The Theology of Paul’s Letter to the Romans
by Klaus Haacker

New Testament Theology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2003. 183 pp. $20.00. ISBN 0-521-43535-8.

THIS VOLUME ON Romans brings to a conclusion an extremely useful series on the theology of the various canonical witnesses, edited by James D. G. Dunn. Volumes by Richard Bauckham (on Revelation), Victor P. Furnish (on 1 Corinthians), Joel Green (on Luke), Ulrich Luz (on Matthew), Moody Smith (on John), and Frances Young (on the Pastoral Letters), among others, have provided timely explorations of theological themes and issues that are freed from the burdens of a commentary.

In one sense, Haacker follows in the same tradition. He quickly walks the reader through the introductory questions of date, authorship, purpose, and audience, in order to get at the questions of theology. The initial readership, for Haacker, is primarily Roman, with a minority of Christian Jews in the picture. Yet the inclusion of the Gentiles in the community of faith was still enough at stake that Paul had to devote considerable space and attention to “the vindication of the universalism of the Gospel” (p. 26).

What Haacker sees as the distinctive idea of Romans is “the notion of peace with God as the promise of the Gospel” (p. 45). Since peace was a rare commodity in the Roman world, its proclamation addresses the universal chaos and promises to establish an adequate relationship between human beings and their Creator.

As far as Israel is concerned, one day they will be saved, confirming God’s faithfulness and election. “The voice of God’s love which speaks so powerfully through the death of Christ for our sins is not quenched by periods of error and alienation on the side of his people” (p. 95).

The latter portion of the book is given over to a somewhat sketchy discussion of the relation of Romans to other canonical literature and to its impact on the later history of the church (from 1 Clement to Karl Barth in ten pages!). Frankly, I wished for a more serious struggle with the theology of Romans, with its apocalyptic force (not mentioned at all), and with its tension between the impartiality and faithfulness of God, instead of the necessarily brief and slight treatment of the letter’s place in the canonical structure and in the life of the church.

CHARLES B. COUSAR COLUMBIA THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY DECATUR, GEORGIA

Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary
by Ben Witherington III

Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2004. 421 pp. $36.00. ISBN 0- 8028-4504-5.

THEOLOGICAL COMMENTARY ON Romans has usually lagged behind scholarship on the letter’s social and rhetorical contexts; for commentators often feel constrained to discuss the letter within the bounds of the Reformation theology to which it gave such powerful impetus. Ben Witherington’s new volume breaks that habit, maneuvering deftly through exegetical, historical, and theological tangles to provide a refreshing new analysis of the letter’s argumentative structure. Most impressively,Witherington presents his new reading of Romans in a lucid and remarkably accessible style.

For a definition of socio-rhetorical method Witherington points readers to his earlier work Conflict and Community in Corinth (Eerdmans, 1995) and supplies a bibliography (pp. xix–xxv). He rightly avoids the common trap of woodenly applying classical rhetorical terms to preconceived notions of Romans. If (as is widely recognized) chs. 9–11 are the letter’s argumentative climax, then far from being a theological “core,” the preceding chapters constitute an insinuatio, a delicately indirect approach to an audience Paul has not met. Romans is nevertheless a “rhetorical word on target” (p. 3), that “target” being the Gentile-Christian majority in the Roman assemblies who Paul feels “mainly need exhorting,” and on whom he feels he “has some claim” as apostle to the Gentiles (p. 8). Striking a note that echoes throughout the book,Witherington insists that “there is no evidence that Paul is polemicizing against Judaism or Jewish Christian opponents” here; “Romans should never have been seen as a justification for anti-Semitism” (pp. 3–4).

There are many insights to commend here. Witherington insists that the letter is a coherent “corrective” directed to a Gentile-Christian majority (though that insight is muted by occasional references to “a back-and-forth rhetorical approach” to Jews and Gentiles, as on p. 20). The arrogance and hypocrisy targeted by apostrophe in Romans 1–2 (not “speech in character,” a misidentification that leads to some confusion, p. 77) is not Jewish, but Gentile-Christian (pp. 58–84). The “I” in Romans 7 is not autobiographical; the “narrative substructure” is Adam’s story. The immediate circumstances prompting Rom 13:1–14 include not just the return of Jewish exiles after Nero’s rise to power, but the ambient arrogance and Roman racism of Neronian-era propaganda.

Given Witherington’s recognition of the relevance of imperial culture and his resolve to slip the bonds of Reformation dogmatics, it is disappointing that the reflections that end each chapter (“Bridging the Horizons”) offer short devotional comments on individual salvation and themes from Reformation dogmatics (e.g., free will and determination)! Nevertheless, the commentary provides important leverage for asking how Paul’s critique of Gentile Christianity in Rome might challenge us today.

The book includes a current and helpfully annotated bibliography, along with indexes of modern authors, biblical references, and other ancient writings.

NEIL ELLIOTT UNIVERSITY EPISCOPAL CENTER MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA

Where is Boasting? Early Jewish Soteriology and Paul’s Response in Romans 1–5
by Simon J. Gathercole

Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2002. 323 pp. $32.00. ISBN 0- 8028-3991-6.

THIS WELL-WRITTEN BOOK seeks to reappraise the relationship between covenantal election and nomistic obedience in early Judaism, and to read Romans 1–5 in the light of that reappraisal. The subtext to the argument is twofold: (1) that Sanders’s description of early Judaism as “covenantal nomism” skews a full engagement with early Jewish literature, and (2) that the socalled “new perspective” on Paul is inadequate in dealing with Paul’s case in Romans 1–5. Gathercole recognises that both have merit, but criticizes them for having allowed issues of national righteousness (i.e., God’s gracious election of Israel) to displace completely a concomitant interest in personal righteousness in which doing the law results in a person being declared righteous at the eschatological judgement.

