The Narnia 3 Book Review Blog

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Davis, John. The Landscape of Belief: Encountering the Holy Land in Nineteenth-Century American Art and Culture. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1997. xviii + 264 (paper), $32.50.

Though this reviewer's experitse is rather limited in the disicpline of art and art history, and thus we are normally reluctant to comment on such works, the present work is certainly worthy of an exception. Part of the Princeton University Press' Nineteenth-Century Art, Culture and Society series, this work describes ?the special relationship with the lands of the Bible that Americans constructed for themselves? (3). The author breaks his work into two parts; a general introduction of the American relationship with the Holy Land, and an examination of four American painters and their work in the Holy Land.

The author has no particular theological stance in mind and in fact he studiously even the slightest ?sectarian? concept of the land (10), writing with the hope that ?it will be remembered that the land remains holy to many faiths and many peoples, no one of which like the subjects of this study, can fully claim to possess it (ibid.).

With the arrival of the Pilgrims and later the Puritans to America this country was viewed as ?a New World promised land, a divinely favored Protestant nation created by and for a modern ?chosen people?? (back cover). The author details a history of American interest in the Holy Land and the almost ubiquitous manner in which the people of this country identified themselves with the land of Israel. He also details the various American groups and individuals who traveled to Israel in the 19th century, especially the painters who returned to display what they had captured on canvas. He mentions the work of several artists and photographers, but especially details the work of the American artists Miner Kellog, Edward Troye, James Fairman and Frederic Church.

The book is well indexed and contains over 100 black and white and color reproductions of various works. Those interested in either the study of Israel or the religious history of America will find this book delightful reading.

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Horseley, Richard A. Galilee: History, Politics, People. Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International, 1995. viii + 357pp. (cloth), $27.95.

The author, professor of Religion and Classics at the University of Massachusetts, has produced a work of significant research dealing with the socio-political and economic forces at work in the region of Galilee during the New Testament era. The work seeks to fill a void the author detects in studies of the region. He states, ?renewed pursuit of the historical Jesus, critical studies of rabbinic literature, and intensified archaeological explorations have led to revived interest in Galilee? (1), and that ?previous understandings of Galilee were ill-prepared for this sudden revival of interest and information?(ibid.).

However, the reader who has any regard an evangelical view of the Bible will be significantly disappointed in both the methodology and results of the authors? efforts. The author takes an extreme ?minimalist? view of Scripture in relation to historical data. He introduces his historical methodology by informing the reader that, ?I will generally avoid using the Gospels as sources for life in Galilee. The use of synoptic of Johannine Gospel traditions as historical source for Galilee is just as problematic for using them as sources for the historical Jesus? (14). He also flies in the face of an enormous corpus of even secular literature when he states, ?Luke [the gospel of], of course seems the least trustworthy; he often writes patterns from elsewhere in the Hellenistic-Roman world into the scenes set in Galilee? (ibid.), or to put it plainly, he feels that Luke simply creates episodes and places them into a Galilee settings for ?effect.? Whereas he gives almost no credibility to Scriptural accounts, great importance is laid on rabbinic literature and he details an amazing list of its benefits in his study (14-15).

While the author presents a great deal of material in a clearly well researched and well-documented work, it seems that his goal is more often than not to discredit every conclusion about Galilee that previous scholars had reached. His chief target is Sean Freyne and his classic work Galilee, from Alexander the Great to Hadrian, 323 B.C.E. to 135 C.E. : a study of Second Temple Judaism (Univ. of Notre Dame Press, 1980). Of the more than two dozen times Freyne?s work is cited the author always disagrees with him, often in a disparaging manner (e.g. 294fn; 300fn). He also is critical of the archaeological work of Eric and Carol Meyers and James F. Strange, especially their Excavations at Ancient Meiron, Upper Galilee, Israel: 1971-72, 1974-75, 1977 (Cambridge, MA: ASOR, 1981), cautioning his readers to use their work with a ?critical eye? (296fn). However, he deals with these authors only briefly in the endnotes, never directly in the text of the work. Their work, particularly their conclusions, are never really given a hearing or presented in what could be described as even-handed. Even the ground breaking work of Yohanan Aharoni (e.g., Galilean Survey: Israelite Settlements and the Pottery and The Settlement of the Israelite Tribes in Upper Galilee) receive no mention at all.

This work, while scholarly is too often a set of assertions by the author on one hand and the ?out of hand? dismissals of positions contrary to his own with little if any real interaction (e.g., his rejection of the historicity of the account of Yohanan ben Zakkai and Jamnia council in Galilee, pp. 94-99). This work is a thoroughly disappointing production that has little to commend it, beyond the bibliography and the collection of historical and background information. The reader is well advised to continue to refer to Sean Freyne for Galilee studies.

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McNutt, Paula. Reconstructing the Society of Ancient Israel. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1999. xiv + 284 pp. (cloth), $24.95.

This work is in the Library of Ancient Israel series (Douglas A. Knight, ed.), and represents an excellent chronological presentation of the society of ancient Israel.

Following the standard archaeological periods (Bronze Age, Iron Age, Babylonians period, etc.) the author, professor of Religious Studies at Canisius College in New York, brings together Biblical, archaeological and extra-biblical data to describe the ?social history.? By ?social History? the author has sought to ?instead of concentrating predominately on national events, leading individuals, political institutions, and ?high culture?? to rather emphasize the ?broader and more basic issues such as social organization, conditions in cities and villages, life stages, environmental contexts, power distribution according to class and status, and social stability and instability? (ix). It is a presentation of a ?micro? view rather than the standard ?macro? view of solciety inAncient Israel.

The author has an stimulating discussion of ?sources? for this type of study, and a good part of that discussion is reserved for the status of the Scripture as an accurate and reliable source of information. The author clearly rejects inspiration and inerrancy and views the Old Testament as a work which was ?collected and edited? over a period of time (5) and posits that the ?portion of the Bible we tend to refer to as ?historical?... probably reached its final form in the context of the Jewish religious community sometime after the fall of Judah to the Babylonians? (5). However, the author also is critical of the ?minimalist? view that rejects the Bible out of hand as a source document (9). While she feigns to take a position on the controversy (ibid.), she clearly adopts a position that the information contained in the Biblical text can only rise to a level of epistemological reliability when it is confirmed with ?extra-biblical evidence.?

That being said, the author takes a decidedly problematic position in her reconstruction of the ?Origins of Ancient Israel.? Here she posits that Israel really begins to form in Iron Age I (1200-1000 BC) not in what is normally called the ?Patriarchal Age? or Middle Bronze (2000-1550 BC). Her opinion is that the ?so-called patriarchal/ancestral period is a literary construct, not a period in the actual history of the ancient world. The same is the case for the ?exodus? and the ?wilderness period,? and more and more widely for the ?period of the judges??(42). She arrives at this conclusion because there is ?no extra-biblical evidence that has established any historical correlations with the biblical texts? (ibid.). In presenting her arguments she often falls into a fallacy of the ?sweeping generalization? with her repeated use of such phrases as ?it is now widely agreed? (42), ?it is now generally recognized? (40, 41) providing little support and virtually no contrary conservative opinion.

In terms of format this work has excellent indexes and is well-documented, although it is devoid of references to works by conservative scholars. The type font is a bit light and hard on the eyes. The lack of any maps, charts, illustrations or photographs, is also a negative feature.

Those criticisms notwithstanding, the book is a stimulating study and will prove enlightening to the discerning reader, as do the other works in this series. The emphasis on ?social history? is a needed one for backgrounds and exegetical thoroughness, although we might hope for a future work by an author who holds the Scripture in higher regard. The reader will certainly want to supplement their reading in this area with Edwin Yamuchi?s Peoples of the Old Testament Word (Baker, 1994).

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Tom Carter (editor). Spurgeon?s Commentary on Great Chapters of the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1998. 336pp. $17.95 (paper).

Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-92) is widely regarded as the greatest preacher in the history of the English speaking church. He was typically a ?textual? preacher, not a systematic expositor through the Bible. In fact in his enormous written corpus Spurgeon only produced two biblical commentaries, his seven volumes on the Psalms, entitled The Treasury of David and a brief commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew: The Gospel of the Kingdom, which was actually completed by his wife and personal secretary after his death.

Spurgeon?s sermons were published weekly and compiled in annual volumes. Tom Carter, who previously edited a compilation of Spurgeon quotations in Spurgeon at His Best (Baker Books, 1988 [a work the publisher inexplicably let go out of print in favor of, in this reviewer?s opinion, a vastly inferior work of a similar nature]), has brought together the little known biblical expositions of Spurgeon. These verse by verse expositions, which appear interspersed with the sermons in volumes 38-63 of The Metropolitan Pulpit (MTP). These brief expositions were often given on a weekday gathering or as an ?aside? on a Sunday service.

In this book the editor has assigned titles to the expositions not originally from Spurgeon (p. 9) and has also edited the Victorian English of Spurgeon to update it as well as substituting the New International Version for the King James Version of Spurgeon?s day (ibid). There are expositions on 31 passages of Scripture, ranging from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22. They were selected by the editor as the ?great chapters? of the Bible. He admits that the selections are subjective on his part, but nonetheless this compilation is a delight for those who enjoy Spurgeon. The expositions are not purely exegetical, but they demonstrate as one friend stated, ?his exegesis was seldom wrong. He spared no pains to be sure of the exact meaning of the text? (Spurgeon, Autobiography, 2:346). The researcher of Spurgeon will have one complaint. Carter has failed to give the original MTP citation for each exposition, a small but annoying omission. Despite this one flaw we enthusiastically recommend this work.

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Walter A. Elwell, ed. Baker Theological Dictionary of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996). x + 933 pp. $44.99 (cloth).

This title, which was formerly titled The Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, is an addition to the continuing Baker Reference Library series. This work continues the standards of quality and excellence that have characterized the previous works in the series under the general editorship of Walter A. Elwell.

The volume attempts to make articles dealing with biblical theology accessible to those who may not have facility in the original languages. As noted in the introduction, all the contributors affirm "the full integrity and trustworthiness of the Scriptures," who "not only write with that understanding but live their lives according to it" (v).

Elwell has assembled nearly one thousand individual articles written by over one hundred evangelical scholars. The articles range in length from a few paragraphs to several pages. Most articles have brief, but satisfying, bibliographies. The Dictionary transliterates Greek and Hebrew words throughout for the sake of those not well-versed in those languages. It has an immense, eighty-page Scripture index, but it contains no listing of individual articles, which in this reviewer's opinion is a weakness. A helpful addition to the Reference Library series as a whole would be a separate volume providing a complete listing of all articles and a subject index.

Robert Yarborough contributes an excellent article on "Biblical Theology," providing a clear framework of what this discipline contributes to evangelical scholarship. Yarborough points out that the preliminary assumptions "without which valid observations about the meaning of the Bible's parts and whole are sure to elude the reader" (62). He lists those assumptions as (1) Inspiration; (2) Unity; (3) Reliability; (4) Christocentric. Central to the theme of this work are the "Theology of . . ." entries for each of the sixty-six canonical books. Beyond these are several articles that merit special attention: Bruce N. Fisk's outstanding article on "Abortion"; Richard Averbeck's contribution in "Offerings and Sacrifices"; Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. on "Prophet, Prophetess and Prophecy"; and Gary T. Meadors on the "Unity and Diversity of Scripture."

Only a few items, such as Blomberg's advocacy of "power evangelism" in the article on "Miracles" (534) and a superficial treatment of eschatological themes, notable for the absence of an article on the millennium, can be cited as weaknesses. Dr. Elwell's efforts with both the series and this new volume are both singular and significant and The Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology should find a ready place at the right hand of pastors, teachers, and all students of the Scripture.

Wolfgang Stegemann, Bruce J. Malina and Gerd Theissen (ed’s). The Social Setting of Jesus and the Gospels. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003, xv+404pp. $22.95 (paper).

Seeking to answer the question, “What can one, with the help of historically informed social-scientific models, know about the ‘historical’ Jesus from the New Testament that cannot be know by other approaches?” (vii), this volume is the compilation of paper presented at the Fourth International Meeting of the Context Group in Tutzing, Germany in 1999.

This group is dedicated to interpreting the New Testament by means of historiography, utilizing social science research, once of course after they find a “suitable model” (p. 3) to facilitate such research. This group advocates a minimalist to radical minimalist approach to the text of Scripture. In fact their view of Scripture is simply assumed and never defended, the idea of an inspired and inerrant text from which propositional truth derived would be considered nonsensical. In fact this reviewer could not find a single instance where the word Scripture was even used and there is no mention of inspiration at any level.

This reviewer was struck at the beginning of the book by two things: (1) the distain for any approach to New Testament studies that affirms absolutes in terms of theological truth; and (2) the acrimony towards those who disagree with their affirmations. Once such example should suffice where Malina states:

For the most part, social-scientific research in New Testament studies has been concerned with interpreting written documents, not with the general storytelling of historians. In other words, its concerns have been exegetical, not historiographical . . . This is perhaps why, so far, there has been no “life” of the historical Jesus based on social-scientific interpretations . . .Nonetheless, what has been done with the social sciences is significant, much of it important enough to be plagiarized by John Dominic Crossan (4).

