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The Apologists and Paul

In Bloomsbury, Jonathon Lookadoo, Patristic exegesis, Patristics, Paul on January 14, 2025 at 2:48 pm

2025.01.03 | Todd D. Still and David E. Wilhite. The Apologists and Paul. Pauline and Patristic Scholars in Debate. London: T&T Clark, 2024. Pp. xiv + 346. ISBN: 9780567715456.

Review by Jonathon Lookadoo, Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Many thanks to T&T Clark for providing a review copy.

The Apologists and Paul provides a wide-ranging analysis of how Paul’s letters were employed by that loosely defined group of early Christian writers known as the apologists. This volume is the fourth in the series, Pauline and Patristic Scholars in Debate, all of which have been co-edited by Todd Still and David Wilhite. Earlier compilations took up the use of Paul by Tertullian (2013), the Apostolic Fathers (2017), and Irenaeus (2020). While the volumes have not appeared in the same chronological order as the early Christian authors and texts that they study, the respective contributions to the series are characterized by far-reaching coverage of the respective figures in the titles (the Apostolic Fathers, Irenaeus, and Tertullian) as well as depth in the probative explorations of how Paul was utilized by his later interpreters. The most recent book is no exception. Although the composition of some essays was delayed due to restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, the resulting collection is marked by breadth in its discussion of the apologists as well as depth in its attention to the details of how Paul was employed. Along the way, several essays shed light on many pre-requisites that must be understood to appreciate each respective apologist.

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The Gospel of the Son of God

In Bloomsbury, Book of Psalms, Christology, Gospel of Mark, Intertextuality, Kendall A. Davis on August 20, 2024 at 8:44 pm

2024.08.05 | James M. Neumann. The Gospel of the Son of God: Psalm 2 and Mark’s Narrative Christology. LNTS 688. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2024. 

Review by Kendall A. Davis, University of Edinburgh.

In this published version of his dissertation completed at Princeton Theological Seminary under the supervision of Dale Allison, James Neumann argues not only that the title “son of God” is a central part of the Christology of Mark’s Gospel, but that Psalm 2 is as well. As Neumann writes, “I contend that Mark portrays Jesus’s earthly life from baptism to crucifixion as the actualization of Psalm 2…. To say so is not merely to say that Psalm 2 is the primary background behind Mark’s Son of God, but rather that, for Mark, to call Jesus the ‘Son of God’ is to locate the entire progression of the psalm unfolding in the person and work of Jesus” (p. 20; emphasis original). Neumann’s study is therefore particularly interested in the intertextual and narrative dynamics of Mark’s Gospel and its presentation of Jesus.

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Canon Formation

In Bloomsbury, Canon, Catholic Epistles, Darian R. Lockett, Letter collections, Levi Baker, W. Edward Glenny on May 6, 2024 at 3:49 pm

2024.05.04 | W. Edward Glenny and Darian R. Lockett, eds. Canon Formation: Tracing the Role of Sub-Collections in the Biblical Canon. London: T & T Clark, 2023.

Review by Levi Baker, William Tennent School of Theology.

Over the past two decades there has been increasing interest in the sub-collections that comprise the Jewish and Christian biblical canons. Yet these technical studies often feel like insider conversations and remain largely inaccessible to broader biblical scholarship. A single-volume work addressing the sub-collections across the Christian Bible has been sorely needed.

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Markan Typology

In Bloomsbury, Gospel of Mark, Intertextuality, Jonathan Rivett Robinson, Kendall A. Davis, Typology on June 27, 2023 at 7:13 pm

2023.06.06 | Jonathan Rivett Robinson. Markan Typology: Miracle, Scripture and Christology in Mark 4:35–6:45. LNTS 678. London: T&T Clark, 2023.

Review by Kendall A. Davis, University of Edinburgh.