The first two-thirds of the book provides a whistle-stop tour through a selection of early Jewish texts that, in Gathercole’s hands, demonstrate an expectation that Torah observance assures God’s eschatological favor. Gathercole also seeks to demonstrate that an attitude of confident boasting permeates this literature. That attitude arises from an awareness that the Jewish nation is God’s elect people and from a conviction that, by keeping the law given by God, individual Jews can expect to be judged righteous at the eschaton. Against this backdrop, Paul’s argument in Romans 1–5 is said to involve a critique of “early Jewish soteriology.” In particular, Paul’s focus is said to be his Jewish interlocutor’s interest in keeping the law in order to be saved at the final judgement and consequent pride over against the Gentiles. Moreover, Paul seeks to dissolve his interlocutor’s (and behind him early Judaism’s) boast in God on the basis of the Torah and replace it with a boast in God on the basis of Jesus Christ.

This book is a welcome study that profiles important features of Jewish texts and theologies that may have been under-emphasized in recent discussions of Paul and Judaism. If Gathercole has more work to do to tease out the implications of his thesis further, it is also true that advocates of the new perspective will need to take Gathercole’s thesis to heart.

BRUCE W. LONGENECKER UNIVERSITY OF ST. ANDREWS ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND

Narrative Dynamics in Paul: A Critical Assessment
edited by Bruce W. Longenecker

Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2002. 253 pp. $24.95. ISBN 0-664-22277-3.

The Story of Romans: A Narrative Defense of God’s Righteousness
by A. Katherine Grieb

Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2002. 167 pp. $19.95. ISBN 0-664-22525-X.

OVER THE LAST TWO DECADES, a growing cadre of scholars have posited “story” or “narrative” as an essential component of Paul’s theology. These two books further this development in different yet important ways.

Longenecker’s volume brings together a series of articles by leading New Testament scholars working in the United Kingdom that seeks to evaluate a narrative approach to Paul. In the opening chapter, Longenecker reviews the evolution of narrative analysis of Paul in order to set the context for the ensuing articles. The bulk of the book consists of five studies, each followed by a response. Using Galatians and Romans as their source material, these essays examine, respectively, the stories of God and creation, Israel, Jesus, Paul, and the “Predecessors and Inheritors” of the faith in these letters. The volume concludes with two retrospective essays on the entire project.

As with the study of Pauline theology in non-narrative terms, issues of definition and method abound. How does one construct narratives from Paul’s non-narrative discourse? What is the relation of Paul’s story (or stories) to his theology? Overall, the tone remains largely cautious about the prospects for the investigation of narrative elements in Paul’s theology. For this reason, one wishes that a retrospective article by N. T.Wright had been included, as Wright is a leading proponent of reading Paul through the lens of narrative and was a participant in the symposium upon which the book is based. It would have produced a better balanced collection as a whole. Nevertheless, this book will benefit teachers looking to discern the state of the question regarding this subject. In addition, several of the essays offer suggestive material for those preaching from Galatians or Romans.

As in Narrative Dynamics in Paul, virtually all discussions regarding narrative in Paul have taken place solely among scholars. Thus, Katherine Grieb’s The Story of Romans, addressed to non-specialists, is most welcome. According to Grieb, Romans consists of a “sustained argument for the righteousness of God . . . constructed on a series of stories nested within the one great story of what God has done for Israel and for the Gentiles in Jesus Christ” (p. ix). After a short introduction, Grieb conducts the reader on a section-by-section tour through the letter. Throughout, she highlights the narrative forces that illuminate Paul’s argument, particularly those derived from the Hebrew Bible. Although highly dependent on a host of prominent scholars, from Käsemann to Wright, Grieb nevertheless offers her own reading of Paul at numerous points. Consonant with her intention to foster a better understanding of Romans in the local church, Grieb includes questions for further reflection at the end of each chapter.

Scholars and pastors owe Grieb a debt of gratitude for translating learned explorations on Paul and narrative into a form useful for non-specialists. Not all will agree with Grieb’s reading of Romans in places, but her book will serve as an innovative resource either for a course on Paul in an academic setting or for a study group in the local church.

JAMES C.MILLER NAIROBI EVANGELICAL GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY NAIROBI, KENYA

Roman Wives, Roman Widows: The Appearance of New Women and the Pauline Communities
by Bruce W.Winter

Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2003. 236 pp. $26.00. ISBN 0- 8028-4971-7.

THIS BOOK RECONSTRUCTS the life and role of the “new woman” in Roman society of the first century and posits the existence and popularity of such women in secular society as the background for the Pauline discussions of hairstyle and veiling in 1 Corinthians 11, dress, propriety and silence of women in 1 Timothy 2, widows and younger widows in 1 Timothy 5 and instructions to women in Titus 2. According to Winter, sexual mores of women were undergoing change in the first century so that women, even of respectable background, were flaunting the proper behavior of Roman matrons and widows and were behaving as independent and sexually free women.

Further,Winters argues that far from being relegated to the back rooms of houses, Roman women were moving about in public and serving in local politics, commerce, and the courts. Paul has the behavior of these women in mind when he requires the proper veiling of married women in Corinth, where women were emulating these “new women” and removing their marriage veils in the assembly. He is also encouraging women to forsake the behavior of “new women” with his discussion of proper dress and silence in Ephesus, where he also encourages younger widows to marry and behave properly, unlike the “new women” of Roman fame.Winter presents extensive evidence from Greco–Roman literature for the existence of this new category of independent and sexually free Roman women before going into the details of his exegetical analysis of each passage. His discussion of women in public is likewise supported by ample evidence from the inscriptional record.

