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Journal for the Study of the New Testament
http://jnt.sagepub.com 2. New Testament Topics

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 2005; 27; 11 DOI: 10.1177/0142064X05055498 The online version of this article can be found at: http://jnt.sagepub.com
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[JSNT 27.5 (Booklist 2005) 11-33] DOI: 10.1177/0142064X05055498
2. New Testament Topics
Africa and the Bible Edwin M. Yamauchi

Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004, 0-8010-2686-5, $26.99, 297 hb
The book uses a historical (including archaeological) method to explore biblical texts referring to Africa. It also analyses how some of these African-biblical texts have been interpreted or misinterpreted. Most of the texts it analyses are related to the Hebrew Bible; such as the texts on the Curse of Ham (Gen. 9.25); Moses Cushite Wife (Num. 12.1); texts on King Solomons contacts with Africa; and texts on other Cushites. The New Testament texts under discussion are the one on the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8.27 and the one mentioning Simon of Cyrene (Mk 15.21 and parallels). Lastly it also contains a more general background chapter on the contacts between Rome and Mero, a chapter on Afrocentric biblical interpretation as well as an appendix revisiting Bernals Black Athena. This is not a book celebrating African-ness or blackness, rather it tries not to let enthusiasm outrun knowledge (Kenneth A. Kitchens expression in the foreword) of the historical texts and their contexts. For example, he refutes the idea that Simon of Cyrene was a black man with reference to the Cyrenean Jews in Jerusalem and the Greek and Roman colonies in Cyrene. This book feeds well into current interests in postcolonialism by providing a material basis for the more theoretical (or contextual-theological) explorations others may want to undertake. More generally it clearly demonstrates the broad African presence in the Bible from ancient to Roman times. This book does the history stuff very well, but in a book that will undoubtedly thrive on a wave of Afrocentricism, it is a bit disappointing that the chapter on Afrocentric biblical interpretation is not more forcefully argued and given more space.
Jorunn kland
Anthropology and Biblical Studies: Avenues of Approach Louise J. Lawrence & Mario I. Aguilar, eds.
Leiden: Deo, 2004, 90-5854-026-X, 29.95, 324 pb
Lawrence urges the relative otherness of the other. David Chalcroft appraises Herbert Spencers pioneering social anthropology. Philip Esler chats engagingly (but not anthropologically) about the Context Group. David Clark illustrates problems of biblical translation for particular groups (but assumes the scriptures should not upset).
2005 SAGE Publications (London, Thousand Oaks CA and New Delhi)

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Journal for the Study of the New Testament 27.5 (2005)
Nathan Macdonald outlines various kinds of exchange that might illuminate Abrahams acquisition of a cave; none is obviously right. Joachim Schaper argues that God as scribe in Deuteronomy intends a set record that all may internalize, at the same time enhancing the status of his literate priests. Seth Sanders reminds us how unxed and adaptable to fresh circumstances the ancient texts actually were. Bernhard Lang compares and contrasts the Hebrew Wife (of Proverbs) and the eighteenth-nineteenth century CE Ottoman Wife. James Davila explores select Jewish Pseudepigrapha, deploying a sixfold typology of ritual. Bobby Loubser compares sacricially altered states of consciousness with early Christian performances of narratives of Jesus death, but without evidence from the passion or supper narratives of intended Spirit arousal. Karen Wenell suggests that Maori responses to their lands occupation offer analogies for Jewish responses to Roman occupation of Judaea. Timothy Ling urges Webers virtuoso religion to counter Malinas and others xation on limited good agonism. Douglas Davies looks at nancial impurity sullying the given Spirit in Acts. Albert Hogeterps defence of 2 Cor. 6.147.1 as Paul on purity might work better with pisto/j/a)/pistoj as faithful/unfaithful (not believer/unbeliever). Finally Mario Aguilar argues forcefully that cultural and social anthropology best aid interpretation when they are not classed as hard science.
F. Gerald Downing
Are we Amused? Humour about Women in the Biblical Worlds Athalya Brenner, ed.
JSOTSup 383, B21C 2; London: T&T Clark Intl, 2003, 0-8264-7083-1, 25.00, viii + 158 pb
This book is the second in a series that aims to problematize contemporary understandings of the Bible by focusing on the way biblical texts have been transmitted and actualized. Are we Amused? seeks to problematize our understanding of humour as it is applied to female gures in the Bible and related literature and in the history of the texts reception. Claiming that humour can be regarded as both a didactic tool and social critique, it explores all aspects of humour surrounding biblical women, asking whether it is always tender and moderate or scathing and cruel. The subject is explored from several different angles. F. Scott Spencer considers the comic potential of the four women named in Matthews genealogy of Jesus; Mary E. Shields offers a fresh reading of Genesis 38 through the lens of humour and feminist interpretation; Kathleen OConnor suggests that the humour in the book of Esther is political satire, a survival tactic and an act of hope; Tony Craven nds humour in the apocryphal/ deuterocanonical books; Kathy Williams asks if humour in Acts 16.14-40 is at the expense of women; and Athalya Brenner nds humour in the reinterpretations of biblical female gures offered in the work of Josephus. A sketch piece by Gale A.Yee, responses to the texts by Amy-Jill Levine and Esther Fuchs, and poems and limericks on the subject complete the book. This is a critically astute volume, dialogic in nature rather than monotone. It works as an introduction to the topics of humour in biblical texts, and of feminist criticism, as many different voices are represented in a clear and interesting way. Its exegesis of specic texts, particularly of Matthews genealogy and of the book of Esther, are cohesive and persuasive without being overly technical. Recommended for anyone
BOOKLIST 2. New Testament Topics
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interested in literary or feminist interpretations of the Bible, or in the specic texts considered here.
Alison Jack
The ChildParent Relationship in the New Testament and its Environment Peter Balla
WUNT 2.155; Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003, 3-16-148006-6, 69.00, xii + 279 hb
This book is split equally between an examination of the parentchild relationship in the environment of the New Testament and in the New Testament itself. By New Testament environment, Balla means both Graeco-Roman and Jewish contexts from about 300 BCE to about 300 CE. Balla begins by exploring the theory of family relationships in literature from Homer to the end of the classical period (Chapter 1) before turning to the relationship in practice rst in Greek and Latin sources (Chapter 2) then in Jewish sources (Chapter 3). In the second half of the book Balla turns to the New Testament texts and explores this relationship in the Gospels (Chapter 4) in the Pauline corpus (Chapter 5) and in the rest of the New Testament (Chapter 6). He concludes that, although the New Testament contains some radical ideas about the parentchild relationship, they never fundamentally breach the expectation of their environment that children should honour their parents. Ballas conclusion does not come as a surprise. Most people with even a brief knowledge of Graeco-Roman and Jewish literature and practice might have assumed that the New Testament attitude to family relationships coheres to a large extent with other contemporary attitudes. What is valuable about Ballas study, therefore, is not the conclusion but the evidence that he provides to support it. While most of us might assume Ballas conclusion, we might struggle to cite sufcient evidence to say why we do. In this study Balla provides a clear, carefully researched and written account of the evidence available. The value of the study lies not in his conclusions but in how he gets to them.
Paula Gooder
On the Cutting Edge: The Study of Women in Biblical Worlds Jane Schaberg, Alice Bach & Esther Fuchs, eds.
