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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


Other Early Christian Gospels: A Critical Edition of the Surviving Greek Manuscripts. Library of New Testament Studies. London/New York: Continuum, 2006. xiv + 157 pp. + plates. £65.00.

Andrew E. Bernhard.

Simon Gathercole
University of Aberdeen
Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

This volume is a useful collection of the Greek texts of apocryphal works and includes the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Peter, The Unknown Gospel (Papyrus Egerton 2), and other fragments. The author defines the scope of the book as including only those works that treat the adult life of Jesus, thus infancy Gospels and post-resurrection dialogues are excluded. This restriction is somewhat arbitrary, but obviously some boundary is necessary; the book is by no means long, however.

In general, the photographs are of reasonable, though not excellent, quality. In the case, for example, of the Egerton Papyrus photos, the original Bell & Skeat edition is more legible. Bernhard's photo of the beginning of the Gospel of Thomas is of high quality, although again the photo in the original Oxyrhychus Papyri edition allows more text to be read because of its size. Nevertheless, it is very good to have them, along with the photos of the Akhmim text of the Gospel of Peter.

In terms of its slant on the dates of the works, Bernhard is probably optimistic in dating Thomas, Peter, and Unknown Gospel to prior to AD 130. He argues this on the basis of the textual evidence and of the non-relation to the NT Gospels, but there are some problems here. On the former, the second century manuscript P. Oxy. 4009 is not likely to be part of the Gospel of Peter; on the latter, the Gospel of Thomas is very likely to be dependent on the Synoptic Gospels (e.g. Luke's influence on saying 5).

Nevertheless, this is an extremely useful collection, and it is excellent to have texts, translations and photographs of different works available in a single volume. Unfortunately, it will probably be prohibitively expensive for most individuals, and it would be useful for postgraduate students and scholars to have a paperback version available.