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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


In Search of Pre-Exilic Israel . London: T&T Clark, 2004. xvi + 432 pp. £25.00/ $60.00.

John Day, ed.

Bálint Károly Zabán
Queen's University Belfast, Union Theological College
Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK

Tolle, lege! Take it and read it! These imperatives press upon the reader of this impressive treatment of issues pertaining to pre-exilic Israel. The book comprises seventeen articles by distinguished scholars. Its purpose is to purvey sustainable evidence about the origin of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, which finds its roots in Israel's pre-exilic times. The articles presume that the HB/OT was edited during the exile.

The volume commences with an article by Nicholson, outlining present revisionism in the field of HB/OT. He neatly sums up views concerning the emergence of the literature, underscoring that on the basis of valuable evidence it is very difficult to maintain the position that the HB/OT was written largely during the Persian period and that is a result of scribal activity serving political propaganda.

Davies focuses on the historicity of the "Exodus event,"emphasizing that it is feasible to proffer a positive appraisal of the historicity of "some kind"of "Exodus event."Moreover, some aspects of the Exodus event point back to circumstances familiar to the period of New Kingdom Egypt. The Exodus event can hardly be viewed as an invention if one also takes into consideration the plethora of internal biblical evidence.

Frendo tackles the difficult question of the installation of the Israelites in the land of Canaan. He concludes that early I

Dever marshals significant evidence concerning the existence of a tenth century BCE "nascent state of Israel."Barton proposes that there existed a "golden age of Hebrew narrative"before the exile that could have comprised much of the Yahwist and the Succession Narrative. Emerton is concerned with the dating of the Yahwist. Houston tackles the question of a possible social crisis in the eighth century. Knoppers offers a summary of the data concerning Samaria after the fall of Israel. Williamson looks at the pre-exilic features of Isaiah. Reimer offers a treatment of Jeremiah before the exile. Day furnishes new insights regarding pre-exilic psalms. Dell outlines the pre-exilic roots of Proverbs. Levinson proffers an extensive analysis of the question whether the Covenant Code is exilic, providing an informed critique of Van Seters. Mastin deals with the question of Yahweh's Asherah and monotheism. Lambert evaluates the Mesopotamian materials that cast light on the pre-exilic period in Israel. Lemaire lists the Hebrew and West Semitic inscriptions with the question of pre-exilic Israel in view. Fenton concludes by examining Hebrew poetic structures as grounds for dating.

The great strength of this volume is the presentation of serious evidence, which buttress the pre-exilic origins of the Bible.