NT Writings Research Articles

Exposing Textual Corruption: Community as a Stabilizing Aspect in the Circulation of the New Testament Writings during the Greco-Roman Era

Because few manuscripts of the NT writings are preserved from the first three centuries of the Christian era, scholars have debated the extent that modern critical editions of the NT reflect the text in circulation during these early centuries. In order to answer this question, this article will set out the evidence for ancient publication through community transmission. It will consider examples from Cicero, Martial, Quintilian, Pliny the Younger and Galen. These authors reveal that they preferred social networks rather than commercial dealers to circulate their writings. These same communities that copied and distributed an author’s works inadvertently created an environment in which significant alterations and plagiarizing of these same writings became known. Matthew D.C. Larsen, who has recently approached the same problem addressed in this article by examining ancient publication conventions, is engaged with throughout. The conclusions drawn here press hard against Larsen’s assertions.

A Linguistic Analysis of πίστις χριστοῦ: The Case for the Third View

This study seeks to demonstrate that the Pauline phrase πίστις Χριστοῦ is best understood grammatically as the ‘Christ-faith’ in accordance with the so-called ‘third view’, where ‘faith’ is taken to mean a system or set of beliefs, and ‘Christ’ qualifies what the system is about. I argue that the grammar disallows the meaning ‘faith in Christ’ where Christ is the object of one’s ‘trust’, since objective genitives can only mean ‘belief of something (to be true)’, as is shown by an analysis of the data in the NT and in Harrisville 1994; 2006. Additionally, the subjective genitive rendering often fails to make sense within the literary context and faces its own grammatical difficulties. Drawing on work from theoretical linguistics in lexical semantics and syntax, I show that the third view meaning, translated as the ‘Christ-faith’, is the most likely rendering given the context of each of the passages, the Greek case system and the meaning of the noun πίστις as used in the NT and other Koine Greek writings.

Encountering the Book of Psalms: A Literary and Theological Introduction

Encountering the Book of Psalms: A Literary and Theological Introduction

Introducing the New Testament: A Historical, Literary, and Theological Survey by M. A. Powell

Reviewed by: Introducing the New Testament: A Historical, Literary, and Theological Survey by M. A. Powell Cornelia van Deventer Powell, M. A. 2018. Introducing the New Testament: A Historical, Literary, and Theological Survey. 2d ed. Grand Rapids: Baker. Hardback. ISBN: 978-0801099601. Pp. 591. $52.99. Powell starts his book with the exclamation, “Welcome to the New Testament!” (11). This phrase succinctly encapsulates the goal and target audience of this mammoth volume. Introducing the New Testament is an updated version of the first edition published in 2009. The book is an introductory companion to entry-level students, or as Powell identifies the ideal reader, “a student at a college, university, or seminary” (11). Powell, a professor of New Testament at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio, is a prolific writer, well-known for his scholarly contributions on literary criticism and the Matthean Gospel. Powell is no novice in the authoring of textbooks. His previous publications in this genre include What is Narrative Criticism? (1990) and Fortress Introduction to the Gospels (1998). The book at hand consists of thirty chapters. Chapter 1, “New Testament Background: The Roman World,” and chapter 2, “New Testament Background: The Jewish World” both serve to orient the reader to the socio-historical climate of the NT events and writings. This is [End Page 414] followed by chapter 3, “The New Testament Writings,” in which Powell provides an overview of the NT, the formation of the canon, and various methodologies for studying the NT. Chapter 4, “Jesus,” launches into a discussion of the various portraits of Jesus. Chapter 5, “The Gospels” introduces the concept of the Gospels’ genre, variety of content, and the synoptic puzzle. These five introductory chapters are followed by individual chapters on the four gospels and the book of Acts (chapters 6–10). The chapters on biblical books all have the same scope and layout. First, Powell provides a high-level overview of the content of the book. Second, he delves into the historical background, addressing issues of authorship, date, occasion, and audience. Finally, he summarises the major themes of the book. The last section also includes allusions to the Wirkungsgeschichte of the book at hand. Chapter 11 “The New Testament Letters,” which provides an overview of the structure and content of NT letters as well as the issue of pseudography, and chapter 12, “Paul,” which provides an overview of the apostle’s life and theology, take a step back and serve to orient the reader before launching into chapters on Paul’s letters. In the same format as the Gospels and Acts, chapters 13–23 function as surveys of the Pauline Letters (undisputed and disputed), with the Pastoral Letters grouped into one chapter. This is followed by a survey of Hebrews (chapter 24), the General Letters (chapters 25–29, with the Johannine Letters grouped together in one chapter), and Revelation (chapter 30). Serving his target audience well, Powell includes a glossary after the last chapter (553–575). Being one of many NT introductions, questions regarding the uniqueness and necessity for yet another book of this sort rightfully arise. In anticipation of this, Powell (12) spends three pages highlighting what makes this offering unique. In this section, he notes that the book can be read in any order as the chapters do not follow one another chronologically. This can be said of many NT introductions or textbooks (especially those written by more than one contributor). The second feature that Powell describes is that the book does not attempt to resolve disputes. Whilst Powell is deliberate about highlighting theological debates and controversial passages, he simply leaves his readers with various opposing views on these matters. This, Powell (12) argues, makes for more effective learning, as students (and lecturers) need to make their own informed decisions on such matters. Powell (13) also mentions the inclusion of diverse Christian artwork as a unique feature of the book. He adds that, while the artwork is not always explicitly theological, its [End Page 415] inclusion serves to stimulate reflection on the content of the book. As one would expect of a scholar with an appreciation for narrative, Powell holds that the book was written to facilitate an experience that...

Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? Historical and Theological Reflections by Matthew Levering

Reviewed by: Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? Historical and Theological Reflections by Matthew Levering Glenn B. Siniscalchi matthew levering, Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? Historical and Theological Reflections (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019). Pp. ix + 255. $99. Today scholarly publications on the credibility of the resurrection of Jesus are not difficult to find. Many NT historians appeal to three reported facts as evidence for the resurrection: (1) the series of postmortem appearances of Jesus to friend and foe alike, (2) the discovery of the open and empty tomb by a group of his women followers, and (3) the origin of the disciples' faith in the resurrection despite having predispositions to the contrary. Some critics add to or nuance the evidence, but in recent years a consensus has emerged in support of the facts. The hesitancy in affirming Jesus's resurrection as an event of history has more to do with philosophical issues related to defending the historicity of miracles rather than establishing what should count as evidence. One of the best features of Matthew Levering's new book is that he makes several genuine contributions to a field that seems to have been nearly exhausted. For example, after surveying the most recent arguments and positions among prominent NT scholars who write on the subject, he draws from Thomas Aquinas's interpretation of selected OT passages that, "when viewed as an assemblage, instruct us profoundly about the context in which Jesus' resurrection is credible" (p. 13). The OT witnesses go beyond the presupposition of God's existence for ensuring the possibility of miracles (or even the probability of miracles). Thus, L. summarizes other presuppositions for taking the resurrection seriously: "The needed foundations for believing in Christ's Resurrection are here. We must believe that God is creator; that God loves humans in to existence; that God wishes to draw near to his fallen human creatures; that God wills to establish a 'ladder' between his dwelling and ours; that God will restore his fallen creatures through the sacrifice of his beloved son" (p. 105). Another major contribution focuses on the strangeness of the resurrection as evidence. Undoubtedly, there is a sense in which this argument has been utilized in resurrection studies (it is most notably found in N. T. Wright's monumental The Resurrection of the Son of God [Christian Origins and the Question of God 3; Minneapolis: Fortress, 2003]), but L. [End Page 323] does not so much focus on the unicity of the resurrection against the Jewish matrix from which Easter faith emerged as appeal to the peculiarity of the NT writers' depiction of the risen body. A spiritual view of the afterlife would have been much easier to promote in dialogue with potential converts in the Greco-Roman world, but the early Christians never compromised about the risen body in their preaching. Though some contemporary exegetes may highlight the spiritual view in order to make the afterlife credible in the modern world, L. reminds us that the ancient world had the same trouble with accepting the bodily resurrection. Yet the early Christians proclaimed that Jesus was raised from the dead, not assumed or immortalized. Third, L.'s chapter on faith, reason, and history outlines the Catholic perspectives of Joseph Fenton, Bernard Lonergan, and Pierre Rousselot. Although L. recognizes the indispensable role of reason in matters of defending the faith, he does not overstate the case for reason in the next chapter, which shows the need for contemplative engagement and love to pinpoint an answer to the truth concerning the risen Jesus. As a case in point, L. shows how Hans Urs von Balthasar's apologetics of love (see his Love Alone Is Credible [trans. D. C. Schindler; San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2004]) is congruent with historical approaches: "While I think von Balthasar's position is too quick to dismiss the contemplative work of reason unaided by faith, the strengths of his position should be evident. Lacking appreciation for divine self-surrendering love, we are unlikely to perceive the truth of Christ" (p. 182). Finally, given the assumption that Jesus made himself seen to the disciples, skeptics, individuals, and even large groups of people under radically different circumstances...

Anthropology and New Testament Theology

Anthropology and New Testament Theology

“Let’s Take the Text Seriously”

Abstract Mainstream New Testament Studies is often a space of repeating, elaborating on, identifying with, or valorizing the voices of NT writings. These common features of NT Studies resemble what scholars in Religious Studies refer to as protectionism: the privileging of a source’s own claims to such an extent that interpreters let them dictate academic analysis. Through examining debates about NT sources and both Greco-Roman ethnic rhetorics and Hellenistic philosophy, this article argues that protectionism structures the doxa of mainstream NT Studies—the commonsense that shapes what is thinkable and what questions / categories feel the most obvious. The field’s protectionism often manifests itself in confused rhetoric about “taking the text seriously” and in the invalidating of scholarship that does something other than describe (i.e., “exegesis”) or elaborate upon NT writings. Protectionism thus helps explain the gendered hierarchies of knowledge in NT Studies: “exegesis” and supposedly “objective Historical-Criticism” are dominant norms that reproduce the field as a masculine dominated space. As a result, critical and redescriptive research—especially by or about women—gets passed over since it seems “niche” or “political / agenda” driven by comparison. Interrogating the protectionism of NT Studies thus permits rethinking the politics of what kinds of scholarship seem the most obvious.