In his recently revised dissertation, Jonathan Rivett Robinson explores the use of typology in several miracle passages in Mark’s Gospel. Robinson’s study contributes to the study of intertextuality in the Gospels by focusing on typology as a particular dynamic of intertextual discourse. He also seeks to contribute to discussions of divine Christology in Mark’s Gospel, engaging in dialogue with Richard Bauckham, Richard Hays, and Daniel Kirk. 

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Luke in His Own Words

In Bloomsbury, Jenny Read-Heimerdinger, Kendall A. Davis, Luke-Acts, Manuscript Studies, Manuscripts, Textual Criticism on October 31, 2022 at 12:00 pm
cover of book

2022.10.08 | Jenny Read-Heimerdinger. Luke in His Own Words: A Study of the Language of Luke-Acts in Greek. LNTS 672. London: T&T Clark, 2022.

Review by Kendall A. Davis, University of Edinburgh.

As anyone who looks at a critical apparatus for the New Testament knows, a significant number of textual variants involve subtle differences like the presence of an article, the order of words, and so on. Many readers will gloss over such variants as being merely “stylistic,” by which they mean to say, “relatively unimportant and meaningless.” Jenny Read-Heimerdinger’s new collection of previous published essays, Luke in His Own Words, challenges this assumption through a thorough analysis of Luke’s Greek as it is preserved in the Alexandrian text (as represented by Codex Sinaiticus [א01] and Codex Vaticanus [B03]) and Codex Bezae (D05). Read-Heimerdinger combines text-criticism, discourse analysis, and New Testament interpretation to argue that many variants between D05 and the Alexandrian text that are often perceived to be merely stylistic are in fact intentional and meaningful. Read-Heimerdinger further argues that the Bezan text of Acts is not necessarily a later expansion of Acts, as frequently assumed, but may preserve a form of Acts that is earlier than the version preserved in the Alexandrian tradition.

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Ezekiel and the World of Deuteronomy

In Bloomsbury, D. Allen Hutchison, Deuteronomy, Ezekiel, Jason Gile, T & T Clark on December 1, 2021 at 11:47 pm

2021.12.18 | Jason Gile. Ezekiel and the World of Deuteronomy. LHBOTS 703. London: T&T Clark, 2021. ISBN 9780567694317 (electronic version).

Review by D. Allen Hutchison, Stellenbosch University.

Ezekiel and the World of Deuteronomy by Jason Gile makes the strong case that the book of Deuteronomy was a significant influence on the book of Ezekiel. Gile is Dean of Program Development and Innovation and Affiliate Professor of Old Testament at Northern Seminary in Lisle, Illinois. Ezekiel and the World of Deuteronomy is the revision of his 2013 Ph.D. dissertation from Wheaton College Graduate School.

Gile acknowledges on the first page that the Holiness Code of Lev 17-26 is “the chief influence for Ezekiel” (1) but argues that Leviticus is not the only pentateuchal book to substantially influence the prophet and his book. Gile’s thesis is that Deuteronomy influenced Ezekiel “in significant ways” and “in some cases [Ezekiel] alluded to specific texts” from Deuteronomy (2).

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Dating Acts in Its Jewish and Greco-Roman Contexts

In Bloomsbury, Book of Acts, Daniel B. Glover, Dating NT, Karl L. Armstrong, Luke-Acts, Paul on September 17, 2021 at 3:00 pm

2021.9.15 | Karl L. Armstrong. Dating Acts in Its Jewish and Greco-Roman Contexts. LNTS 637. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2021.

Review by Daniel B. Glover, Lee University.

Karl L. Armstrong’s new monograph, Dating Acts in Its Jewish and Greco-Roman Contexts, presents what he calls a new, historiographic approach to identifying the date of Acts. Bucking both current and longstanding trends in Acts scholarship, Armstrong argues for a precise date of 64 CE, a date during the reign of Nero and preceding the death of Paul, the famed fire of Rome, and the Jewish War (66–70 CE). Armstrong is revivifying an older position in Acts scholarship but also leveling new arguments in its favor. What follows is perhaps the strongest, most comprehensive case yet offered for an early date for the Acts, and, for that reason, deserves a detailed, substantive engagement as is offered later in this review.

