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Volume 33 Issue 1 - May 2008

An International Journal for Pastors and Students of Theological and Religious Studies



Table of Contents [+] Expand


Book Reviews[+] Expand

Old Testament
Sidnie White Crawford and Leonard J. Greenspoon.
The Book of Esther in Modern Research.
Reviewed by Robin Gallaher Branch
Eryl W. Davies.
The Dissenting Reader: Feminist Approaches to the Hebrew Bible.
Reviewed by Robin Gallaher Branch
John Day, ed.
In Search of Pre-Exilic Israel.
Reviewed by Bálint Károly Zabán
Katharine J. Dell.
The Book of Proverbs in Social and Theological Context.
Reviewed by Jennie Barbour
William G. Dever.
Did God Have a Wife?
Reviewed by William D. Barker
New Testament
Octavian D. Baban.
On the Road Encounters in Luke-Acts.
Reviewed by Jamie Read
Richard Bauckham.
Jesus and the Eyewitnesses.
Reviewed by David Wenham
Andrew E. Bernhard.
Other Early Christian Gospels.
Reviewed by Simon Gathercole
William S. Campbell.
Paul and the Creation of Christian Identity.
Reviewed by James C. Miller
David L. Dungan.
Constantine's Bible: Politics and the Making of the New Testament.
Reviewed by Preston M. Sprinkle
Margaret Hannan.
The Nature and Demands of the Sovereign Rule of God in the Gospel of Matthew.
Reviewed by Phillip J. Long
Carl R. Holladay.
A Critical Introduction to the New Testament.
Reviewed by Lee S. Bond
 
Larry W. Hurtado.
The Earliest Christian Artifacts.
Reviewed by Rohintan Mody
Bruce J. Malina and John J. Pilch.
Social-Science Commentary on the Letters of Paul.
Reviewed by Nijay K. Gupta
Mark Reasoner.
Romans in Full Circle: A History of Interpretation.
Louisville: Reviewed by Michael Bird
Sorin Sabou.
Between Horror and Hope: Paul's Metaphorical Language of "Death" in Romans 6:1-11.
Reviewed by Nijay K. Gupta
Chris VanLandingham.
Judgment and Justification in Early Judaism and the Apostle Paul.
Reviewed by Timothy Gombis
Tommy Wasserman.
The Epistle of Jude: Its Text and Transmission.
Reviewed by P. J. Williams 89

History and Historical Theology
Sheridan Gilley and Brian Stanley, eds.
The Cambridge History of Christianity: World Christianities, c. 1815-c.1914.
Reviewed by John Coffey
Collin Hansen.
Young, Restless, Reformed.
Reviewed by Andrew David Naselli 91
Douglas A. Sweeney and Allen C. Guelzo, eds.
The New England Theology: From Jonathan Edwards to Edwards Amasa Park.
Reviewed by Oliver D. Crisp
Systematic Theology and Bioethics
Petrus J. Gräbe.
New Covenant, New Community.
Reviewed by A. T. B. McGowan
Kelly M. Kapic and Justin Taylor, eds.
Overcoming Sin and Temptation.
Reviewed by Graham Beynon
James K. A. Smith.
Who's Afraid of Postmodernism?
Reviewed by Tim Chester
Kevin J. Vanhoozer.
The Drama of Doctrine.
Reviewed by Robbie Fox Castleman
Ethics and Pastoralia
Gilbert Meilaender and William Werpehowski, eds.
The Oxford Handbook of Theological Ethics.
Reviewed by Brian Brock
H. P. Owen.
The Basis of Christian Prayer.
Reviewed by Stephen Dray
Milton Vincent.
A Gospel Primer for Christians.
Reviewed by Andrew David Naselli


Between Horror and Hope: Paul's Metaphorical Language of "Death"in Romans 6:1-11 . Paternoster Biblical Monographs. Bletchly: Paternoster, 2005. xi + 159 pp. ₤19.99/$22.00.

Sorin Sabou.

Nijay K. Gupta
Durham University
Durham, England, UK

Romans 6 plays an important role in this important letter from Paul, and yet the beginning of this chapter challenges the reader with a number of perplexing questions: How can one be baptised into Christ's death? In what way are Christians buried with Christ? What does it mean to be 'united' with him in his death? To what does 'our old person/self ' (6.6) refer? Sorin Sabou, in this published doctoral thesis from the London School of Theology, seeks to illuminate this passage anew by concentrating on the origin of Paul's language of death and how it developed. What is central to Sabou's thesis is that previous attempts at grasping the nature and thrust of Paul's imagery have not sufficiently considered how metaphors work. In one sense, then, Sabou's original contribution to the already vast amount of research on Romans 6 is his methodology.

Sabou begins with a lengthy discussion of how various scholars have tried to account for the origin of Paul's metaphorical death language (chapter 1), finding fault with explanations that draw from backgrounds such as Hellenistic philosophy, the teaching of Jesus, the mystery religions, and Paul's own personal experience. In his second chapter, Sabou briefly lays out his understanding of the function and operation of metaphors and their components before moving on to address the vehicle of the metaphor, in this case the language of death (chapter 3), and the qualifiers of the metaphor (chapter 4), which are those items in the argument that guide 'the readers toward a good understanding of his language' (94). He ends his investigation with a brief conclusion (chapter 5).

This study has much to commend itself. Sabou has put his finger on a pericope loaded with exegetical richness that is far from exhausted. His highlighting of the use of metaphors benefits from a surge of interest in this literary phenomenon from a number of biblical scholars in the last few decades. This allows Sabou to criticise previous discussions from a unique vantage point. He shows a deep level of interaction with both original and secondary literature. One noteworthy highlight from this book includes the explanation of Paul's language of burial (Rom 6:4). Though most commentators simply conclude that burial signifies that one is absolutely dead, Sabou argues that this language is used even more particularly to communicate that one is buried with his or her own kin or dynasty. That means that if believers are buried with Christ, they belong to his family.

However, the reader should be aware of some concerns with this book. First, though it is perhaps a small matter, Sabou's discussion of more recent linguistic and literary scholarship on 'metaphor' does not include the very influential research of the 'conceptual metaphor' theorists (Lakoff, Turner, and Johnson) whose work has been foundational for many biblical literary critics of the last decade or so. Second, a significant piece of his argument depends on Paul's original creation of this metaphorical imagery here, a hypothesis that is very difficult to prove given the frequent allusions Paul makes to other texts (especially the LXX) and the significance of the teachings of Jesus for the early church in general. Third, and this is more a critique of style than content, Sabou's prose is weighed down by a torrent of lengthy quotations that either need not be quoted or certainly not beyond a few lines or verses.

In the end, though, scholars and pastors will find gems of exegetical wisdom here, and Sabou guides the reader well through the various modern interpretations of this passage with skill. For those interested in metaphor theory, this study serves as a good illustration of how modern literary and linguistic research is being applied to biblical criticism.