses’s day in favor of a “God-centered view of creation.” An analysis of John 1:1-18 revealsan emphasis on Jesus’ pre-existent divinity to combat “heret-ical notions of the person and work of the Messiah.” Finally,Lioy seeks to demonstrate how intertextuality functionedbetween these two prologues in ways that helped readersunderstand and appropriate meaningfully five central fea-tures of Johannine Christology. While the goal of this bookis commendable, not all of it holds together equally well. Inaddition to Babylonian creation mythologies, Lioy sees theprimary target as Egyptian cosmology during the time ofMoses, inferring Mosaic authorship. While the Jewish andHellenistic backgrounds of the Johannine prologue are suit-able, Lioy’s Reformed tendency to cast John’s Christology inTrinitarian and dual-nature terms comes across as anachro-nistic. In seeking to combine precritical views of authorshipwith history of religions and new literary-critical theories,the book’s approach does not fit into standard categories ofinterpretation. That is its strength and also its weakness.


THE GOSPEL OF THE BELOVED DISCIPLE: AWORK IN TWO EDITIONS. By Herman C. Waetjen. NewYork/London: T & T Clark, 2005. Pp. xx + 468. $39.95, ISBN0-567-02781-3.

This new commentary seeks to make sense of the FourthGospel’s enigmas on the basis of analyzing its points of viewfrom the perspective of its first edition and its final edition.On text-critical grounds, Waetjen plausibly infers that thefirst edition of John (chapters one through twenty) appearsto have had an evangelistic function, while the final editionhad a community maintenance function. Less plausible is hisinference that the first edition must have been produced inAlexandria, with Lazarus serving as the Beloved Disciple.Building on J. L. Martyn’s two-level reading of the Johanninetext, Waetjen infers a similar set of Jewish-Christian dia-logues that may have been the case in a cosmopolitan citysuch as Alexandria. While the Logos connection does notrequire an Alexandrian context, the Philonic references areinteresting and profitable, as are many of Waetjen’s theolog-ical interpretations. Waetjen, however, apparently fails toconsider seriously other additions to an earlier edition, suchas the Prologue, John 6, and chapters fifteen through seven-teen, as argued by Lindars and Ashton. Having done sowould have improved his approach.


LAZARUS, MARY AND MARTHA: SOCIAL-SCIENTIFIC APPROACHES TO THE GOSPEL OFJOHN. By Philip F. Esler and Ronald A. Piper. Minneapolis,MN: Fortress Press, 2006. Pp. vi + 201. plates. $22.00, ISBN978-0-8006-3830-6.

For the authors, the death and raising of Lazarus in Johnforms a quintessential image of resurrection for Christians.

The prevalence of the episode in early Christian art affirmsthis judgment. The situation recalls the household life offamily relationship and friendship revealed in the solicitudeof Martha and Mary for their ill, and then dead, brother. Thissolicitude is intended to form a model for the Christian com-munity, where members are expected to act as brothers andsisters in their dealings with one another. The episode fur-nishes no picture of an “intermediate state” where Lazaruswould have passed the interval between his death and res-urrection. The nature of resurrected life is likewise omitted.Lazarus simply returns to this present existence. Elsewherein John, Jesus does speak of his Father’s house, with itsrooms prepared for the disciples. This may be a reference tothe house-churches of early Christianity, or simply to thefact that Christians should live a familial life, reflecting vir-tues of harmony and peace. The authors state as an opinionthat the return of house-churches may become a viableoption, given the persecution undergone by the Churchtoday in many lands. The book ends with a quote from K.Rahner to the effect that even for modern believers in lifeafter death, there unfortunately is no real communicationbetween the living and dead. The Lazarus episode acts as anantidote to such a notion. In short, this is an engaging trea-tise that presents possible meanings of a familiar Gospelnarrative that deserve to be considered both for their dog-matic as well as their moral implications.


VOYAGES WITH JOHN: CHARTING THE FOURTHGOSPEL. By Robert Kysar. Waco, TX: Baylor UniversityPress, 2005. Pp. x + 339. $29.95, ISBN 1-932792-43-0.

In this new collection of sixteen essays, Kysar, arguablythe leading analyst of secondary Johannine literature, treatsthe reader to some of his most incisive work. Divided intofour parts (historical criticism, theological criticism, literarycriticism, and postmodern criticism), this collection of bothpublished and unpublished essays displays the progressionof his thought from his engagement with Dodd and Bultmannto his questioning the certainties of the historical-criticalmethod. In all the essays, we have a fair and thoughtfulappraisal of the issues. Especially significant is an updatedformat of Kysar’s impressive research report on the FourthGospel published over two decades ago, which is itself worththe price of the book. In addition to treating important sub-jects, such as the Ioudaioi in John, Kysar treats issues relatedto postmodern analyses of John. As Kysar looks over hisshoulder at a half century of Johannine interpretation, heproperly notes the place of the interpreter and the limita-tions of hermeneutical models in Johannine interpretation.He not only informs us of the most significant voyages inJohannine studies in the past, but he reminds us that newinterpretive voyages are yet to begin. This book is a must forJohannine studies at all levels.