New York: Continuum, 2004, 0-8264-1582-2, 19.99, $29.95, x + 254 pb
It will come as no surprise to anyone reading the list of contributors to this volume that it has been compiled in honour of Elisabeth Schssler Fiorenza, whose seminal In Memory of Her, followed by a plethora of other volumes, was rst published in 1983. Indeed, a characteristic of this volume lies in the warmth and gratitude towards Schssler Fiorenzas cutting-edge work evident in each one of the essays. A list of contributors and titles will provide the best possible insight into the range and depth of this work. Esther Fuchs, Points of Resonance; Alice Bach, Womens Altars: Lived Religion from Now to Then; Elizabeth A. Castelli, The Ekksia of Women and/as Utopian Space: Locating the Work of Elisabeth Schssler Fiorenza in Feminist Utopian Thought; Pushpa Joseph, Trailblazers: Elisabeth Schssler Fiorenza and George M. Soares-Prabhu; Athalya Brenner, Some Reections on Violence against Women and the Image of the Hebrew God: The Prophetic Books Revisited; Tal Ilan, Paul and
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Pharisee Women; Joan E. Taylor, The Women Priests of Philos De Vita Contemplativa: Reconstructing the Theraputae; Adele Reinhartz, The Happy Holy Family in the Jesus Film Genre; Tina Pippin, Wisdoms Deviant Ways; Ute E. Eisen, Boundary Transgression and the Extreme Point in Acts 10.111.18; Sheila Briggs, Slavery and Gender; Jane Schaberg, Magdalene Christianity; Antoinette Clark Wire, Rising Voices: The Resurrection Witness of New Testament Non-Writers; Alicia Ostriker, Jephthahs Daughter: A Lament. It is surely an extraordinary scholar whose work could attract the attention of a canon of feminist scholars of the last twenty years. From historical criticism to poetry, and from lm theory to earliest church history, this volume represents much that is good in feminist biblical criticism. Several pay tribute to Schssler Fiorenzas encouragement to them to transgress boundaries, as she has done in her own work. As Jane Schaberg has it, Elisabeth Schssler Fiorenza teaches us to break scholarly stereotypes and boundaries: between writer/reader and scholar/literary theoretician; between the activist and the thinker; between the scholar of religion and the religious/spiritual person; between the believer and agnostic/atheist. I offer this essay in the hope that it may follow her lead and be of use not only to scholars but to wo/men changing religion and politics in the twenty-rst century (p. 193). All these essays, in their very different ways, achieve something of this vision. It can always be argued that contributions to an edited volume are uneven; much depends on the interests and backgrounds of a particular reader. Different readers will nd different essays useful, or inspiring, or both, at different times; it seems hardly fair to single out particular contributions. Perhaps the most likely place for this book will be on the bookshelves of all those who have been inuenced by the earlier work of any of the authors, those who will at various times open this volume in order to seek some kind of understanding of a particular topic, and nd something else of interest as well. And the bibliographies attached to each essay can only lead the reader into further enlightenment. This is a volume to be recommended highly.
Bridget Gilllan Upton
Divorce and Remarriage in the Church: Biblical Solutions for Pastoral Realities David Instone-Brewer
Carlisle: Paternoster, 2003, 1-84227-180-6, 8.99, x + 203 pb
This book develops from Instone-Brewers more substantial Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible (2002). It applies these results to the pastoral issues surrounding divorce and remarriage. Chapter 1 reviews traditional church teaching. Instone-Brewer then shows why divorce was a compassionate accommodation to the reality of marriage break-up in the Old Testament. While Jesus criticizes the Any Cause divorce of the Hillelites and Paul is equally opposed to groundless divorces, neither supports the legalistic direction of church tradition. Jesus does not forbid remarriage of those divorced on Old Testament grounds, while Pauls teaching assumes remarriage is allowed even for guilty partners because God is able to forgive. Instone-Brewer believes the church misunderstood Jesus and Pauls teaching very early, primarily because of the cultural shift of Christianity away from its Jewish roots. In light of this, churches ought to reconsider polity and practice. In the penultimate chapter he shows how he applies biblical principles with examples culled from his own work. He concludes with Study
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Group Brieng Notes and Discussion Questions. This is a valuable study for ministers who wish to base their pastoral care and counselling work on biblical grounds rather than intuitive pragmatism. Properly understood in its context, the teaching of Jesus and Paul renews the redemptive direction of the Old Testament teaching on marriage and divorce. Such teaching should guide the church in its ministry to people who are divorced or caught in destructive relationships. This book shows a way forward.
Kent Brower
Fabrics of Discourse: Essays in Honor of Vernon K. Robbins David B. Gowler, L. Gregory Bloomquist & Duane F. Watson, eds.
Harrisburg: Trinity Press Intl, 2003, 1-56338-365-9, 60.00, xviii + 365 hb
Vernon Robbins is well known for developing a method for the interpretation of sacred texts known as socio-rhetorical criticism. The majority of the essays in this Festschrift, presented to Robbins on his sixty-fth birthday, honour his work by employing aspects of that method in the interpretation of assorted New Testament texts. A number of essays focus on the so-called ideological texture of the chosen texts: Kloppenborg on the parable of the tenants (Mk 12.1-12 and parallels); Gowler on Lk. 7.1-10; Bloomquist on Rom. 1; Wanamaker on 2 Cor. 1013; Sisson on Philippians; Braun on womens salvation in early Christianity. Other contributions draw on other aspects of Robbinss method: the polemic of Mt. 23 (Combrink); household language in Mark (Elliott); Pauls social location (Neyrey); intertextuality between James and Psalms (Wachob), the exordium and peroratio of 1 John (Watson), miracle discourse in Revelation (deSilva), apocalyptic discourse in the Quran (Newby). Only Dulings discussion of ethnicity in Phil. 3 lacks any real connection to the socio-rhetorical approach. This volume forms a tting tribute to a scholar whose hermeneutical reections have now become the basis for a small but signicant body of work exploring the sociorhetorical features of religious texts. The numerous exegetical insights in these essays (those by Kloppenborg, Bloomquist and Wanamaker stood out for this reader) will be of interest to all scholars working on the relevant texts, irrespective of their familiarity with the socio-rhetorical method.
Sean Winter
The God who Provides: Biblical Images of Divine Nourishment L. Juliana M. Claassens
Nashville: Abingdon, 2004, 0-687-03023-4, 12.99, xxiii + 145 pb
Divine provision or withholding of food, literally or as metaphor, is traced in Jewish and in Christian canons and exposition. Feeding is a womans work, yet Gods feeding can in some texts be seen as maternal, as suckling, e.g. Deut. 32.13-14 (discerned so by Philo and by rabbis later), while Moses objects to Gods expected maternal care being shifted onto him (Num. 11.11-15). The gure of Wisdom feeding understanding also suggests, occasionally, a feminine balance in deity. Such passages, though rare, may afford a metaphor with transforming power, covering, as they do, issues of equality and shared sufciency, care for creation, discipline and simple sufciency. Yet the
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bleak, abusive and violent images we also nd cannot be wished away, and if there is to be trust and hope, it is in this cruel world where healing and justice demand action from us, to full dreams of future bliss. Evidence for normal feeding roles (other than suckling) is not provided. Signicant pagan resonances of some of the passages (e.g. 2 Bar. 29.5-7; Lk. 12.22-34) are not noticed. And images of future delighted excess need weighing against environmental depletion. Also scholarship often affects a cooler mood than does this very engaged survey. Yet it remains arguable that only when their potential implications for ethics and spirituality are allowed to emerge have texts really been understood.
F. Gerald Downing
The Great High Priest: The Temple Roots of Christian Liturgy Margaret Barker
London: T&T Clark Intl, 2003, 0-567-08942-8, 25, xiii + 423 pb
This fascinating collection of 12 studies suggests that many elements in early Christian liturgy derive not from Hellenism or the synagogue, but from underground rst Temple priestly traditions. Essays explore Jesus and secret traditions; the tenth Jubilee as the background to Jesus ministry; the derivation of the New Testament understanding of atonement as cosmic reconciliation; the link between parousia, the eucharist, and the Day of Atonement; the angelic priesthood and Christ as the Great High Priest, Melchizedek; the original content of Gen. 1 and the Holy of Holies; the high-priestly origin of apocalypses; the connection between the Temple veil, the high-priestly vestments and incarnation; evidence for a female divinity; the inuence of Jewish traditions on Greeks; and the early Christian scriptures. Those familiar with Margaret Barkers earlier works will nd some familiar themes revisited in this densely argued collection (six chapters have already been published as articles). The essays are often controversial and delight in challenging New Testament conventions; Barker favours Johns Jesus as most historical (she writes of the tyranny of the synoptic Jesus) and regards differences within various early Christian traditions not so much as differing products of the early church but as layers and developments within Jesus own thought. There can be no doubt that an appreciation of the Temple is important for understanding Jesus, his role, and certain elements within early Christian liturgy; but whether this goes back to Jesus and a secret priestly tradition or rather the Jewish-Christian communities in the aftermath of the fall of Jerusalem is, in this reviewers opinion, difcult now to discern.
