New Testament in Antiquity

The New Testament in Antiquity: A Survey of the New Testament within Its Cultural Context
Zondervan, 2009

The perfect textbook for an undergraduate introductory course on the New Testament in an evangelical setting! The New Testament in Antiquity is handsomely produced, highly accessible and sufficiently indepth without overwhelming a reader with detail.

The major focus of the book is clear from the subtitle A Survey of the New Testament Within Its Cultural Contexts: a student comes away from the book aware of the importance of the historical and cultural setting of the New Testament documents for its interpretation. The book is probably not a sufficient introduction for a graduate and seminary level course, although as a supplemental text it could serve quite nicely. I used it in conjunction with one of my favorites: Oskar Skarsaune's In the Shadow of the Temple: Jewish Influences on Early Christianity.

New Book in honor of the memory of Graham N. Stanton

I want to announce a new book due out this year of which I am a co-editor.

Jesus, Matthew's Gospel and Early Christianity: Studies in Memory of Graham N. Stanton.

Here is the description:

The passing of Professor Graham Stanton, former Lady Margaret chair of divinity at Cambridge University, in 2009 marked the passing of an era in Matthean scholarship and studies of early Christianity. Stanton’s fifteen books and dozens of articles span thirty-four years and centre largely on questions pertaining to the gospel of Matthew and early Christianity. The present volume pays tribute to Stanton by engaging with the principal areas of his research and contributions: the Gospel of Matthew and Early Christianity. Contributors to the volume each engage a research question which intersects the contribution of Stanton in his various spheres of scholarly influence and enquiry. The distinguished contributors include; Richard Burridge, David Catchpole, James D.G. Dunn, Craig A. Evans, Don Hagner, Peter Head, Anders Runesson and Christopher Tuckett.

The book is in the LNTS series published by T & T Clark. See the book here.

Book Notice: Perriman, The Future of the People of God

Andrew Perriman

The Future of the People of God: Reading Romans Before and After Western Christendom
Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2010.

In this new and provocative book, Andrew Perriman argues that the way forward for the church in the post-Christian, post-postmodern West is to reclaim a historically situated understanding of the Christ faith.

His book is an attempt to read Paul's letter to the Romans fettered, yes incumbered [these are my words not his], by all its historical particularity. While admitting such an approach will "set limits to the dogmatic and pastoral significance of the letter" [and this fact will no doubt concern many], he believes it "opens up interesting possibilities" for solving or at least soothing the church's present self-identity crisis in an age much like that of Paul's when "it is no longer possible (or desirable) to represent the victory of YHWH over the gods of the nations through various forms of political, social, and cultural dominance that made up Christendom" (p. 10).

There is likely much in this book to critically assess and, truth be told, I have not read this book "analytically", in Adler and Van Doren's terminology. The best I've done thus far is a "superficial reading". Still Perriman's hermeneutical intuition is correct in my view and I think the following quote is worth the price of book:

Because the narrative is bounded both geopolitically and temporarlly, because it proceeds the fulfillment that came to be interpreted in accordance with the overweening intellectual self-confidence of Western civilization, we would do well to disable the universalizing assumptions that we bring to the text and, in the interests of exegesis, re-contextualize ourselves--to the point that we come to share Paul's necessarily myopic outlook and limited horizon, to the point that the fate of national Israel matters more to us than the theoretical relationship of the Law to faith, to the point that we are more troubled by the prospect of a pagan backlash than by the suspicion that others have not rightly understood justification theory (p. 9).

Wow! Read that again. And again. Read it several times. Surely wiser words have rarely been spoken in contemporary Pauline studies.

Book Notice: Vanhoozer, Everyday Theology

Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Charles A. Anderson and Michael J. Sleasman

Everyday Theology: How to Read Cultural Texts and Intepret Trends

Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007.

Everyday Theology teaches the skill of “reading culture” theologically. This means achieving Christian understanding of "what is going on in our part of the world, why it is going on, and how we should respond” (9). According to the editors every Christian should gain some competency in reading and interpreting culture through the lens of the Bible and Christian faith. The book is designed to both teach and illustrate how one “makes Christian sense” of everyday life. This is accomplished by a length introductory essay followed by a number of case studies in which the methodology introduced is illustrated. The concept of the book is well executed.

The book's central thesis is that Christ followers must learn to discern how our faith is shaped by the world we live in and how we are to embody our faith in forms of everyday life. The book then is intended to help achieve a cultural literacy, that is the ability to read and write culture, by providing the basic tools and a method. The book’s purpose is to equipped followers of Jesus to critically and constructively engage culture for the sake of the gospel. Everyday Theology is comprised of a foundational essay (ch 1) by Kevin Vanhoozer with another 10 essays as illustrative of the method Vanhoozer outlined. The book's genesis was a course at TEDS that Vanhoozer taught and the editors are former students.

Full disclosure: Charles is a dear friend of mine. We overlapped in Cambridge and both were students of Markus Bockmuehl. You'll find our names together in the list of students that attended the "Grandchester Meadows Group" in the preface to Markus' book Seeing the Word. 