This is a technical work, not for the faint of heart. The authors assume conversance with various social-science constructs and they make no effort to explain their models at all, except as over against why their selected model is chosen over another competing model (p. 15). There is a great deal technical jargon from the social sciences, such as the so-called “forming” “storming” “norming” “performing” and “adjourning” phases of small group development that the authors ascribe to the ministry of Jesus (pp. 11-15). One author speaks of the “public self” the “private self” and the “in-group self” of Jesus (38) and states that if Jesus did think that He was the Messiah no one would have heard about it in His lifetime because to assert such “private self” beliefs would be a shameful practice (39).

Other chapters discuss “Jesus as Fatherless Child” (65-84); discusses Jesus’ baptism by John and His walking on water in terms of “altered states of consciousness” models (108-111); demon possession is described as a “socially accepted way to deal with tensions, because it allowed those possessed to do and say what they could not do or say as a sane person (165). There is a chapter entitled “The Jesus Movement and Network Analysis” (301-32) where the travels of Jesus and His disciples are evaluated in terms of an “ego-centered network” (325).

All of this is simply what we might call the “Quest for the Historical Jesus” on steroids. It is the full-scale abandonment of the text of Scripture as inspired (or even a somewhat reliable source of historical information) and historical-grammatical hermeneutics as a viable methodology for interpreting and understanding the text. Paul’s warning that in the last days there would be those who are “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim 3:7) is the best summation possible for this thoroughly useless book.

Fahlbusch, Erwin, et al (editor). The Encyclopedia of Christianity. Volume 1 (A-D). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman’s Publishing, 1999. Geoffrey W. Bromily, translator and English-language editor. xxxviii +893pp (cloth), $100.00.

One of the important theological reference works, the Evangelisches Kirchenlexikon: Internationale theologische Enzyklopädie, (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1986-97), heretofore only available in German, is now being produced in an English-language edition. Designed to provide an encyclopedic reference detailing the “global character of the Christian faith of the twentieth century” (xi). In the foreword Jaroslav Pelikan states, “Quite apart from the symbolic or real importance of the year 2000, this is such a moment for the serious study of Christianity as a historical and a contemporary phenomenon, and the Encyclopedia of Christianity is the outcome of a serious scholarly effort to supply both a summary and a starting point” (xi).

The present volume is the first of five in this project. The layout of the work is well conceived and the material is extremely accessible. The introductory matter includes a much-welcomed “List of Entries,” an eminently useful feature that unfortunately many of the current crop of reference works have chosen to omit. There is a detailed explanation of the organizational features of the work (xvi-xix) a list of contributors and the articles they contributed (xx-xxviii), and nine pages of abbreviations. The articles are displayed in a standard two-column format, the author of each article is listed and most articles have an extensive bibliography (although German language works typically dominate the articles listed). There are a few charts, but no illustrations. The work makes liberal use of “see also” and “see” entries to assist the reader.

One of the most interesting and helpful features of this work are the entries for individual countries. Helpful statistical information for each country is included in the categories of (1) population, (2) annual growth rate, (3) area, (4) population density, (6) births/deaths, (7) fertility rate, (8) infant mortality rate, (9) life expectancy, and (10) religious affiliation. Each article details a brief history of the country and various sections dealing with the Christian and religious aspects and history of the country. While most of the entries for countries are presented in an even-handed manner, some (e.g., Brazil, Chile) reflect some unfortunate politicizing on the part of the authors. One noticeable problem in the series will be that the timeline for its completion (at least 10 yrs) will render the statistical information of uneven currency within the set.

This work is clearly dominated by the liberal (occasionally bordering on the extreme liberal) and ecumenical end of the Christian spectrum both in terms of theology, sociology and politics. Its’ contributors are mostly European and the volume is disproportionately dominated by German authors. Higher Critical and minimalist views of Scripture are normally assumed by the contributors throughout the entries. Conservative readers will be dismayed at the entries on the various books of the Bible. For instance, the Book of Daniel is classified as “fiction” and Daniel himself is described as a “mythical wise and righteous figure” (774). Moses as the author of the Decalogue is “ruled out” (787). The completion of the Book of Deuteronomy “in its canonical form can hardly have taken shape before the sixth century, if not considerably later” (816). Pauline authorship of Colossians is rejected and in fact Colossians itself was not written to the church at Colossae (615) which is made even more problematic since the entry claims that “In both theology and literary style, Ephesians is dependent upon Colossians” (ibid.). Even the Corinthians epistles are described as “a corpus of several letters” which “owe their present form and arrangement to an unknown editor or redactor” (690).

Some entries will mystify the reader as to the reason for their inclusion and/or the amount of space dedicated to their subject. For instance the entry on “Behavior, Behavioral Psychology” (214-217) constitutes nearly seven full columns of interesting material, which contains nothing even remotely connecting the subject at hand to Christianity, Scripture, a Biblical anthropology or sociology, or any other religious theme. Other entries such as “Anonymity” (67-68), “Anxiety” (87-89), “Biography, Biographical Research” (256), “Child Labor” (409-10) and “Childhood: (410-12), “Crisis Intervention” (728), “Development” (816-20) and “Development Education” (821) reflect this same problem to varying degrees.

Other articles are simply perplexing in terms of their content. For example the article on “Bible Study” (239-40) defines the subject as “the group study of individual texts or who books of the Bible by church members” (239). However, it then presents a “history” of Bible Study making the incredible claim that the “beginnings of Bible Study” are to be found in the “Dutch Reformed Tradition from 1550 onwards” (ibid.); the author apparently believing that “Bible Study” did not occur for the first 15 centuries of the church. One other article to note is that on “Dispensationalism” (854-55). While generally well done, this article nonetheless has clearly sought to advance the position of “Progressive Dispensationalism” using the categories manufactured by that particular movement. Notably the author equates the 1967 revision of the Scofield Reference Bible with changes in dispensational theology itself. “Some of the most controversial notes were changed, many other were modified and many new notes were added” (855). However, it seems more accurate to state that the notes reflect more careful exegesis and clearer explanations of the text, rather than a modification of dispensationalism.

There are most certainly helpful and useful articles and the series will clearly find its way into the libraries of seminaries and secular universities around the country. However, the pastor will want to save the money he might spend on this rather over-priced work and instead invest in more reliable reference works such as the volumes of the Baker Reference Library, or even the Anchor Bible Dictionary which would have to be considered conservative by comparison.

Erwin Fahlbusch, et al (eds.) The Encyclopedia of Christianity. Geoffrey W. Bromily, translator and English Language editor. Volume 2 (E-I). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdman’s Publishing Company, 2001. xxx+787 pp $100.00 (cloth).

This volume represents the second installment of a massive theological reference project, bringing the Evangelisches Kirchenlexikon: Internationale theologische Enzyklopädie, (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1986-97) into the English language.

In the above review of Volume one, all of the features related to this series in terms of style and formatting were noted. This series represents what should be regarded as a template for Biblical and theological reference works. The editors have included all of the most useful access points for the reader. There is a detailed explanation of how the articles are formatted and how to use the work. There is a “List of Entries”, a listing of contributors with the articles they contributed and a lengthy and well-conceived list of abbreviations. The articles themselves have excellent bibliographies and a liberal use of “see also” references. All publishers and editors of reference works would serve their readers well if they invested the same extra effort put forth in this volume.

This set is designed to “describe Christianity both broadly and deeply, taking full account of its varied global, ecumenical, sociocultural, and historical contexts” (p. x). The editor’s goal to provide scholarly reference in such a context is accomplished more than adequately. However, despite the stated goal, the articles in this volume, as in the first, reflect a decided Euro-centricity in the both authors and the viewpoints which are expressed. That being stated, the articles on “Europe” (184-93) and “European Theology in the Modern Period” (193-208) are informative and useful; although one wonders why only the theology of the modern period receives a specific entry and why there is no entry at on the European Union. In fact while EU statistics are cited frequently, the body is almost absent in the article on Europe as a whole.

Some articles, as in the first volume, are mysterious as to why they were included in this work. Articles on subjects such as “Energy” (94-95), “Environment” (99), “Eugenics” (183), and “Information” (699-703) make no real connection to the subject of Christianity. Along with the article on “Environmental Ethics” (99-101), those on “Energy” and “Environment” are decidedly slanted towards the political and environmental views represented by the European Green Parties, rather than Christianity of Christian theology. A few of the articles, such as the lengthy entry for “Everyday Life” (221-26), have vague and somewhat questionable entry points in terms of utility. Theological liberalism, and to a lesser degree elitism, is thoroughly entrenched in this work. To have the Bible described in the article on “Inspiration” (713-15) as a “Word from elsewhere” (715) is certainly disappointing. James Barr’s article on “Fundamentalism” (363-65) is highly pejorative, characterizing the majority of fundamentalists as “populist, ignorant, and hostile to intellectual theology” (364). The article on “Incarnation” (673-79) is a morass of incoherent historical-philosophical speculations in which the text of Scripture is never explicitly mentioned and the deity of Christ, as historically understood, is implicitly rejected.

There are, however, some outstanding informational articles in this volume. The articles on “Greek Philosophy” (463-67), “Historiography” (553-58), the “Holiness Movement” (566-76) and “Ethics” (138-56) are extremely thorough and useful. One of the main features of the work, the articles and statistical information on individual countries is also quite valuable.

Erwin Fahlbbusch, et al. (editors), Geoffrey W. Bromily, translator and English Language editor. The Encyclopedia of Christianity Volume 3, J-O. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans and Leiden: Brill, 2003. Cloth xxix + 894 pp. $100.00.

This is the third volume of a proposed five volume English edition of the Evangelisches Kirchenlexikon, (Gottingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1986-97).

As noted above, this set represents a paradigm of how a reference work should be designed. The only additional observation would be to hope that as this series is completed that the publishers will be including a comprehensive index of the entire set in the last volume.

The content of this volume mirrors the general selection criteria of the previous volumes, and because of its origination those articles typically represent a European bordering on Euro-centric viewpoint to the subject matter. For example, the entry on “Justification” (90-99) is so dominated by discussions of Lutheran concepts on the issue it provides almost no discussion of theological constructs more familiar with those in America, where Lutheranism has never been a dominating force. In dealing with specific books of the Bible and Biblical events or personalities the authors take a decidedly liberal and text critical approach in their conclusions. For example in the entry for Noah (763-64) he is referred to as a “widely attested legendary figure from primeval history of unknown pre-Israelite origin.” There are some interesting articles, particularly “North American Theology” (774-82) and the entries for “Martin Luther” (345-48) and “Luther’s Theology” (370-74) and quite helpful.

This volume, as with the previous, are really designed for the seminary and university library. Their price of $100 per volume puts them out of reach of the average college and seminary professor and particularly out of reach of most pastors. The “broadly ecumenical” nature of the articles really means that conservative scholarship is ignored; with Christianity and the church largely presented as a socio-economic phenomena rather than “the pillar and support of the truth” (1 Tim 3:15).

H. Wayne House (editor). The Christian and American Law: Christianity’s Impact on America’s Founding Documents and Future Direction. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1998. 301pp., $14.95 (paper).

The relationship between Christianity as a religion and the civil government of the United States is one of constant turmoil, high emotion and seeming endless litigation in the court system. In this book the editor (himself a professor of both theology and law) has brought together a series of essays by lawyers and theologians discussing some of the most pertinent issues in the current discussion. In the introduction House states that “the American experiment was built on the acceptance of law from two sources, both reflecting adherence to divine law. The first was the law of nature, generally known as natural law. The second was the law of Scripture” (p. 9). He then points out that “at the heart of America’s constitutional government lies a third source: the common law tradition” (ibid.). These articles arise out of a series of lectures given at the 1993 National Association of Evangelicals meeting. The essays examine, “the past influence of Christianity on the laws, determined ways in which Christians should relate to current laws, and proposed ways Christians might influence future laws” (p. 11).

This book is not for the faint of heart. The reading is often ponderous and for one who has not waded through legal briefs and tightly wound argumentation, they may very well abandon the effort. However, that would be to their detriment as the various essays contain a wealth of well-thought out and, for the most part, well articulated positions on the various issues of the Christian’s relationship to civil authorities. Herbert W. Titus’ introductory chapter, “God’s Revelation: Foundation for the Common Law” is an excellent presentation of the place of Christian theology in relation to the formulation of America’s civil law. He convincingly demonstrates that “America’s founding fathers embraced a philosophy of law and government explicitly based on God’s revelation in nature and the Holy Scriptures” (p. 41). Other noteworthy chapters are John Eidsmoe’s “Operation Josiah: Rediscovering the Biblical Roots of the American Constitutional Republic,” D. F. Kelly’s “The Religious Roots of Western Liberty: Cut Them or Renew Them?” and Edmund Clowny’s “The Kingdom, The Church, and the Gospel in an Age of Pluralism.”

A couple of the essays are disappointing. the chapter on “The Abiding Value of Biblical Law” is far too brief to adequately cover the issues and the author’s use of “law” as it relates to the Old Testament seems overly broad. The editor’s own chapter on civil disobedience will likely strike many (especially this reviewer, who formerly employed in local law enforcement) as running headlong into Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2:13-17.

At the end of the book there is a “Summary Statement” signed by the participants in the conference and introduced in the book by Carl F. H. Henry.

This book is recommended as a balanced and thorough discussion of the issues that currently are engaging many corners of theological, judicial and legislative thought and action. It will be especially helpful to pastors and other church leaders who are thinking through these issues, as the call to political action on the part of Christians becomes more fervent with the seeming re-emergence of evangelical influence in the national political arena.