This book has much to commend it. There is no doubt that women’s roles were undergoing change during the Roman period that Winter discusses. I too charted the progression of women into the public sphere from the late Republican through the early Imperial period in my analysis of changing patterns in women’s meal etiquette.Winter’s evidence contributes to the growing overall reconstruction of the relative “emancipation” of women during these centuries. The New Testament evidence for the roles of women in the early Christian churches is surely best understood within this continuum of change and progress for women.Winter’s overall thesis is certainly correct.

What remain are quibbles with his specific exegetical analyses and assumption of Pauline authorship of the Pastorals. For example, Winter assumes that Paul’s discussion of women’s proper dress and silence is merely “preventative” and not remedial (pp. 120, 122). Why not argue that certain women in Ephesus (if it is Ephesus) were indeed behaving as independent and vocal women in the assembly? Or, why not argue for the probable background of the univira (once married woman) ideal for Roman matrons in 1 Timothy 5 (p. 136)? Why assume that the role of deacon was not a position of actual status that women held in the community, particularly when it seems clear that Phoebe held economic and political status in the community (pp. 196, 199)? Finally, although it is clear that women went to dinner parties during the centuries in question, they probably did not usually stay for the symposium portion of the meal (the after dinner drinking party) but were only present for the deipnon (the dinner itself; p. 153). Further, although independent women during the Roman era were often known for sexual promiscuity, this could often be seen as a form of slander for being “liberated” women and not as social description of their actual behavior. But these are things honest scholars can disagree on. The overall thesis of Winter’s book is certainly sound, and his exegetical discussions based on his evidence are well worth reading.

KATHLEEN E. CORLEY UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN OSHKOSH, WICONSON

Either Jew or Gentile: Paul’s Unfolding Theology of Inclusivity
by Eung Chun Park

Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2003. 182 pp. $19.95. ISBN 0-664-22453-9.

IN GALATIANS 1:6–9, PAUL categorically rejects any gospel save the one he proclaims. In effect, his letter to the Galatians attempts to render invalid the Judaizers’ “gospel of the circumcision” (see Gal 2:7; p. 49), with its “ethnic barriers between Jews and Gentiles” (p. 53). Notably, and perhaps ironically, Paul defends a gospel inclusive of both Jews and Gentiles apart from circumcision by explicitly excluding all other options. Yet, according to Eung Chun Park, the apostle had not always been so rigid theologically, and his perspective would mature significantly by the end of his career.

Early in his ministry, Paul had accepted a two-gospel compromise established at the Apostolic Council (reflected in Gal 2:1–10): one gospel incorporated circumcision for Jews, the other excluded circumcision for Gentiles. Yet Galatians shows that Paul eventually rejected this compromise in the course of defending his circumcision- free gospel against Judaizing impulses that threatened to undermine it. Eventually, Park argues, evidence in the Corinthian letters, Romans (especially chs. 9–11) and Philippians— as well as Paul’s efforts to collect funds for the poor in Jerusalem—suggests that the apostle returned to a more inclusive perspective near the end of his life. Though “his final acceptance of two gospels” was quickly forgotten in subsequent Christian history, Paul “laid the foundation for a truly ecumenical theology in a broad sense of the term” (p. 73). Ultimately, then, Paul’s argument in Galatians reflects a temporary and largely uncharacteristic stage in his turbulent mission as apostle to the Gentiles.

Park’s work is a thoughtful and provocative contribution to the wider scholarly discussion concerning Paul’s career and vocational motivation. Drawing on the undisputed Pauline letters and Acts, most of the book consists of a careful and reasoned examination of several seminal events that occurred during Paul’s ministry (e.g., the apostle’s initial conversion, the Apostolic Council, and incidents in Antioch, Galatia, and Corinth). Park succeeds in presenting “a coherent narrative of Paul’s life” (p. 78), suggesting how these circumstances led to significant development in the apostle’s “theology, especially as it is articulated in soteriological terms” (p. 79). Although many will reject various details in Park’s reconstruction—and perhaps even the basic premise of ongoing theological development throughout Paul’s ministry—his attention to the role of crucial events in the apostle’s career merits serious consideration.

MICHAEL BARRAM ST. MARY’S COLLEGE OF CALIFORNIA MORAGA, CALIFORNIA

Paul, the Law, and the Covenant
by A. Andrew Das

Hendrickson, Peabody, MA, 2001. 361 pp. $24.95. ISBN 1- 56563-463-2

THIS IS A CONTRIBUTION TO the debate inaugurated by E. P. Sanders on the so-called “new perspective” on Paul. Das’s thesis, contrary to Sanders, is that Jews of Paul’s time did maintain that the law enjoins perfect obedience. Although first-century Judaism had a framework of grace and was not legalistic, Paul did think of the works of the Mosaic law as a merely human endeavor, in contrast to God’s own saving work in Christ. In a word, Paul abandoned “covenantal nomism” in favor of a “christological nomism.”

In the early chapters, Das recognizes both sides of “covenantal nomism,” but he probably needs to do more to give Sanders credit for redressing an old imbalance that set gospel and law, Christianity and Judaism in much too sharp an antithesis. It would be well also to recognize an element of idealizing hagiography in Second Temple Jewish references to heroes of the past (did the heroes themselves claim perfection?), and that of course converts are expected to make a hundred percent commitment (but always with provision for failure to realize such commitment perfectly).

