Ridley Hall, Cambridge

Resources: Biblical Studies Bulletin 13

Vol 13: Sept 1999

Special Report: The British New Testament Conference

What did Peter and Paul look like? If you were among the one hundred and forty or so scholars gathered at Trinity College, Bristol a few days ago, you would have heard a perhaps surprising answer. Once again professors, lecturers and research students came together to fly kites, share ideas, discover new books and trade stories. We weren't disappointed.

By now you may have read it in the newspapers, but we heard it first: Professor Philip Esler made a good case that the images of Peter and Paul in the icon tradition are probably not far from the real thing. Esler noted the consistency of appearance going back to the earliest extant images (3rd c for Peter; 4th for Paul) and the evidence for the Roman custom of preserving the likeness of beloved family members. He also had answers for the different description of Paul in the apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla (2nd c), the varying depictions of Jesus, and for the common view that the images were based on idealized models rather than the apostles themselves. Esler's research all began when his publisher asked him to choose a picture for his Routledge commentary on Galatians.

Among the many other papers on offer, we also heard Justin Meggitt discuss with a panel his provocative book Paul, Poverty and Survival (T&T Clark, 1998), in which he argues that 99% of the 1st c population were within weeks of starvation. Meggitt thinks there were far fewer 'middle class' or wealthy Christians than is often assumed by scholars such as Gerd Theissen. John Ashton previewed the thesis of his forthcoming book which claims that Paul was a mystic (using an unconvincing analogy of shamanism). Francis Watson suggested that Paul's teaching in 1 Cor 11.2-16 about women wearing veils was primarily to limit erotic attraction. John Nolland offered a detailed study of Rom 1.26-27 responding to B J Brooten's claim that Paul's arguments were based on culture. The seminar on the historical Jesus heard a sobering reminder of how scholarship can be used as a political tool, in a paper tracing how some German scholars up to and during World War II argued that Jesus was not a Jew.

Thanks to Dr Bruce Longenecker, The British New Testament Society now has a website that provides a summary of the conference, with abstracts of some of the papers given ( http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~bwl2/bnts/bnts.html ) and preliminary details of next year's event.

Three of the Best

This issue Dr Chris Wright (Old Testament scholar and Principal of All Nations Christian College) picks three books that have helped him in his reading and study of the Bible.

Just before my university days I came across More Pages from God's Casebook by John Hercus. For me, this brought the Old Testament to life. John Hercus is an Australian doctor, a psychiatrist, who deals with the biblical characters as though they were cases sitting opposite him in his study. Through a series of imaginative interviews with Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, etc., these characters suddenly became real; and thus I began to engage with them too.

One of the earliest publications by Walter Brueggemann, The Land, came out in 1976/77 just as I was finishing my PhD. It was too late to be useful, but it helped me bring what was in danger of becoming purely dry and technical into the realm of theological discourse. Through this book, a theology of land came back down to earth! I have continued to enjoy much of the work of Walter Brueggemann for the same reasons: he manages to bring theology to affect real life.

Another book in the same series ('Overtures to Biblical Theology') is that of Terence Fretheim, The Suffering of God (Fortress, 1984). This presented a side of God that has not commonly emerged in Old Testament works: an anthropomorphic, human, vulnerable sidea side which Brueggemann has since explored also.

Two New Introductions

The New Testament: An Introduction. Volume 1: Paul and Mark, by Paul Nadim Tarazi (New York: St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1999) offers an Orthodox priest's interesting (if eccentric) views without reference to secondary literature until the final, brief bibliography. An Introduction to the Bible by J. W. Rogerson (London: Penguin, 1999) gives a broad brush overview by a fine OT scholar. Both authors adopt the usual critical conclusions regarding date and authorship with which many conservative readers will disagree.

Comments on Commentaries

An assessment of commentaries on a book of the Old & New Testament to keep you up to date with what will help in preaching and teaching in the local church.

OT: Zechariah

Zechariah is the longest of the Minor Prophets, and is often considered one of the most difficult books of the Old Testament. It contains a number of key Messianic passages, some of which are applied to Jesus Christ in the New Testament.

Among pre-critical commentaries that by John Calvin retains its value (transl. John Owen, 1849; reprinted Edinburgh, 1986). The classic historical-critical commentary, still useful for its rich documentation on ancient versions and the history of interpretation, is that by H G Mitchell (ICC; T&T Clark, 1912; reprinted 1980), who accepts the common critical assignment of chapters 9-14 to a prophet (or prophets) who lived long after Zechariah. For a similarly extensive and detailed commentary from the same era, but written from a conservative viewpoint, see Zechariah and his Prophecies by C H H Wright (1879; reprinted Minneapolis, 1980).