Jonathan L. Reed. Archaeology and the Galilean Jesus: A Re-examination of the Evidence. Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 2001. $17.00 (Paper) xvi + 253 pp.

The so-called “quest for the historical Jesus,” has been an ongoing process for over a century and in recent years has been re-energized by the work of the “Jesus Seminar” and related activities. These endeavors have centered mainly in the Synoptic Gospels and some extra-biblical material (e.g the Gospel of Thomas). Utilizing various and often conflicting and contradictory methodologies to examine the texts, the results of these efforts have been massive in terms of a body of literature, including most notably the manufacture of a “gospel” document entitled “Q” or, as the author of this work calls it, “Sayings Source Q.”

This work, by an archaeologist who, while wholeheartedly sympathetic to the endeavor, expresses dissatisfaction over the results of the quest by purely historical critical methodology. He details his concern and prejudices in the introductory chapter:

For the most part, biblical scholarship has been the domain of literary studies and text-centered. The text of the Bible was the primary object of study, and exegesis the chief goal. This near myopic focus on words, perhaps a remnant of Christian and particularly Protestant theology, rendered archaeology biblical studies’ “handmaiden,” whose role was to assist exegesis or discover new written materials. (1)

The author’s concern is that Biblical studies have not been adequately informed by the work of archaeology and that discipline’s emphasis on detailing the “material culture” of a given era within a particular geographic region. The goal of this work is to bring archaeological data, particularly from the region of Galilee to bear on the subject of the “Historical Jesus” in an attempt to provide what the author apparently perceives as a lack of factual underpinnings to the foundation of these studies. Related to these studies he perceptively notes:

With rare exceptions, notably the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls or Nag Hammadi Library well over a generation ago, scholars working on Jesus and Galilee with literary evidence simply introduce new methods or innovative theories to analyze these texts. The collage of citations is re-shuffled or re-mixed, emphasizing some passage over others, while re-interpreting a few, perhaps in dialogue with other disciplines. (214)

The author is a professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at the University of La Verne in California and is the Field Director of the Sepphoris Acropolis excavations. The overall work is well accomplished in terms of layout and logical progression. While the author indicated that this work would not be a “collection of archaeological artifacts” (xi), the volume is nonetheless adequately illustrated with diagrams, charts and some photographs. There is also a brief, but adequate subject index. There is a remarkably thorough bibliography (221-46), which is one of the strongest aspects of the work. The bibliography is so large that it might have been helpful for the author to make some categorical subdivisions within it. Also, in light of the author’s discussion of the road system and his insistence that no major roadway went through Capernaum (148-49) and the subsequent discussion of trade and commerce in Galilee, it seems strange that David A. Dorsey’s definitive work, The Roads and Highways of Ancient Israel (Johns Hopkins Press, 1991) is not referenced. The book is divided into three main sections: the first part dealing mainly with the cultural geography of Galilee, the second centering on two Galilean cities, Sepphoris and Capernaum; and the third the integration of the author’s archaeological conclusions to “Q” and the “Historical Jesus” quest.

In the chapter, “Jesus and Sepphoris Revisted,” (100-38) he details the issues related to this interesting, and in terms of secular history, significant city. Sepphoris was a leading city of Galilee, and under Herod Antipas has been the regional capital. Josephus called the city “the ornament of all Galilee” (Ant. 18.27). The issue of Sepphoris has always been, that despite Jesus’ extensive ministry, obviously centered in Galilee, this city is never mentioned in the NT. This omission has long perplexed NT scholars who have insisted that the largely Greek speaking cosmopolitan center located only a few miles from Nazareth must play a large role in understanding the cultural background of Jesus’ life and ministry. The author notes, “how Sepphoris affected Galilee, and how this impact is addressed in Jesus’ teachings as recorded by his followers, is the principle concern” (114). However, in this reviewer’s opinion, this quest, like the quest for Q is ultimately doomed to irrelevance because of the author’s minimalistic approach to the text of Scripture even beyond the explicit rejection of inspiration and inerrancy.

In the view of the author the lack of mention (in this case of Sepphoris) in the text is a factual omission, an omission so significant, that the text cannot possibly be understood without being informed by some method of cultural and social reconstruction via the archaeological data. Of course when the text of Scripture is viewed as just another “source document” and not a thoroughly reliable one at that, such conclusions are to be expected. That the Biblical text is not exhaustive in terms of the history and events it covers is certainly without question and even admitted to by the Biblical writers themselves (John 20:31; 21:25). In the Old Testament era the famous battle of Qarqar (853 B. C.), where Ahab the well-known king of Israel, led a collation that defeated the then emerging Assyrian Empire, is an example of a famous and politically significant incident that receives no mention at all in the Biblical text. But these omissions do not contain material or information that is of primary importance in arriving at a proper exegesis of the text.

The same can be said for Jesus and Sepphoris, there was apparently no ministry or other issue of significance that the inspired writers were led to include. Did Jesus ever visit or minister in Sepphoris? While possibile, it is impossible to say with any certainty, since there are no verifiable records to verify or falsify the assertion. Even if He did and such could be objectively proven, it would have no real impact on Biblical studies or the interpretation of any of the Gospel accounts.

In chapter six the author endeavors to give a geographic location of “Q” in terms of its literary center and the influences of the surrounding culture on the writing itself. As an underlying assumption the author makes an interesting admission when he says,

The first assumption about the nature of Q is that it was a literary document written in Greek. Although the early sayings may well have been first articulated in Semetic, attempts to uncover a written Aramaic Vorlage behind Q have failed. Q, therefore, must be located in an area where are least some level of Greek literacy existed. (214-15).

The author then moves to postulate a Galilean locale for Q and in so doing recasts Jesus from Messiah and Savior to a socio-religious Galilean activist opposed to urbanization and economic policies of Herod Antipas.

In terms of the collection of information with interesting and in some cases perhaps illuminating parallels the author has done a service to the scholarly discussion. His comments as to the failure of the purely literary efforts to locate the “Historical Jesus” are incisive and in many ways damning to that process. However, he himself is following the same path those on the Jesus Seminar quest took. The former, as the author states, “simply introduce new methods or innovative theories to analyze these texts” (214). While in the later, the blending of social science theories from cultural geography, sociology and the like are brought into the interpretative process of archaeology, the author himself has simply created a “new method or innovative theory” to interpret the archaeological data. This is most clearly seen when he criticizes strict examination of the text in terms of its geographical data. “This strict empirical approach neglects the intricate blending between the literary and symbolic worlds and adds little to an understanding of the community’s perspective on the world” (172). His concept of keeping in mind the “distinctions between the ‘textual world,’ ‘symbolic world,’ and ‘concrete world’” in evaluating the textual and archaeological data is reminiscent of Origin’s “Threefold Sense of Scripture” now transposed into the archaeological method.

The author’s insight that the literary attempts to find the “Historical Jesus” have, for the most part, failed is certainly valid. His solution, however, to further subjugate the text of Scripture under another layer of interpretation from another ancillary discipline is certainly invalid and wholly unsatisfactory. If this book marks a trend to move further away from Scripture to prop up the superstructure of historical criticism it is a most unwanted trend, but one evangelicals will need to be wary of.

Lutzer, Erwin. The Doctrines that Divide: A Fresh Look at the Historic Doctrines that Separate Christians. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 1998. 247pp. (paper), $14.95.

The author, long time pastor of the Moody Memorial Church in Chicago, has put together a thoroughly readable examination of nine controversial doctrinal issues within Christianity. The subjects covered are infant baptism, the deity and humanity of Christ, the sacraments, the worship of Mary, predestination or free will, justification by faith or works, the canon of Scripture, eternal security, and the sovereignty of God.

The author identifies as a key problem in the modern church the lack of theological conviction, knowledge and accuracy (14). In the introduction the author states, “In days gone by, many believers were tortured, eaten by wild beasts, or burned at the stake because of their doctrinal controversies. Theology was appropriately called ‘the Queen of Sciences’ because men believed that one’s relationship with God dwarfed all other considerations” (13). Since most of the distinctions between denominations and associations within Protestantism have as their origination basic doctrinal issues, a clear understanding of those issues is vital in these days which when “some of God’s sheep cannot tell the difference between grass and Astroturf” (14).

The book is well footnoted and the author has included a brief, but helpful, annotated bibliography of key resources. The book lacks any indexes which this reviewer always views as a deficiency in a book. The four chapters chronicling the debate on “Predestination or Free Will” (chapter 9: "Augstine v. Pelagius"; chapter 10: "Luther v. Erasmus"; chapter 11: "Calvin v. Arminius"; and chapter 12: "Whitefield v. Wesley") are the highlight of the book and accurately deal with the strengths and weaknesses of each position. These are all important issues which cannot simply be swept aside by a sort of benign neglect. Lutzer states,

Today tolerance is regarded much more highly than doctrinal accuracy. We have grown accustomed to Christian talk shows that are rich in experience but devoid of serious doctrinal content. Indeed, one of the cardinal rules of the Christian media is that all doctrinal content, if there is any, must be reduced to the lowest common denominator (241).

This is a serious book dealing with some of the “heavy” issues in doctrine. However, the author’s clear writing style, his pastoral heart, and passion for doctrinal clarity, make it a must for any Christian concerned with spiritual growth. This book would serve well as the basis for adult Sunday School classes or home Bible studies, we cannot recommend it highly enough.

Noe, John. Beyond the End Times: The Rest of the Greatest Story Ever Told. Bradford, PA: Preterist Resources, 1999. xii + 301pp (paper) $19.95

For a more thorough discussion of this movement, Click Here.

To borrow the popular catch-phrase, “just when you thought it was safe to…” just when you might have thought that you could safely say that you had seen every possible variation of eschatological schema, something new comes on the scene.

For several years a small group, known mainly around the Internet and email theological discussion lists, called the International Preterist Association has been advocating what has been called “consistent preterism,” “full-preterism,” or “hyper-preterism.” In brief this is a position that advances the traditional Preterist understanding of prophecy to postulate that all Biblical prophecy was fulfilled in AD 70 and that there is no aspect of any Biblical prophecy yet awaiting fulfillment. Edward E. Stevens, president of this association, says on the cover that this book is “A compelling introduction to past-fulfillment of Bible prophecy.”

The author, John Noe has made a living as a motivational speaker and entrepreneur and has become a chief spokesman for the “full-preterism” position. In the introduction it is said of Noe that he “is not a professional theologian. He has had no formal seminary training, but that may be an advantage –it might have handicapped his communication style” (p. x). This seems to be both a startling admission and the first of a virtually endless set of logical fallacies strewn throughout this book.

It would be impossible in the amount of space available for this reviewer to detail all of the problems of this book in terms of argumentation and documentation. A few examples will have to suffice.

Beginning with research methodology, mention must be made regarding the documentation and endnotes utilized in this work. There is seemingly not even an attempt at some standard form of documentation; the formatting style practically changes from note to note. Citations are often incomplete (e.g. 282 note 11; 283 note 1); when referencing a periodical the story or article title is never mentioned (e.g. 282 note 2-4); books are referenced with either incomplete or no bibliographic information (e.g. 282 note 5); the use of underlining, italicizing or quotation marks to set off book or article titles is incoherently random (compare 283 note 8 to 287 note 5), publisher names are misspelled (e.g. 283 note 1 for chapter 6). Beyond this there are numerous typographical errors both in the notes and within the text itself. There are also no indexes and, more problematic, no bibliography or listing of works cited.

In terms of content the notations do not rise to a high level either. The author constantly makes references to secondary sources for information (e.g. 291, note 1 for chapter 11; 292 note 3). He references several works of antiquity (Josephus’ History of the Jews; Eusebius;’ Ecclesiastical History; and essays by Athanasius and Augustine) without any clear citation as to which edition of those works he is referencing at any given point. Sometimes the information he presents is simply untrue. In note 5 for chapter 3 (p. 283) he states, “From Columbus’ Book of Prophecies, which is only available in Spanish and has never been published in this country.” The fact is that a parallel Spanish-English edition, with commentary, was printed in 1997 (The Book of Prophecies edited by Christopher Columbus, Berkley, California: The University of California Press) , a full two years before this present work was published. In dealing with the Second Law of Thermodynamics (63 and 283, note 2 for Chapter 4), he lifts a selected quotation from The World Book Encyclopedia (a nice high school level reference work) to prove his point and then procedes to give the wrong page number for the article.

Throughout the notes the author overuses vague ad populum pronouncements such as “Some Bible scholars maintain,” “Some liberal scholars have insisted,” “Some Jewish scholars,” “Some interpreters,” “Many interpreters,” and so on. Despite the author’s admitted lack of training he makes numerous pronouncements on the proper translation of the Greek and Hebrew text and their lexical meanings, although the only source ever cited is one reference to the dictionary in Strong’s Concordance (291 note 28).

In terms of the content of the book itself is thoroughly disappointing as well. The structure is confusing and there is no attempt at a coherent outline. The text is jumbled with “bullet points” and collections of “Top 12 List,” “Eight Confirmatory Insights,” “Five Side-Stepping Devices,” in which the author continually interrupts his own flow of thought. The author begins by stringing together a list of anecdotal evidence to demonstrate the dangers of any end of the world scenario. The author states that:

Prior to the 20th century, the church was culturally relevant, involved, and positive. Not so anymore. After the turn of the century, Hal Lindsey’s brand of premillennialism and its doomsday mentality spread like a wildfire through Christianity’s evangelical ranks and devastated postmillennial gains (38-39).