The covenant language of Rom 9:4 and 11:26–30 needs to be given more attention, as well as an explanation offered as to why Paul would use the “illustration” of sin-offering for Jesus’ death if he thought sin-offerings had no salvific value.

The chapters dealing with Gal 3:10, the key Romans texts, and Phil 3:2–9 have many strong passages of exposition, and the extensive interaction with the secondary literature is always stimulating. At the same time, the nuances of arguments, both of Paul and of some others engaged in the debate, do not seem always to have been fully grasped. For example, the logic of his treatment of Romans 2–3 is that “works of the law” denote Jewish failure to do the law (p. 190). Overall, however, the volume provides a valuable contribution to the ongoing debate on Paul and the law and will repay careful study.

JAMES D. G. DUNN, emeritus UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM DURHAM, UNITED KINGDOM

Paul and the Jews
by A. Andrew Das

Hendrickson, Peabody, MA, 2003. 238 pp. $24.95. ISBN 1- 56563-676-7.

DAS PUBLISHED HIS doctoral dissertation with Hendrickson in 2001 entitled Paul, the Law, and the Covenant. There he proposed a revision of the “covenantal nomism” that E.P. Sanders had used to describe the underlying pattern of religion characteristic of much intertestamental Judaism. According to Sanders, Jewish law was not “legalistic” because it was understood in the framework of God’s gracious election of Israel, covenant love, and a system of sin-covering sacrifices. Arguing that Sanders “wrongly minimized Judaism’s belief that God intended the law to be obeyed strictly and in its entirety” (p. 7), Das insisted that advocates of “the new perspective on Paul” (especially Sanders, N. T.Wright, and James D. G. Dunn) were mistaken in their reading of Paul. Their idea that the law functioned primarily as a boundary marker for “ethnic Israel” and that Paul’s critique was directed at Israel’s particularist nationalism was misplaced, argued Das, because “the gracious covenantal framework of Judaism had collapsed for Paul in favor of a new framework of grace grounded in the work of Christ” (p. 9). According to Das, Paul saw “the works of the Mosaic law as a merely human endeavor” that “does not produce salvation” and “has been replaced by a christological framework.” Paul abandoned “covenantal nomism” for “christological nomism” (p. 11). Das’s present book restates that argument and continues to debate the question of Paul’s relationship to Israel, a logical question given his own language of replacement. He joins Thomas Schreiner, Stephen Westerholm, and others retrieving the Reformation position that Paul was indeed critiquing “the Law’s impossibly difficult demands” (p. 189) and criticizing his Jewish Christian opponents, who “were compromising saving faith by their stern insistence on a belief system oriented on the Law” (p. 189). Not surprisingly, he stresses “faith in Christ” over the “faithfulness of Christ” at Gal 2:16 and elsewhere.

Das’s reading of Romans 9–11 rightly rejects a “two-covenant”model of salvation, “that God has a special plan for the Jewish people apart from faith in Christ” (p. 192). But (with the RSV and NRSV) he reads “enemies” in Romans 11:28 as “enemies of God” (pp. 3, 102), which would have been unthinkable for Paul. Paul said only that they were “enemies” with regard to the law-free gospel he was preaching to the Gentiles. Moreover, with respect to Das’s argument with “the new perspective” one wonders: How many people within the myriad forms of Second Temple Judaism actually thought the Mosaic law “produced salvation” as Das puts it? To describe Paul as suddenly realizing that it did not seems anachronistic. At any rate, Das has given us much to ponder. His reading of Paul on Israel is well-researched and provocative. It will surely advance our discussion on this important topic.

A. KATHERINE GRIEB VIRGINIA THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA

Paul—A Jew on the Margins
by Calvin J. Roetzel

Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2003. 116 pp. $14.95. ISBN 0-664-22520-9.

THIS VOLUME IS A COLLECTION of essays, not all of which are new.While the first two chapters are original, the final four chapters are revisions of articles that were published in other venues over the past twelve years.What unites the present collection is Roetzel’s concern “with issues related to Paul’s life on the margin” (p. x). Roetzel, who uses the term “marginality” to describe Paul’s religious and cultural alienation, distinguishes between marginality that is assigned by the powerful and marginality that is embraced by the marginalized. Paul was marginalized by the Jerusalem church, by roving Hellenistic Jewish apostles, and by non- Christian Jews, yet “Paul actively embraced the margin and made it an instrument pregnant with possibility” (p. 3).

In the course of this volume, Roetzel addresses a number of thorny interpretive issues. He first considers Paul’s conversion. By exploring the maternal imagery that Paul uses to describe himself, Roetzel argues that Paul underwent “conversion as inversion” (p. 14), which, while it put Paul on the margins of Judaism, did not divorce Paul completely from his ancestral faith. Roetzel also shows that Paul was an apocalyptic thinker, another indication that continuity between Paul and his background exists. But Paul creatively reshapes the apocalyptic myth in the areas of apocalyptic dualism, disassociation, and simplification. In a study of 2 Corinthians, Roetzel explores how Paul’s Hellenistic Jewish opponents in Corinth pushed him to the margin, and how Paul used that marginalization to develop his theology of death and resurrection. Finally, Roetzel shows that Paul’s thinking about election, which involves the inclusion of the Gentiles while affirming the validity of God’s promises to Israel, evolved over time and in light of new controversies, until it reached its fullest expression in Romans 9–11.