A useful guide to recent studies of Zechariah is found in the little booklet by R J Coggins, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi (Old Testament Guides; Sheffield, 1987).

The standard scholarly treatment of Zechariah in English today is the massive two-volume commentary by Carol L and Eric M Meyers (Anchor Bible 25B & 25C; Doubleday, 1987 & 1993). Mildly critical (chapters 9-14 are still assigned to a later author), it is generally sober and judicious, and is valuable especially for its archeological and literary insights. However, it has little to offer theologically. The same applies to two other recent commentaries in the classical historical-critical tradition, those by David L Petersen in Haggai and Zechariah 1-8 (OTL; Westminster Press, 1984) and Zechariah 9-14 and Malachi (OTL; Westminster John Knox, 1995), and by Paul L Redditt in Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi (NCB; Eerdmans, 1995).

For the preacher, the best current scholarly commentary in English is probably the little jewel by Joyce Baldwin (TOTC; IVP, 1972), which contains a wealth of exegetical and theological wisdom. She also proposes a rather debatable overall literary structure for the canonical book as a whole, expanding on the structuralist insights of the French Jesuit Paul Lamarche. For those who read French, Lamarche's Zacharie IX-XIV: Structure littéraire et messianisme (Paris, 1961) is also a treasure, though more for its theological exegesis than its structuralist proposals.

From a dispensationalist perspective we have Zechariah: Prophet of Messiah's Glory, by Merrill F Unger (Zondervan, 1963), which is highly regarded for its careful attention to the details of the Hebrew text. A fine commentary designed for laypeople, but based on solid scholarship, is found in Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi: God's Restored People by John L Mackay (Christian Focus Publications, 1994). It includes a helpful Appendix on the interpretation of prophecy (non-dispensationalist).

[Ed: Dr Wolters is currently writing a commentary on Zechariah for the Historical Commentary on the Old Testament (Peeters, Leuven). Another source on Zechariah that some readers might find helpful is Elizabeth Achtemeier's discussion in Nahum-Malachi, in the Interpretation series (Westminster John Knox Press, 1986).]

NT: The Epistle to the Ephesians

Much has happened in Ephesians research in the 80s and 90s, especially in the area of the religio-cultural context. I would therefore urge people to read C Arnold's superb and relevant EphesiansPower and Magic (SNTS monograph series; Cambridge, 1989) in addition to any commentary. On the theological front, A Lincoln's contribution in The Theology of the Later Pauline Letters (Cambridge, 1993) is succinct and helpfully complements commentaries. Commentaries on Ephesians fall into two obvious main categories: (1) scholarly heavyweights and (2) less heavy or more applied.

(1) Heavyweights: J Muddiman's commentary (BNTC; A&C Black, 1999) is not yet available, but will be shortly. My impression of both author and series is that this is likely to be worth the £20 or so once it's published. As for the commentaries that are actually available, E Best's expensive International Critical Commentary (T&T Clark, 1998) is very thorough on such things as Greek detail and manuscript evidence, but offers only little interaction with other recent publications. It's helpful if your Greek skills are reasonable.

A Lincoln's Word commentary (Word Books, 1990) is as comprehensive as they come and quite readable. For Lincoln (as indeed for Best) Ephesians was not written by Paul, but by someone who is indebted to Paul's thought. Lincoln makes it a priority to help the reader understand the post-Pauline author's strategy. I disagree on authorship and would perhaps have liked more on the religious background of the letter, but in all other respects this is formidable and helpful. The format means you can either read the detailed 'Comments' or go straight to the 'Explanations' which function as summaries.

1991 saw the English translation (T&T Clark) of R Schnackenburg's major German commentary. It is lucid, intelligently selective and has very helpful excurses on the history of effect of Ephesians. Schnackenburg is a reliable guide to mainstream scholarship. Look no further if you want a fairly recent heavyweight which is not the size of a phone book (though Muddiman may qualify on the same grounds once published).