The Birth of Christian History: Memory and Time from Mark to Luke–Acts

Eve-Marie Becker explores in Birth of Christian History genres, subgenres, and literary forms in Hellenistic and Roman historiography in order to draw out and compare the processes that shaped the social and cultural memory of the earliest Christian literary culture. This three-chapter volume focuses particularly on the influence of early Roman Imperial historiography on the NT writings beginning with the Gospel (Mark) to the starting point of early Christian history (Luke–Acts).In ch. 1 (pp. 1–33), Becker discusses the interdependent relationship between memory and history writing. She teases out the philosophical constructs that undergird the Roman conception of memory and how the early NT writings demonstrate some similarity to Roman memorial culture. After defining and explaining the differences between counter-memory, visual memory, ritual memory, and exemplary memory in relation to early Christian literature against Roman history writing, Becker elaborates on the purposes that literary memory serves in the Gospels and Acts: (1) a didactic purpose—the involvement of memory in education; (2) an entertainment function—as later apocryphal works supplement perceived historical gaps, such as Acta literature; and (3) an authoritative function—when later Christian Fathers refer back to early Christian literary memory in claiming normative and heretical errors.In ch. 2 (pp. 34–129), Becker looks extensively into how ancient historians explain/interpret the past and how they paraphrase the narrativized past. The Hellenistic and Roman historians—such as Velleius, Sallust, Strabo, Livy, Dio Cassius, and Appian—reference an existing master plan behind the narrative while also claiming their own view. In this sense, historians choose topics and subgenres according to the moral value that they aim to depict; thus, they assert their own moral value on different levels (causality in the narrative, use of rhetorical forms and genre, and interpretation on a metahistorical level) in order to affect their contemporary and future audiences. Becker finds the most prominent comparison in Velleius Paterculus’s catalog of virtues and values in his description of Tiberius’s reign. Becker applies a form of Vellieus’s approach to Mark’s Gospel and discerns literary causal connections and patterns, such as how Mark’s metahistorical interpretation—the “way of the cross”—serves as an overarching moral value in the narrative.In ch. 2, Becker also approaches an understanding of NT historiography from two levels—discussing the theoretical contributions of ancient historians and philosophers (those before and contemporary with Mark and Luke–Acts) while also examining ancient historiography through the ideas and opinions of contemporary scholars and theorists. For example, when discussing “person-centric” historiography, Becker consults the writings of Ivo Bruns (1896) in relation to personhood and concerning the distinction between major characters and minor characters as distinct from biography. She draws out Bruns’s conclusions about direct depiction of characters (e.g., Polybius’s narrative Scipio) and indirect evaluation of characters that lie hidden within the narrative (e.g., Livy on Scipio) which can be traced back to Thucydides. Becker then takes these observations and guidelines for analyzing the manner in which persons act as protagonists in the framework of history writing (judgment by contemporaries, impact on contemporaries, and the person’s attributed speech) and applies it to Mark’s Gospel: where Jesus evokes judgment (Mark 8:27–29) and Jesus’s impact on others is through action and through speeches (1:18–34). From this perspective, Jesus’s personhood is evidence that he is the acting protagonist within a historiographical account.In ch. (pp. 130–53), the abstract concept of time and its relationship to historiography is assessed. Since memory gives access to the perception of time as well as structuring it, time becomes an object of interpretation that gives shape to identity (the “golden age” in Virgil, Ecl. 4.4–10). Becker analyzes the relation between memory, time, and history in considering the earliest Christian shape of history writing, its Hellenistic-Roman setting(s), and its impact on the construction and understanding of “Christian” time. Becker concludes that the motivating factor for Hellenistic and Roman history writing is the conceptualization of time. She holds that this is also true of Mark and Luke–Acts. More specifically, Luke participates in Mark’s conceptualization of time and motion—Mark 1:15 and Luke 21:8—yet perception of time in Luke–Acts differs from Mark: Mark and Luke–Acts are linear and causal, but the Markan concept of narrative temporality is not yet fully defined (p. 137). Mark’s readers are forced to look back to chs. 1–9, whereas Luke gives shape to a narrative that stresses temporal and historical progress toward the apostolic age.Eve-Marie Becker sifts through an extensive amount of research from primary and secondary sources to provide relevant comparative insights on the influence of Roman and Greek historiography on early Christian history writing. The nature of the topic requires an appreciation for theory and abstractions, but the author’s acute ability to gather, collate, and explain nuanced differences of genre and form within an overarching discourse of ancient history engages the reader and contributes to a better understanding of the historiographical approaches of Mark and Luke–Acts.