Roetzel does an excellent job of summarizing the scholarly debate about key interpretive issues. Moreover, his careful textual treatment, creative insight, and lucid prose make this work worth reading. And Roetzel’s overall point is worth keeping in mind: Paul and his letters cannot be divorced from their ancient literary and historical contexts. Paul’s thinking was influenced by Diaspora Judaism, personal experience, the conditions of the churches he addresses, and the fact that he was “living on the cusp of an eschatological breakthrough” (p. 2).Moreover, Paul’s thinking evolved over time as Paul was forced to respond to various congregations and to those who opposed his efforts. Careful consideration of this book will yield considerable new insight into the life and thought of the apostle Paul.

CHARLES D. MYERS, JR. GETTYSBURG COLLEGE GETTYSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA

Paul, the Letter Writer
by M. Luther Stirewalt, Jr.

Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2003. 159 pp. $22.00. ISBN 0- 8028-6088-5.

LONG A LEADER IN epistolographical studies of Paul’s letters, Stirewalt offers a work sure to invigorate thinking about Paul as a communicator and Paul’s apostolic office. Stirewalt’s essential point is that Paul adopted and adapted as his chief epistolary model the “official letter” form that was commonly used by royal epistolographers throughout the Greco–Roman world. Paul was also influenced by Jewish epistolary practices— especially the role of witnesses for official correspondences—and drew from the forms and stylistic features of personal letters, letter-essays, and letters of recommendation to create the “apostolic letter.” Stirewalt thus advances from an epistolary perspective what others have shown from a rhetorical perspective (i.e.,Murphy- O’Conner, Bryant, et al.): namely, that Paul communicated appropriately and persuasively by practicing “wise-adaptability” in his letterspeeches. For Stirewalt, however, Paul was first and foremost a letter-writer. He may have employed rhetorical techniques and strategies in his letters, but Paul viewed his task primarily as letter writing and his writings were most influenced by epistolary models.Moreover, Paul used the official Roman letter form to assert his apostolic authority.

Stirewalt accordingly examines the logistics of ancient letter writing in the Greco–Roman world and sheds light on the Pauline practices of formulating, recording, sending, and receiving letters. He also discusses types of official letters and focuses on their distinctive parallels to Paul’s letters: the identification of the primary sender, the naming of co-senders, a multiple address, a dual structure of the body (background information and message), and the subscription. Stirewalt then argues that each of the seven undisputed letters of Paul, following Jürgen Becker’s chronology, is influenced principally by the official letter form and may reveal a development in Paul’s epistolary ministry. Not everyone will agree with Stirewalt’s conclusions, but scholar and layperson alike will benefit from reading this volume in their quests to understand Paul as a communicator of the gospel.

ROBERT A. BRYANT PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE CLINTON, SOUTH CAROLINA

Consolation in Philippians: Philosophical Sources and Rhetorical Strategy
by Paul A. Holloway

SNTSMS 112. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2001. 208 pp. $60.00 (cloth). ISBN 0-521-80406-X.

HOLLOWAY SETS OUT TO ARGUE that Philippians is a letter of consolation. In the ancient world, consolation was a typical philosophical response to difficulties. Its purpose was not to share the grief of another but to eliminate or diminish anxiety or grief through rational argument and exhortation. Consequently, consolation could include rebuke. In Holloway’s view, the problem that Paul addresses in the Philippian congregation is that of discouragement. Paul writes a letter of consolation in which he exhorts his readers to recognize what is really important—knowledge of Christ. His consolatory strategy is based on the conviction that if the Philippians can come to see what really matters, they will not be discouraged, even by his imprisonment.

Reading Philippians as a letter of consolation solves several puzzles about the letter. First, it allows the letter to be read as a unity; second, it explains why Paul waits until the end of his letter to thank the Philippians for their monetary gift; and third, it illuminates several difficult passages such as 1:9-10 and 1:22. In regards to unity, reading Philippians as an example of the ancient consolatory genre means that alleged changes of tone and direction (used to argue for the composite character of the letter) are seen rather as appropriate and fitting nicely into the sequence of thought.

As a letter of consolation, the fact that Paul waits until near the end of his letter to thank the Philippians for their gift makes good sense. According to Holloway, Paul uses two important consolatory topoi in Philippians: distinguishing between things that matter and things that do not, and encouraging joy in both good times and bad. The first topos determines Paul’s manner of thanking the Philippians, waiting until the end of the letter and doing so in a way that emphasizes his own indifference to material circumstances. This strategy is meant to encourage the Philippians also to be indifferent to external circumstances.

Recognizing the presence of the second topos is helpful for interpreting several aspects of the letter. For instance, Paul’s command to rejoice in 3:1 is understood as a serious directive to learn how to rejoice even in the face of a discouraging situation. This makes what follows in 3:2 understandable: the importance of learning joy is stressed by warning against those who teach otherwise. Here Holloway has found a way to read the progression from 3:1 to 3:2 coherently and to make sense of Paul’s invective. Paul regards those who place their confidence in the flesh rather than in Christ as violating the requirement to rejoice in the Lord (3:1).

Holloway’s proposal that Philippians is a letter of consolation is largely successful. It improves our reading of the letter at a number of points. The main caution to be raised is that he uses parallels in a rather flat manner. That is, he finds parallels to Paul’s words and sentiments, particularly in Stoic consolatory literature and on that basis determines that Paul means the same thing. At the same time, however, Holloway does recognize that the approach of the various ancient philosophical schools to consolation was based on their view of the soul, of good and evil, and their theory of the passions (p. 65). That is, the meaning and intention of consolation is directly related to the philosophical context. Consequently, on the basis of their philosophy, the Stoics consoled with the view to helping people in difficulty recognize that there is no such thing as evil, just a wrong response to circumstances. However, the Peripatetics consoled with the view to helping people moderate, but not obliterate, their grief, since they thought there was such a thing as objective evil. Given that Paul’s worldview is shaped by God’s revelation to him of Jesus Christ, it is surely dangerous to use parallels from ancient philosophical schools without taking time to notice in each instance how the meaning of these parallels is determined by a system very much different from Paul’s understanding of reality.