Helen Bond
Griechische Grabinschriften und neutestamentliche Eschatologie Imre Peres

WUNT 157; Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003, 3-16-148072-4, 79.00, xx + 336 hb
Imre Peress Habilitationsschrift (under Ulrich Luz) compares Greek grave inscriptions which indicate beliefs about afterlife with key New Testament texts. He concludes that some New Testament texts (especially in Luke) are close to Greek ideas but that many central eschatological elements such as return from the dead, collective resurrection, the end of the Age, and the role of Christology are not Greek at all. After a survey of
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scholarship, Peres gives an overview of ideas on the gravestones. He uses six categories: return to the source of life; the reality of death; pessimism; the two ways teaching (ideas of judgment); hope for life after death; divinization. The main section of the book takes New Testament texts and compares them with grave inscriptions on related topics. He covers: places of blessedness (Lk. 16.22-26; Phil. 3.20); heavenly dwellings (Jn 14.2f.; 2 Cor. 5.1-10); resurrection (Acts 17.22-31; 1 Cor. 15; 1 Thess. 4.13-18); rapture (Lk. 16.22; 23.43); divinization (2 Pet. 1.4; 1 Jn 3.1-2); life with the gods; and hope. The book has two particular strengths. The rst is in the collection and translation of, and comment upon, the inscriptions. The second is in the series of quite substantial discussions of the chosen New Testament texts. For example, there is an important discussion of poli/teuma in Phil. 3.20. I would have appreciated more extensive engagement with the arguments of earlier scholars, such as Lattimore, who would question the extent of Greek belief in afterlife. However, I agree with Peres that such belief grew markedly in the Hellenistic and early Roman periods and his collection helps to demonstrate this. This book makes a very good contribution to the eld.
Peter Oakes
Holiness: Past and Present Stephen C. Barton, ed.

London: T&T Clark Intl, 2003, 0-567-08823-5, 25.00, xvii + 511 pb
Holiness is the published version of a series of public lectures and seminars sponsored by the University of Durhams Centre for Theological Research in 19992000. It contains 23 articles exploring holiness from various perspectives: from sociological and denominational standpoints, from historical as well as contemporary theological contexts. Part 1, Holiness in Theory begins with John Rogersons, What is Holiness, followed by Colin Crowders, Rudolf Ottos The Idea of Holiness Revisited. Douglas Davies addresses The Sociology of Holiness: The Power of being Good. Finally David Martin writes Changing your Holy Ground: An Ecology of Sacred and Secular in cities of the Centre and the Periphery. Part 2, Holiness in Scripture contains ve essays: Philip Jenson, Holiness in the Priestly Writings of the Old Testament; R.W.L. Moberly, Holy, Holy, Holy: Isaiahs Vision of God; Robert Hayward, The Sanctication of Time in the Second Temple Period: Case Studies in the Septuagint and Jubilees; James D.G. Dunn, Jesus and Holiness: The Challenge of Purity; and Stephen C. Barton, Dislocating and Relocating Holiness: A New Testament Study. Part 3, Holiness and Christian Tradition has seven essays: Andrew Louth, Holiness and the Vision of God in the Eastern Fathers; Carol Harrison, Finding a via media: The Moderation of Holiness in Fourth-Century Western Asceticism; Henry MayrHarting, Benedictine Holiness; Gordon Mursell, Holiness in the English Tradition: From Prayer Book to Puritans; D.W. Bebbington, Holiness in the Evangelical Tradition; Sheridan Gilley, Holiness in the Catholic Tradition; and Vigen Guroian, Mother of God, Mother of Holiness: A Meditation from Orthodoxy. Part 4, Holiness and Contemporary Issues concludes the collection with seven essays: David F. Ford, Bonhoeffer, Holiness and Ethics; Melissa Raphael, Holiness
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in extremis: Jewish Womens Resistance to the Profane in Auschwitz; Susan F. Parsons, Holiness Ungendered; Gavin DCosta, The Communion of Saints and Other Religions: On Saintly Wives in Hinduism and Catholicism; Denys Turner, Material Poverty and Poverty of Spirit? Holiness and the Liberation of the Poor; Robert Song, Whose Sanctity of Life?: Ricoeur, Dworkin and the Human Embryo; and Daniel W. Hardy, Worship and the Formation of a Holy People. Suggestions for further readings and an Index of Modern Authors are included. The strength of this collection is that holiness is explored from a range of different perspectives and a variety of approaches. All the essays are of a remarkably high quality. A notable diversity in approaches and denitions is best explained as due to the fact that these essays were given as lectures in order to illustrate variety and to extract the heart of the matter of what holiness is and entails. This collection is theologically stimulating, morally challenging and spiritually inspiring. It is written in a way that makes it accessible to a wider readership and a useful starting point for an exploration of the idea of holiness and its implications.
Ellen Juhl Christiansen
The Holy Spirit and Christian Origins: Essays in Honor of James D.G. Dunn Graham N. Stanton, Bruce W. Longenecker & Stephen C. Barton, eds.
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004, 0-8028-2822-1, 29.95, $50.00, xxii + 382 hb
This handsome volume of 27 essays maintains a tight grip on a topic that has preoccupied the academic career of its honoree. The range and scope of the essays is impressive and the list of contributors is a roll call of some of the more engaging New Testament scholars around. The Spirit is covered from the perspective of the Gospels and Paul, and there are equally illuminating essays on James, the Ascension of Isaiah, Justin Martyr, textual criticism, and issues relating to translation. Just a avour of some of the essays can be given. Robert Morgan kicks the volume off with a robust defence of the propriety of New Testament theology as a historical discipline that properly delights in the legitimate diversity evidenced by the New Testament texts. Scot McKnight asks where and when the early Christians articulated their experience of the Spirit in terms of old and new covenant, and argues that historically speaking the language of the new covenant is more appropriately placed at the Acts account of Pentecost and not in the Last Supper traditions. The new covenant hermeneutic thus has its origins in the pneumatic experiences of early Jerusalem-based Christians. Anthony Thiselton writes on the reception history of 1 Corinthians Holy Spirit language. Posting some useful nuances on the concept of Wirkungsgeschichte along the way, Thiselton explores the service of several patristic writers in explicating what Paul leaves presupposed in his Spirit-talk. As a nal appetizer for this enjoyable volume, Ulrich Luz writes provocatively and presciently on reading Paul as a mystic. One note of caution: some of the contributions to this volume are more technical and specialized than others. Nevertheless, this is a collection that will appeal to a wide constituency.