Vermittelte Gegenwart: Konzeptionen der Gottespräsenz von der Zeit des Zweiten Tempels bis Anfang des 2. Jahrhunderts n. Chr

Vermittelte Gegenwart: Konzeptionen der Gottespräsenz von der Zeit des Zweiten Tempels bis Anfang des 2. Jahrhunderts n. Chr

Spirit and Word: Dual Testimony in Paul, John and Luke by Timothy Wiarda

Reviewed by: Spirit and Word: Dual Testimony in Paul, John and Luke by Timothy Wiarda Luke Macnamara timothy wiarda, Spirit and Word: Dual Testimony in Paul, John and Luke (LNTS 565; London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2017). Pp. ix + 269. $108. Timothy Wiarda, recently retired professor of New Testament Studies at Golden Gate Seminary, examines how various NT writers conceive of the respective roles of the Spirit and gospel preaching in evangelization. Among the key issues that arise are the mode of action of the Spirit; the specific locus of its action (the preacher, the believer, internal or external) and the temporal relationship of this action to the word (prior, contemporaneous, or posterior). The bulk of the volume contains a careful exegesis of the thirty or so passages where this dual testimony is present. In the introduction, W. announces four goals. The first (comprising ten chapters) involves a careful and detailed exegesis of the most significant NT dual-testimony passages to identify the best of the many interpretations in each case. The second is to determine how Paul, Luke, and John, the three NT writers who employ this pattern most frequently, conceive of the dual testimony, while the third goal proposes to compare Paul, Luke, and John with each other in order to have an overview of dual testimony in the NT and of the consequent theology. Finally, a historical question arises from the more exegetical and theological reflection as to the origins and development of the dual-testimony passages. Although the volume intends to heed each passage's "native context," it clearly also adopts a "cross-section" approach, which regroups the relevant passages in order to compare and contrast how the different NT writers employ the dual-testimony pattern. Of the ten chapters dedicated to the exegesis of dual-witness passages, five cover Paul, four John, and one Luke. The passages are concentrated in specific writings for Paul (1 Thessalonians, the Corinthian correspondence, Romans, and Ephesians) and for Luke (Acts). Pauline passages that resemble each other in their approach to the dual-witness pattern are treated together, resulting in the dispersal of passages from individual letters over several chapters. Given that every passage receives a very detailed exegesis, including close attention to syntax and grammar, it is regrettable that the Greek text for the verses is not included in the volume. W. assesses received positions of standard North American and European commentaries and monographs from the last half century on the Spirit and Gospel witness, which leads him to the most probable interpretation. The cumulative positions assessed can at times read like inventories. In chap. 12, W. helpfully summarizes and compares the results of the exegesis for each [End Page 347] NT writer. All three biblical writers exhibit a dual action in which Word and Spirit operate distinctively but collaboratively. While the Word is proclaimed, the action of the Spirit facilitates the reception of the Word and the subsequent transformation of the hearers. There is an interdependence of the Word, which operates outwardly on the human level, and the Spirit, which works within. While the Spirit, especially in Paul and Luke, confirms apostolic preaching, the Word serves as a criterion for discerning the activity of the Spirit. Wiarda's incisive exegetical analysis is stimulating, but at times the focus appears to switch excessively toward reviewing the literature. The quantity of contrasting opinions surveyed in rapid succession risks overwhelming readers. Pauline scholars might lament the fact that many passages from the same letter are treated separately, while others might rightly express disappointment at the limited treatment of the motif in the Lucan corpus. Wiarda succeeds in demonstrating the prominence of the multifaceted dual-witness motif in three major NT writers. The shifts in the motif within and between the individual writers give a broad and deep set of theological reflections on the respective roles of Spirit and Word in evangelization. The Spirit is shown to be at work before, during, and after the time of preaching both in speakers and especially in hearers of the Word. The internal action of the Spirit joins with the outwardly proclaimed Word centered on Jesus. These conclusions have been anticipated by many of the...

Israel-Vergessenheit in den Pastoralbriefen: Ein neuer Vorschlag zu ihrer historisch-theologischen Verortung im 2. Jahrhundert n. Chr. unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Ignatius-Briefe by Michael Theobald