Holloway’s book is lively and informative; it is peppered with fresh insights into individual Philippian passages. It is a book worth reading.

L. ANN JERVIS TORONTO SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY TORONTO, CANADA

Apostle of the Crucified Lord: A Theological Introduction to Paul and His Letters
by Michael J. Gorman

Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2004. 610 pp. $39.00. ISBN 0- 8028-3934-7.

WITH SO MANY TEXTBOOKS available on Paul and his letters, it is difficult for one to stand out as a clear choice for almost anyone teaching a survey of Paul. But Michael Gorman, professor of New Testament at St.Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore, has produced just such a book. As the title suggests, this is a work that is introductory in nature, but with a strong emphasis on Paul’s theology, especially his theology of the cross. Gorman’s introduction is suitable for use in either advanced undergraduate or graduate/seminary courses. He begins with six comprehensive chapters of introductory information and theological insight into Paul and his letters, then provides a discussion of each letter in what he sees as their most likely chronological sequence. Especially useful for students is the clearly and engagingly written text, the consistent explanations of technical terms (even those in common use in biblical studies), helpful maps of the cities to which Paul wrote, a text that is not overburdened with footnotes, and concise bibliographies of works that are accessible to both specialists and non-specialists.

The chapters dealing with the individual letters are divided into three sections each: “The Story Behind the Letter” (background information and critical issues); “The Story Within the Letter” (a mini-commentary on each letter, with excellent insights into the theological meaning of the text); and “The Story in Front of the Letter” (a collection of quotations ranging from early Christian writers to contemporary commentators). Each chapter closes with a substantial list of “Questions for Reflection.” Those who are annoyed by sidebars will happily note that there are none; the text is interrupted only by useful charts, illustrations, and photos, most of the latter taken by the author himself.

It is evident that Gorman has thought long and deeply about Paul and his theology. He emphasizes what he sees as six key words to describe the frame of reference in which Paul is to be understood: “Jewish,” “covenantal,” “narrative,” “countercultural,” “trinitarian,” and “cruciform.” Rather than a chapter on Paul’s ethics, Gorman has one on “Paul’s Spirituality,” followed by one on “Paul’s Theology,” which he divides into what he calls “A Dozen Fundamental Convictions.” The discussions of background information are notable for their brevity, but without ignoring what is important for understanding the letters. On critical questions, Gorman does not hesitate to state his own views, but is extraordinarily fair about informing his readers of the views of others and why they hold them, and all within a refreshingly small amount of space. As a result of this balance, a wide spectrum of teachers should find Gorman exceptionally appropriate for teaching Paul.

JAMES T. SOUTH VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

Pontius Pilate: Portrait of a Roman Governor
by Warren Carter

Interfaces. Liturgical Press, Collegeville, 2003. 162 pp. $14.95. ISBN 0-8146-5113-5.

RATHER THAN WRITING a biography of Pontius Pilate or producing a composite picture by combining the four New Testament accounts, Carter discusses each gospel’s presentation of Pilate as a character in its narrative, observing the different images that emerge. He also takes into account the Roman imperial system that formed the historical context for the gospel writers and their first readers. Thus he stresses the interaction of religious and social, economic, and political fac326 tors. Carter combines literary criticism with awareness of the historical milieu and a postcolonial approach that pays attention to power systems as observed “from the margins.”

Overall, Carter concludes that the usual reading of Pilate as a weak figure who thought Jesus was innocent but was bullied by “the Jews” into crucifying him is not justified by the evidence. Instead, the gospels present Pilate as a powerful Roman official allied with the Jewish aristocracy, who either manipulates the crowd into asking for Jesus’ death as he and the Jerusalem elite desire (Mark and Matthew); arrogantly ignores the threat that Jesus poses until he must crucify him to avoid a rift with his Jerusalem allies (Luke); or gets his way with both Jesus and the Jerusalem elite, whom he coerces into acknowledging the sovereignty of the Emperor (John). Jesus appears as a genuine threat to the Roman order, albeit a nonviolent one, offering an alternative way of life in a society oriented toward God’s justice rather than the privileges of the Roman ruling class and their partners in the local aristocracies. Pilate and the Jerusalem authorities only too naturally see in him a danger that must be quelled.

Even readers who are uncomfortable with Carter’s post-colonial interpretation will benefit from the dose of political reality he offers. Our customary picture of Pontius Pilate ignores that reality to focus on the governor as an individual in a moral quandary, as if the facts of Roman rule were not relevant—a mistake impossible for first-century Christians. Another value of this book is that, by focusing on the condemnation of Jesus by a hierarchical elite that is both Roman and Jewish, Carter undermines the anti-Jewish tendency in readings that makes “the Jews”more responsible than the Romans for Jesus’ death. The book will be especially useful for preachers preparing for Holy Week, and can have a place in college and seminary classes as well as adult Christian education settings.

DAVID RENSBERGER INTERDENOMINATIONAL THEOLOGICAL CENTER ATLANTA, GEORGIA

God and the Crisis of Freedom: Biblical and Contemporary Perspectives
by Richard Bauckham

Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2002. 221 pp. $22.95. ISBN 0-664-22479-2.