Angus Paddison
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House Church and Mission: The Importance of Household Structures in Early Christianity Roger W. Gehring
Peabody: Hendrickson, 2004, 1-56563-812-3, 18.95, xxii + 408 hb
The authors translated version of his 1998 Tbingen thesis argues As in ancient society generally the oikos represented the basic unit for community life for the early Christian movement. Houses were more or less the architectural, social and economic foundations of urban and inter-regional missions and incubators of local church life (p. 288). This was so for Jesus (using Peters house in Capernaum), and for his rst emissaries (using the rst welcoming house-fathers home as a local base), for the postEaster congregations in Jerusalem, as evidenced in Acts, and for the movement as it spread, as shown in Acts, supported by Pauls letters. In larger conurbations (e.g. Corinth, Rome) there were several house churches, meeting alone and also on occasion together for teaching, fellowship, Eucharist and prayer, led by the householder. The latter was likely to be both wealthier and more educated than most; probably male. Although women as patrons might teach, they might well invite a visiting male to preside at the Eucharist. A wide range of previous and recent scholarship is surveyed, including divergent ndings (not, however, Ronald Hock on shop-working, listed, not discussed). The ancient ethos admired is not thought simply transferable to todays church. Yet its conservative stance is clear. Possible evidence of wealthy patronage is welcomed, critiques of wealth and patronage are downplayed or ignored: e.g. Mt. 8.20/Lk. 9.57-60 appear to negate the notion that Jesus stayed overnight in a house at all. But they need not be understood as a literal description (p. 42 n. 95); and Mk 10.42-43 does not gure.
F. Gerald Downing
Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism Vol. 1 (2000) Stanley E. Porter, Matthew Brook ODonnell & Wendy J. Porter, eds.
Shefeld: Shefeld Phoenix, 2004, 1-905048-06-8, 80.00, 120.00, $140.00, 237 hb
The way in which this journal is being published represents one solution to an issue that will, I think, become a major concern for all theological libraries: how best to manage the relationship between online resources and the need for long-term archiving. JGRChJ is published free, online (at www.macdiv.ca/jgrchj), as that years edition is being put together (thus, the volume which is currently online has three articles so far). At the end of the year, Shefeld Phoenix is due to publish the printed copy, at which point the free online version is reduced to abstracts. The journal thus combines the virtues of (temporary) online accessibility with the permanence of print. Other journals that are available online give a potentially illusory impression of permanence. As constraints of space and the desire to make resources available off site persuade increasing numbers of librarians to opt for online-only versions of journals there is a danger that libraries will lose the ability to archive future issues. When a journal folds (or a subscription is stopped) libraries may be in danger of losing issues of the journal that they have paid for as online versions. I am not a librarian: libraries may have strategies in place for dealing with this. However, it seems to me that one
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likely effect of the emerging situation is that publishers will sometimes step in to produce retrospective printed editions of online journalswhich brings us back to JGRChJ. Many will already be familiar with the strong content of this volume. Pieter van der Horst on Bibliomancy, Amphilochios Papathomas on a new fragment of Hebrews, Chrys Caragounis on composition in Dionysius of Halicarnassus and Paul, Shaye Cohen on false prophets etc. at Qumran, Craig Evans on Mark and the Priene inscription, Porter and Brook Pearson on the split between Christians and Jews, Anders Runesson on particularism and universalism, Al Wolters on au0qe/nthj, and Michael Knowles on the political implications of the archaeology of wide gates (!). The only question mark over buying this volume is the high price at which it has been put out. Like the several years of teething troubles that appear to have hampered the establishment of this journal, one trusts that the high price might prove to be a temporary thing. If the journal gets the wide readership that its early quality deserves, then presumably this may turn out to be so.
Peter Oakes
Leaving the Fold: Apostates and Defectors in Antiquity Stephen G. Wilson

Minneapolis: Fortress, 2004, 0-8006-3675-9, 15.95, xvii + 158 hb
Leaving in the ancient (Mediterranean) world appears to have been much less studied than has joining. Among those who have engaged, Wilson debates mainly with John Barclay, appreciating the latters carefully nuanced typologies of assimilation, acculturation and accommodation. A sensitive survey of the terminology resists unevidenced precision, accepting that boundaries are variously perceived, only arguing against Barclay that some departures are nonetheless egregious. The heart of Wilsons book is comprised of discussions of individuals and groups of Jews, from literary and a few epigraphic sources; of Christians; and (very briey) of pagan philosophers. In the conclusion there is a short discussion (announced earlier) of modern sociological accounts of defection and apostasy in modern North America, too distinctive to apply directly to the ancient accounts. The focus is on beliefs and attitudes as well as behavior, with the latter most signicant. What receives attention only (and tantalizingly) in passing is belonging. Defectors are imagined simply slipping away, without our being told where in an ancient small and close urban or rural community they might slip to. The implicit picture still seems one of modern individual anonymity. And, while noting that leaving is often joining, but validly refusing also to discuss conversion to, Wilson ignores the very important evidence (in Barclay among others) indicating that becoming a Jew or a Christian was seen as a very signicant defection or apostasy from ancestral tradition and from the socio-economic community that maintained it. Nonetheless, a very worthwhile monograph.
F. Gerald Downing

Literary Encounters with the Reign of God Sharon H. Ringe & H.C. Paul Kim
New York: T&T Clark Intl, 2004, 0-567-02590-X, 45.00, 368 hb
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This Festschrift for Robert Tannehill, edited by two former colleagues, takes up the principal theme of Tannehills career, the literary study of the New Testament, alongside what is clearly his other lifelong passion, ecology and care for the earth. So we have: The Heroic Jesus; The Rhetorical Jesus; the Ethics of the Sermon on the Mount; several essays concerning the New Testament and the wellbeing of the planet and all its inhabitants; and the kingdom of God in relation to narrative and rhetoric. And all with a lively awareness of the interplay and excitement that the wide variety of post-structuralist readings of the New Testament have to offer. This is a very good and useful volume, as well as a tting tribute to a ne and inspirational scholar; and that for at least four reasons. In the rst place, the collection as a whole stands as a monument to what has been achieved by Tannehill and his generation of literary readers of the New Testament text. Secondly, literary, narrative and rhetorical approaches are explored here in such a way that make plain for the newcomer to these disciplines the possibilities of readings that go beyond the merely historical. Thirdly, there is material of interest here for scholars experienced as well as new. Fourthly, many of the articles are of a very high order indeed.
Martin Kitchen
Magic in the Biblical World: From the Rod of Aaron to the Ring of Solomon Todd E. Klutz, ed.
JSNTSup 245; London: T&T Clark Intl, 2004, 0-567-08362-4, 30.00, 272 pb
This collection of essays is the product of a colloquim organized in 1999 by scholars and students at the Universities of Manchester and Shefeld, together with colleagues from the University of Lausanne. Twelve of the essays are based on papers presented at the conference, and the editor has added an introductory essay. One paper sums up work published elsewhere, but all the others present fresh material. The book has three parts: Magic in the Jewish Scriptures and at Qumran; Magic in the New Testament and its Graeco-Roman Milieu; and Magic in Disreputable Books from Late Antiquity. The rationale given for the last section is simply that it helps to locate understandings of magic in the period of formative early Christianity. There is no common thread running through any of the sections. Several of the papers take a literary approach, with a particular interest in matters of textual transmission. Rmer contributes an interesting essay on the competing theologies of magic found in the D and P traditions in Exodus, and Nihan uses 1 Sam. 28 to explore various insights into attitudes towards necromancy in the Persian period. Downing offers the only major reection on the broader New Testament social context. Two studies on Acts (Marguerats Magic and Miracle, and Reimers Virtual Prison Breaks) together with an essay by Laus on magicor the lack of itin the Pauline letters, demonstrate the importance of learning to read the script in order to detect signals that would otherwise be lost on contemporary readers. Philip Alexander has some tantalizing comments on the deeply disturbing Sefer ha-Razim, though most of his essay is dedicated to detailed textual questions. There is, as might be expected, a fair amount of
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discussion about the difculty of dening magic; but otherwise this collection is likely to be of most interest, perhaps, to specialists interested in the tightly focused technical matters studied at the colloquium.
Alan Le Grys
The New Testament in its First Century Setting: Essays on Context and Background in Honour of B.W. Winter on his 65th Birthday P.J. Williams, Andrew D. Clarke, Peter M. Head & David Instone-Brewer, eds.