Reviewed by: Israel-Vergessenheit in den Pastoralbriefen: Ein neuer Vorschlag zu ihrer historisch-theologischen Verortung im 2. Jahrhundert n. Chr. unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Ignatius-Briefe by Michael Theobald Linda M. Maloney michael theobald, Israel-Vergessenheit in den Pastoralbriefen: Ein neuer Vorschlag zu ihrer historisch-theologischen Verortung im 2. Jahrhundert n. Chr. unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Ignatius-Briefe (SBS 229; Stuttgart: Katholisches Bibelwerk, 2016). Pp. 428. Paper €38. This is a brick of a book. Those familiar with the usual length of the Stuttgarter Bibelstudien will find Michael Theobald's work has doubled it—but to good effect. Quite apart [End Page 147] from its thesis (more aptly stated in the subtitle than in the title, since the absence of Israel and of any Pauline relationship to Jerusalem in the Pastoral Letters is only the spark for the investigation), this volume is a mine of precious information and analysis. Michael Theobald succeeded Gerhard Lohfink in the professorship of NT at Tübingen. T. is a Pauline and Johannine specialist. Lohfink's primary focus was on the Lucan writings, but he also did some work on the Pastorals. (I should note that, as Lohfink's doctoral student 1984–1988, I was a minor participant in some of that work.). T. uses Lohfink's essays on the subject, especially "Die Vermittlung des Paulinismus zu den Pastoralbriefen" (first published in BZ 32 [1988] 169-88), and collected the following year in his Studien zum Neuen Testament (Stuttgarter biblische Aufsatzbände 5; Stuttgart: Katholisches Bibelwerk, 1989) as a springboard for his opening analysis, which agrees with his predecessor in general but not in some details. The present book opens with the statement that "forgetfulness of Israel" is a mark of many ancient Christian writings, including some of the "late" NT writings. From that starting point T. proceeds to a detailed examination of the (very much related!) content and dating of the Pastorals. Having written three volumes on Paul's letter to the Romans, T. is well qualified to discern the interrelationship between the Pastorals and that Pauline letter, which (in a fourteen-chapter form) he considers the model from which the author of the Pastorals worked. Theobald's second chapter, after the introduction, deals in rapid fashion with the "one-vs. two-imprisonments of Paul in Rome theory." In the third chapter he sets out some preliminary methodological decisions: (1) that the Pastorals are pseudonymous; (2) that the original order was Titus, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy; (3) that the author's concept was one of concealed pseudepigraphy, with materials from genuine Pauline letters used to integrate the pseudepigraphical "letters" into the Corpus Paulinum; (4) that the Pastorals are independent of Acts (which raises further interesting questions about the date and early circulation of that work). T. considers Eusebius to be the first known witness to a "canonical" reading of the Pastorals, and it may be worth noting at this point that he concludes his volume with a vigorous attack on the practice of "canonical" reading among today's exegetes. Two subsequent chapters (4 and 5) detail the relationship between the Pastorals and Romans; Paul's real, supposed, and projected itineraries are examined in detail, and the book contains a map of these. In chap. 6, T. relates the Pastorals to the Corpus Paulinum as it appears to have circulated in the period when the Pastorals were composed. In chap. 7, he examines early witnesses to the existence of a Pauline corpus (Marcion, the Muratorian fragment, Tertullian, p46). In chap. 8, he discusses the relationship of the Pastorals to the "apostolic fathers"—1 Clement briefly, and the Ignatian letters at some length, because T. is at pains to demonstrate that the latter are late and pseudepigraphical. Polycarp's letter to the Philippians is found to be the oldest witness to the Pastorals, in the early second half of the second century. In chap. 9, T. compares the itineraries of Paul in the Acts of Paul with those in the Pastorals and finds them remarkably similar. They focus on Asia Minor with a westward extension to Rome; again, there is no mention of a Pauline journey to Jerusalem, and this observation leads to...

Discovering the Septuagint: A Guided Reader ed. by Karen H. Jobes

Reviewed by: Discovering the Septuagint: A Guided Reader ed. by Karen H. Jobes Larry Perkins karen h. jobes (ed.), Discovering the Septuagint: A Guided Reader (Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic, 2016). Pp. 351. $39.99. As senior editor, Karen H. Jobes has worked with nine former students and teaching assistants to produce a "guided reader" to the Septuagint for individuals who possess "proficiency in New Testament Greek." She has provided a useful tool to assist those interested in the Greek OT to find their initial way into this complex body of Hellenistic Jewish texts. [End Page 521] The contributors provide lexical and grammatical notes, as well as limited explanations where interference from a Hebrew Vorlage may have influenced a translator's choices. Annotated readings include portions of Greek Genesis and Exodus; the complete texts of Ruth, Jonah, and Malachi; selected Psalms; and portions of Hosea and Isaiah. In addition, segments from four of the six additions to Greek Esther are included, the only selections representing compositional Greek materials in the Septuagint. The various commentators note where NT writers incorporated quotations from the texts presented. For each selection the respective translation from A New English Translation of the Septuagint (NETS) is provided. Jobes aims to introduce people to the Greek OT as people in the first century C.E. who had no access to the respective Hebrew texts would have encountered and understood it. In this respect the volume engages the Greek OT in its reception history. This is an important feature of the Septuagint's reality, yet individuals using this reader have no easy way to compare the Septuagint translation with a presumed Hebrew Vorlage to evaluate the Septuagint text as produced by the translator. Consequently, they cannot fully appreciate the decisions that the original translators faced in rendering their Hebrew texts. Moreover, it is difficult for readers to appreciate the translation "strategies" adopted by the respective translators. Some comments made regarding significant differences between the presumed Hebrew text and resultant translation lack context because the reader has little sense of the translation technique employed by the original translator. It is probably too much to expect that readers will also have proficiency in Hebrew, but it might be possible to use a modern English translation such as the NRSV, which tends to reflect Hebrew structure, as a means of encouraging readers to make comparisons. Otherwise, this dimension of the Septuagint's reality will not be appreciated. Generally, the volume is well produced, but occasional lapses occur. For example, on p. 152 there is no English translation provided for Esth 1:1s (1:1). The diaeresis is missing for πρόϊμος (Hos 6:3, pp. 219-20). Occasionally a relative clause is referred to as a "phrase" (Jonah 3:2, p. 249). Sometimes one looks for explanation but does not find it. For example, in Jonah 1:16 the sailors fear τὸν κύριον greatly, but nothing is said about why in this case the translator twice uses an article with κύριος, given its absence in v. 14 and 2:1. Perhaps it would be helpful to identify this as an anaphoric usage, given that pagan sailors are responding religiously to Yhwh. Sometimes the observations raise more questions. For example, the commentator at Ps 33:5 explains the choice of paroikiōn (παροικιῶν) as a modification made by the translator "to contextualize the translation for his audience" (p. 189). Perhaps, but the translator may have thought the nominal form was a derivative of the verbal root gûr I in his Hebrew text, referring in some way to living in a foreign country (see LXX Ps 54:15 [55:16]; LXX 118:54 [119:54]). The claim is made in the introduction (p. 11) that "the Septuagint is valuable for sketching the history of the Hebrew text during an era that is much earlier than any extant manuscripts." Given the challenges we have in dating when specific portions of the Hebrew Scriptures were translated, however, it is quite possible that we possess extant Hebrew texts roughly contemporaneous with several of the translations, for example, Isaiah. These are minor issues in an otherwise useful volume. [End Page 522] Larry Perkins 6296 189A Street, Surrey, BC V3S8S3, Canada Copyright © 2019 The...

Wealth, Wages, and the Wealthy: New Testament Insight for Preachers and Teachers by Raymond F. Collins

Reviewed by: Wealth, Wages, and the Wealthy: New Testament Insight for Preachers and Teachers by Raymond F. Collins Francis M. Macatangay raymond f. collins, Wealth, Wages, and the Wealthy: New Testament Insight for Preachers and Teachers (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2017). Pp. xix + 347. Paper $43.49. Pope Francis has been consistently vocal about economic justice as a mandate in preaching the gospel. His statements on greed and the effects of unrestrained market economies on the poor have drawn heavy criticism, if not downright opposition. His critics, often within the church, claim that the bishop of Rome should confine the preaching of the gospel to matters of abortion and other sexual issues. What his critics miss, however, is the essentiality of economic justice and the proper relationship with wealth to the ethical message of the NT. In the book under review, Collins vigorously provides proof not only that wealth, wages and the wealthy are indeed a paramount concern in the NT but also that it has a consistent and clear message regarding these issues. Unsurprisingly, in this volume C. combs the entire NT corpus for passages that treat or refer to wealth, wages, and the wealthy. He methodically moves through the literature according to the generally recognized historical order of the composition of the writings. C. thus begins with a consideration of pertinent texts from Paul and his authentic letters, and then turns to passages in the Synoptic Gospels and Acts, to relevant texts in the Deutero-Pauline epistles and the Catholic letters, and finally to writings in Johannine literature, including the Book of Revelation. The selection of passages included in this book shows that all of the NT writings have something to say about the issue of wealth, either tangentially or directly. The texts are all closely examined, contextualized, and reviewed in light of the purpose of the book, which is to give pastors and preachers a way to understand the ethical teachings of the NT regarding the use of money and the proper disposition toward wealth. A subsection entitled "So What?" concludes each chapter. Here C. brings reflections and recent news reports to bear on the insights uncovered in the biblical texts. In his analysis of the texts, C. displays a particular sensitivity to the metaphorical nuances and financial underpinnings of certain words. He brings in examples and usages of the word under discussion from other writings of the time, providing thus a sociocultural context that helps to elucidate the semantic range of the word. In his discussion of Paul's letters, for instance, the Greek euodoomai can also mean "to profit," adikia can convey "deprivation of justice," koinōnia has a sense of "business partnership" and in 1 John, alazoneia may connote "pride in riches." Second, the analysis is attentive to the OT background that lies behind the NT text. For instance, the discussion of Qorban in Mark 7:1-13 and the claim that it speaks ultimately to greed benefits from bringing the expectations of the OT into the text. Third, C. allows the contexts of the texts, both in the particular book in which they appear and in the NT as a whole, to shape the observations drawn from them. Among the many insights drawn from the study of specific texts, some may be highlighted. First, wealth is indeed a gift from God to whom everything belongs, but the message [End Page 333] of Jesus also makes it clear that riches can imperil a believer's relationship with God. Any preaching then that solely asserts that wealth is a sign of God's blessing, such as proclaimed by the proponents of the prosperity gospel, sidetracks the NT's cautious view of wealth. Second, greed, which is taking or having more than one has a right to, is the most condemned vice in the NT. Greed shows that wealth can compete with God and so is rightly considered a form of idolatry and the root of vices and other untold evils. Avaricious acquisition can endow one with the illusion that one has no need of God as the guarantor of life. In other words, the unjust use of wealth leads to death. Third, wealth used in...

Muted Voices of the New Testament: Readings in the Catholic Epistles and Hebrews

Muted Voices of the New Testament: Readings in the Catholic Epistles and Hebrews

The Nicene Creed: A Round Table Discussion

This article explores the relation between the NT writings and the Nicene Creed by means of an imaginary round table discussion involving the authors of the NT. This teases out the origins of the different clauses of the creed. The participants also point to four weak points of the creed: (1) its downplaying of the theme of Christ dying for our sins; (2) its failure to identify God as the God of Israel; (3) its silence about the earthly ministry of Jesus, jumping from his birth to his crucifixion; (4) its omission of the ethical dimension. They end by affirming what the creed actually does state.