Gluttons for punishment (a reference to sheer size850 pagesand degree of elaboration) might consider M. Barth's massive and now slightly dated two-volume Anchor Bible Commentary (Doubleday, 1974). It is high quality and full of theological reflection, but it is also hard workthere is simply too much of it. Barth also has one or two theological hobbyhorses (don't we all?) which he pursues relentlessly, such as his particular view of the relationship of church, Israel and Law which, to my mind, militates against Eph 2. Barth is one of the few who think Ephesians is by Paul! A not so recent, but readable and reliable heavyweight is F F Bruce's commentary (NICNT; Eerdmans, 1984). But don't look here for new suggestions for solving old problems. The best of the really old ones (available second-hand) are by T Abbott (ICC; T&T Clark, 1897) and J Robinson (London: Macmillan, 1904). Both are great on grammatical detail but superseded in most other respects; their linguistic wisdom is now available in Lincoln and Best anyway.

(2) The most helpful work among the less heavy or more applied books is not all that recent: G Caird's Paul's Letters from Prison (New Clarendon Bible Commentary; OUP, 1976). Very selective but lucid and informative, he gives us a good discussion of authorship, and thinks Paul wrote Ephesians. M Kitchen's 1994 Routledge commentary is an exploration of Ephesians as the object of biblical criticism. P Perkins sets the letter against the background of lots of ancient Mediterranean comparative material (Abingdon, 1997).

K Snodgrass' NIV Application Commentary (Zondervan, 1996) is good for preaching preparation, though with a North American bias when it comes to application (so my colleague Andrew Lincoln tells me). R Martin offers briefly the results of his preoccupation with the prison letters - not much detail here, but a sensible overview of the main issues (John Knox Press, 1991). C L Mitton's 1973 commentary (Eerdmans) is not terribly informative and is now dated. The same applies to A Patzia's commentary (Hendrickson 1990), which is more recent but relies on old commentaries and is too brief to be much help. The same may be said for W Taylor's little 1985 treatment (Augsburg).

Preachers will be very interested in J. Stott's offering in the 'The Bible Speaks Today' series (IVP, 1979). This is very useful for sermon ideas, but it's not meant to be (and isn't) the best place for exegetical argument. L Kreitzer's Epworth volume (Peterborough, 1979) is an interesting mix of setting the background scene in a long and well informed introduction and relating the message of (in his view, post-Pauline) Ephesians to worship (such as Christian hymnody). This is an interesting and up-to-date alternative to Stott which combines scholarly expertise with ecclesial relevance. Too brief but focused on exposition are W. Liefeld's 1997 and F Foulkes' 1989 IVP commentaries.

My advice in sum is to go for Lincoln or Schnackenburg for full-sized technical studies; Caird or Perkins for brief but good scholarship; and Kreitzer, Snodgrass and Stott for preaching preparation.

[Ed: Keep an eye out for three other thorough commentaries on Ephesians about to appear by Peter O'Brien (IVP Pillar series), Harold Hoehner (Baker) and Max Turner (NIGNTC). John Calvin's commentary on Ephesians is now available as a free download for users of Accordance software for the Mac; see Computer Corner>>]

Strange but True

My brother-in-law thinks he sees a prophecy of Santa Claus in Zechariah 2.6 (AV/RSV only). That certainly seems more likely than the New English Bible's translation of Joshua 15.18.

Computer Corner

• Two more websites with many resources for Bible study (often popular/conservative) include http://www.biblestudytools.net and http://www.goshen.net/WebDirectory (with lots of links to other Christian sites)
• A new version of arguably the best computer software for serious study of the BibleAccordance version 4 for the Apple Macis now available. New modules include the Anchor Bible Dictionary (for those with deep pockets), the complete works of the Church Fathers, the Expositor's Bible Commentary, and the Jenni-Westermann Hebrew lexicon. For details, go to http://www.oaksoft.com
• A good source for those who purchase books online (keeping in mind that not supporting local Christian bookshops may lead to their disappearance) is http://www.christianbookshop.com
• The very helpful Online Bible programme (both Mac and PC versions) is now available for free download from: http://www.swordsearcher.com/
  Information is also available there about the CD edition, which remains more thorough (with a number of modern translations), but you must pay for that.
• Preachers using the Revised Common Lectionary now have more online help available than they can possibly use at http://www.textweek.com
  For those not following that lectionary, the site also features a scripture index to help you find homiletical aids for your particular passages. See also http://www.eGroups.com/list/textweek

Grove Biblical Series

We are delighted that Professor Howard Marshall has contributed this month's booklet, Jesus at AD 2000, which looks at the state of play in discussion about the historical Jesus. Individual titles in the Grove Biblical Series are available direct from Grove Books at a cost of £2.25 each. Annual subscription (four books) costs £7.65, a saving of 15%. Call Susanne Thompson at Grove to place your order.