Paul AndersonGeorge Fox University

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JOHN’S RELATIONSHIP WITH MARK: AN ANALY-SIS OF JOHN 6 IN THE LIGHT OF MARK 6 AND 8.By Ian D. Mackay. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zumNeuen Testament II, 182. Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Sie-beck, 2004. Pp. x + 343. $97.50, ISBN 978-3-16-148426-1.

In this detailed analysis of the relations between John 6and Mark 6 and 8, Mackay builds a case for the Johannineevangelist’s familiarity with Mark. While the case for Johan-nine–Markan connections might more plausibly be arguedas a factor of “interfluence” (rather than “influence” in onlyone direction—the Markan toward the Johannine) betweenthe oral stages of these traditions, Mackay nonetheless iden-tifies echoes of Markan patterns within the Johannine nar-rative. As the closest contacts between John and Mark arestill not identical, derivation, in my judgment, is not a plau-sible inference. Still, Mackay shows how Johannine familiar-ity with at least some of the Markan text is arguable. Mackaythus speculates that the Johannine evangelist may haveheard the Gospel of Mark read in a meeting for worship, andthis seems realistic. Of the many works on Johannine–Syn-optic relationships in recent decades, this is one of the fewthat has changed my mind on the subject. While it doesnot overturn Gardner-Smith’s and M. Smith’s convictionsregarding John’s autonomous origin, it suggests that John’sautonomy is unlikely to have been an isolated one. Rather, ifthe Johannine evangelist was familiar with much of Mark’srendering, the Johannine differences may be even moreinteresting than the similarities. Might they suggest John’scompleting, or even correcting Mark?


APOSTOLIC LETTERS OF FAITH, HOPE, ANDLOVE: GALATIANS, 1 PETER, AND 1 JOHN. By BruceM. Metzger. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2006. Pp. 110.$15.00, ISBN 978-1-59752-501-5.

Metzger begins by repeating the well-known distinctionof A. Deissmann between letter and epistle in the ancientworld. The former was private, confidential, personal innature. The latter was sophisticated, intended to be public,more literary in character. The writings of Paul were letters,written for practical purposes to communities or individuals.Other NT writings resembled epistles in their form or inten-tion. In any case, the distinction should not be pressed;mixed forms were the norm, not the exception. For Metzger,Galatians is the letter of faith whose author is especiallyrevered by Protestants; 1 Peter, the letter of hope, whosepurported author is revered by Catholics; 1 John, the letterof love, revered especially by the Orthodox—a clever way ofputting the matter, oversimplified though it may be. In fine,this short, simple, and unpretentious presentation for thenonspecialist from an illustrious scholar offers in easilyunderstood terms a wealth of information about the NT let-ters/epistles, their formation, and their meaning.


JOHANNINE DISCIPLESHIP AS A COVENANTRELATIONSHIP. By Rekha M. Chennattu. Forwardby Francis J. Moloney. Peabody, MS: Hendrickson, 2006.Pp. 256. $29.95, ISBN 1-56563-668-6.

Contributing to the conversation on the social locationof the Johannine community and its anti-Jewish rhetoric,Chennattu argues that the Gospel of John uses OT covenantallanguage (e.g., Josh 24) to shape its concept of discipleship.She argues that the covenantal language introduced in thecall narrative (John 1) is affirmed in the farewell discourseand actualized in the resurrection narratives. Chennattuthen applies the sociological models of deviance and conflictto question the role of this motif for the Johannine com-munity. As the Jews turned to the covenant to distinguishthemselves from others, especially in terms of their god,Christians, too, turned to a redefined covenant to distinguishthemselves from the Jews. While a preview of OT covenantmotifs would have been more helpful earlier in the book, thisdoctoral dissertation is well-researched and would be a use-ful addition to graduate school libraries.

Jane S. WebsterBarton College

BETWEEN HORROR AND HOPE: PAUL’S META-PHORICAL LANGUAGE OF DEATH IN ROMANS6:1-11. By Sorin Sabou. Paternoster Biblical Monographs.Waynesboro, GA: Paternoster, 2005. Pp. xi + 159. Paper,$22.00, ISBN 978-1-59752-766-8.

