The Making of Christianity: Conflicts, Contacts and Constructions; Essays in Honour of Bengt Holmberg ed. by Magnus Zetterholm and Samuel Byrskog

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Making of Christianity: Conflicts, Contacts and Constructions; Essays in Honour of Bengt Holmberg ed. by Magnus Zetterholm and Samuel Byrskog Christoph Stenschke Zetterholm, Magnus, and Samuel Byrskog, eds. 2012. The Making of Christianity: Conflicts, Contacts and Constructions; Essays in Honour of Bengt Holmberg. Coniectanea Biblica: New Testament Series 47. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns. Paperback. ISBN 978-1575068176. Pp. xvi+464. $47.50. The editors' preface (viif.) to this Festschrift for the Swedish scholar (University of Lund) briefly sketches Homberg's major contributions to NT studies. Zetterholm and Byrskog note that, Bengt is widely known and respected for introduction of sociology into the study of the New Testament. He was one of the pioneers. His dissertation Paul and Power, published both by CWK Gleerup in 1978 and by Fortress Press in 1980, was among the first studies using sociological theory on Pauline letters and set the agenda for much future research. Partly on the basis of his conviction that the ultimate reality at the end escapes scholarly analytical categories, Bengt always sensed both the advantages and the dangers of sociological approaches to the study of religious phenomena and discussed them with much insight in his second monograph Sociology the New Testament published by Fortress Press in 1990. At a later stage, Holmberg focused on Christian identity during the first century CE. Several studies emerged from a project that was conceived and concluded by Holmberg. He further provided an excellent introduction to the field with his introductory article in Exploring Early Christian Identity (WUNT 226; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008; see my [End Page 521] review in ETL 86 [2010], 224–226). In view of this interest of Holmberg, the contributions to this volume rightly focus on the making of Christianity in terms of its conflicts, contacts and constructions. The preface also briefly surveys Holmberg's career at the Faculty of Theology in Lund, from which he retired in 2007. The following sixteen essays by Swedish and international scholars are included: Samuel Byrskog, "From Memory to Memoirs: Tracing the Background of a Literary Genre" (1–21); William S. Campbell, "Gentile Identity and Transformation in Christ according to Paul" (23–55); Adela Yarbro Collins, "Baptism and the Formation of Identity" (57–73); James D. G. Dunn, "The Legal Status of the Earliest Christian Churches" (75–93); Birger Gerhardsson, "Basic Facts about the Synoptic Parables: What They Are and What They Are Not" (95–100); Judith M. Lieu, "'Their Wives Are as Chaste as Virgins, Their Daughters Modest': The Role of Women in Early Christian Apologetics" (103–127); Dieter Mitternacht, "Pope Benedict's Historical Validation of Jesus' Incarnation" (129–145); Halvor Moxnes, "Constructing the Galilee of Jesus in an Age of Ethnic Identity" (147–170); Birger Olsson, "Johannine Christians—Members of a Renewed Covenant?: Jewish/Christian Identity according to the Johannine Letters" (173–203); Anders Runesson, "Was There a Christian Mission before the Fourth Century?: Problematizing Common Ideas about Early Christianity and the Beginnings of Modern Mission" (205–247); Karl Olav Sandnes, "Statues and Identity: Dion of Prusa's (Dio Chrysostomos) Rhodian Discourse (Or. 31) and the New Testament" (249–271); Mikael Tellbe, "Ephesus and Power: Early Christian Textual Prototypes of Authority in a Local Perspective" (273–298); Gerd Theissen, "The Letter to the Romans and Paul's Plural Identity: Α Dialogical Self in Dialogue with Judaism and Christianity" (301–322); Tommy Wasserman, "Misquoting Manuscripts?: The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture Revisited" (325–350); Stephen Westerholm, "The Judaism Paul Left Behind Him" (353–370); and Magnus Zetterholm, "'Will the Real Gentile-Christian Please Stand Up!': Torah and the Crisis of Identity Formation" (373–393). Bibliography (395–438) and an index of sources round off this interesting volume. The contributions to this volume offer a number of fresh insights. They not only combine issues related to the NT and early Christianity where sociological perspectives can open up new avenues, but also give a good indication of the current discussion of conflicts, contacts and constructions in the making of Christianity. Unfortunately, the volume [End Page 522] does not contain abstracts for the articles (although some articles note their conclusions at the end). [End Page 523] Christoph Stenschke Biblisch-Theologische Akademie Wiedenest/University of South Africa stenschke...