I think the concept that the book seeks to articulate and illustrate is important, fascinating and timely. There has always been a need for pastors to be able to exegete both the Bible and the culture. But the need has never been greater than it is today. Vanhoozer has provided a tool for those who want to be “cultural agents” in the world. I for one found the book’s central idea compelling and deeply motivating. It touches a deep passion for competency as a critical thinker. I would have to say that this is one of my chief life pursuits. I want to be a critical thinker in every area of my life and not least culture. Quoting Silverman and Rader, Vanhoozer states, “You can be in the world more fully if you are a critical, thoughtful, insightful reader of the world around you” (55).

The book’s first essay written by Vanhoozer (55 pgs long) is a crash course in cultural hermeneutics. In addition to outlining a hermeneutical method, the chapter provides a context for the approach by providing an overview of background information such as definition, history of research and theological and biblical warrants. I think this is a must read for pastors, although it is "thick" and will take patience to muddle through. You won't be disappointed for the work though.

Here’s my one criticism of an otherwise excellent book. The expectations implicit in the method are unrealistic for the everyday pastor let alone Christian. This is slightly problematic since the books major contention is that every Christian should be an everyday theologian. How will the average Christian—and that is to say nothing of the average biblical scholar or theologian (of which I consider myself)—be able to competently employ the multiperspectival, multilevel, multidimensional approach Vanhoozer advocates. He argues that to adequately interpret culture we need to be “light on our feet”. By which he means “prepared to move between history, economics, psychology, sociology, film studies, architectural engineering, marketing, and of course theology” (45). While his point is no doubt true, the reality is that only the most gifted of persons can hope to be that light of foot and I certainly don’t count myself among that group.

 

One more thing. Three times over the next three months I'm leading an event with the college ministry, called CRAVE, and Twenty's ministry at my church called Film + Theology, an idea I stole from  Mark Driscoll's church Mars Hill. I'm going to attempt to employ Vanhoozer's Method in my studying of the films we'll be viewing. The book has a well-written chapter (ch 6) on film written by Michael Sleasman.

Book Notice: Lawrence, Bonhoeffer

Joel Lawrence

Bonhoeffer: A Guide for the Perplexed

New York, London: T & T Clark, 2010

Truth be told, Joel Lawrence is one of my best friends. He and his wife Myndi have been significant partners with Karla and I for a decade now. Joel and I both graduated from Dallas Seminary [although we only became acquainted at the very end of our ThM years] and we both worked on an MPhil and PhD at Cambridge at the very same time [2001-2005/6].  Joel and I once lived in a single room together for two months will attending a Goehte Institute course in Prien am Chimsee in southeastern Germany. So I can hardly be seen as an objective reader of his new book on Bonhoeffer. Nevertheless, I can promise that the book is a result of an intensive study over the last ten years beginning in his Masters work in Cambridge. Joel did his thesis on Bonhoeffer. I can remember many times discussing Bonhoeffer over a beer and a pipe in some pub in Cambridge.

There is a resurgence of late in interest in Bonhoeffer. One can point, for example, to the very recent biography Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy published by Eric Metazas. Joel's book on Bonhoeffer provides a useful introduction to his thought. The book is both accessible and brief. But its brevity and accessibility should not be confused for elementary or unsophisticated; Joel's work is a serious engagement with the challenges of interpreting Bonhoeffer. Because Bonhoeffer remains in many ways an enigma given that both this life and theological work were cut short by his death at the hands of the Nazis, his theological outlook can be difficult to ascertain. What's more, as Joel puts it,

Because of the nature of his theology and the fact that he died young before he had the opportunity to answer the questions he raised, one can make Bonhoeffer say just about anything one wants (9).

Joel attempts to assist an interested reader of Bonhoeffer in sorting out his thought by rooting in his historical and theological context and by integrating the various  strands of Bonhoeffer's thought. Joel identifies three fundamental themes of Bonhoeffer's work: Christ, the Church and the world. Joel uses these to assist the reader in keeping the "big picture" as they work with a particular portion of Bonhoeffer's writings. Working from back to front historically, Joel shows in the chapters of his book that the questions Bonhoeffer raised in his letters from prison were the outgrowth of his earlier seeds of thought. Joel is adamant that one must read Bonhoeffer's work comprehensively always taking into account the corpus of his ideas. He cautions readers of Bonhoeffer to appreciate the unfinished nature of Bonhoeffer's thought espeically in his prision letters. He admonishes readers to avoid  ripping sound bites out of his writings to prop up one's particular pet theological idea. Joel says, "There can be no 'cheap' readinds of Bonhoeffer, only 'costly' readings" (112).

Joel concludes the book with a chapter on the continued significance of Bonhoeffer for the 21st century suggesting that Bonhoeffer has a prophetic voice to us through the themes of Christian worldiness, the suffering of God and religionless Christianity.