On Sabou’s highly metaphorical reading of Rom 6:1-11,Christ “died to sin” (6:2, 6) in that his cross overcame sin’scontrol of humanity. The believer’s “baptism” in 6:3 is ametaphor for being “overwhelmed” by God, moved “toward”Christ’s act of liberation. As a representative king (Christ/Messiah), Jesus then shares this victory with those “buriedwith” him, i.e., his broad “family” (6:4). Hence Paul offershope of a new mode of life beyond sin’s domination. The “oldman” of 6:6, however, is the self living within the Adam-condition of 5:12-21. By saying that this self has been “cru-cified,” Paul reminds the audience of the horror awaitingthose ruled by sin, warning them not to return to that life-style. In several places Sabou offers fresh readings of Paul’slanguage. At times, though, his argument is ambiguous;what, for example, does it mean for the believer to “coalesce”with the depiction of the cross in Christian preaching (6:5)?Sabou’s use of metaphor theory is sometimes thin, and littleattention is given to metaphorical polysemy. Still, Sabou’svolume is a stimulating resource for advanced students andscholars examining Romans 6.

Ian W. ScottTyndale Seminary (Toronto)

THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH IN PAUL’S LET-TER TO THE PHILIPPIANS IN THE CONTEXT OFANCIENT JUDAISM. By J. Patrick Ware. Supplementsto Novum Testamentum, 120. Leiden, The Netherlands, and


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Boston: Brill, 2005. Pp. xvi + 348. $179.00, ISBN 90-04-14641-5.

Ware examines Paul’s understanding of the role of hischurches in the spread of the gospel in light of the Jewishnotion of the eschatological conversion of the Gentiles asmediated through Second Isaiah and its subsequent inter-pretations. Despite the generally non-Jewish character ofPhilippians, Ware finds striking evidence for Paul’s use ofthe Isaiah traditions to encourage the Philippian church topromote the gospel among nonbelievers. Ware continuallypoints out, however, “the uniqueness of the early Christianmission.” Although some attention is given to defining keyterms such as “mission,” “conversion,” “proclamation,”“consciousness” it is not always clear whether Ware is usingthem with their modern meaning or how they might havebeen understood in antiquity, or whether he sees any differ-ence between the two. Neither is it clear what the differenceis between a Gentile “proselyte” and a “convert,” as some-times these terms are used interchangeably. Nevertheless,Ware has placed the recruitment practices of the PaulineJesus communities in a much broader literary context andprovided a thorough and new interpretation of key texts inPhilippians, for which scholars of the NT will be in his debt.

Richard S. AscoughQueen’s University

THE LETTERS TO TIMOTHY AND TITUS. By PhilipH. Towner. New International Commentary on the New Tes-tament. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2006. Pp. xlviii + 886.$52.00, ISBN 0-80282-513-3.

This admirable commentary is well suited for itsintended readership; it is “critical yet orthodox . . . markedby solid biblical scholarship within the evangelical tradi-tion.” With a gradually growing number of commentators,Towner methodologically correctly stresses the individual-ity of the three letters and insists that each be read in thecontext envisaged by each. His exegesis of the text isresponsible, if not inspired, highly lexical in emphasis, likethat of his mentor H. Marshall, and provides the reader withsufficient information for an informed judgment. He doesstrain at times, however, as when he claims an importanceof the OT for the letters which is hard to discover in theletters themselves. Despite a programmatic statement aboutscripture (2 Tim 3:14-17), only 1 Tim 5:18 explicitly quotesan OT text, but then includes a Jesus word in “Scripture.”The commentary deserves the generous reception it willenjoy.

Abraham J. MalherbeYale Divinity School

THE LETTERS OF 2 PETER AND JUDE. By Peter H.Davids. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2006. Pp. 358. illus-trations. $34.00, ISBN 0-8028-3726-3.

Davids explains possible reasons for commenting on2 Peter and Jude: because they are there; to provide an alter-

native to Paul; and because they have intrinsic merit aswitnesses to one form of early Christianity. I myself wouldadd a fourth: because someone has to comment on everybiblical book in a publisher’s series even though there arealready dozens of commentaries on these books in otherpublishers’ series. However that may be, Davids providesanswers to the standard introductory questions. The authorof Jude is uncertain, although Judas, the brother of Jesus(Matt 13:55; Mark 6:3) is probably the person intended to beunderstood as the author. The place and date of composition,being functions of authorship, are also uncertain, althoughDavids inclines toward Palestine before 70. Again, with2 Peter, authorship, provenance, and audience cannot beanswered with certainty. In any case, Davids’ commentaryon both epistles can stand with the best of the genre: he fairlydiscusses the many exegetical problems that beset themboth, makes judicious choices, and provides the reader withinsights into early Christian communities whose problemsand difficulties were often not that different from those to befound in the modern world.


