Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception: Lotus to Masrekah ed. by Christine Helmer et al.

Abstract

Reviewed by: Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception: Lotus to Masrekah ed. by Christine Helmer et al. Christoph Stenschke Helmer, Christine, Steven L. McKenzie, Thomas Römer, Jens Schröter, Barry Dov Walfish and Eric Ziolkowski, eds. 2019. Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception: Lotus to Masrekah. Vol. 17. Berlin: de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3110313345. Pp. xxviii + 1282. €259. The comprehensive Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (2009ff.) endeavours to exhaustively treat not only the Bible, but also its variegated reception in Judaism, Christianity and Islam in literature, visual arts, music and film (see https://www.degruyter.com/dg/page/ebr/encyclopedia-of-thebible-and-its-reception). Previous volumes include the following: Aaron–Aniconism (vol. 1); Anim–Atheism (vol. 2); Athena–Birkat ha-Minim (vol. 3); Birsha–Chariot of Fire (vol. 4); Charisma–Czaczkes (vol. 5); Dabbesheth–Dreams and Dream Interpretation (vol. 6); Dress–Essene Gate (vol. 7); Essenes–Fideism (vol. 8); Field–Gennesaret (vol. 9); Genocide–Hakkoz (vol. 10); Halah–Hizquni (vol. 11); Ho Tsun Shen–Insult (vol. 12); Integrity–Jesuit Order (vol. 13); Jesus–Kairos (vol. 14); Kalam–Lectio Divina (vol. 15); and Lectionary–Lots (vol. 16). The comprehensive entries on the Gospel of Mark and on Luke-Acts in the present volume illustrate the approach well. The former consists of the following sub-entries: Cilliers Breytenbach, "Mark, Gospel of I. New Testament" (921–927); Joseph Verheyden, "Mark, Gospel of II. Christianity A. Greek and Latin Patristics and Orthodox Churches" (927–929); Franklin T. Harkins, "Mark, Gospel of II. Christianity B. Medieval and Reformation Times" (929–936, almost the same amount of space allotted to the entry on the actual Gospel); Christine Joynes, "Mark, Gospel of II. Christianity C. Modern Europe and America" (936–940); George D. Chryssides, "Mark, Gospel of II. Christianity D. New Churches and Movements" (940–941, regrettably there is not a single line on the reception history of Mark in Africa or Asia); Erik S. Roraback, "Mark, Gospel of III. Literature" (941–944); Brenda Deen Schildgen, "Mark, Gospel of IV. Visual Arts" (944–948); [End Page 172] Sven Rune Havsteen, "Mark, Gospel of V. Music" (948–959, eleven columns); and Richard Walsh, "Mark, Gospel of VI. Film" (959–962). The volume features the following sub-entries on Luke-Acts: Helen K. Bond, "Luke-Acts I. Introduction" (143); Sean Adams, "Luke-Acts II. New Testament" (143–150); Matthias Becker, "Luke-Acts III. Christianity A. Patristics and Orthodox Churches" (150–153); Rachel Fulton Brown and Beth Kreitzer, "Luke-Acts III. Christianity B. Medieval Times and Reformation Era" (153–157); Christfried Böttrich, "Luke-Acts III. Christianity C. Luke in Modern Europe and America" (157–162); Andrew Gregory, "Luke-Acts III. Christianity D. Acts in Modern Europe and America" (162–165, the reception of Luke-Acts in Asia, Africa and Latin America is not even mentioned); Mark Bilby, "Luke-Acts IV. Literature" (165–173); Esther Mulders, "Luke-Acts V. Visual Arts" (173–178); Siobhan Dowling Long, "Luke-Acts VI. Music" (178–183) and Richard Walsh, "Luke-Acts VII. Film" (183–188). Volume 17 of the EBR, covering the entries from Lotus to Masrekah, contains a number of other key entries beneficial for NT studies, which provide up-to-date surveys and are excellent sources for teaching and research: Peter Rodgers, "Love III. New Testament" (10–12); David Neville, "Love of Enemies II. New Testament" (70–72); Mohammed Girma from the University of Pretoria on the "Love of Enemies IV. Christianity E. World Christianity" (81–82, a whole column on the reception on African soil); Sean Adams, "Luke the Evangelist I. New Testament" (130–132); Mark Bilby, "Luke the Evangelist II. Christianity" (132–136); Mark Bilby, "Luke the Evangelist III. Literature" (136–139); Esther Mulders, "Luke the Evangelist IV. Visual Arts" (139–141); Rhonda Burnette-Bletsch, "Luke the Evangelist V. Film" (141–143); J. Snyder, "Lydia (Person)" (267–269, in the bibliography, I looked in vain for the work of T. J. Calpino 2014, Women, Work and Leadership in Acts. WUNT II.361. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck); Kylie Crabbe, "Lystra" (273–275); Elena Dugan, "Magdala" (397–399); Anthony Swindell, "Magi I. Introduction" (402); George H. van Kooten, "Magi II. Greco-Roman Antiquity" (403–406); George...