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The Book of Kings and Exilic Identity

In 1 & 2 Kings, Ancient Israel, Bloomsbury, D. Allen Hutchison, HB/OT, Hebrew Bible, Nathan Lovell, T & T Clark on May 11, 2021 at 8:13 pm

2021.5.11 | Nathan Lovell. The Book of Kings and Exilic Identity: 1 and 2 Kings as a Work of Political Historiography. LHBOTS 708; London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2021. ISBN 9780567695338 (electronic version).

Review by D. Allen Hutchison, Stellenbosch University.

The Book of Kings and Exilic Identity: 1 and 2 Kings as a Work of Political Historiography by Nathan Lovell is a persuasive macro-examination of 1-2 Kings developed through careful attention to the text’s details. Lovell is the Director of Research and a Senior Lecturer of Old Testament and Hebrew at George Whitefield College in Muizenberg, South Africa. The Book of Kings and Exilic Identity is the revision of his 2019 Ph.D. dissertation of the same name from the University of Sydney.

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Mark 13 and the Return of the Shepherd

In Bloomsbury, Gospel of Mark, Intertextuality, Paul Sloan, Samuel Freney, T & T Clark, Zechariah on April 27, 2021 at 3:04 pm
Mark 13 and the Return of the Shepherd

2021.4.10 | Paul Sloan. Mark 13 and the Return of the Shepherd: The Narrative Logic of Zechariah in Mark. Library of New Testament Studies 604. London: T&T Clark, 2019.

Review by Samuel Freney, Bible Society of Australia.

In my experience, the best books—certainly the best technical books—are those that engage you as a reader in a conversation that is richer and deeper than what you may have experienced previously. Paul Sloan’s book is one of these. His central claim is that Mark had the prophet Zechariah front of mind as he composed his Gospel, and that Zech 13–14 especially so imbues Mark’s narrative that it provides an interpretive key for the widely contested Olivet Discourse. Scholars have disagreed for 200 years over why Jesus seemingly answers his disciples’ question about the destruction of the temple with a reference to his second coming (p. 1).

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Sharing in the Son’s Inheritance

In Bloomsbury, Esau McCaulley, Galatians, Messianism, Paul, Trey Moss on January 22, 2021 at 3:00 pm
Sharing in the Son's Inheritance: Davidic Messianism and Paul's Worldwide Interpretation of the Abrahamic Land Promise in Galatians: 608 (The Library of New Testament Studies): Amazon.co.uk: McCaulley, Rev. Dr. Esau: 9780567685926: Books

2021.1.4 | Esau McCaulley. Sharing in the Son’s Inheritance: Davidic Messianism and Paul’s Worldwide Interpretation of the Abrahamic Land Promise in Galatians. LNTS 608. London: T&T Clark, 2019. ISBN 9780567700292. 

Review by Trey Moss, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

 In Sharing in the Son’s Inheritance Esau McCaulley explores the connection between Paul’s messianic theology in the context of Jewish messianism and the Abrahamic land promises in Galatians. While the Abrahamic narrative looms large in Galatians (e.g., Gal 3:6–9, 14–18, 26–29; 4:21, 25–31), Pauline scholarship has often identified the Spirit as a replacement for the land in the argument of Galatians (p. 1, n. 2). Furthermore, according to McCaulley, scholarship on Galatians has not emphasized Davidic messianism in Paul’s theology (pp. 1–2). In contrast, McCaulley argues, “rather than abandoning the Abrahamic land promise, Paul expands it to encompass the whole earth because he believes that Jesus as the seed of Abraham and David (Gal 3:16), is entitled to the peoples and territories of the earth as his inheritance and kingdom (Ps 2:7–8)” (p. 2). By neglecting Paul’s theology of a Davidic Messiah, scholars have missed how Paul connects the land promises to the worldwide kingdom of the Davidic Messiah in Galatians (pp. 5–46). 

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