HEBREWS. By Alan C. Mitchell. Sacra Pagina, 13. Colle-geville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2007. Pp. xx + 357. $29.95,ISBN 978-0-8146-5815-4.

In a straightforward manner, Mitchell introduces thereader to the main points of contention regarding Hebrews(its genre is left undetermined in the title of the commen-tary). Mitchell emphasizes the importance of the historicalsetting. Hebrews must be understood on its own terms andin its own times. The real author is unknown and will remainunknown; it is certainly not Paul. The date of writing ismost probably post-70; the addressees are probably second-generation Gentile Roman Christians undergoing persecu-tion. Hebrews has been understood as a letter/epistle,homily, exhortation, Midrash. It may well have been a hom-ily delivered in a house-church in Rome. Regarding its struc-ture, Mitchell opts for the well-known five-point plan of A.Vanhoye, modified by the remarks of J. Swetnam. Both real-ized and future eschatology is used by the author of Hebrewsto expound the effects of the atoning work of Jesus the eter-nal high priest in the process of salvation. Although theChristian has died to sin through an initial repentance, therenevertheless always lurks the danger of relapse. Mitchellagrees with most commentators in not seeing a connectionto the Eucharist. A relation of Christ as high priest to theChristian ministerial priesthood is still debatable. Lastly,Hebrews is not anti-Semitic or anti-Jewish; hence itshould never be used as such today. In sum, Mitchell’swell-researched commentary is neither ultratechnical norultrasimplistic. Rather it finds its deserved niche betweenthe two, for the serious student in need of hard facts andcircumspect judgment.


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PAUL ON THE CROSS: RECONSTRUCTING THEAPOSTLE’S STORY OF REDEMPTION. By David A.Brondos. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2006. Pp. 256.$20.00, ISBN 0-8006-3788-7.

Brondos, who teaches at an ecumenical consortium ofseminaries in Mexico City, has written a profoundly impor-tant treatise on Pauline soteriology—a treatise that boldlyconfronts many of the commonly received assumptions andconclusions of a vast array of respected modern scholars. ForBrondos, the new creation, freedom from evil, the greatchange of the ages spoken of by Paul—all lie in the future,not the present. Brondos is careful, however, to hedge hisbets: believers can certainly participate in these realities insome measure in the present by the gift of the Spirit, but thisdoes not weaken the main thrust of his argument, that it isthe future where the real action is to take place. To some thismay seem like quibbling, but Brondos has hit upon a pro-found truth. He attempts to prove his point by adducing thestories of redemption in the Jewish and Christian traditions,and shows that Paul’s views are not really different fromthose of either; they are not some foreign import peculiar toPaul. For Jews, obedience to the commandments broughtabout redemption; so also in the Gospel tradition. And mostimportant of all, Brondos emphasizes the importance ofprayer and sacrifice in the Jewish world in the process ofatonement, where sacrifice is really (as I would express it)a prayer in action. Though readers may object to this or thatpoint, I consider the main thrust of this treatise to be valid.It should be ranked among the very best of modern Paulinestudies.


PAUL AND HIS WORLD: INTERPRETING THE NEWTESTAMENT IN ITS CONTEXT. By Helmut Koester.Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2007. Pp. xv + 301. $39.00, ISBN978-0-8006-3890-0.

Koester collects twenty-five of his essays, all but twopreviously published over the past forty-five years. The firstsection focuses on Paul’s “Letters and Their Interpretation,”giving much attention to the Macedonian letters (sevenessays) and a nod towards Corinth (one essay), along with amore general essay on Paul’s theology. Part two on Paul’s“Cultural and Religious Environment” allows Koester todemonstrate his facility in a range of important areas in theHebrew Bible, Greek philosophy, archaeology, and Greco-Roman religions. The final section, “Reading Early Christian-ity,” collects a number of essays not necessarily relateddirectly to Paul but interesting nonetheless. All of the essaysin the volume have proven important in the ongoing studyof Paul and of the NT, and it will be a great help to scholarsand students to find here some of Koester’s less accessibleessays and to have in English translation essays originallypublished in German or French. Together the essays reflectthe career work of a remarkable scholar of the NT, as is

evident in his own self-reflection in the final (new) essay inthe volume, “Insights from a Career of Interpretation.”

Richard S. AscoughQueen’s University

STEWARDS, PROPHETS, KEEPERS OF THE WORD:LEADERSHIP IN THE EARLY CHURCH. By Ritva H.Williams. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2006.Pp. 225. $24.95, ISBN 978-1-56563-949-2.

The functions named in the title of this treatise are threeroles that leaders undertook in the early church. They areroles deeply ingrained in the civilization of their time andplace. Stewards acted for others, but they could be subver-sive of the dominant power structures. Prophets interpretedthe divine will, but they could be innovators whose actionsneeded to be contained. Keepers of the word looked after thedivine texts, but they could be creative in their interpretiverole. The household assumed great importance in the first-century Mediterranean world. The relationships developedthere shaped the mission of Jesus and his early followers.Jesus was regarded as a prophet, but one who worked on thefringes of normal society. He possessed the skills of a masterstoryteller. Paul used the terminology of slavery (stewardswere often slaves in antiquity) to describe the life of Chris-tians. They, as we today, were called upon to resist thepressures of the dominant culture in order to be faithful totheir Christian calling. Likewise, there is a place for prophetsand keepers of the word in the church today. These roleshave not fallen into oblivion. With such exhortatory admoni-tions as a fitting conclusion, Williams has provided us witha study whose clarity and precision commend it to all seriousstudents of the Bible.


HAVING MEN FOR DINNER: BIBLICAL WOMEN’SDEADLY BANQUETS. By Nicole Wilkinson Duran. Cleve-land, OH: Pilgrim Press, 2006. Pp. 144. $18.00, ISBN 0-8298-1710-7.

In successive chapters, each of which sports a piquantsubtitle, Duran expatiates on five women of the Bible—fourfrom the OT and one from the NT—who use food in onemanner or another to delight and control a man of wealthand influence in order to benefit from his death. First comesJael (“a tale of milk and murder”), who in the prose andpoetic sections of the narrative reverses the usual genderroles by acting more like a man than men themselves. Judith(“keeping kosher with a vengeance”) is the instrument ofsalvation for her people because of her uprightness; herbeauty and wisdom are the result of her piety. Esther (“sleep-ing [and drinking] with the enemy”) saves her people byacting less like a Jew than Mordecai, who is the image ofDiaspora accommodation. Herodias (“banquet and seductionin the realm of wrong”) uses the daughter (we learn fromJosephus that her name was Salome) to slip into a banquetwhere women should not attend—all in order to kill, although


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she cannot do the deed herself. Finally, Abigail (“murder,shalom, and the lack thereof”) knows how to engage in deal-ings with the powerful in lieu of her unworthy husband, butshe is fated to insignificance once she is married to David.Each chapter of the treatise ends with “reflection questions”that seek to link the ancient texts to present-day conditions;e.g. “If you were Vashti, what would you do differently toremain queen?” In sum, Duran brings to light facets of famil-iar texts which could easily be overlooked by less imagina-tive authors.


THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SALVATION: A STUDYOF SALVATION LANGUAGE IN THE PASTORALEPISTLES. By George M. Wieland. Paternoster BiblicalMonographs. Bletchley, UK: Paternoster, 2006. Pp. xxii + 344.£24.99, ISBN 1-84227-257-8.

All three Pastorals, according to Wieland, are concernedwith salvation, but each in its own particular manner. FirstTimothy takes a polemical stance against those who wouldstress asceticism as a means of attaining deliverance fromthe power and effects of sin; the message of the Gospel is all-embracing in ambit. 2 Timothy presents a more paraeneticshift by emphasizing the sacrifices required of the office andduties of those called to the service of teaching and preach-ing in the Church; patience and perseverance are necessaryfor those who would undertake such a ministry. Titus speaksof the moral shift in attitudes that delineates believers fromthe rest of a pagan, hostile world; the moral life of the Chris-tian is the best demonstration of the efficacy of the Gospel.Because of these differences, Wieland believes that the Pas-torals cannot and should not be read as a unified whole, eventhough their teaching is consonant with Pauline doctrine. Allthings considered, this treatise, which can be recommendedfor the serious student, is a significant addition to the ever-burgeoning literature on the Pastorals.


SALVATION IN THE NEW TESTAMENT: PERSPEC-TIVES ON SOTERIOLOGY. Edited by Jan G. van derWatt. Supplements to Novum Testamentum, 121. Leiden,The Netherlands: Brill, 2005. Pp. xiii + 529. $172.00, ISBN90-04-14297-5.