Of course the anachronistic fallacy is evident, since Hal Lindsey foray into prophetic writing did not begin until the late 1960’s. That the author would be concerned that postmillennial gains were “devastated” is also interesting since he also places postmillennialists into the futurist camp that he opposes (271). Since all of the eschatological positions, except his, are posited as “futurists” apparently the author believes that all of Christianity represented by either a premillennial, postmillennial, or amillennial eschatology are culturally irrelevant, uninvolved and negative.

The foundational thesis of this work is that all events related to the Return of Christ have already occurred. That is, the Return of Christ, the Resurrection of the Just and Unjust, the casting of Satan into the Lake of Fire and the establishment of the New Heavens and New Earth along with any other Biblical prophecy that might be mentioned, all occurred at or about AD 70. One chapter of the book is entitled, “Why the World Will Never End” in which the author that eternality is an attribute of the creation (50). He makes amazing claims about scientific theory (such as the earth not being subject to the Second Law of Thermodynamics) with essentially no support (63). If someone might ask how he could imagine that the world’s resources can continue without end, he naïvely states,

If a little more sun or cosmic substance of any kind is someday needed, He will simply speak it into existence. Likewise, if the speed of light slows down too much –as some scientists worry about–¬ He could give it a boost. These divine acts would only be minor tweaks compared to creating it all in the first place (63).

To make his system work the author tragically reduces the New Heaven, the New Earth, and the New Jerusalem to a spiritual abstraction that he equates to the present Christian life or “New Covenant life” (262-63). He states, “Although God never intended New Covenant life to be either the end of all human difficulties, or an escape from the frailties of the physical plane, the Holy City’s symbolic description in Revelation 21 and 22 is given to encourage all saints of every generation” (263). But this is no encouragement at all. Revelation 21-22 talks about the fact that “there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain” (Rev. 21:4); and “there shall no longer be any curse and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His bond-servants shall serve Him” (22:3).

The author’s treatment of Daniel 9 and Daniel’s “Seventy Weeks,” which he concludes ended with the Stoning of Stephen (88), and Matthew 24, which he claims that none of the three basic millennial schemes interpret correctly, are also extremely disappointing.

For what is billed as a “compelling introduction to past-fulfillment of Bible prophecy” the book amazingly fails to deal with some basic issues or objections. First of all he nowhere even mentions how his view is not to be compared with the error of Hymenaeus and Philetus who also claimed that the resurrection was already past (2 Timothy 2:17-18). In fact “full-preterism” has been called a return to the heresy of Hymenaeus (MacArthur, The Second Coming [Crossway Books, 2000], 13). He also nowhere meaningfully deals with Acts 1:9-11 which speaks of exactly the manner in which Christ would return. Amazingly, the entire issue of the dating of the New Testament writings is dismissed with a sentence in an endnote (298 note 3). He states there that his opinion is that the early date of Revelation is “far superior” but also that the “dating debate will not be addressed in this book, however.” For an “introduction” into this new eschatological scheme is amazing insomuch that if the traditional dating of Revelation (AD 95) is correct the author’s entire thesis is reduced to a tragic waste of time and paper. Also there is no discussion as to the problem of evil and obvious Satanic and demonic activity in the world today if, as the author asserts, Satan and his minions have been cast into the Lake of Fire. Additionally, if the resurrection has already occurred, then what of believers in this age? What also of the fate of unbelievers since the judgments have already been carried out? None of these issues are addressed.

At the end of the book the author calls for a Reformation in the church based on the “full-preterist” position. He states that, “This reformation could become as significant as the 16th-century Protestant Reformation” (271). This kind of bluster, combined with a complete disregard for hermeneutics, playing fast and loose with factual information, and an abandonment of the rules of logic, does not qualify the author to be an reliable guide as to the meaning of Scripture. Unfortunately, publications such as this (which present the appearance of thorough Biblical and scholarly research) and the ubiquitous nature of the Internet means that this current revival of the heresy of Hymenaeus will likely continue to be a bane for churches and pastors, whether they are premillennial, postmillennial or amillennial in their doctrinal stance, for some time to come.

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Moreau, A. Scott (General Editor). Evangelical Dictionary of World Missions. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 2000. 1068pp., $39.99 (cloth).

The latest entry in the Baker Reference Library certainly fills a void in religious reference literature. It has been almost three decades since a significant dictionary on the subject of missions has been produced. Consistent with previous volumes in this series there has been an effort to bring together a wide array of scholarship and experts in the various fields. Nearly 250 different contributors traversing the entire spectrum of evangelicalism have been brought together in the production of an outstanding volume.

The format follows the same style as previous Reference Library volumes. The articles are all signed and significant bibliographic references are listed for each. The entire work has several indexes. Most helpful are the articles on various countries that gives basic statistical information, religious breakdown and status of Christian missionary activity. Articles ranging from ?Burnout? to ?Doctoral Degrees in Missiology? cover the full spectrum of mission information. Articles covering all areas of practical, theoretical and informational content are to be found.

Especially noteworthy is the extensive article on the ?History of Missions? as well as the articles on ?Theological Systems? [as they relate to missions], ?Theology of Mission,? and ?Theology of Religions.? Many of the articles demonstrate the growing trend of integration of various sociological theory and theology in the work of missions. The article on "Bible Translation" is most guilty of this problem. In the article the author states,

Translators must utilize the entire assemblage of communication style and genres necessary for people to appreciate God?s message to them. This suggests that translation must go beyond the print media utilized by translators from the West and employ a multiplicity of media (audio, video, drama, mime, etc.) with a plurality of formats (stories, comedy, art, musical presentations and dance) recognized and used by the people of the society (p. 125).

This article is also hindered by the fact that the editors decided to make ?Translation? and ?Translation Theory? as separate articles which seems to render the material somewhat non-cohesive.

Some will no doubt disappointed by the lack of articles on the more theologically conservative mission agencies such as Slavic Gospel Association and The Association of Baptists for World Evangelism. In fact, the articles on denominational mission activities (Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian) are surprisingly brief and lacking in thoroughness. For instance in the entry for Baptist Missions, really only the Southern Baptist Convention along with the old Northern Baptists receive any lengthy mention, other significant Baptist groups are never mentioned at all. In Presbyterian Missions, the work of J. Gresham Machen in beginning the Independent Board of Foreign Missions and work of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church also receive no mention. Additionally, the considerable contributions of the Plymouth Brethren in world missions receives no mention.

Those lacks aside, this volume is certainly both a welcome and needed addition to the area of religious reference. Both the editor and publisher are to be commended for this overall fine work that continues the outstanding tradition of the Baker Reference Library.

Lardie, Debra (Dan Lioy and Paul Ingram, consulting ed’s). Concise Dictionary of the Occult and New Age. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Publications, 2000. 302pp., $19.99 (cloth).

In the last few decades occultic and New Age terminology and symbolism have become so pervasive that they are essentially ubiquitous in modern society. Christians, as C. S. Lewis once pointed out, deal with such matters in one of two extremes; either complete ignorance or unhealthy preoccupation. Part of the problem for the average Christian or even seminary educated pastor in dealing with these issues is a lack of understanding of the variations within what the editors call the “philosophical kaleidoscope” of occult and New Age manifestations. This being the case the editors have prepared what they call a “unique and concise guide to help Christians navigate the confusing and potentially dangerous minefield of today’s occult and New Age thought” (rear cover).

This work is formatted in easily read type and two-column format. The articles are concise, normally only two or three paragraphs, and there are numerous illustrations which are quite helpful for certain abstract symbols. There are two short appendices (“Knowing the Truth: God’s Word, Cults, and the Occult” and “Scripture Twisting”) which are short, but helpful reminders. Apparently Lardie has written all of the articles, although that is never stated. In the preface by Ingram explains the necessity of the work, but never details the role of the author, the consulting editors, or the methodology employed. This is a deficiency as the author, who has a degree in journalism with a stated interest in the subject, seems to lack the academic credentials for such an undertaking; especially when some articles are designed to “compare historic Christian doctrines with New Age teaching” (p. 9). The work also suffers from the lack of any indexes, a cardinal sin for a reference work.

While many of the articles are helpful there are several noticeable lacks in this work. Most seriously is that there is no bibliography or bibliographic references either within the articles or a cumulative collection. One of the key functions of a reference work is not only to provide summations but also to provide some gateway to additional study or research. Lacking additional references, this volume fails on the second point. A set of sources would also be helpful because several of the articles betray a level of “conspiracy theory” mentality common among some more sensationalist literature (e.g. articles on the United Nations, Values Clarification, Unity in Diversity Council, Trilateral Commission). Some level of reliable background literature would have been useful to dispel this impression. Some articles, such as the one on "Quantum Physics," are so brief (and simplistic) that the reader is left with the impression that the entire scientific discipline is some kind of fraudulent invention of the New Age movement (the article on the String Theory, misnamed in the article as the Superstring Theory suffers from the same problem). The headings on several articles are not well selected. For example the heading “Green” is entirely unhelpful and gives the reader no clue that the article is about the “Green Party,” a socio-political movement and political party active in many countries. Other examples suffering from this problem are the entries for “Peace,” “Drug,” and “Light.” Some articles simply lack obvious detail, such as the failure to even mention Louis Farrakan in the article on the Nation of Islam as the current leader of the movement and the main proponent of the ideas that the article is critical of. Some material, such as the entry on “Unicorn” simply contain erroneous information.

On the helpful side there are an abundance of “see also” references that gives the work a level of cohesion. The writing style is certainly clear and there is undoubtedly a great deal of basic and useful information. However, the items noted above cause this reviewer to have a significant level of concern about the thoroughness and accuracy in this work. The reader will certainly have to look elsewhere to both confirm and expand on the information that is presented.

Robertson, O. Palmer. The Israel of God: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. Phillipsburg, New Jersey: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, 2000. ix + 204pp. (paper) $12.99.

The ongoing political struggles in the land of Israel continue to be cause of great concern for world leaders and a never-ending source of material for modern prophecy “experts.” The “prophecy by current event” genre of literature creates a great deal of excitement, sells a lot of books and now even creates movie screenplays. Fortunately a more safe and sane approach to prophetic matters still is to be found where the Scriptures are examined carefully and thoroughly.

One such book is this effort from the longtime professor of Old Testament at Knox Seminary. Robertson has examined the concept of “The Israel of God” from five directions: Land, People, Worship, Lifestyle, the Coming of the Kingdom and a detailed examination of Romans 11. He concludes with a series of 12 propositions that summarize the key points of his thesis. He affirms the standard amillennial viewpoint that, “the promised messianic kingdom of Jesus Christ has come” (195).

In keeping with the amillennial perspective, Robertson makes a strong presentation that any theological viewpoint that sees a restoration of Israel to the land or Christ reigning in an earthly kingdom is a “retrogression” (31) and views those of us who believe and teach that viewpoint as becoming a “primary tool in misdirecting their [Jewish people’s] faith and expectation” (ibid). He affirms that the “in the realm of new covenant fulfillments, the land has expanded to encompass the whole world” (ibid). In doing this Robertson seems to have abandoned his previously published view that the land promises to Israel were previously fulfilled in the reign of Solomon (Understanding the Land of the Bible [Phillipsburg, New Jersey: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1996], 9, 19). Interesting as well, is that he never deals with the key New Covenant passage, Jeremiah 31 in relation to either God’s affirmation of the perpetuity of Israel (35-37) or the geographic expansion of Jerusalem (38-40). In relation to the land issue, while Robertson notes several works, he fails to interact with the important work by Robert L. Wilkin, The Land Called Holy: Palestine in Christian History and Thought (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992) or Israel: The Land and the People, edited by H. Wayne House (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1998); both of which would challenge his thesis at several levels.

In dealing with the subject of the People, Robertson presents a detailed explanation of Galatians 6:16 and all of the possible interpretations. While we would disagree with his conclusion (that Jews and Gentiles combined constitute the Israel of God), even if his interpretation were correct it seems that he is attempting to pack far too much theological freight into an admittedly difficult and somewhat obscure phrase.

The final two chapters (the Coming Kingdom and Romans 11) are a natural continuation of the author’s amillennial presentation. He postulates that since “Israel” is rarely mentioned in the Book of Revelation that he states, “Nowhere in this book are the Jewish people described as having a distinctive part in this kingdom” (165). However, in the totality of Scripture passages abound that discuss the distinct role of Israel in the future kingdom (Is. 61:6 et al). In dealing with Romans 11, Robertson asserts that, “nothing in this chapter says anything about the restoration of an earthly Davidic kingdom, or of a return to the land of the Bible, or of a restoration of a national state of Israel” (191). While that may be true, the chapter does say, “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29). Romans 11 makes it clear that God is not through with Israel as a people and yet in the future the totality of all the promises made to national and physical Israel will be fulfilled in a national and physical manner.

Despite the clear disagreements we would have with the conclusions of this work, it remains a worthy addition to the library of those who are studying this important theological subject. It will certainly become a standard text for those affirming Covenant Theology and an amillennial approach to Biblical eschatology that cannot be ignored by those who affirm dispensational hermeneutics and premillennialism.

Mark W. Chavalas and K. Lawson Younger, Jr. (ed’s). Mesopotamia and the Bible: Comparative Explorations. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2002. 395 pp. (Paper), $29.99.