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004, 0-8028-2834-5, 29.95, xxxii + 334 hb
These 21 essays, by a range of New Testament scholars and ancient historians, many associated with Tyndale House, Cambridge, offer examples of how an understanding of the context and background in which the various writings later collected in the New Testament were written can aid in their interpretation. There are four sections: Gospels, Acts, Epistles and Apocalypse. This structure gives a sense of cohesion to the volume, though the idea of background/context is very broadly and variously conceived, and contributors draw on a range of resources and disciplines in order to cast light on different parts of the New Testament. These include the Jewish scriptures, Second Temple Jewish Literature (including other parts of the New Testament), literature from nonJewish sources, papyrology, epigraphy and detailed studies of Aramaic and Greek. Brian Rosners assessment of the background to Pauls conception of the resurrection gives a avour of the volume: As far as his conception of resurrection bodies is concerned, Pauls teaching is framed in sharp relief by Graeco-Roman contrasting views, sketched in outline from biblical and Jewish sources but given its distinctive hues from the palatte of the risen Christ. The broad range of material that contributors cover and the lack of any substantial editorial assessment of their essays means that this book is a sampler, albeit an often very useful sampler, of different approaches to reading the New Testament in the light of its historical context(s), not a unied whole that is more than the sum of its parts.
Andrew Gregory
New Testament Greek and Exegesis: Essays in Honor of Gerald F. Hawthorne Amy M. Donaldson & Timothy B. Sailors, eds.
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003, 0-8028-3878-2, 35.00, $50.00, xiv + 262 hb
This collection of 12 essays was compiled in honor of Gerald F. Hawthorne, professor of New Testament Greek and Exegesis at Wheaton College, in celebration of 50 years since the inception of his teaching career at Wheaton. All the contributions are by former students. The volume also includes A Personal Appreciation by Ralph P. Martin, an introduction by the editors, Donaldson and Sailors, which is actually a biographical appreciation of the honoree, a list of publications of Gerald F. Hawthorne, a list of contributors, Tabula Gratulatoria, and indexes of modern authors and scripture and ancient literature. The essays are divided into three sections: I. Greek and Exegesis, II. Gospels and Acts, and III. Epistles. The collection is not related to any topic or theme except they are all related to scriptural interpretation, generally of the New Testament. The authors may have a common background, having studied at Wheaton College, but they come from a variety of
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perspectives ranging across the likes of David Aune, Bart Erhman, Peter Davids, William Larkin, Bruce Longenecker and Jeffrey Staley. Most of the essays are specialized and focused studies covering some exegetical detail like the interpretation of Greek words in a passage; two or three are more wide ranging. Knowledge of Greek and German is helpful, if not essential, for most essays. Those interested in the interpretative details of biblical studies will nd them enjoyable and especially insightful as one would expect from the caliber of the contributors.
Dennis Stamps
New Testament Masculinities Stephen D. Moore & Janice Capel Anderson, eds.
SEST 45; Leiden, Brill, 2004 & Atlanta: SBL, 2003, 90-04-13046-2, 115.00, US$143.00, xiv + 369 hb
This is a very timely volume. Moore and Capel Anderson provide a valuable service to the New Testament scholarly community by gathering a thought-provoking and fairly wide-ranging set of articles on masculinity, which has been an area of intense recent activity in many disciplines and is beginning to have an impact on study of the New Testament. The basic approach of almost all the contributors is to compare New Testament examples of masculinity with those in the rst-century context. Jerome Neyreys Matthaean Jesus does and does not t the cultural pattern. In similar vein, Capel Anderson and Moore see systemic contradictions in Matthews depiction of male kinship relations. Tat-Siong Benny Liews Markan Jesus is both victim and agent of patriarchal norms. Eric Thurman explores gender issues in the relationship between Mark and Roman colonial authority. Colleen Conway compares Johns Jesus with rst-century models of ideal masculinity. She uses Philos depiction of wisdom to suggest that Jesus Sophia may be masculine in relation to humans but feminine in relation to God. David Clines sees Paul as broadly tting Cliness earlier typology of biblical masculinity. In a very full and detailed paper, Diana Swancutt argues that Paul uses a charge of effemination in Rom. 1.182.16 to attack the citys Stoic rulers. Jennifer Glancy parallels the Pastorals with other Graeco-Roman texts endorsing the elite masculine self. Mary Rose DAngelo sees a dialectic of resistance and accommodation to imperial social norms in the stress on household governance in the Pastorals, Hermas and LukeActs. Chris Frillingo uses Daphnis and Chloe in an argument for the (partial) masculinization of the feminized Lamb as Revelation progresses. Page du Bois, Maud Gleason and Jeffrey Staley reect on the collected essays. Gleason makes the particularly pertinent point that reection would have been useful on possible differences in genderconstruction between Palestine and other parts of the Graeco-Roman world. This is a stimulating collection that should lead to further fruitful work.
Peter Oakes
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The New Testament Moses: Christian Perceptions of Moses and Israel in the Setting of Jewish Religion John Lierman
WUNT 2.173; Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2004, 3-16-148202-6, 64.00, xiv + 368 pb
This book is a revision of the authors PhD thesis. It is a study of the New Testament witness to how Jews and Christians perceived the relationship of Moses with Israel and the Jewish people. Lierman believes this is necessary because the New Testament evidence for the Jewish estimation of Moses has never been adequately appreciated. In order to highlight the treatment of Moses within the New Testament, Lierman has focused each chapter on an aspect of the New Testament Moses, e.g. Moses as Prophet, rather than devote each chapter to one corpus of literature, one Jewish community, author or period of history. As he admits, this leads to an articial separation of Mosaic motifs, but these chapter divisions highlight the way the New Testament presents Moses and preserve some Mosaic motifs that would be lost if scattered across chapters. The author is candid about the weaknesses of this study and his methodology, admitting that the study fails to present in one place the complete portrait of Moses from any one era. Additionally, the overall impression given by the New Testament does not emerge until the conclusion. Secondly, the approach risks methodologically forcing the evidence, but Lierman is conscious of this, and attempts to present the evidence as it is found. Furthermore, the study usefully presents the evidence for the different aspects of Moses, as understood within Judaism, Christianity and within the larger Graeco-Roman world. As a revision of a doctoral thesis, the work will be most useful for those pursuing study at Masters level or above, and for those thinking further through the implications of the Jewishness of the New Testament.
Julie Robb
Orality, Literacy, and Colonialism in Antiquity Jonathan A. Draper, ed.

SEST 47; Atlanta: SBL, 2004, 1-58983-131-4, $32.95, vii + 240 pb
JohnFoley argues against an oral-literal dichotomy; reception is as important as composition (or is it part of it?). Pieter Botha, arguing for the contrast, reviews studies of non- and part-literate thinking (but ignores sophisticated pluralist oral societies). Bobby Loubser urges attention to the media of communication, and resistance to simplication (and loud and easy oracy is as much a power tool as literacy may be). Jean-Luc Solre notes that orality allows more control; but so, too, may deep meaning in texts, as in Platonic tradition (but perhaps more widely?). Baudouin Decharneaux also notes oral tradition as maintaining secrecy but also belonging, among probably literate Mithraists. Richard Horsley rehearses his reconstruction of the interplay of scribes, local elites and Persian power, where a written text is a numinous object, arousing both scribal dissidence (Qumran) and peasant opposition (the little tradition), evidence in Mark and Q. Werner Kelber considers Christian scribal response to Rome, with his Mark offering alternative power, not challenge; Luke accommodation; and the Apocalypse subversion. Jonathan Draper analyses Jn 5.37 in terms of Jewish Christian subversive mystic internalizing of scriptures. Martin Jaffee, responding, shows how Foleys and Horsleys suggestions chime with
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later rabbinic oral re-working of tradition. Claudia Camp makes it a real debate with an incisive appraisal of all the papers. Targets include the wide reliance on old linguistic determinism, Kelber failing to show how scribalism as such affected responses to Rome, and Horsley choosing sacred text rather than temple as the preferred focus of Persian bureaucracies.