The editor indicates from the very beginning that thesalvation language of the NT uses ordinary words fromeveryday life. This obvious but sometimes neglected remarkunderlies most of the eighteen essays contained in this col-lection written by scholars who teach for the most part inSouth African universities. The essays are divided into threemain parts: salvation in the Gospels and Acts; in the Paulineliterature; and in the remaining portions of the NT. Thestudies clearly indicate that salvation in the NT cannot bereduced to a least common denominator. The NT writingsare writings of circumstance, so that any teaching on soteri-

ology has to be judged according to the conditions in whicheach of the NT authors and their audiences found them-selves. At the same time, there was, underlying all of thedocuments, a common tradition whose unity must berespected even while the diversity of its explanation is fullyrecognized. The story of salvation in Israel formed a guidingprinciple for the Jewish people, whose only book was theBible. Hence it was only normal for early Christians to seesimilarities between their own message of salvation and theJewish matrix from which it came. In sum, scholars andstudents will be challenged by these essays which both ana-lyze but also synthesize so much of the biblical tradition—allaround the crucial theme of salvation.


THE RECEPTION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT INTHE APOSTOLIC FATHERS. Edited by Andrew F.Gregory and Christopher M. Tuckett. The New Testamentand the Apostolic Fathers. Oxford: Oxford University Press,2005. Pp. xiv + 375. $99.00, ISBN 978-0-19926782-8.

TRAJECTORIES THROUGH THE NEW TESTAMENTAND THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS. Edited by Andrew F.Gregory and Christopher M. Tuckett. The New Testamentand the Apostolic Fathers. Oxford: Oxford University Press,2005. Pp. xiv + 375. $99.00, ISBN 978-0-19926782-8. Set:$180.00, ISBN 978-0-19926784-2.

These volumes originate from a centennial celebrationheld at Lincoln College, Oxford, commemorating the 1905publication of The New Testament in the Apostolic Fathers bythe Oxford Society of Historical Theology. They are intendedto update the status quaestionis on the issues raised by theoriginal publication (Volume One) and to offer contributionsreflective of recent AF research (Volume Two). Volume Onetackles several related issues, including the relative textual(in)stability of both the NT and AF, whether the influence ofNT documents on individual AF texts rises to the level of“demonstrable evidence,” and proper methodological con-trols for detecting such influence. Contributors includeB. Ehrman, J. K. Elliott, P. Foster, A. Gregory, M. Holmes,J. Carleton Paget, W. Peterson, C. Tuckett, and J. Verheyden.The analyses are well done but frequently offer negative or(necessarily) inconclusive results; of special interest isElliott’s identification of examples where the AF deservefuller representation in NT textual apparatuses. Volume Twoopens with an essay by A. Lindemann on “Paul’s Influenceon Clement and Ignatius,” followed by H. Koester on second-century Gospel traditions, and A. Bellinzoni on traces ofLuke’s Gospel in the AF. These are followed by two essayson Christology in the AF (T. Weinandy; F. Young), and fourcontributions devoted to “Church, Ministry, and Sacra-ments” (J. Muddiman; D. F. Wright; C. Claussen; A. Stewart-Sykes) addressing such issues as the Eucharist, infantbaptism, and prophetic activity. The remainder of the vol-ume is devoted to studies of individual texts and includes

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three contributions on the Didache (J. Kloppenborg; J.Draper; C. Jefford), four on Ignatius (C. Hill; D. Reis; H. Meier;A. Brent), two on Polycarp’s Letter to the Philippians (P.Oakes; P. Hartog), and two on the Martyrdom of Polycarp (B.Dehandschutter; M. Holmes). The Epistle of Barnabas and theShepherd of Hermas are somewhat underrepresented, whilethe Epistle to Diognetus is omitted completely (the 1905 vol-ume omitted both Diognetus and the Martyrdom of Poly-carp). Among the more provocative essays, A. Brent arguesthat Ignatius’ description of proper ecclesial roles is heavilyindebted to analogies with pagan mystery cults. Readersespecially interested in the Didache will appreciate thediversity of perspectives included (Tuckett favors theDidache’s dependence on Matthew, while the other Didachespecialists do not). These substantial volumes more thanvindicate their intended purpose and belong in every semi-nary and research library.

James N. RhodesSaint Michael’s College

THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS IN ENGLISH. Translatedand edited by Michael W. Holmes. Third Edition. GrandRapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006. Pp. 336; maps. $21.99,ISBN 0-8010-3108-7.

Editor Holmes explains in detail the reasons for this newedition of the original and by now venerable translation ofthe Apostolic Fathers by Lightfoot and Harmes (see thereview of the second edition in RSR 25:428). The versionhistory is complicated enough, but the end result, as Holmesdeclares, is a “fresh and comprehensive revision.” Numer-ous stylistic and typographical changes make the texts fareasier to read. A general introduction introduces the readerto the main questions surrounding the literature as a whole,while each writing in turn is provided with its own special-ized preliminary remarks. Students will appreciate themany insights into early Christianity that are provided bythese introductions. As for the translations themselves, thetastes of individual readers will differ. The style is formalwithout being pedantic; idiomatic without being excessivelyfree. Amid the many one-volume editions of the ApostolicFathers available today, this handy, readable version of thetexts deserves to be considered by students and merely curi-ous readers alike.


WILDERNESS: ESSAYS IN HONOUR OF FRANCESYOUNG. Edited By R. S. Sugirtharajah. Library of NewTestament Studies, 295. London: T&T Clark, 2005. Pp. 224.$120.00, ISBN 0-567-04142-5.

This literary celebration of the life and work of F. Youngfocuses on the theme of “wilderness” as the uniting symbolof her interests in biblical studies, theology, and spirituality.This volume is divided into two sections, “HermeneuticalConnections” and “Theological Explorations,” although R. S.Sugirtharajah openly acknowledges its artificiality, includ-

ing contributions from R. Williams, S. Horne, C. Trevett, D.Treacy-Cole, D. Parker, L. Wall, S. Moyise, J. Lieu, P. M. Joyce,A. Stewart-Sykes, S. Ashbrook Harvey, C. Rowland, A. Tilby,D. F. Ford, J. Vanier, E. Hunt, and N. Robinson. In an attemptto honor the breadth of Young’s interests, the topics of thistribute are broad, from gospel impairment encounters andthe psychology of sin to wilderness wanderings in J. R. R.Tolkien and the significance of the quranic Jesus. At its best,this Festschrift explores a theology of the socially disadvan-taged, especially in relation to Arthur, Young’s severelyhandicapped son.

Matthew R. HaugeAzusa Pacific University

THE FREER BIBLICAL MANUSCRIPTS: FRESHSTUDIES OF AN AMERICAN TREASURE TROVE.Edited by Larry W. Hurtado. SBL Text-Critical Studies, 6.Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2006. Pp. x + 308.plates; maps. $34.95, ISBN 1-58983-208-6.

In 2006, the Freer Gallery (now part of the Smithsonian)commemorated the centennial of C. Freer’s acquisition offour parchment manuscripts from Egypt. The best known isthe “Freer Gospels” (W/032), a four-gospel codex in the“Western” order (Matthew/John/Luke/Mark), the only wit-ness to a substantial addition following Mark 16:14. Theothers are MSS of Deuteronomy and Joshua (Rahlfs W),Psalms, and the Pauline epistles (I/016). As part of thiscommemoration, new studies of the Freer MSS were com-missioned and presented at a scholarly convocation. Thesestudies comprise the present volume: K. Clarke, “Paleogra-phy and Philanthropy: Charles Lang Freer and His Acquisi-tion of the ‘Freer Biblical Manuscripts’;” K. De Troyer, “TheFreer Twelve Minor Prophets Codex—A Case Study: The OldGreek Text of Jonah, Its Revisions, and Its Corrections;” M.Choat, “The Unidentified Text in the Freer Minor ProphetsCodex;” J-F Racine, “The Text of Matthew in the Freer Gos-pels: A Quantitative and Qualitative Appraisal;” Bruce Prior,“The Use and Nonuse of Nomina Sacra in the Freer Gospelof Matthew;” D. Haugh, “Was Codex Washingtonianus aCopy or a New Text?”; J. Royse, “The Corrections in the FreerGospels Codex;” U. Schmid, “Reassessing the Palaeographyand Codicology of the Freer Gospel Manuscript;” T. Way-ment, “The Scribal Characteristics of the Freer PaulineCodex;” T. Finney, “Manuscript Markup.” A “must-read” fortextual critics, this is a well-conceived collection of essays(ranging from the informative to the technical), many ofwhich present conclusions or implications whose signifi-cance extends well beyond the stated foci.


JEWS OR CHRISTIANS? THE FOLLOWERS OFJESUS IN SEARCH OF THEIR OWN IDENTITY. ByGiorgio Jossa. Translated by Molly Rogers. Wissenschaftli-che Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament, 202. Tübingen,


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Germany: Mohr Siebeck, 2006. Pp. 175. $125.00, ISBN 978-3-1614-9192-4.