This book represents the collection of a series of papers presented at the annual meeting of the Near East Archaeological Society in 1995. The subject of that year was “Syro-Mesopotamia and the Bible.” The Near East Archaeological Society is an association of evangelicals whose members must affirm the twofold doctrinal statement:

• I believe that the Bible alone and the Bible in its entirety is the Word of God written, and therefore inerrant in the autographs.
• I believe in the unique Divine inspiration, integrity, and authority of the Bible.
The society is primarily concerned with the archaeological exploration and study of the lands of the Bible and holds its annual meeting in conjunction with the Evangelical Theological Society.

This work consists of 14 individual essays on themes of ancient Mesopotamian history and archaeology. These articles are not designed to be introductory; but rather, they require a level of familiarity with introductory literature and issues involved. The work contains an introduction in which the purpose of the work is detailed as “a description of certain aspects of that [Mesopotamian] civilization that may (or may not) help the reader place the Bible in its greater ancient Near Eastern context” (8). The editors anticipate questions as to the inclusion of material related to Ugarit, Alalakh and Elba with the notation that, “in this book we will take a very loose definition of Mesopotamia as encompassing some regions of Syria immediately west of the Tigris-Euphrates Valley that were obviously connected culturally to traditional Mesopotamia” (ibid). A helpful nine page listing of abbreviations, as well as a Scripture and Name index have been added. Each article contains a significant bibliography as the end. Two minor criticisms arise; one is the lack of a subject index and secondly, the complete lack of any maps, charts or other illustrations. The later would have been greatly helpful in several of the articles where even those with a good working knowledge of the people and places would have been well served by a visual anchor.

In terms of content there are two significant articles dealing with the identity and rule of several Assyrian kings, particularly Sargon, Pul, and Tiglath-Pileser by Steven W. Holloway (68-87) and K. Lawson Younger, Jr. (288-329). One, by the Edwin Yamauchi on the “Eastern Jewish Diaspora” (356-77), is especially significant as it relates to the issue of the continuation of the Jewish racial identity in the face of forced exile and often forced assimilation. Another significant article is that of the editor, Mark W. Chavalas on the subject of “Assyriology and Biblical Studies: A Century of Tension” (21-67) in which he details the care that needs to be taken in seeing (or creating) parallels between the Biblical texts and the various texts discovered in Syro-Mesopotamia (e.g. Mari, Nuzi, Ebla). David C. Deuel, former Associate Professor of Old Testament at The Master’s Seminary, contributed an article on his area of expertise related to the role and status of royal messengers in the Ancient Near East. Another significant article is that of Richard E. Averbeck on Sumer and the Bible (88-125), particularly as it relates to the parallels between the construction of the Solomonic Temple and temples in the Summerian culture.

All of the articles represent the best in evangelical scholarship in archaeology, Ancient Near East history and civilization and their proper relationship to Biblical studies. This work is highly recommended.

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Schultz, Jeffrey D. and John G. West (ed?s). The C. S. Lewis Reader?s Encyclopedia. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998. Cloth 464 pp. ($22.99).

It is generally an honor to an exceptional life or significant contributions that an individual will garner an entry into an encyclopedia or reference work. That an individual has an entire reference work devoted to his life and work is almost unheard of. C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), however, is certainly worthy of such an endeavor, his written works in the areas of literary criticism, fiction, theology and ethics constitute one of the most diverse and penetrating bodies of work of the 20th century.

This work is eminently readable and the format is clear. There is an excellent ?Brief Biography (9-65) written by John Bremer. The appendices include additional resources on Lewis, a timeline of his life, a listing of the article titles and a listing of the contributors. The articles themselves cover everything about Lewis, including his works, associates, friends and thoughts on various literary, theological and ethical issues. The volumes are well illustrated and there are several useful charts. Among those is a chart listing his famous radio addresses on ?Mere Christianity? on the BBC during World War II.

Interest in Lewis, although always at a high level, has been seemingly re-energized in recent years. His most popular works, The Chronicles of Narnia (1948-54), The Screwtape Letters (1941), Mere Christianity (1941), Miracles (1947), among others, have remained in print since their original publication. The recent success of the Harry Potter book series and movie as well as the beginning of the theatrical release of J. R. R. Tolkein?s Lord of the Rings Trilogy, has brought renewed interest in Lewis. Those who are working through the issues regarding the place of such fiction in the Christian life will be well served by referencing this work and Lewis? thoughts on these matters.

Perhaps the most important article to read in this work is that of ?Theology.? Here Lewis is aptly described by the author:

C. S. Lewis was not a professional theologian, nor was he a ?lay theologian? as some have claimed. He wrote no books of theology nor has he left us a system of theological thought. His religious works such as The Problem of Pain, Miracles, and Mere Christianity were intended to evangelize and to instruct in the basics of the common faith (orthodoxy) held by all Christians (399).

Lewis is almost impossible to classify theologically. His beliefs on matters such as eternal punishment, purgatory, inspiration and even the singularity of Christ and the gospel in terms of saving faith were certainly not conservative. His theological conclusions were driven more by Platonic philosophy and the Church Fathers rather than an examination of the text. He remains popular in conservative circles mainly on the strength of two works, Mere Christianity and Miracles. However, Lewis is also a popular source of quotable material for Universalists and proponents of Openness Theology.

For those who are interested in Lewis this work serves as a great introduction to his writing and thoughts. The biography alone is worth the price of the work this volume is highly recommended.

D. A. Carson. New Testament Commentary Survey (fifth edition). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 2001. 142 pp. $9.95 (paper).

Solomon declared that of the “writing of many books is endless” (Ecc 12:12) and in the genre of biblical commentaries, endless is perhaps too meek a term. An unscientific survey by this reviewer of the catalogues which come into his office showed that there are several dozen commentary series’ in process, several more are in the planning stages, and several long finished series have been or are being revised. The individual or stand-alone commentary titles currently in print number in the thousands. With all of these works available from every possible theological, denominational and methodological angle it is a daunting task to even make an effort to keep up with the literature, much less make informed recommendations.

Several bibliographies specializing in biblical commentaries are available. The one bibliographic series that has attempted to maintain a level of currency is the 5th edition of New Testament Commentary Survey. Continuing the work in the first two editions by Anthony C Thiselton, D. A. Carson, the long-time professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, has now produced three editions of this eminently useful commentary survey of New Testament commentaries. The author has stated as his purpose to provide theological students and ministers with a handy survey of the resources, especially commentaries, that are available in English to facilitate an understanding of the NT” (p. 8).

The work is divided into four sections (1) Introductory Notes; (2) Supplements to Commentaries; (3) Individual Commentaries; and (4) Best Buys. There is also an author index and a listing of abbreviations of commentary set titles. In the introductory section the author briefly details the purpose of commentaries and the relative strength and weaknesses of various types. He ably discusses the oft-asked question by students whether or not to buy a particular set of commentaries or individual works. He covers both current and older sets dividing them up by multiple author and single author. In the section he briefly lists works of New Testament introduction and New Testament theology. The author’s “Best Buy” section is a listing of two or three individual commentaries on each book of the New Testament

The bulk of this work centers on the listing of individual commentaries on each New Testament book. Instead of a simple listing of each work with comments, the author has developed a running narrative approach which is refreshing and much more readable than the traditional bibliographic method. He lists title, publisher name and the list price (per the information which he had available). The strength of this work is the brief comments on each title. Carson readily admits that he is rightly accused of being “trenchant” in his comments. “I have tried to be careful, but in a survey this condensed I prefer to be a shade too trenchant than too bland” (p. 9). The comments are interesting, provocative and occasionally acerbic. He has taken the same tact as Charles Spurgeon did in his Commenting and Commentaries (London: Passmore and Alabaster, 1876) as far as the comments are concerned and he upholds that tradition well.

The author does not take a middle road and makes his views quite evident. He has little use, bordering on distain, for dispensationalism and commentaries of that position. He also has little use for “popular” commentaries. Works that are simply edited sermon series often come in for rather critical comments; which will certainly upset some readers whose favorites fall into that category. Occasionally there are ad hominem comments and his references to “poorly trained preachers,” “the mythical well-read layman,” and “unsophisticated Sunday School teacher” seem unnecessarily peevish.

That aside this work is highly recommended for both its informative value and the unique accomplishment for a bibliography, it is interesting and entertaining to read.

Scott W. Sunquist, (ed), David Wu Chu Sing and John Chew Hiang Chea, (associate ed’s) A Dictionary of Asian Christianity. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdman’s Publishing Co., 2002. xliii+937 pp. (cloth) $79.95.

One does not have to work in biblical and theological reference for any length of time before questions related to Christianity in Asia or the Pacific Rim will begin to frustrate both library staff and faculty. Only a few resources existed in non-English sources and virtually nothing in English. This frustration was even evident in Asian Bible schools and seminaries where, the editors noted, “The Asian story was available, but it was difficult for our students to find. As a result we all inadvertently reinforced the notion that Christianity was a Western imposition on Asia even though we knew this was really not the case” (xxi). Over a period of about 15 years this present work was conceived and put together by the editors and the result is an excellent source of information on the history of Christianity in the Asian world.

As with most reference works from Eerdman’s Publishing, this volume is a model of what a reference work should be. There is a thorough indexing of article entries (0ver 1200) and contributors (nearly 500). The articles are generally several paragraphs with many reaching essay length (e.g., World War II, Korean War, entries for individual countries, etc.). Useful bibliographies are included for all of the entries. There is an extended preface detailing some of the unique features and challenges of the project. One of which were the articles dealing with Christianity in China. As the editors note, “the sensitive nature of the material from China meant that the writers should work as a team with their articles signed only as ‘China Group’” (xxiv). They also detail their decision on the extent of the geographic region that the volume would cover. They acknowledge that the work does not cover all of Asia. There are, for instance, entries related to Pakistan, but none for Afghanistan. The Pacific Islands, for the most part, and Russia are also not covered. The editors admit that decisions related to the scope of the work “may seem somewhat arbitrary, it is confirmed by the way in which Asian church history is taught in most seminaries in Asia today” (xxiii). The editors also acknowledge that the spelling, especially of proper names, is occasionally problematic. Often background material was sketchy and contradictory, the editors were also confronted with the translation into English of articles originally written in over a dozen different languages.

Many notable entries mark this work. For the reader with limited or no background in Asian Christianity, the main entries on individual countries serve as excellent introductions. While one can understand the pressure under which the “China Group” submitted their work on China, the otherwise excellent article is very sketchy on details from the Cultural Revolution (1966) to the present and should have perhaps been supplemented with additional contributors. It is disappointing that Mao tse-Tung is not even mentioned, nor is the “Red Book” which was the formal replacement of the Bible in the Cultural Revolution and whose writings have eclipsed even Marx and Lenin with those who still embrace Communism.

There are significant entries detailing the work of all of the significant denominations in Asia. The editors are to be commended for the manner in which controversial articles (e.g. the Vietnam War and Imperialism) were handled. The articles reflect a clear, dispassionate, and factual presentations free from the kind of political correctness and/or rhetoric that has marred some recent reference works. Significant articles include those on Buddhism (98-104), Minjung Theology (552-55), the Nestorian Church (595-98) and Theological Education (838-42).

This is an important volume of immense usefulness for theological students, mission boards, prospective missionaries and those who teach church history. The long history of Christianity in Asia is well represented and documented in this fine work.

The Evangelical Movement has, in recent years, struggled with its identity, to the point that the theme of the 2002 annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society was “Evangelical Boundaries.” Even the most recent edition of the Dictionary of Evangelical Theology notes that, “The very nature of evangelicalism never was a unified movement but a collection of emphases based on a common core of belief, "a core that itself is now under discussion” (Dictionary of Evangelical Theology, Walter A. Elwell, ed. [Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2nd edition, 2001], p. 409).

Seeking to detail those various “emphases” the author of this work admits to a “quixotic venture” in which he attempts to “provide a sense of both the history and the extraordinary breadth of this popular movement” (vii). And while parts of his effort are admirable, on the whole this work is a disappointing muddle that confuses rather than clarifies the nature of evangelicalism.

Properly speaking the muddle begins with the very title, this work is not properly an “encyclopedia” the author admits that he alone is responsible for all of the articles (although he admits assistance from several individuals); nor is it “encyclopedic” in nature; the articles often reflect outdated or incorrect information and the bibliographic well from which the articles are drawn is very limited.

The problems with this work range from typographical to methodological, but clearly the underlying problem is the author’s inability to accurately define the evangelical movement. There are actually more articles related to American fundamentalism than evangelicalism; and while the two are certainly related, they are not identical movements.

In terms of layout the book lacks both indexes and useful bibliographies. Articles often have no bibliographic support at all and others have only a single reference. The editing is also problematic. Charles H. Spurgeon’s named is rendered “Surgeon” (177) and Alva J. McClain is rendered “McLain” (249). Some articles reflect incomplete or outdated information, such as the entry for the Evangelical Theological Society (201-202) where the quotation of the doctrinal statement fails to note the addition of the affirmation of the Trinity added several years ago. When references are cited, they are generally dated; for instance the entry for Grace Theological Seminary (249) cites the catalogue for 1995. The entry for Jack Hayford (274) makes no mention of the creation of a seminary under his leadership, although this occurred over five years ago. In fact, except for repeated references to another book by the author (Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory, 2000) only a few bibliographic references are dated after 1995. Theological omissions are also noted. In the entry for T. D. Jakes (300), no mention is made of his anti-trinitarianism and other non-evangelical theology.