Regulating Sex in the Roman Empire: Ideology, the Bible, and the Early Christians by David Wheeler-Reed

Reviewed by: Regulating Sex in the Roman Empire: Ideology, the Bible, and the Early Christians by David Wheeler-Reed William Loader david wheeler-reed, Regulating Sex in the Roman Empire: Ideology, the Bible, and the Early Christians (Syncrisis; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2017). Pp. xxi + 177. $45. Wheeler-Reed’s book seeks to expose the reader to the “discourses from the Roman Empire, Judaism, early Christianity, and modern America that attempt to regulate marriage, procreation, and sexuality” (pp. xi-xii). In particular it addresses the extent to which what many contemporary conservative American movements claim about the uniqueness of Christian sexual ethics really existed and makes sense in the world of today. He does so by examining these discourses in four chapters: Augustan sexual ideology; Judaism and procreationism; conflicting values in the NT; and battles in the early church. A fifth chapter address contemporary discussion in American society. The discussion of Augustus concentrates on the lex Iulia legislation of 18 b.c.e. and 9 c.e., imposing procreation as a civil responsibility, divorce as mandated in cases of adultery, the requirement that widows remarry, and minimum quotas of offspring to be produced. Augustus promoted such law on the basis of the need to return to the true order of a harmonious society, evoking as did others like Virgil and Horace the ideal of an impending golden age. More grounded assessments have shown that, rather than “family values,” the driving concern was ensuring sufficient male offspring to enable Rome and its military to remain strong. Musonius Rufus, W.-R. demonstrates, is misunderstood when taken as an early proponent of feminism. Rather, Musonius’s comments about women and companionate marriage sit within the Augustan frame of reference. This he argues, was also true of the romantic novels of the period. The chapter on Judaism rightly highlights the similar focus on procreation across a number of texts, and especially in Philo. Some claims are debatable. CD 13.17b-19 need not imply that the Damascus Document saw divorce as sin. The discussion of Jubilees’ rewrite of Genesis 1–2 overlooks that celibacy is about being in sacred space, Eden being understood as a temple, and that the first couple’s coming together in sexual intercourse was clearly prior to their entry and also clearly prior to the prospect of their bearing children, thus reflecting a positive attitude toward nonprocreative sexual union. Some exploration of the implications for sexuality of seeing eschatological space as sacred, implied also in Jubilees 23 and reflected in the early Jesus tradition, would have strengthened the discussion. Treatment of the impact of the LXX translation of Genesis 1–2 is missing. Philo’s account of the Essenes focused less on the sexual danger women posed than on their quarrelsomeness. [End Page 544] In the discussion of NT texts, the author rightly notes that Paul does not use the argument for procreation, suggesting that his playing down family derives from imminent eschatology. I suggest it derives also from the belief that the age to come is sacred and so no place for sexuality and marriage. It is important to hear Paul’s insistence that marrying is not sin, despite Paul’s clear preference for celibacy. Paul’s view of marriage cannot be reduced to a strategy to avert sexual immorality. The book rightly notes the tension between what Paul says, preferring celibacy, and what those writing in his name propounded to order Christians households. The impact of an eschatology that saw a celibate future for all, expressed in Mark 12:25 and Revelation and assumed by Paul, needs more nuanced discussion. To be out of place in the holy has nothing to do with morality, nor did it imply deprecation of sex or family, but it could certainly lead in that direction. Celibacy, challenge to family power, and negative attitudes to sexuality are not necessarily the same thing and are in themselves complex. There are missing elements in this and the preceding chapter, many covered in my own research. The chapter on the early church highlights subsequent developments that partly perpetuate the trend to accommodation evident in the later NT writings, but also exploit the potential that eschatology...

Texts and Artefacts: Selected Essays on Textual Criticism and Early Christian Manuscripts by Larry W. Hurtado