This monograph is a translation of Giudei o cristiani?(2004). Jossa boldly reflects on the questions: when and howdid the formation of separate Jewish and Christian identitiesoccur? He produces significant evidence, raising importantreminders to us that this issue is complex and far from beingsolved. He appears to be reacting to the symposium, “Jewsand Christians: The Parting of the Ways, AD 70 to 135”(Durham, 1989), and to the publication of Partings of theWays (Dunn, 1991), which argues that the rift is Christolog-ically-driven, following the Bar Kochba Revolt. Jossa alsointeracts with the scholarship produced at two Europeanseminars (1993) and collected in La déchirement (Marguerat,1996), which argues that the late first-century rift had to dowith Mosaic Law. Jossa insists that the rift must be under-stood from the historical perspective, not theological—it wasa social separation of communities. His book covers earlyJews and Christians, and Roman perceptions of them. Thebeginning of the separation is at least as early as Paul, whenthe Gentiles started to change the sociology of the Judeo-Christians. He provides strong evidence that the Romansbegan to distinguish Jews and Christians as early as Nero.Whether Romans as early as Nero understood this distinc-tion in terms of a Christian religion no longer part of Judaismis not as certain to me, nor that Roman perceptions reflectedChristian self-definition. It would be worthwhile to see Jossaengage Boyarin’s opinion that the separation was as late asthe fourth century (Border Lines: The Partition of Judaeo-Christianity, 2004), or Reed and Becker’s (eds., The Ways thatNever Parted, 2003) that they never really parted with deci-siveness or exclusivity.


ORAL PERFORMANCE, POPULAR TRADITION,AND HIDDEN TRANSCRIPT IN Q. Edited by RichardHorsley. Semeia Studies, 60. Atlanta, GA: Society of BiblicalLiterature, 2006. Pp. viii + 229. $39.95, ISBN 978-1-5898-3248-0.

Horsley has collected several outstanding voices intothis volume in order to examine the Q speeches as oralperformances with an intended audience familiar with pop-ular Israelite tradition. Contributors of articles and responsesare scholars who have been consistently working in orality-scribality (D. Barr, J. Dewey, J. Draper, J. Miles Foley, W.Herzog, R. Horsley, W. Kelber, A. Kirk, M. Moreland, and V.Robbins). These essays challenge the assumptions of printculture that continue to dominate biblical studies, includingthe presupposition that Q had to have been a written docu-ment. Serious doubt is cast on the popular theory that Q wasproduced by the lower levels of the administrative andscribal classes in Galilee. The essays and responses investi-gate Q as a series of performed (and possibly orally com-posed) speeches rather than a collection of written sayings.The Q speeches functioned as units of communication and

meaning which were recited before a particular audiencewith a particular historical-social context. Each author grap-ples with the implications that this perspective elicits. Thesocial context of Q is further eradicated with the applicationof the work of political scientist J. C. Scott. When this is done,Q comes to represent the “hidden transcript,” not the “publictranscript,” of the subordinates (Jesus’s followers) spokenbehind the backs of the powerful (Pharisees and leaders inJerusalem). This is a rich volume containing valuable cutting-edge discussions about the interface between orality andscribality as it applies to Q. It is a faithful companion to twoother revisionist books co-edited by Horsley (with Draper,Whoever Hears You Hears Me, 1999; with Draper and M.Foley, Performing the Gospel, 2006).


History of Christianity (Early)EARLY AND MEDIEVAL RITUALS AND THEOLO-GIES OF BAPTISM: FROM THE NEW TESTAMENTTO THE COUNCIL OF TRENT. By Bryan D. Spinks.Liturgy, Worship, and Society. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Pub-lishing Company, 2006. Pp. xiv + 204; plate. $29.95, ISBN0-7546-1428-X.

Spinks’ book offers a slim, accessible, and general intro-duction to baptism in the Christian tradition from biblicaltimes to the early modern period. The volume ambitiouslysurveys a wide diversity of baptismal practices as seenthrough surviving liturgical rites as well as homiletic andtheological writings. Spinks also sometimes acknowledgesdisagreements in liturgical scholarship of the past century.His narrative generally emphasizes the differences amongbaptismal rites in both how they are defined and how theyare performed. His theological framing, on the other hand,prepares the reader for sacramental controversies of theReformation. For example, the author gives consistent atten-tion to anointing in baptismal ceremonies. He tracks howvaried is both the timing and the rationale of anointing. And,he consistently argues that only in the Roman tradition cana conceptual connection responsibly be made to confirma-tion. In the end, the book provides a profitable point of depar-ture for students interested in the complex role baptismplays in the history of Christianity.

Owen M PhelanMount St. Mary’s University and Seminary

EVIL INCARNATE: RUMORS OF DEMONIC CON-SPIRACY AND SATANIC ABUSE IN HISTORY. ByDavid Frankfurter. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UniversityPress, 2006. Pp. xvii + 312. $35.00, ISBN 0-691-11350-5.

Frankfurter’s new book is not for the faint hearted.Denying evil as a real force, and showing how those whoattempt to eradicate it are the real evil doers, Frankfurterdemonstrates how the most righteous have done the mostvile acts in history. Chapters include constructions of the

Documents

Judas and the Gospel of Jesus: Have We Missed the Truth about Christianity? – By N. T. Wright