Beyond these issues some of the actual entry selections almost defy explanation. For example there is an entry for Trent Dilfer (176) containing a nice recitation of his career in the National Football League along with a rather innocuous quotation related to Christianity, but no real indication as to why he was actually deemed of importance to the evangelical movement. Interestingly enough the entry for Dilfer is given more space than that for the "Second Coming of Christ" (515). The entry on the "Overhead Projector" (432) is one of the more odd inclusions of this work. Lengthy entries are reserved for several Christian Rock bands such as "Third Day" (576), "Stryper" (558), "Newsboys" (408-09) and "Jars of Clay" (301-02). Significant events such as the "International Congress on Biblical Inerrancy" and the resulting "Chicago Statement" receive no mention at alland significant individuals, such as John MacArthur also receive no mention.

This work cannot be recommended as reference for evangelicalism. It is a eccletic and non-cohesive collection of one author’s idiosyncratic caricature of evangelicalism, poorly crafted and even more poorly executed.

Ben Witherington III. The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998. xlviii + 875 pp. $50.00 (paper).

The author, the well-known New Testament scholar of Asbury Theological Seminary, has produced a massive commentary on the Book of Acts. The author’s purpose for producing yet another commentary on Acts is stated as “the rhetorical dimension of Acts has not been much explored in recent commentaries on the book, in part because of the waning influence of classical studies on biblical studies in this century. Nor for that matter has sufficient attention been paid in commentaries to how similar Acts is to other ancient Hellenistic historiographic works” (x). The author claims that the outstanding bibliography he provides is “not intended to be exhaustive” (xiii), but it does cover 37 pages and is one of the most comprehensive that this reviewer has encountered. There is a fine index of authors and Scripture, but remarkably no subject index. The work is massively footnoted, and though not numerous, helpful pictures, maps and charts are incorporated. The reviewer’s main criticism in terms of formatting would be directed toward the publisher who simply shortchanges the customer by placing this massive a work in a paper binding. In fact, the review copy already had the spine split in several places. Most would gladly pay the extra cost for a hardcover binding which would remain serviceable for years instead of months.

The author begins the work with over 100 pages of introductory material. He covers every aspect of introduction, with lengthy discussions of “Acts and the Question of Genre” (2-39) and Luke-Acts as rhetoric (39-49). One of his key points is that “ancient historical works w ere meant to be heard primarily and read only secondarily, and this meant that considerable attention had to be given to the aural impression a work would leave on the audience” (41). Thankfully, the author does an admirable job of demonstrating that the goal of the “aural impression” should not leave one to believe that Luke either invented material or simply put disconnected events or speeches together to fabricate a point. He points out that ancient historians with whom he compares Luke were careful with factual information (49). The author also presents a useful time-line of the events in Acts, starting with an AD 30 crucifixion and Paul’s death at the hands of Nero between AD 65-68 (although strangely, despite the extensive bibliography, he does not reference either Harold Hoehner’s doctoral dissertation on Chronology of the Apostolic Era or his book Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ). He affirms two Roman imprisonments for Paul (contra Paul Jewett) and, with some disclaim er, accepts Pauline authorship of the Pastorals, working the historical events detailed there into the period between the release from his first Roman imprisonment and his final arrest and execution.

In the commentary portion the author further develops his idea of “Acts as Rhetoric,” spending a great deal of time with the various speeches, trials and other official pronouncements that Luke records. He develops the background of these and attempts to demonstrate how they fit into the overall scheme of Luke’s rhetoric. In this regard the author is often forced into some rather subjective speculation on the text, but never outrageously so. He has numerous asides, which he labels as “A Closer Look” on various aspects of background subjects (e.g., “Gentile Godfearers,” “Travels and Travails in "Antiquity,” “Justice, Citizenship and Appeals in the Provinces,” etc.), which are quite helpful and well documented.

This is a commentary that will be of great benefit to those studying the Book of Acts. It contains a wealth of information, interesting observations, and stimulating thought. The student or pastor will want to supplement this volume with something more exegetically driven (such as Cranfield’s two volumes on Acts in the International Critical Commentary series), but the author has enriched the field of study on the Book of Acts with this fine production.

Iain H. Murray. Revival and Revivalism: The Making and Marring of American Evangelicalism, 1750-1858. Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1994. xxii + 455 pp. $27.95 (cloth).

In a time when the church is often searching for "revival" and passersby can often see signs in front of churches announcing a "revival meeting" and many of the media preachers seem to portray "revival" as something that follows them around from city to city, Iain Murray has produced a marvelously helpful book that will serve to give "revival" and "revivalism" a proper historical and theological perspective.

Murray chronicles the revivals in America from the late colonial period to just prior to the Civil War. He shows how Seasons of revival became "revival meetings." Instead of being "surprising" they may even now be announced in advance, and no one in the previous century had known of ways to secure a revival, a system was now popularized by "revivalists" which came near to guaranteeing results (xviii).

Murray begins his study in the time immediately after the "Great Awakening" in the American Colonies. He presents a picture of the men who were foundational in various smaller revivals and the "Second Great Awakening." Particularly notable is his discussion of the ministry of Samuel Davies, called by Dr. Lloyd-Jones "the greatest preacher America ever produced." Murray chronicles the various revivals in different colonial areas and offers a seemingly endless amount of historical detail. The amount of detail will be a hindrance to the casual reader, as the flow of Murray's work occasionally slows and nearly bogs down in the amount of factual data presented. The flow could have been improved if more of Murray's "sidebars" had been reduced to footnotes. An additional help would have been the inclusion of some detailed maps to give the reader a better sense of the regions and occasionally obscure villages Murray refers to.

Throughout this work Murray attempts to demonstrate that true revival is an act of God's sovereignty in which the Holy Spirit does an unusual work in convicting men of sin and bringing about
their conversion. Regarding the men God used in the various revivals
he states,

A considerable body of men, for a long period before the Great Awakening, preached the same message as they did during the revival but with vastly different consequences—the same men, the same actions, performed with the same abilities, yet the results were so amazingly different! The conclusion must be that the change in the churches after 1798 and 1800 is not explainable in terms of the means used. Nothing was clearer to those who saw the events than that God was sovereignly pleased to bless human instrumentality in such a way that the success could be attributed to Him alone (127-28).

The key thesis of Murray's work is that as Christians began to modify and abandon their Calvinistic theology and replace it with an increasingly Arminian one, the emphasis of revival as a working of a sovereign God shifted to revivalism, something that man could manufacture by the "proper use of ordained means" as promoted by Charles G. Finney (247-48). Though Murray thoroughly evaluates and criticizes Finney and his followers, other "evangelical Arminians" such as Francis Asbury come in for some favorable comments. Murray devotes three chapters to a thorough and highly critical examination of Finney, his theology, methodology and influence. However, the work
ends on a positive note as Murray examines the ministry of James Waddell Alexander (the son of Princeton Seminary founder Archibald Alexander) and the "Layman's Prayer Revival" of 1857-58. Murray presents an impressively documented history of American evangelicalism during the first half of the nineteenth century. Two appendices on revivalism in Great Britain and revivals in the South are very helpful, as is the very thorough index.

This is clearly one of Murray's finest historical efforts and will be an important reference source in the study of revivals.

Davis A. Young. The Biblical Flood: A Case Study of the Church's Response to Extrabiblical Evidence. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995. xiii + 327 pp. $19.99 (paper).

For a lengthy article length interaction with Young and this (and other of his) works click here. Tis article originally appeared in the Journal of Christian Apologetics 2:1 (Summer 1998), 3-24.

The author, professor of geology at Calvin College, has collected an impressive array of information on the history of interpretation of the Genesis flood account. He chronicles the interpretation of the flood in Christian and Jewish thought with an emphasis on how Christians have interacted with "extrabiblical" evidence related to the flood.

Young categorically rejects the notion of a "universal flood," interpreting Genesis 6—9 instead as "language to describe an event that devastated or disrupted Mesopotamian civilization" (312), i.e., a local flood. Young reaches this conclusion based entirely on "scientific evidence," that is, data from various disciplines including geology, paleontology, and zoology. This reviewer sees two flawed assumptions underlying Young's conclusions: (1) General Revelation is self-defining in terms of its scope and authority apart from Special Revelation, and (2) General Revelation has sufficient authority to inform and correct Special Revelation.

Young includes in general revelation all types of human intellectual pursuits leading to the discovery of "truth." Discovery of
truth is revelatory and falls into the category of general revelation or as Young often calls it, "extrabiblical evidence" (xi). This expanded view of general revelation is the foundation for various "integrationist" proposals, which the author favors. In the final chapter he calls for an exegetical methodology that integrates "discoveries" in various academic disciplines with Scripture as equals (313). Thus general revelation has the authority to inform Scripture or even correct it (308).

Admitting that Christians for 1700 years have interpreted Genesis 6—9 to refer to a global flood, Young declares on the basis of his view of general revelation, "The extrabiblical data pertaining to the flood have been pushing the church to develop a better approach to the flood story and indeed to all the early chapters of Genesis" (310). He admits that some years ago he believed that the "biblical data favor an essentially global flood" (272); but elsewhere concludes, "The cumulative pressure of general revelation can be ignored for only so long" (309).

He spends considerable space discussing John Whitcomb's and Henry Morris' The Genesis Flood, but does so at a superficial level. He calls their conclusions "obviously incorrect" (311), based on "untested and untestable speculations that have a more solid grounding in the imagination than in God's creation" (265), and their handling of the evidence "highly prejudicial" (262). Yet he never interacts with their substantive discussions. Young also mistakenly contends that only "Whitcomb and Morris have attempted to address the serious problems posed [by a global-flood view] of biogeography and
anthropology" (265), ignoring the extensive work of scientists from such institutions as the Creation Research Society and The Institute for Creation Research.

Pejorative terminology and a condescending spirit characterize Young's summary of the views of modern commentators who favor a universal flood (280-93). He also displays a consistent antipathy towards "flood geology" and the notion of a "young earth." He refers to flood geology as a "pseudo-science" (215) and "reactionary science" (244), in which "scientific competence, sophistication and integrity" are lacking (266). He describes the proponents of flood geology as those who are "typically self-taught and lack the requisite qualifications for discussing geology" (244). This animosity is clearly visible on pp. 274-76 where he introduces a discussion between Stephen A. Austin of ICR and Donald Boardman of Wheaton College, but he expounds only the conclusions of Boardman. As another reviewer has noted, Young has also mishandled the works of Gerhard Charles Aalders and Oswald T. Allis (David J. Engelsma, Protestant Reformed Theological Journal 29/1 [November 1995]:59-60), saying they are "agnostic about the extent of the deluge" (293).

Young has opted for a dichotomy between Scriptural declarations on matters of faith (theology) and matters touching other disciplines (science, history, etc.). He states, "The doctrine of the Trinity, the doctrine of providence, the two natures of Christ, and the concept of God's saving grace in Christ" must be affirmed "no matter what—simply because Scripture teaches them" (308). However, Young is just as ready to recommend the abandonment of the "traditional interpretation of the Bible in the face of a mass of conflicting extra-biblical evidence when the issue is a matter of a more historical, geographical, or scientific character" (ibid). He admits that the NT presents the flood as unique and global and Noah and the flood as historical, but he strongly implies that the NT is in error on those points (15, 29-30).

Scholars and theologians who properly understand the nature and scope of general revelation as presented in Scripture and the interrelationship between special and general revelation must address the questions raised by The Biblical Flood. Though Young calls for a "reinterpretation" of the Genesis flood account, this reviewer thinks that his re-interpretation is simply a rejection of the historicity and reliability of Scripture and of the historic Christian view of the doctrine of inspiration.

David B. Calhoun. Princeton Seminary: Faith & Learning 1812—1868, vol. 1. Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1995. xvii + 495 pp. $28.95 (cloth).

For over 100 years (1812—1929) Princeton Theological Seminary was perhaps the most significant voice in America for orthodox Christianity and also served as a model for seminary education. The author, a professor of Church History at Covenant Seminary, has written a history of "Old Princeton" in two volumes.

This first volume chronicles the initial fifty-six years of Princeton, from the origins of the school to just after the Civil War. Though this work is painstaking in its detail, the author writes in a clear and refreshing style that is all too uncommon in historical works. The lives of the key personalities, Archibald Alexander, Samuel Miller, Ashbel Green, and Charles Hodge, are given thorough treatment. Of particular value is the section dealing with the relation of Princeton and the Princeton men to the "Old School-New School" controversies of the 1830s, which resulted in the split of the Presbyterian Church and the demise of the Plan of Union with the Congregational Church.

The author has researched well and skillfully intersperses quotations from personal correspondence and published writings of key figures with his careful presentation. One is immediately struck by the qualities which made the instructors at Princeton so effective in the hand of God: (1) their commitment to the truth of Scripture and sound doctrine, (2) their love for the students, (3) their commitment to sound preaching of the Scripture, (4) their commitment to evangelism, and (5) their commitment to excellence in the classroom.

The work has two excellent appendices, the most interesting being the "Plan for a Theological Seminary" written by Ashbel Green, which became the charter for the seminary and serves to remind the modern reader that "strategic planning" existed before the last twenty years. The other appendix is the author's excellent narrative discussing various bibliographic sources available for the study of Princeton.

David B. Calhoun. Princeton Seminary: The Majestic Testimony, 1869-1929, (Volume 2). Carlisle, Pa.: Banner of Truth, 1996. 560 pp. $29.99 (cloth).