F. Gerald Downing
Perd i reconciliaci en la tradici Cristiana Armand Puig i Trrech

Montserrat: ABC, 2004, 8-484-15605, 224 pb
Nine papers given in 1999, mostly in Catalan, but with English summaries, discuss forgiveness and reconciliation, in conversation with other contemporary scholars. Lgasse (French) discusses John baptizing to assure forgiveness to the converted, a pattern reproduced in Christian baptism. The editor reads Mt. 18.15-20: in context, excommunication is open to prayerful reversal. For Borrell, the call to discipleship and the offer of forgiveness in Mark seem the same. Camps contrasts Peters fallibility in the Codex Bezae of LukeActs with the quickly improved versions in Vaticanus and Sinaiticus. Tragan argues that, for the early church, sharing the Eucharist itself effected forgiveness for post-baptismal sin. Fabris (Italian) analyses Jn 20.21-23. In the Gospel and the First Letter the Spirit draws the disciples into Jesus saving work, where forgiveness of sins is integral. Bosch considers a range of mutually illuminating Pauline metaphors for Gods kindliness (humanity) in accepting the faith of Abraham, the model outsider. Finally, there are two essays on Hebrews. Tun surveys its rich variety of terms, both negative (cleanse from sin) and positive (gain entry to the divine presence) for the saving sacrice of Christ. Cervera considers post-baptismal sin in Hebrews, reading 12.17 in the light of rabbinic discussions. Some contributors also note ecclesial implications for their studies. The positive force of early Christian forgiveness emerges clearly. Perhaps among Catalans there are no competing uses of perd (contrast English forgiveness); but parallels or conicts with popular usage would also have been welcome, and attention to the metaphor of debt remission.
F. Gerald Downing
The Psalms in the New Testament Steve Moyise & Maarten J.J. Menken, eds.
London: T&T Clark Intl, 2004, 0-5670-8914-2, 25.00/65.00, 272 pb/hb
This volume usefully offers revised versions of papers read at the ourishing The Use of the Old Testament in the New Testament seminar. After beginning with a study of the shape of the Psalter at Qumran (there was a fair amount of diversity and Pss. 1 and 119 were fairly late arrivals into any canon), the chapters deal with the New Testament writings in succession. Menken reminds us that along with Isaiah the Psalms were the scriptures most used by early Christians, and had an authority (which might surprise modern-day believers who see them as a sort of hymn-book.) The shift in the late second temple Jewish view of the Psalms, from being regarded as poetry to belonging to the Prophets and as historically situated (not just the LXX but DSS has Davidic
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superscriptions) so that details can be fullled eschatologicallythis is a current also at work in the New Testament reception of this corpus. The ve-book Psalter reects a late stage of liturgical use with Davidic messianism the driving force. Thus in Hebrews, Ps.110 is the most important text, even to the point of the epistles structure. To be singled out for special attention: George Brookes essay, which surveys but also points the way forward in research in the DSS Psalms; Menkens own intricate work on Matthew. As a model of clarity, Sue Woan tells us how Ps. 34 permeates 1 Peter throughout, midrashic fashion, but also is explicit in a central sectionall to focus on Christ as an inspiration; not so much proof-text as foundation. Regarding Acts 4, I am less convinced about the intrusion of Ps. 145 that P. Doble suggests and his metaphor of warp and weft is not altogether suitable.
Mark W. Elliott
A Question of Truth: Christianity and Homosexuality Gareth Moore OP

London: Continuum, 2003, 0-8264-5949-8, 14.99, xi + 308 pb
This book is intended as a contribution to the discussion of homosexuality within the Catholic Church, though it will be of interest to a much wider group. Moore sets up terms of reference with a discussion of truth and then deals with denitional matters, before spending over half the remainder of the book on the Bible: the Old Testament texts on homosexuality are dismissed as motivated by patriarchal values; the New Testament texts are explained as for the most part not meaning what they seem to on the surfacebut even if they do, that does not mean we as modern Christians need to accept their values; it is argued that a biblical endorsement of heterosexuality is read into not out of Gen. 1 and 2; love is the guiding principle of the life of the Christian, and the determination of what is loving is an empirical matter. Moore moves on from the Bible to a wider ranging ethical discussion, interacting primarily with Aquinas and contemporary Catholic thinkers and documents. Moores strengths are those of a philosopher. He is vitally interested in careful denition of terms and exactness of thought. But unlike some philosophers he writes with an admirable clarity and (for the most part) simplicity. There is little if any fresh biblical work here, but he often presents the arguments of others with greater clarity and cogency than his sources. Moores critiques are often devastating, but his own positive case is heavily controlled by both stated and unstated assumptions.
John Nolland
Rechtliche Regelung von Konikten im frhen Christentum Stefan Koch

WUNT 2.174; Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2004, 3-16-148004-X, 64.00, xiii + 337 pb
This published dissertation deals with the role of appeal to existing norms in the handling of conict in the early church. For the most part the scope of the work is restricted to material in the New Testament, but materials from the Didache and 1 Clement are also discussed. By no means all the conict texts in the New Testament are dealt with (a limitation that is acknowledged but not really explained). The study identies different approaches to bringing norms to bear on conict situations: various
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Gospel texts identify greatness through service as a fundamental norm with potential for dealing with a wide range of conict situations; another set of Gospel texts advise the renunciation of rights in light of the coming judgment of God, which is also the horizon for the role given to rebuke and warning; Mt. 18. 15-17 offers a specic set of procedures with an evident Jewish provenance for dealing with conict, which include as a nal step the possibility of exclusion of the offender from the church; in Acts conict is dealt with in ways that echo legal processes; Paul is on trial in Acts as the ideal type for the Christian movement as a whole; in 1 Cor. 5 and 6 Paul brings to the conict situation biblical, early Jewish and philosophical norms; the curse functions for Paul as something of an ultimate legal judgment; etc. This partial listing indicates something of the range of the work, but also begins to suggest its limitations: rechtliche Regelung is never adequately dened, and the body of the work suggests that it has various meanings in the writers mind; the chapters operate largely as independent studies, not well disciplined to an overall goal, and the conclusion, while it makes any number of interesting and worthwhile points, does little to bring coherence to the work. The value of the book is twofold: it has identied a topic that is of considerable importance but has not been seriously explored; it generates useful perspectives on a range of specic texts.
John Nolland
Render to God: New Testament Understandings of the Divine Jerome H. Neyrey

Minneapolis: Fortress, 2004, 0-8006-3648-1, 16.99, xviii + 313 pb
This is an innovative and persuasive study of the ideas of God in the New Testament. Unusually, the uninitiated reader of this book ought to begin with the appendices. These set out three social-scientic models which form a central basis for Neyreys analysis. The initiated will not be surprised to nd that these are a patron-broker-client model, a purity/holiness model and an honour and shame model. Neyrey then has chapters on each of eight New Testament books. These follow a conventional order except that John and Hebrews are considered last. This is because they relate to the theological implications of the description of Jesus as God. As he proceeds through the books (Mark, Matthew, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, John, Hebrews), Neyrey typically makes a movement into social-scientic language, e.g. characterizing God as patron in Marks Gospel, then a move back out into a more conventional theological topic, e.g. prayer in Marks Gospel, but having invested it with an understanding drawn from the social-scientic analysis: in this case, prayer as the interaction of a client with a patron. This is consistently illuminating. One particularly interesting chapter is disarmingly entitled A Systematic Theology: God in Romans. Inevitably, Neyrey turns out not to be describing Paul in the terms conventionally attached to systematic theology. Instead he looks at Paul in relation to systematic god-talk in Greco-Roman philosophy. This book is a major contribution to scholarly consideration of what should be a central topic in New Testament study.