Reviewed by: Texts and Artefacts: Selected Essays on Textual Criticism and Early Christian Manuscripts by Larry W. Hurtado Izaak Connoway Hurtado, Larry W. 2018. Texts and Artefacts: Selected Essays on Textual Criticism and Early Christian Manuscripts. The Library of New Testament Studies 584. New York: Bloomsbury T&T Clark. ISBN 978-0567677716. Pp. 231. £73.44. As could be expected from "one of the pre-eminent scholars of the field" (back cover), this volume is masterly written and extremely insightful. It is a collection of twelve essays written over twenty years (xvi). Except for one essay, they are all reproductions, although they have been updated to reflect the latest information (ix). In these essays, Hurtado analyses some second and third-century Christian manuscripts as artefacts. He believes that studying these manuscripts should be central to early Christian studies (xv). Although each essay makes an individual contribution, there is some repetition due to overlapping interests (xvi), but not to the point of detracting from the experience. This volume has two sections. Part one is on "Textual-Critical and Text-Historical Studies" (chs. 1–4) and part two is on "Manuscripts as Artefacts" (chs. 5–12). (1) "The New Testament in the Second Century: Text, Collections and Canon" (3–27). In this chapter, Hurtado looks at how NT writings were transmitted, especially in the second century (xvi). Factors that would promote text stability are highlighted (xvii), and he also inspects the phenomenon of early collections of writings, as well as how certain writings gained status and authority (3). He discusses recently-published, late-second and early-third-century papyri that include P.Oxy. 64–66 (6–14). Hurtado presents arguments that date the four canonical Gospels to 125–135 CE (19) and a collection of Paul's letters to 140 CE (20–21). (2) "The Early New Testament Papyri: A Survey of Their Significance" (28–47). In this chapter, Hurtado reviews fifty NT papyri from the second and third centuries (xvii). The Chester Beatty library and the Bodmer collection are indicated as significant findings (30, 32). A case is made that the Rylands fragment (𝔓52), often dated 125 CE, is more likely from the late second century (33). Hurtado acknowledges the validity of asking whether the Oxyrhynchus papyri are really representative of wider Christianity, considering that they were all found in the same place. He does, however, present a positive case for why he thinks that they are indeed representative (35–36). (3) "New Testament Scholarship and the Dating of New Testament Papyri" (48–63). In this chapter, Hurtado assesses the accusation some level against NT scholars that they date texts too early (xvii). Good NT [End Page 513] scholarship is based on the critical texts, which in turn are based on the earliest papyri, so the dating of papyri is quite important (54). Hurtado admits that some NT scholars are too precise and overconfident in their early dating of texts (59), but he provides reasons why he opposes lowering the amount of papyri included in the period between the late second and early third centuries (58). He discusses an important essay that claims scholars do not really agree with the dating of, for example, the Nestle-Aland text, but he criticises this study for conflating the data (60–62). (4) "God or Jesus? Textual Ambiguity and Textual Variants in Acts of the Apostles" (64–82). In this chapter, Hurtado inspects instances where the manuscripts of Acts vary over whether the reading should be κύριος, θέος or Ἰησοῦς (xvii). At times, it is clear whether κύριος refers to Jesus or God (67). Generally, Jesus is the referent for an artherous singular κύριος, while God is the referent for an anartherous singular κύριος. But there are cases of genuine ambiguity (65–66). Hurtado analyses the textual data for all the ambiguous texts and proposes that the scribes were merely making honest attempts at trying to disambiguate the texts as best they knew how. (5) "The 'Meta-Data' of Early Christian Manuscripts" (83–98). In this chapter, Hurtado points out that early Christian manuscripts are more than just texts (xvii), and should be studied as artefacts (83). His criteria for considering a text as part of this study are that...

“For David Said Concerning Him”: Foundations of Hope in Psalm 16 and Acts 2

ABSTRACT Peter's use of Ps 16 in his pentecostal speech has been a touchstone of debates about the use of the OT in the NT and thus about the continuity and discontinuity between the writings of the earliest Jesus followers and the sacred writings they claimed as their own. My contribution to this enormous debate is an analysis of the continuity and discontinuity between the foundations of hope—that is, the reasons to hope—that inform the statements of hope in these two texts. I examine the nature of hope and the foundations of hope (of which I identify three in Ps 16 and five in Acts 2) in each text in turn. I conclude that the nature of the continuities and discontinuities between the texts are fundamentally the result of the messianic and resurrection logic that characterizes many NT writings (including Luke–Acts), in which the discontinuity is at the service of the underlying continuity with the long-established story in which the NT authors and speakers place themselves.

Acts as Kerygma: λαλεῖν τὸν λόγον

This essay argues that Acts is essentially kerygmatic in its literary texture and purpose. It assumes that literary purpose, even genre to some extent, can be determined by examining how language is used in two respects: (1) through the authorial voice of the narrative, and (2) by the direct speech of characters within the story. This is especially the case when there is a strong convergence in the pattern of usage in the narrative voice and the dialogical voice. Three literary aspects are investigated: (1) kerygmatic vocabulary, (2) the speeches, and (3) the expression ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ/ὁ λόγος τοῦ κυρίου. The operative kerygmatic vocabulary in Acts is displayed in two appendices containing statistical information comparing Lukan usage with other NT writings.

Talk of the Devil: Unpacking the Language of New Testament Satanology

This article builds from the count of NT Satan references produced in ‘Diabolical Data’: A Critical Inventory of New Testament Satanology’ (JSNT 39.1). Linguistic-statistical tools unveil the literary distribution of Satan language across NT writings, showing Satan to be ‘topical’ in 14/27 NT books and following a fairly even distribution, correlated to word count. Satan is a consistent feature within NT discourse, characterized by very rich language but also a consolidation of that language through the use of synonyms. The coherence of the NT portrait of Satan stands out from the inconstant and loosely connected Satan language of Second Temple Judaism, suggesting a new departure in early Christianity. The implications of this ‘Satanology’ are considered for wider projects in NT studies, for the history of religions and hermeneutics. The problem this study sets for future interpreters is that of exploring and explaining the distinctive nature of NT Satanology both in its context and for today’s readers.