This is the second volume of the author’s history of "Old Princeton." The second volume takes the reader from the period just after the Civil War to the reorganization of Princeton in 1929. During this period there was a slow shift on two fronts: the Presbyterian Church was moving away from its theological foundations and embracing first critical views of Scripture and then a more liberal theology; Princeton Seminary itself was changing as the senior faculty began to retire and die. All of these changes Calhoun chronicles with great skill in both clarity of style and breadth of detail.

This volume contains a nearly 30-page subject index covering both volumes, and as with the first volume, the author has provided evidence of substantial research with over 80 pages of endnotes. There are two appendices, one listing a detailed bibliographic resource for the study of Old Princeton and the key personalities, and another providing a brief biographic sketch of various faculty members who served from 1812-1929.

The death of Charles Hodge in 1878 marked the end of an era at Princeton. Hodge had taught for over 50 years. Shunning any honor to himself or his work he stated:

All that can be said is that God has been pleased to take up a poor little stick and do something with it. What I have done is as nothing compared to what is done by a man who goes to Africa and labors among a heathen tribe, and reduces their language to writing. I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose the shoes of such a man (62).

Upon Charles Hodge's death, his son, A. A. Hodge, became professor of theology, and although not the senior professor, he was "the real power at Princeton Seminary"(100). Calhoun describes the younger Hodge as "a theologian who could preach and a preacher who could teach theology" (ibid). He details how he and the young B. B. Warfield began to defend the inspiration and inerrancy of the Scripture against the higher critical views and liberalism which were already gaining strong footholds in the American denominations. A. A. Hodge's sudden and unexpected death in 1886 (only eight years after his father) was traumatic for both Princeton and the conservative Calvinists within the Presbyterian church. Although Hodge would be succeeded by the brilliant B. B. Warfield as professor of theology, Warfield would never have the impact in the denomination that Hodge had, and his writings, although classics in scholarly defense of the faith, would never have the popular appeal that the younger Hodge's did.

Calhoun insightfully describes the relationship of the seminary to Princeton College and reflects on the negative impact Woodrow Wilson (later president of the United States) had on the college when he became its president. Wilson stated that, "Princeton is a Presbyterian college only because the Presbyterians were wise and progressive enough to found it" (272). Wilson, the first president of the school who was not an ordained Presbyterian minister, during his administration eliminated all the previously required biblical instruction and hired the first non-Christian faculty members. Calhoun rightly describes Wilson's impact on the college (and indirectly the seminary) as a move from "Protestant establishment to established nonbelief" (ibid). Although Calhoun does not expand on this line of inquirey, there is an interesting comparison also to be made between Wilson's role at Princeton College and his later role as president of the United States, after World War I. As the real founder of the ill-fated "League of Nations" Wilson's "ecumenical spirit" was extremely influential in political thhought, and would ulimately lead, for better or worse, the the forming of the United Nations.

Most readers enjoy a book with a happy ending; however, the history of "Old Princeton" does not lend to such an ending. Calhoun describes the increasing tension within the faculty itself as men with varying commitments to the Scripture tried to work together. Calhoun calls the death of Warfield in 1920 "the end of an era" (326). The battle, which would find J. Gresham Machen as a lightning rod, would intensify until the reorganization of 1929 and the departure of Machen, Robert Dick Wilson, Oswald T. Allis, and Cornelius Van Til to form Westminster Theological Seminary.This reviewer highly recommends this volume, as well as the first. Calhoun's final chapter on "The Princeton Theology" (401-29) is an excellent summation of the institution's distinctive theology. Calhoun writes, "Old Princeton ceased to exist in 1929, but through its history and literature it still inspires, instructs and encourages" (428).

Lewis Drummond. Spurgeon: Prince of Preachers. Grand Rapids:
Kregel, 1992. 895 pp. $22.00 (cloth).

The Centenary of the death of Charles Haddon Spurgeon has been the occasion for the release of several Spurgeon-related works. Drummond's Spurgeon: Prince of Preachers is among the more prized of these. Drummond has the most extensive biography of Spurgeon since G. Holden Pike's two-volume set published in 1899. The biography follows an analogy between Spurgeon and the character "Christian" in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, one of Spurgeon's favorite books. So "this new biography of Charles H. Spurgeon picks up pithy poems, places and personalities of Bunyan's classic allegory and makes them the motif of Spurgeon's life and ministry" (13). Each of the thirteen chapter-titles is a quotation from Progress. Drummond follows his plan with effectiveness and clarity.

He has done his homework and has produced a readable and well-documented biography. His thorough discussion of Spurgeon covers both major and minor aspects of his life. The excellent appendices, dealing mainly with the "Downgrade Controversy," reflect expert use of original sources from the Baptist Union and private correspondence. As did Carlile in his 1933 biography, Drummond conclusively shows that Spurgeon clearly possessed all the evidence necessary to prove the existence of modernism among many pastors in the Baptist Union. Spurgeon was "capable of substantiating" (701) the charges, but when S. H. Booth, moderator of the Baptist Union, urged confidentiality on personalities involved in his correspondence with Spurgeon, for better or for worse, Spurgeon honored his request.

A few modifications would improve this already excellent work. Reportedly, Spurgeon preached at the service commemorating the restoration of Bunyan's tomb on May 21, 1801 (346). This date was over thirty years before Spurgeon's birth. The correct year was 1864. Another deficiency is the many long quotations that are poorly identified or not referenced at all (e.g., 326, 382, 532). Also, space conservation was undoubtedly a factor in the already long book, but the use of a "fractional width" format tends to run letters together and make reading sometimes difficult. Perhaps a two-volume work would have been more serviceable.

Drummond deserves praise for the chapter on "Spurgeon's Theology" (chap. 12), the highlight of the book. He writes, "In the pure sense of the word, Spurgeon never wrote any theological works. At any rate, he never systematized his thought in writing. Therefore, to discover his theology of the Bible one must glean it through his sermons and other writings" (615). Spurgeon produced more published works than any other Christian in history, so sorting out his theology is a laborious task, one that this biographer has accomplished admirably. His own personal convictions seem to have prejudiced His conclusions about Spurgeon's doctrine sometimes. For example, he equates "hyper Calvinism" with the doctrine of double predestination (641) without distinguishing between active and passive reprobation, the latter being the clear position of Spurgeon (ibid.). Spurgeon rejected "hyper-Calvinism," which rejects the need to preach the gospel actively to the lost, but he firmly embraced the total sovereignty of God in election. He balanced his position by teaching that God ordains both the end (i.e., salvation of the elect) and the means (i.e., human instrumentality in preaching the gospel). He expressed it this way: "That God predestines, and that man is responsible, are two things that few can see. They are believed to be inconsistent and contradictory; but they are not. . . . These two truths cannot be welded into one upon any human anvil, but one they shall be in eternity" (ibid.)

As a challenge to today's world of theological morass and doctrinal compromise, Drummond's biography portrays a man of single-mindedness and theological consistency. The present scene needs more men like Spurgeon`men of vision, energy, and ability, but above all, men who put God's glory and honor and the truth of the Scriptures above all considerations of earthly life.

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The author of this new reference work is a widely regarded New Testament scholar and long-time professor at the University of Notre Dame. His writing credits are extensive and well-regarded, including the three-volume commentary on the Book of Revelation in the Word Biblical Commentary series (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1998) and The New Testament in Its Literary Environment (Louisville, Ky: Westminster John Knox Press, 1987).

This work, which the author notes has been under development for ten years (xi) has as its focus to provide a reference source ?on the literary and rhetorical dimensions of early Christian literature from its beginnings, about 50 C.E., through the mid-second century C.E.? (ibid). One note, albeit perhaps a quibbling one, must be made at this point. This reviewer understands that the conventions of secular scholarship have now made the shift from the chronological identifiers B.C. (?before Christ?) and A.D. (anno Domini, or ?year of Our Lord?) to B.C.E. (?before the common era?) and C.E. (?common era?); but this shift is not only an unwelcome intrusion by secularism, it certainly has no place in writings or works that purport to center on Biblical and theological studies (although in this work that style is used throughout).

The author acknowledges that, unlike typical reference works, he has authored the overwhelming majority of the articles. He notes that 21 articles were completed by ?eight current or former students? (xii). While this might tend to render the work a little idiosyncratic, that is far from the case. The author?s breadth of research and noted scholarship has created a well-rounded and highly useful reference work.

The basic format follows standard conventions with two columns with a generous use of ?see also? notations at the end of the articles. There are also plentiful ?see reference? entry points throughout the work. Although more careful editing might have helped this feature. For example there is a ?see? for ?Luke, Gospel of? that points the reader to the very next entry (?Luke-Acts?, 280); however, there is no ?see? entry for Acts of the Apostles that would direct the reader to the correct entry. Additionally, one ?see also? entry points the reader to a non-existent article on ?Rhetorical theory? (424). There are several other examples that could be cited. One unique feature is the manner in which the author handled the bibliographies for the articles. Instead of a short reference that is oft-times difficult to look up, he has instead simply listed a last name and date. The reader can then go to an extensive (112 pages) bibliography in the back of the book and find the desired work. The articles range from a few paragraphs for several pages. The use of charts is judicious and quite helpful to the reader. Remarkably, in a work this complex, there are almost no editing or typographical errors of note.

In terms of content this work centers on literature and rhetorical issues rather than personalities. All of the NT canonical works; and the non-canonical works in the author?s time scope (see above) have articles and normally an extensive outline as well as a discussion of normal introductory issues (authorship, date, etc.) as well as more detailed rhetorical analysis of the works. Some individuals have dedicated articles such as Ireneaus (234-37) and Justin Martyr (257-62), but other such as Clement (99-102) and Tatian (211) are only mentioned in articles related to their works. A few more ?see? notations, especially for an individual like Tatian who occurs mainly in the article on ?Harmonies (of the Gospels)? or a wider index of persons, would have been helpful. Other main articles are on the terminology of literary and rhetorical studies, which are quite helpful.

The one general criticism with this work is the manner in which the concept of ?inspiration? is handled, or better not handled in the work. In a reference work concerned with Early Christian Literature, it seems amazing that there is not even an article on the concept of ?inspiration,? although without a doubt this is a central concept in the early church?s view of the New Testament (see ?Bible, Inspiration of the? in Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, Walter A Elwell, ed. [Baker Books, 1996]). Even in the article on the ?Canon? (85-88) there is no mention of inspiration as a factor in how the early church viewed the canon. Clearly the author rejects the concept of Biblical inspiration as generally understood in evangelical scholarship. He rejects Pauline authorship of the Pastorals, questions it in Ephesians; rejects Petrine authorship entirely, and rejects James and Jude as authors of their respective works and denies apostolic connection to the Gospels (88). In the article on the Book of Titus, the references to both Paul and Titus are regarded as ?fictitious? and the entire basis of the letter and setting in Crete is regarded as a ?fictive rhetorical setting? (475). Even an article in which the author ?laid his cards on the table? regarding inspiration, even if the conclusion were to categorically deny it, would have has more scholarly integrity than simply skirting the issue.

Historical and rhetorical critical examinations, as well as comparative Greco-Roman literature serve as the starting point for the author in examining and interpreting the New Testament. The weaknesses in this approach are evident, especially when combined with a rejection of biblical inspiration (and by extension inerrancy). In many respects this is one of the better reference works that has been produced for this field and when the reader understands the underlying philosophy of the work, it can be used to no small benefit.

Reference works are, in general, a ?first stop? in research and reference works that match this volume in terms of research and scholarship while maintaining and presenting an inspired and inerrant Scripture that this volume rejects, are a much needed commodity so that evangelical theology does not become more obscured, such as the apparent fait accompli of B.C. and A.D.

Kendall H. Easley. The Illustrated Guide to Biblical History. Nashville, Tennessee: Holman Reference, 2003. Cloth xiii + 306pp. $19.95

Since the publication of the Encountering series from Baker Books publishers seemingly have been tripping over themselves to produce high quality color, graphic and visually oriented Bible surveys and helps. This present volume represents a new series from Holman Publishers into that genre.

This work, as noted in the preface, uses the new Holman Christian Standard Bible (Holman, 2000) for Biblical text references and draws on the considerable graphic resources from the archives of The Biblical Illustrator, a regular periodical production of the Southern Baptist Convention. The work is designed to present a sweeping over view of Biblical History in the Old and New Testament era, what the author calls “metanarrative” (2). There is also an adequate overview of the inter-testamental period. He notes that “building the Kingdom” is the theme of the entire Bible (3).

The clear strength of this work is the highly detailed maps and charts (all in full color) and the excellent pictures throughout. The book is produced on high quality paper, and is remarkably low-priced (in fact this reviewer found that Amazon.com sells it for only $13.95 new in hardback). There are frequent uses of “sidebars” giving a paragraph or two of additional information on specific issues, individuals or groups. The text is brief, often too brief even for metanarrative. The totality of Biblical history is placed in a prologue which in only seven pages covers all of Genesis 1-11; six chapters, and an epilogue in which the author deals with Revelation 21-22 as summations of a sort of all of Biblical history; a sort of tying up all the loose ends.