Peter Oakes
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Rise Up, O Judge: A Study of Justice in the Biblical World Enrique Nardoni, trans. Sen Charles Martin
Peabody: Hendrickson, 2004, 1-56563-530-2, 15.95, $24.95, xxiii + 343 pb
Nardonis book, tracing the theme of social justice from the ancient Near East through to the New Testament texts, is an ambitious and expansive project. The book will appeal to a wide range of readers, from biblical scholars of both testaments to the more general reader interested in how the theme of justice is portrayed throughout the Bible. After introductory chapters on justice in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, Nardoni examines the theme in the Old Testament, focusing particularly on the Exodus, the various covenant law-codes and the prophetic literature. Before turning his attention to the New Testament, he also looks at Jewish wisdom and apocalyptic writings. His New Testament coverage is equally comprehensive, with major chapters on each of the Gospels and on the Pauline and Johannine literature. The book attempts the difcult task of engaging seriously with the complete range of biblical texts and interacting with the scholarship relevant to each and, in doing so, Nardoni nds social justice to be high on the agenda of the biblical writers. The task, however, within the connes of a single volume is at times too great and Nardoni is often selective in the scholarship he discusses or assumptive of particular points that suit the case he is making. Occasionally, also, in his treatment of some of the texts (e.g. the Johannine literature) one feels that the case is being stretched somewhat beyond the evidence. Nevertheless, this is an impressive book, a very worthwhile attempt to examine the theme of justice within the Bible as a whole, and generally persuasive of its importance to the biblical writers.
Gary Burnett
Roll Back the Stone: Death and Burial in the World of Jesus Byron R. McCane
Harrisburg: Trinity Press Intl, 2003, 1-56338-402-7, 14.99, viii + 163 pb
Byron McCane writes from the perspective of a Professor of Religion and Academic Director of the Sepphoris Acropolis Excavations in Northern Israel. His book has an introduction, ve chapters, a conclusion, a select bibliography and an index. His introduction, Death as a Fact of Life, sets the scene for funerals as social events. Chapter 1, Jewish Death Ritual in Early Roman Palestine (63 BCE to 135 CE), sees close connections between Jewish and Christian kinship and ritual practices. In Chapter 2, Q and Death in Early Roman Galilee, McCane examines Q sayings related to death and concludes, These Q communitiesorganized around extended kin groupings steeped in Judaism, and intense about eschatologywere most likely located in towns and villages in early Roman Galilee (p. 83). In Chapter 3, Where No One Had Yet Been Laid: The Shame of Jesus Burial, he investigates the earliest Christian reports on Jesus burial, using other texts as appropriate. He argues that Jesus was buried in shame and this was why Jesus tomb was not venerated by the primitive church. Chapter 4, Is a Corpse Contagious?, examines early Byzantine Palestine and shows different understandings between Jews and Christians. In Chapter 5 he explores Funerary versus Apocalyptic Portraits of Paradise. His conclusion James, Son of Joseph, Brother of Jesus
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has a useful discussion on the ossuary (Jamess burial box). McCane effectively uses archaeology and texts to investigate death and burial in the Graeco-Roman and Byzantine periods in Palestine. This is a readable book that fulls its aim.
Robert S. Dutch
The Septuagint, Sexuality, and the New Testament: Case Studies on the Impact of the LXX in Philo and the New Testament William Loader
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004, 0-8028-2756-X, 13.99, $20.00, x + 163 pb
The context of this important study is formed in part by a wider interest in Jewish and Christian understandings of sexuality in the Graeco-Roman world. Loaders focus is neither on the adequacy of the LXX as a translation of underlying Hebrew texts nor on the value of the LXX for modern scholarly efforts at reconstructing pre-Masoretic traditions, but rather on the text of the LXX itself and its inuence on the development of early Christian attitudes towards sexuality in the New Testament era. Loader concentrates more particularly on three groups of texts: the Decalogue (Exod. 20.2-17; Deut. 5.6-21); the creation narratives (esp. Gen. 1.26-28; 2.18-25; 3.16-19; 5.1-3); and the passage concerning divorce in the book of Deuteronomy (Deut. 24.1-4). Loaders procedure in each instance is to begin with an examination of ways in which the LXX may have been read in its context; then to turn to Philo in order to establish the ways in which he interpreted the Greek text, and especially its distinctive elements; and nally to explore the inuence of the LXX on New Testament writers. While Loader is careful to stress that the inuence of the septuagintal versions of these passages may be much the same as that of the Hebrew text, he denes his interest as revolving largely around the Greek translations potential to generate new and different possibilities for interpretation that can be shown to have been realized in subsequent contexts of reception. The argument of the book is carefully measured and thus very persuasive in demonstrating the inuence of the LXXs distinctive features on the formation of attitudes and values that continue into modern times. Loaders study has identied an important but neglected topic and deserves to be read by all serious students of the genealogy of Christian sexual morality.
Todd E. Klutz
Studies in Hermeneutics, Christology and Discipleship Richard N. Longenecker

NTM 3; Shefeld: Shefeld Phoenix, 2004, 1-905048-05-X, 65.00, $135.00, 120.00, xv + 284 hb
This is the second of two collections of Longeneckers work put out by the newly created Shefeld Phoenix Press (which is, as its predecessor was originally, based in the Biblical Studies department of the University of Shefeld). The rst volume, Studies in Paul, has an obvious thematic coherence. Longenecker sees coherence in the second volume in a conviction that hermeneutics, Christology and discipleship must always be considered together (p. vi). Longenecker certainly does show a consistent concern to move from rst-century issues to present-day ones. The articles are all previously published and range from the 1960s to the present day.
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On hermeneutics, Longenecker looks rst at past and present ideas about relating the two testaments. Then he turns to the important issue of development in theology and ethics. The third paper considers, in some detail, the practice of exegesis by New Testament writers and whether we should imitate it. Finally, he discusses what an evangelical hermeneutic should be. On Christology, one article helpfully categorizes types of New Testament christological material. A second essay sees New Testament Christology as centring on faithful sonship. The oldest article is an early contribution on angelomorphic Christology, among other christological motifs. A fourth piece considers the idea of the virgin birth. Finally, Longenecker considers the Melchizedek idea in its Second Temple context. There are just two articles on discipleship: one on the implications of Son of Man imagery and the other on the Cross in discipleship in LukeActs. All in all, this collection gives a good idea of the range and interest of Longeneckers work.
Peter Oakes
The Suffering Servant: Isaiah 53 in Jewish and Christian Sources Bernd Janowski & Peter Stuhlmacher, eds., trans. Daniel P. Bailey
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004, 0-8028-0845-X, 29.99, US$ 45.00, xxvii + 520 pb
This volume is a much expanded translation of the German Der leidende Gottesknecht (Tbingen: Mohr, 1996). Daniel Bailey has not only translated the volume, but also supplied numerous addenda to the individual contributions. These chapters are particularly helpful in making the best German scholarship on Isa. 53 and the biblical theology of the atonement more accessible to English-language discussion. H. Spieckermann (not in Der leidende Gottesknecht), H.-J. Hermisson and Bernd Janowski provide three chapters on the Old Testament and Isa. 53, and Martin Hengels chapter is concerned with the Wirkungsgeschichte of the chapter in early Judaism, especially Qumran. Hengel steers a middle course between the conventional minimalism and the occasional overenthusiastic attempts to see widespread inuence. Peter Stuhlmacher (on the Gospels and Acts) and Otfried Hous (on the Pauline and Catholic epistles) cover the New Testament, and the latter should alert more Anglo-American scholarship to the problematic ambiguity in the German term Stellvertretung, which cannot simply be equated with the English substitution. Two very long and detailed pieces by D. Bailey (a further addition not in the German original) and C. Markschies treat Justins Dialogue (pp. 324-417) and the patristic interpretation of Isa. 53 (pp. 225-320) respectively. Jostein dna treats the Isaiah Targum and, after Stefan Schreiners discussion of the responses to Christian usage of Isa. 53 by R. Isaac ben Abraham (c. 1525c. 1586), there is a long bibliography of the whole subject, subdivided into four sections. In short, this volume is an essential foundation to any further discussion of the atonement in the New Testament, as well as providing a fascinating (though often bewildering) case study in effective history.
Simon Gathercole
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The Temple and the Churchs Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God G.K. Beale
NSBT 17; Leicester, UK: Apollos & Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2004, 1-84474-022-6, 0-83082618-1, 14.99, $29.00, 458 pb
This addition to the NSBT series argues that the themes of Eden, the temple, Gods glorious presence, new creation and the mission of the church are ultimately facets of the same reality (p. 11). The temple vision from the apocalypse is the nal expression of a theme that runs through scripture. The Garden of Eden, as the rst archetypal temple, is the model for all subsequent temples. Chapter 2 sets out the symbolism of Old Testament temples where the three parts represent the cosmos. Chapters 3 and 4 look at the purposes of the Old Testament temple. In the Gospels Jesus is portrayed as the last Adam and the dwelling place of God. Pentecost is interpreted as the descent of the temple with Christ as cornerstone of the emerging new temple. Chapter 7 considers four Pauline passages showing that Christians are the beginning of the end-time temple. In Chapter 8, Beale shows the weaknesses of literalistic readings of temple expectations. Chapters 9 and 10 look at Hebrews and the Apocalypse. Then Beale discusses Ezek. 4048 in Chapter 11. The book ends with Beales theological conclusions. Beales central contention about the temple imagery is generally persuasive. Beale starts with the unity of the Bible because of its divine inspiration. This allows him to trace the theme throughout the entire text. He acknowledges that the evidence he adduces is cumulative with some parts less persuasive than others. This fulsome treatment will be particularly useful in correcting atomistic readings of temple texts.
Kent Brower
There Shall be No Poor among You: Poverty in the Bible Leslie J. Hoppe OFM
Nashville: Abingdon, 2004, 0-687-00059-9, 15.99, $22.00, 197 pb
This book is a broad-ranging study of a major biblical theme. There are chapters on the following: Torah, Former Prophets, Latter Prophets, Wisdom Literature, Psalms, Apocalyptic Literature, New Testament, Rabbinic Tradition. The chapter on the New Testament (pp. 143-65) covers the individual Gospels and Acts, Paul, and Other Books. Each chapter ends with Questions for Reection. Although Hoppe highlights different emphases, overall poverty usually reects harsh socio-economic realities (as opposed to spiritual poverty) and its existence is contrary to the will of God. Thus God tends to side with the poor and the poor need to depend on God. Poverty is a humanmade problem, often the fault of the greedy rich. The key general difference between the Hebrew scriptures and the New Testament is that the latter tends more towards justice at end times. This is an excellent book for an introductory level. It presents alternative arguments fairly and the overall arguments are sound. On the biblical material it strikes a good balance between overview and detail. However, the chapter on the rabbinic tradition (pp. 166-70) is comparatively too short and seems like an extra bit tacked on the end. There is also the impression that Hoppe almost lets the rich off the hook in the Synoptic tradition (pp. 144-56), e.g. Hoppe argues that Jesus denounced attachment to
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riches and was in favour of using wealth for good. So it is argued that Lk. 16.19-31 implies that the rich must treat the poor kindly. But in Lk. 16.25 the rich man suffers simply because he is rich not because he has failed to use his wealth responsibly, a point echoed elsewhere in the synoptic tradition (e.g. Mk 10.25; Mt. 6.24/Lk. 16.13).
James G. Crossley
Von Ben Sira zu Paulus: Gesammelte Aufstze zu Texten, Theologie und Hermeneutik des Frhjudentums und des Neuen Testaments Oda Wischmeyer, ed. Eve-Marie Becker
WUNT 173; Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2004, 3-16-148411-8, 129.00, viii + 560 hb
This volume is a collection of studies by the author, Professor of New Testament at Erlangen, on a wide range of issues. Some 26 out of 33 pieces have already been published or are forthcoming elsewhere. The rst two sections deal with issues in the areas of the authors Habilitationsschrift and dissertation, namely Ben Sira in its early Jewish context and the notion of agape, respectively. The next section contains articles on various Synoptic and Pauline texts and issues she has published on during the last decade (Mt. 6.25-34 par.; Mk 10.41-45; physis and ktisis in Paul; Rom. 13.1-7 [intriguingly taking it in a descriptive instead of a prescriptive sense]; 1 Cor. 15; 2 Cor. 12.1-10; Paul as author). A fourth part of the book deals with the notion of religion in and in relation to the New Testament. Part 5 offers recent contributions on New Testament hermeneutic and, somewhat going beyond the indications of title and subtitle, descriptions of the current state of New Testament scholarship (mainly in Germany). A sixth section contains sketches of New Testament theology (on God and word of God), while Part 7 provides rather short ecclesiastical texts for several occasions. Wischmeyers articles are hermeneutically engaged, culturally and anthropologically informed, and didactically reected. She tries to bridge between conceptions of a New Testament theology and the approach of Religionswissenschaft. Typical for Wischmeyers method are inventories of recent positions (though mainly in German scholarship) on a given issue, thereby gaining a wide perspective. Regarding descriptions of New Testament scholarship in Germany one notes their necessarily momentary and selective character. The highly personal tone of the introduction and some other passages may not appeal to everyone.
Lutz Doering
Wholly Woman, Holy Blood: A Feminist Critique of Purity and Impurity K. De Toyer, J.A. Herbert, J.A. Johnson & A. Korte, eds.
Harrisburg: Trinity Press Intl, 2003, 1-56338-400-0, 19.99, xiv + 250 pb
This edited collection takes as its primary theme female blood, and matters of purity and impurity relating to this. The volume is candidly liberationist in its aims, for the contributors hope that their insights will play a part in constructing a sound theology of the [female] priesthood (p. xi). The essays presented represent a wide diversity of disciplines (anthropology; Jewish studies; classics; history; gender studies) and perspectives (historical critical to postmodern). The texts scrutinized are also various, spanning biblical, classical, patristic, mediaeval and contemporary sources. The journey begins with Kathleen OGradys study of The Semantics of Taboo:
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Menstrual Prohibitions in the Hebrew Bible; she focuses on the sacrality of blood, and the shifting valence between life and death in menstruation (p. 28). Deborah Ellens provides a reading of Menstrual Impurity and Innovation in Leviticus 15. Kristen de Troyer questions ideas of Blood: A Threat to Holiness or Toward (Another) Holiness? and links this explicitly with modern critiques of the ordination of women. Mayer I. Gruber turns attention to the Dead Sea Scrolls in an investigation of Purity and Impurity in Halakic Sources and Qumran Law and Kathleen P. Rushton explores the image of the woman in travail in Jn 16.21, as an instance of (Pro)creative Boundary Crossing. Jennifer Schultz expounds early Christian theologians and Graeco-Roman doctors and philosophers attitudes to menstrual blood. Susan Roll and Grietje Dresen consider the churching of women after childbirth, and Ann-Marie Korte surveys cultural anthropological insights surrounding female blood rituals. Finally, Judith Ann Johnson deliberates on the purging of female inuence in priestly and military descent lines. The volume constitutes a lively and innovative collection centred on female blood. However I am not sure when taken as a whole that a clear rebuttal of objections to womens ordination on purity grounds is put forth. Some essayists do explicitly broach this subject, but they are in a minority. Nonetheless, this book makes for interesting reading for biblical scholars, pastoral theologians and practitioners of all denominations, and both sexes.
Louise J. Lawrence The Brother of Jesus, Shanks & Witherington The Continuum History of Apocalypticism, McGinn et al., eds. Knowing the End from the Beginning, Grabbe & Haak, eds. The Living Gospel, Johnson Philo und das Neue Testament, Deines & Niebuhr, eds. Recovering the Scandal of the Cross, Green & Baker The Salvation Historical Fallacy?, Yarborough When Judaism & Christianity Began, Avery-Peck et al., eds., Judaism Judaism Judaism Reception Judaism Reception Reception Matthew

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