IN THIS WELCOME ACT of public theology, Bauckham locates his wide-ranging discussion of the “crisis of freedom” in post 9/11 rhetoric and in the post-enlightenment/postmodern pursuit of individual freedom marked by the removal of all constraints of community and authority. Informed by selective biblical and theological studies, the eight chapters (seven of which were published elsewhere over fifteen years) pursue the argument that “freedom is not threatened by but formed and nurtured by dependence, belonging, relationship, community and . . . authority.”Moreover, he asserts the age-old Christian paradox that “only in a context of values and practices of life in which human life is related to God can such freedom be adequately sustained.” Outside of and in contrast to this context in which freedom is experienced in submission to a gracious God as the free obedience of love, freedom as self-determination “degenerates into the banal pursuit of self-gratification or . . . of power” (p. 3).

Chapter 1 examines freedom in the Bible (subjection to God for service of others; what freedom might mean in the Exodus story for Egyptians and Canaanites is not addressed). Chapter 2 investigates freedom in the contemporary context (freedom as individualism and independence), while chs. 3–5 examine authority in relation to scripture, morality, and tradition. Chapter 6 argues that the overall direction of biblical thought is egalitarian, relativizing and de-legitimating hierarchy (the discussion of households regrettably omits Matt 19–20). Chapter 7 takes up human authority in creation, and ch. 8 discusses “freedom in the crisis of modernity” to claim that “true freedom is grounded and formed in relationship with the triune God of the Christian faith” (pp. 5, 198–209). A strange epilogue of interesting quotes related to freedom closes the book, though my sense is that it would have served more usefully as a prologue.

The book insightfully analyzes contemporary culture, frequently critiques modernity and postmodernity, and strongly asserts the traditional Christian paradox of “freedom in submission.” In relation to the explicitly biblical chapters (chs. 1, 3, 6), recent critical work that exposes the imperial contexts, mimicry, and the ambiguity of biblical texts that are resistant to, yet productive of, imperial power might problematize or qualify some of the optimism about the biblical texts, especially the privileging of images of God and of God’s sovereignty (e.g., rule is a gift; it is always for one’s good; subjection is best). The insistence on the Bible as an unfinished metanarrative that shapes egalitarian identity and way of life in pointing to its future final resolution is significant, but it is not clear how the argument will help ecclesial communities struggling to cope with diverse practices, multivalent interpretive approaches, and pluralistic understandings.

This book could be used as a classroom text, and as a text engaged by a ministers’ group or by a group of educated laity. The experiences of readers may well raise more questions than anticipated by Bauckham’s somewhat tidy schema, but contextualized by reading this book, the exchanges could well be informed, informative, and even life-giving.

WARREN CARTER SAINT PAUL SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI

From Symposium to Eucharist: The Banquet in the Early Christian World
by Dennis E. Smith

Fortress, Minneapolis, 2003. 411 pp. $25.00. ISBN 0- 8006-3489-6

BASED ON OVER TWENTY YEARS of the author’s research, publications, and scholarly leadership, this book is the work to which all need turn with regard to early Christian meals. The way Dennis Smith combines a straightforward style with complex and clear methodologies makes the book accessible and durable as both a reference work and an occasion for further study. The broader fields of Christian worship, Christian origins, and gospel interpretation will not dare overlook Smith’s compelling and original overview of early Christian meals.

His thesis is striking in its forthrightness and implications. Smith proposes that all early Christian worship, theology, and literature must be refracted through the prism of the Greco–Roman banquet. This banquet was a pervasive practice throughout the Hellenistic Mediterranean and referenced extensively in its literature, art, and architecture. Smith shows how the meaning of the wide range of New Testament meal texts is so much stronger when placed within the larger tradition of the Greco–Roman banquet. This thesis does not lack attention to detail. It brims with primary documentation from the overlapping Greco–Roman and Jewish worlds and references adequately the history of scholarship.

Smith’s language is so careful, nuanced, and non-polemical that readers may miss the advances this book offers for a more thoroughly social understanding of both Christian liturgy and Christian origins.

For instance, the book’s skillful matching of New Testament texts with the Greco–Roman banquet tradition delineates the origins of the eventual Christian eucharist without recourse to foundational words by Jesus, metaphysical considerations of body and blood, or church decision making. But Smith does not explicitly tell the reader of this result. Similarly the book’s emphasis on the social bonding, boundaries, and equality of Greco–Roman banquets and consequently early Christian meal traditions stands without any explicit contrast to later hierarchical and individualistic eucharistic interpretation.

HAL TAUSSIG UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN NEW YORK NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Justice, Jesus and the Jews: A Proposal for Jewish–Christian Relations
by Michael L. Cook

Liturgical, Collegeville, 2003. 127 pp. $14.95. ISBN 0-8146- 5148-8.

IN THIS SHORT BOOK, Cook seeks to give a firm foundation to a widely held if often vague intuition, namely, that Jews and Christians can find unity by focusing on their shared biblical mandate to seek peace and justice. Cook argues that contemporary Jewish–Christian relations can be renewed by focusing on the convergent conceptions of justice found in the Torah, on the one hand, and in the historical Jesus, on the other. He seeks to demonstrate “a point by point correlation between a coherent and self-contained vision of justice as found in the Hebrew Bible and Jesus’ historical mission and proclamation of God’s reign” (p. 75).

Specifically, Cook argues that the two visions converge around three convictions: 1) what makes Israel free, namely, liberation from exile, 2) what constitutes Israel as Israel, namely, covenantal fidelity and justice, and 3) what gives Israel a future, namely, YHWH’s return to Zion.