The text itself is broadly evangelical and conservative in nature and generally avoids controversial issues. The author mentions creation options of “old earth” and “young earth” only in passing (4) and rather cavalierly gives the impression that it is an unimportant subject to the totality of what he calls the “Kingdom Story” (ibid). He does present an early dating for the Exodus (24) but without any real conviction or an explanation as to why this might be an important interpretative issue. He presents an A.D. 30 crucifixion (not this reviewers choice), but again without any mention of additional options (199ff) or the issues involved. The author presents a section on Revelation 20 and the millennial kingdom, but rather oddly consigns both the amilllennial and premillennial view as taking the passage (esp. 20:4-6, as he ignores entirely vs. 1-3 and the binding of Satan) as figurative (280). He presents a solution for the passage that he calls “promillenialism” in which no real chronological significance can be derived and is intended to present comfort for the readers of God’s victory (ibid).

In the introduction the author gives no mention as to his intended audience or a specific need that this work is designed to fill. It certainly can be recommended, despite the above-mentioned flaws, as a general overview of the Bible. This work would find it’s best use perhaps in a Sunday School setting. It is much too brief and anemic for a college-level text and certainly of no particular value at the seminary level.

Jacob Neusner (editor). Dictionary of Ancient Rabbis: Selections from the Jewish Encyclopedia. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2003. Cloth xxxviii + 473. $24.95.

Jacob Neusner is an amazingly prolific author and editor specializing in Judaic studies. He has written or edited nearly 100 works, many of which are important studies and reference sources for Biblical scholars.

This work is not really new, nor represents current scholarship. As the title suggests it is a thematic compilation of articles from The Jewish Encyclopedia. In fact the articles are taken from the first edition of The Jewish Encyclopedia, edited by Isadore Singer (New York: Funk and Wagnall, 1901-06). The editor has extracted the articles on the significant individual rabbis of ancient times and placed them together into a single collection. There is a useful preface in which he presents an overview of rabbinic studies and their place in the larger context of New Testament studies.

The articles represent exact copies, including the bibliographies, of the original entries, and this presents a problem for the researcher. While the authors of the original articles are identified by means of their initials, one would have to have access to the original work to actually determine who those authors were. The same goes for the abbreviations used in the bibliographic citations. The abbreviation conventions in many cases have changed since 1901 and the sources, which are often obscure in the first place, would be almost impossible to identify without access to the original encyclopedia. There are no indexes or other helps to connect the reader to the original edition and even the original pagination is not included.

Except for the helpful articles on the rabbinic schools connected with the New Testament (particular Hillel, 192-99 and Gamaliel I, 151-53), and interesting historical and biographical tidbits, this volume has little to offer for the student. It is purely a secondary source, unsuitable for scholarly citation (beyond representing research that is nearly 120 years old). As the original text of the entire Jewish Encyclopedia is in the public domain and has been available on the Internet (www.jewishencyclopedia.com) and even the original print edition is not difficult to locate in most libraries, this reviewer is mystified why this volume was even produced.

Steve Mason. Josephus and the New Testament (2nd edition). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2003. Paper, xviii + 318pp. $16.95.

One of the most important and interesting personalities in extra-biblical history of the New Testament era is that of Flavius Josephus (c.a. A.D.37-100). This work is a new and expanded edition of the author’s 1992 work under the same title. The author brings significant academic credentials to this undertaking. He is widely regarded as one of the leading Josephan scholars alive today and is the general editor of the multi-volume Flavius Josephus: Translation and Commentary (Brill, 2000-) a new English edition of the works of Josephus.

This new edition is well designed and includes a new series of charts and maps that are quite helpful in sorting out the various personalities and groups, particularly the House of Herod (151) and especially the Hasmonean Dynasty (201). He has written an overview and introduction that is lucid and detailed dealing with quite a complicated corpus of work from a singularly unique individual. As the author notes, “Although Josephus is widely known, he writings seem bewildering and impenetrable on a first approach” (297). This work is well indexed (particularly the index of Josephus’ works cited) and provides excellent bibliographic references.

The author has several excellent sections, particularly his discussion of the relationship between Luke-Acts and Josephus (251-95). The author holds out the possibility that Luke used Jospehus as one of his sources for information, although of course this would put the writing of Luke-Acts into the era of A.D. 90. It is interesting that the author does not even consider that the converse is possibly true, that Josephus used Luke-Acts as a source. Other important sections are the discussions of Josephan references to New Testament personalities and his detailed discussion of the testimonian flavianum, the testimony of Josephus to the person of Christ (Ant. 18.63-64; pp. 225-36 in this text). His chapter on “Who’s Who in the New Testament World” (147-211) is also a thorough and well-conceived overview.

The major flaw in this work from an epistemological viewpoint is that the author regards the works of Josephus to be on an equal historical value and reliability as the Scriptures and seemingly he often seems to regard Josephus as perhaps even more reliable. This, of course, will be a distraction to those who are committed to an inspired and inerrant Scripture; however, that should not dissuade any serious student of the New Testament from acquiring and using this excellent introduction to great profit.

A new lexical reference volume, designed for a English reading, general audience, based on the English text, but delving into the underlying Hebrew and Greek foundations has been a need for some time. Vine’s Expository Dictionary (Old Tappen, NJ: Fleming H. Revell, 1900) is dated, and attempts to update it have been, in this reviewer’s opinion unsatisfactory. This current work, edited by the longtime professor at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary is designed to fill in that gap, but does so with mixed results.

The English word entry points are based on the text of the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (NSRV), certainly not a version of choice for this reviewer; nor evangelicals in general. As Thomas noted in his review of the NRSV, “The major obstacle to its use by evangelicals remains: theological bias towards looser views of traditional orthodox doctrine that characterized the RSV also characterizes the NRSV” (TMSJ 2:1 [Spring 1991]: 111-15). The editor states that, “the book has been written so that it can be used by readers who do not know the biblical languages” (vii). However, in the introduction that he refers those seeking more technical sources to three works: (1) Theological Dictionary of the of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdman’s Publishing 1974-2002, in progress); (2) Theological Lexicon of the New Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1997); and (3) Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdman’s Publishing, 1964-74). Why the more recent (and honestly more evangelically inclined) works New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (Colin Brown, ed. [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986]) and the New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis (Willem A. VanGemeren, ed. [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997), were not even listed is a puzzlement. Two other Bible dictionaries are listed as reference sources in the preface: the now very much dated, Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (Nashvillle: Abington, 1962) and the thorough, but decidedly liberal, Anchor Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992).

The format of the work is a standard two-column reference style. The articles authors are named and occasionally there are bibliographies for the entries (although most of the bibliographic references seem out of sync with the intended audience. The work lacks any indexes, except a listing of abbreviations. An indexing listing all of the articles would have been particularly helpful and the lack of a Scripture index (especially for a work that has a particular English version as its basis) is especially detrimental to the overall usefulness. There is a generally helpful use of “See” references scattered throughout the entry points, but a surprising lack of “see also” references at the end of different articles. The articles range in length from a few paragraphs to several pages.

While there is certainly helpful and useful insight from many of the articles and the careful reader can certainly derive benefit from this volume, there are quite a few problematic entries, especially from an evangelical viewpoint. While it is impossible to detail the articles of this work in the short space of a review; however, a couple of examples will suffice. In the article on “numbers [in the Bible]” one is left with the impression that all use of numbers in the Bible are possessed of a deeper or symbolic meaning. At this point the article even is critical of the NSRV rendering, where, commenting on Revelation 21:16) the author states, “the dimensions of the city are foursquare, ‘its length the same as its width,’ at twelve thousand stadia (Rev 21:16; NRSV’s ‘fifteen hundred miles’ obscures the use of the symbolic number twelve thousand), and the city walls at one hundred forty four cubits (21:17); twelve squared reinforce the point that the city is complete and perfect” (348). However, it seems more precise to say that the city is complete and perfect because it is God’s city and “God Himself shall be among them” (21:3). Interestingly also while some space is given to the number of the Beast, 666 (Rev 13:18 whom the author categorically declares to represent Nero Caesar), there is no discussion at all of the “1,000 years” of Rev 20.

One additional example is noteworthy. When looking for “inspired or inspiration” (e.g. 2 Tim 3:16) one finds a “see” reference pointing to the entry for “prophet.” Within that rather disappointing article there is no mention of 1 Pet 1:20-21 at all and the mention of 2 Tim 3:16, besides implicitly denying Pauline origination reduces inspiration to the insipid “salvational reliability” construct of liberalism. “Because Scripture is ‘God-breathed,’ it is a reliable source of teaching and instruction in the godly life” (409). That Donald K. McKim, a long time opponent of both inerrancy and the evangelical view of inspiration was the publisher’s editor for this work (viii) should come as no great surprise.

As the title suggests, the articles are more theological in nature than lexical, although there is some excellent lexical notations in some of the articles. This feature is the key aspect that separates it from a more lexically based work, it presents meanings through the lens of a particular theological viewpoint and is really not a tool for those who want to accomplish independent Bible study. It is not a work we can recommend for the Christian in need of a personal Bible study tool; despite its age Vine’s still surpasses this disappointing volume.

Frederick J. Murphy. Early Judaism: The Exile to the Time of Jesus. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2002. xviii+474pp. $37.95 (cloth).

One of the welcome consequences resulting from the breaking of the scholastic monopoly on the Dead Sea Scrolls several years ago has been the resurgence of studies related to Judaism and Judaic influences on the New Testament world and text. The literature in this field has literally exploded in the last five years with at least a dozen notable works and many more of lesser notoriety.

The author of this present work is Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Holy Cross and this work is a completely revised version of his 1991 The Religious World of Jesus: An Introduction to Second Temple Palestinian Judaism (Abington, 1991). Written to supply a text for his courses, the author has the purpose of to “balance the effort to appreciate Judaism for its own sake, on the one hand, and the desire to shed light on Jesus and the early Christians on the other” (p. xiii).

This work is an amazing resource of factual information, well written and structurally well conceived. There are helpful indexes and two helpful glossaries (of terms and of persons). There are several useful charts and the author often places boxes with explanatory information within the text. The chapters progress clearly and logically, covering the history of Israel in survey form from Abraham to the Babylonian captivity and then with a little more detail from the Restoration to the New Testament era. There are separate chapters dedicated to the subject of Apocalypticism, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the various Jewish sects, the Roman rule over Israel, the Jewish revolt and the interesting chapter, “Jewish Foundations of New Testament View of Christ.”

However, the potential of this book is never realized because of what this reviewer call the “conservative minimalist” view of Scripture of the author and his resultant misunderstanding of the text. By “conservative minimalist” this reviewer means one who take the text of Scripture as simply one of many texts to be examined to construct a theology or reconstruct a history of the Biblical world. Scripture is important, but no more or less important than other texts. The author makes this clear in his introduction:

The canon of Judaism or Christianity is that body of writings accepted as authoritative and normative. Belief and practice are measured and judged by these writings. By choosing to include some writings in the canon and exclude others from it, each religion has defined its contours. The normativity of the included texts is expressed through the notion that they are inspired¬–that is, that God is responsible for them in some way (p. 1).

He further states that, “When we limit our study to the canon of the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament, certain viewpoints and prejudices are reinforced that are supported by the principles of selection that led to the formation of the canon in the first place” (p. 6-7). For the author the concept of canonization are purely a human effort to collect religious writings that support a groups preconceived ideas of how they wanted their theology and worldview to be formed. Inspiration becomes nothing more than a “label” placed on texts by groups to validate their views or manipulate followers into acquiescence. The biblical constructs of inspiration, inerrancy, authority, etc., are explicitly and implicitly denied throughout this book.

In the view of the author the New Testament distorts the Judaism of the era, calling the “treatment of Judaism is, on the whole, biased” (ibid). A key purpose of the author is to present a “more balanced portrait of Jewish society” (ibid) than one receives from simply “analyzing the apostle Paul or the Gospel of Mark.”

The author’s view of the Old Testament text does not attain to a high level either. He affirms his belief in the compilation JEP theory for the Pentateuch (22) and the Deuteronomistic History theory to the remainder of the historic books (23). The Old Testament, in his view, was the product of redactors and editors and the final version of the majority of the Old Testament books was not finalized until late in the Judean monarchy or after the Babylonian captivity through the Hasmonean era. As a result different sections of the Old Testament are contradictory to each other or express entirely different worldviews (26).

Theologically, the author misunderstands the entire concept of the sacrificial system stating that, “the basic idea of much of the Israelite sacrifice seems to have been that of a gift in thanksgiving for a favor or in hopes of getting God’s favor” (48). Prophecy is not predictive in any way, it is simply men writing words of encouragement to an oppressed people utilizing “literary fiction” (163) to display an illusion of prediction, strengthening the encouraging words. Most importantly Jesus is not the divine Second Person of the Trinity (407), He is simply a man on a mission to purify Judaism and speak out against the oppressors of His era, whose followers later ascribe to Him deity (349).

Stylistically the reader is struck by the fact that with all of the author’s rather dogmatic pronouncements about history, culture and the interpretation of Biblical and extra-biblical texts, there is not a single footnote or endnote to be found. There are only a few in-text citations in the entire book. At the end of each chapter there is a bibliography (which honestly would be much more useful if it had been collected as a whole), but no one is quoted and almost no references are given for additional study or to check up on the author’s work. This being the case it should come as no surprise that the bibliography is bereft of works from conservative or evangelical scholarship.

In the short space of this review it is impossible to list all of the interpretative and theological errors that are compiled herein. While the author often calls himself a Christian (xii) it is impossible to understand what he actually means by that, since he denies or modifies every cardinal doctrine of the Christian faith. This is a book that is an excellent example of a genre of material coming forth from the failed and heretical “Historical Jesus” movement.