Book Notice: Thiselton, The Living Paul

Anthony C. Thiselton

The Living Paul: An Introduction to the Apostle's Life and Thought

Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2009

When I saw this title in the back of the recent issue of BBR I was very excited to get my hands on it. Those who know Thiselton are aware of his significant scholarship and his magisterial commentary on 1 Corinthians. When a scholar like this writes an introduction to Paul you are compelled to look at it. What's more, reading the blurb by the late Graham Stanton only heightened my interest: "In the hands of a master scholar and teacher, Paul's letters come alive for a wide readership. This is an outstanding, reliable guide to the great apostle's life and thought". 

Perhaps my expectations were set to high by the time the volume arrived at my door; truth is, I am not that impressed with it. I suppose the strength of the book is that it attempts to be comprehensive in a mere 162 pages of text. The seventeen brief chapters cover Paul's life and apostolic career as well as major theological themes: christology, theology, sin, the Holy Spirit, Justification and the law, the church, ministry, the sacraments, ethics and eschatology. In addition there is a chapter on postmodernism and Paul and two introductory chapters on obstacles to studying Paul. 

It's strength, however, is also its weakness. The discussions in my view feel quite truncated. While I appreciate a volume that seeks to introduce Paul comprehensively in brief, one feels that the discussions are insufficient. For example in a chapter on Jesus Christ in Paul, Thiselton does not discuss the term "Christ" or the broader issue of messianism. I felt several times that the discussion were incomplete or lacked sufficient transitions and conclusions. It seems as if in the quest for brevity key sentences were omitted. At times it seemed that Thiselton merely listed positions without much analysis. This is true of his section on "The law and faith" in a chapter titled "Justification and the law". Thiselton mentions abruptly a debate that James Dunn and Seyoon Kim are having about the nature of the 'works of the law'. After mentioning their differing views, Thiselton adds a quotation from N.T. Wright. There is no analysis of the three positions or how one is to relate Wright with the two others. This discussion is followed by what seems like a non-sequitor about 'gifts of the spirit' (100). The topic is crucial for Paul, but one leaves the page and one half without any better understanding of what Paul thinks about the relationship between law and faith. 

I'm always keeping my eye out for new introductions to Paul. Anthony Thiselton's book does provide discussions on a wide-ranging set of Pauline ideas, but I think it would confuse students more than help them. Conciseness is a characteristic of an excellent introduction, but The Living Paul is more elliptic than it is concise. 

New Testament Theology: Many Witnesses, One Gospel

I. Howard Marshall

New Testament Theology: Many Witnesses, One Gospel

Downers Grove: IVP, 2004.

Now I may be behind the times a bit, but I am just now getting around to interacting with I. Howard Marshall's New Testament Theology. Many of you I'm sure have already had occasion to consult this volume and know its strengths. In this short notice, I wish to highlight one of the key contributions this book makes and why it is a very good, albeit lengthy, theological introduction to the NT. 

For me what puts this introduction to the front of what is becoming a crowded shelf of NT introductions is its missional and evangelistic focus. Marshall writes:

The situation of the early Christians was one in which they were communicating the good news about Jesus to people who were not believers. It is worth remembering that people were believers only if they had become believers. The good news was news, something fresh that had not been heard before. Therefore, any people who became believers did so only as a result of the gospel being communicated to them. Whether deliberately or other wise, whether consciously or otherwise, the early Christian church grew through sharing the message of Jesus with people who were not believers . . . Consequently, the writings that we have arose out of that mission (709).

He further concludes: 

It can be affirmed that mission is the origin of the New Testament documents. At the same time, the documents are concerned in part with the forwarding of the actual evangelism and contribute to a theology of evangelism.

Marshall then cautions those of us who theologize:

Focusing  on this activity can carry with it the temptation to ignore the task of mission as the sharing of the gospel with those who have not yet heard it or beleived it . . . Even today believers may find their attention diverted to teh study of theology and other aspects of Christian living to teh detriment of evangelism, and this presupposition may give them a skewed reading of the New Testament (710).

Marshall's caution here is so very important. Have we been tempted to forget or ignore the mission of the church while fixated on the study of its foundational documents? Has our understanding of those documents been "skewed"? These are significant questions indeed.

There are far to many details covered in the 765 pages of text to do it justice here. Still, although I had an ocassional quibble, the scholarship is solid as you would expect from Marshall and it is clearly the by product of a life time of work in the New Testament. What's more, with the above stated focus the this volume is sure to be an asset to any pastor whose looking for a introduction to the NT that is self-conscious about the mission of the church.

Important New Book on Evangelicalism

My colleague over at the North Park Theological Seminary, Soong-Chan Rah, has written an important book on the future of evangelicalism. The book is called The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity. It is an eye opening exposé on western-white evangelicalism in America. On the one hand, it exposes the unrecognized cultural captivity of the church and the Gospel. On the other, it introduces us to the often unseen growth of the non-white evangelical church in urban centers in the United States. Both an informative and challenging book that is a must read for pastors and church leaders.

Book Notice: Approaches to Paul

My friend Mark Nanos just informed me about Magnus Zetterholm's new book Approaches to Paul: A Student's Guide to Recent Scholarship. At first glance it looks to be a very useful book for a course on Paul and once I have received it, I'll write a review on the blog.