Cook makes a plausible if necessarily schematic case that a rich, theologically centered conception of justice animates both the Hebrew Bible and the life and teaching of “the historical Jesus.” One is left wondering, however, why Cook chose to examine the two traditions in this assymmetrical way, comparing the final canonical witness of the Hebrew Bible with a reconstructed “Jesus behind the text.” Leaving aside the speculative character of historical Jesus studies, a more convincing case might have been made if similar terms of analysis had been applied to both traditions. The book’s chief limitation, however, is its prose style, which is overpopulated with summaries of other scholars whose views are briefly discussed and then dropped. Cook’s argument would have been better served had he digested and absorbed these other voices more fully.

R. KENDALL SOULEN WESLEY THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY WASHINGTON, D.C.

Worship and Christian Identity: Practicing Ourselves
by E. Byron Anderson

Liturgical, Collegeville, 2003. 212 pp. $24.95. ISBN 0-8146- 6192-0.

ANDERSON HAS WRITTEN THIS volume as one of a series edited by Don Saliers. Anderson’s thesis draws heavily upon George Lindbeck’s “culturallinguistic” model, arguing that liturgical practice not only expresses ideas and convictions held by a community, but also shapes and forms a Christian identity in persons and communities. The author draws upon the works of philosophical psychologists as well as theologians (e.g., Moltmann, LaCugna, Boff) to argue that Christian identity is, at bottom, relational, for which the Holy Trinity is the ultimate model. In the rites and sacraments of the church, the self is formed in relation to God and others, and worshipers find their place in a community that, trusting in the reliability of God’s promises in the past and faithfulness in the present, is open to the (eschatological) future that God is preparing. Following Lindbeck’s analysis, liturgical practice provides a “grammar” and a language to help us identify our place in the church and in the world. Anderson includes interviews with members of several United Methodist congregations to discover how worshipers actually perceive the meaning and effect of specific liturgical practices in their own lives.

This is a useful book for those struggling to identify the way ahead in a postmodern culture. It may be particularly helpful for those who are trying to understand why classical liturgies have a claim upon us when “contemporary” worship is clearly so popular. Although Anderson does not address it directly, the book provides a theological foundation for a revival of the catechumenate as an alternative to the so-called “seeker service.”

RONALD P. BYARS UNION-PSCE RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

Image and Spirit: Finding Meaning in Visual Art
by Karen Stone

Augsburg, Minneapolis, 2003. 171 pp. $16.99. ISBN 0- 8066-4550-4.

IS A WORK OF ART MERELY an arrangement of line and color or does it have meaning? Can it have spiritual meaning? Must it have the same meaning, spiritual or otherwise, for every person? This book was written to help the laity of the art world, specifically those in churches, address these questions. Stone proposes that art, like the sacraments, can offer a visible glimpse of something invisible and that meaning, spiritual or otherwise, is not put on a work of art like a straitjacket. Meaning is most fully discerned by the viewer who responds spontaneously and devotes energy and time listening to and observing the work. Stone sets o

t not to pour knowledge into observers but to extract insight from them. She occasionally offers her own insights, for example, her assessment of the relationship between Jackson Pollock, Celtic interlace, and infinity (p. 99).Most of the book, however, outlines strategies helping reader–viewers develop a personal art critical method. The book offers questions and activities for discussion, a list of 100 questions to ask a work of art, and a glossary. It also addresses how art influences community, including art in church and art’s prophetic role. The illustrations and works discussed reflect Stone’s acknowledged interest, which is more in 20thand 21st-century work yielding spiritual meaning without a religious subject and less in works that illustrate Bible stories.

Because Stone wants to be non-directive, some introductory material is vague and generalized. But for the pastor taking first steps to include visual commentaries in sermon preparation and delivery, for the church educator bringing art into educational ministry in a meaningful way, or for the church member wondering how looking at art can enrich a personal spiritual journey, this book offers concrete approaches rather than theoretical suppositions.

PATRICIA LYNN MILLER FONDREN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI

Beyond the Impasse: Toward a Pneumatological Theology of Religions
by Amos Yong

Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, 2003. 205 pp. $17.99. ISBN 0-8010-2612-1.

THIS BOOK BY AMOS YONG, a Malaysian- American theologian, has as its main goal the development of a Christian theology of religions from the perspective of the Holy Spirit as an alternative to earlier theocentric or Christocentric approaches, yet one that is “robustly trinitarian” (p. 20). Yong champions a “foundational pneumatology” that highlights the importance of the cosmic role of the Spirit in the biblical account (ch. 2) and builds critically on the philosophical-theological work of the Catholic Donald Gelpi and others (ch. 3). An integral part of Yong’s program is to develop a theology of “spiritual discernment” to offer tools to assess religions (ch. 6).While holding on to the possibility of “making meaningful and truthful statements about the Holy Spirit” (p. 67), Yong is well aware of the fallacy of modernist foundationalism and the challenge of postmodernism’s desire to tear apart all “foundations.” His book also includes helpful surveys of earlier pneumatological approaches to other religions in ecumenical theology and in theologies from among his own Evangelical and Pentecostal tradition.

The subtitle of the book suggests its nature: the accent should be on the first word, “Toward.” In fact, it is a collection of essays most of which are published elsewhere, but here thoroughly revised. The work is heavily methodological in nature, a creative, well-documented, constructive proposal, but not yet a full program.

The book is not yet able to redeem all its promises, namely, “resolving” the “impasse”— how to negotiate the inherent universality of Christian religion with its particularity. However, it takes significant steps toward opening new avenues beyond the established categories (exclusivism, inclusivism, pluralism, etc.) by taking seriously the “radical alterity—otherness— of the religions” (p. 21), yet resisting the forces of pluralisms of various sorts that fail to offer any criteria for discerning the Spirit of God over against other spirits and demonic spirits.

VELI-MATTI KÄRKKÄINEN
FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA