Book Briefs: October 21, 1977

Judaism And Earliest Christianity

Compendia Rerum Iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum: The Jewish People in the First Century, section one, volume two, edited by S. Safrai, M. Stern, D. Flusser, and W. C. van Unnik (Fortress, 1977, 722 pp., $32.50), is reviewed by David E. Aune, professor of religion, Saint Xavier College, Chicago, Illinois.

Two generations ago, several magisterial syntheses of the state of knowledge of Judaism in the Hellenistic and Roman era were available to students. Two of the most important and valuable of such works were Emil Schürer’s monumental Geschichte des jüdischen Volkes im ZeitalterJesu Christi [“History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ”] and H. Strack and P. Billerbeck’s Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud und Midrasch [“Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Midrash”], with honorable mention for J. F. Moore’s Judaism. Serious students of early Christianity are fortunate that several new or revised summaries of the last fifty years of scholarship are now in the process of publication. The “old” Schürer is now being completely revised under the competent editorship of Matthew Black, and the first volume of The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ, rev. and ed. by G. Vermes and F. Millar (T. & T. Clark, 1973), has already appeared and has become an indispensable tool for the study of Judaism in the Graeco-Roman period. With the concurrent publication of the first volume of the first section of the Compendia in 1974, students of early Christianity now suffer from that most pleasant of all disadvantages, the poverty of riches. (See the review of these two works in the December 20, 1974, issue, page 21.)

Books that superficially treat the political, social, and religious background of the New Testament are a dime-a-dozen (and generally worth every penny). Good books on the subject (like E. Lohse’s The New Testament Environment [Abingdon, 1976]) are rare and when found should cause rejoicing. (See review February 4, issue, page 48.) Great books on the subject, like the one presently being reviewed, are as rare as sightings of Halley’s comet. If you should see this book in a bookstore (doubtless heavily guarded), go at once and sell what you have to sell to buy it.

In the present volume, seven Jewish scholars (all Israelis and all but one professors at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem) and one Christian scholar comprehensively treat a number of important aspects of first century Jewish society, economics, religion, and culture. Volume two handles subjects not treated in volume one, which dealt extensively with geography and political history. Each essay is well-written, carefully documented, and accompanied by a selected bibliography. One point that becomes increasingly clear as one reads this book is that archaeology, reportedly the Israeli national pastime, has made great strides in the last generation. Many of the essays rely heavily on recent archaeological explorations carried out in Israel, reports and interpretations of which are more often than not published in modern Hebrew in various Israeli publications.

Filmstrips

There are a number of noteworthy filmstrips on biblical subjects aimed at children, some of which are appropriate for young teens. The Ten Commandments for Children (Catechetical Guild, Our Sunday Visitor, Noll Plaza, Huntington, IN 46750), closely integrates both the Old and New Testaments. The love of God in Jesus is stressed as the means of fulfilling the essential law. That is why the series of eleven filmstrips (one introductory) is subtitled “God’s Laws of Love for All His Children.” It handles the commandment on adultery sensitively. With traditional drawings and music, this series belongs in evangelical church libraries.

The Sadlier Scripture Series (Wm. H. Sadlier, 11 Park Place, New York, NY 10007) includes ten nicely animated, well told stories from creation to the prophets (Jonah, Amos, Isaiah). The Thomas S. Klise Company (Box 3418, Peoria, IL 61614) also draws from the deuterocanonical works for its delightful litany, Praise the Lord. A fast moving and fun to watch filmstrip, it is a children’s praise service for nature’s beauties. The animation is based on Daniel 3:47–88 (sic), but no one will know unless told. In any case it fits Psalm 148 equally well.

For the New Testament, the Sadlier Company offers two about our Lord, Jesus: Friend of the Lowly and Jesus: Bread of Life. They are based broadly on Luke and John respectively. Alba House (Canfield, OH 44406) offers Follow Me, two read-alongs on one filmstrip that tell what Jesus did with reference to the rich young man and to blind Bartimaeus.

What Jesus taught is the emphasis of the parables offered by two producers, Marshfilm (Box 8082, Mission, KS 66208) and Family Films (14622 Lanark St., Panorama City, CA 91406). Although there is a little overlapping, there is little stylistic similarity. Besides being animated, Marshfilm’s innovation is to relate how Jesus’ childhood observations became adult parables. Each parable is pointed. Family Film’s version is neither live photography nor animation. Rather it features “Church Mice,” stuffed creatures who pose the parables as cute stories. This series is called Four Parables for Boys and Girls.

A beautiful retelling of the Lord’s Prayer is The “Our Father” from Twenty-Third Publications (Box 180, West Mystic, CT 06388). It emphasizes how the teaching of the Lord’s Prayer would have sounded to the ears of first-century Semitic children. By means of animated flashbacks the hearers relate segments of the prayer to stories of Noah’s Ark, Lot, Joseph, and Daniel. The guide, unfortunately, overuses terms like “myth” and “legend.” Ignore the guide, but get this truly imaginative production.

Check with your audio-visual retailer or write the producer for further information such as price and availability of teaching aids.

DALE SANDERS

Portland, Oregon

The social context of the ministry of Jesus and of the earliest Christians is illuminated by a number of essays on social and economic subjects such as M. Stern’s “Aspects of Jewish Society: the Priesthood and Other Classes,” S. Applebaum’s “The Social and Economic Status of the Jews in the Diaspora,” and “Economic Life in Palestine,” and S. Safrai’s “Home and Family.” The authors of these essays show themselves exceptionally well-versed in New Testament studies by frequently demonstrating how aspects of their subjects are relevant to a more adequate understanding of early Christianity. A clearer picture of first century Palestinian religious life emerges in four essays by S. Safrai, “Religion in Everyday Life,” “The Temple” (which summarizes the results of recent archaeological investigations near the site of the Temple), “The Synagogue,” and “Education and the Study of Torah.” M. D. Herr’s article on “The Calendar,” though more esoteric than most of the articles in the volume, is nevertheless an important contribution to the subject. In the area of philology (here one of the pressing questions for students of the New Testament relates to the original language of Jesus), C. Rabin discusses “Hebrew and Aramaic in the First Century” (unaccountably his bibliography omits the fine article by J. Fitzmyer, “The Languages of Palestine in the First Century, A.D.,” Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 32 [1970], 501–31), and G. Mussies treats “Greek in Palestine and the Diaspora.” G. Foerster’s excellent discussion of “Art and Architecture in Palestine” suffers from a lack of pictorial illustrations necessary for an adequate treatment of such a subject. “Paganism in Palestine” is expertly treated by Israeli New Testament scholar D. Flusser, who demonstrates that on the whole Palestinian Judaism was essentially immune to paganism. Finally, M. Stern’s “The Jews in Greek and Latin Literature,” though erudite in its own right, should be read in the context provided by A. Momigliano’s chapter on “The Hellenistic Discovery of Judaism” in his Alien Wisdom: The Limits of Hellenization (Cambridge, 1975).

When completed the entire Compendia project will consist of five sections, presumably with two or more volumes per section, dealing basically with Judaism and Christianity and their mutual relationships during the first two Christian centuries. The project is a massive undertaking, the size of which is more than matched by the quality of scholarship evident in the two volumes that have so far appeared. No theological library can do without them.

American Indian Religion

Seeing With A Native Eye: Essays on Native American Religion, edited by Walter Holden Capps (Harper & Row, 1976, $3.95 pb), is reviewed by Arthur Roberts, professor of philosophy and religion, George Fox College, Newberg, Oregon.

These essays provide a helpful introduction to the study of the various native American religions. The value of such study to persons within the despiritualized West may be illustrated by the response of an old Navajo herder to pictures of a bomber, “How many sheep will it hold?” Christians have often applied reductionist interpretation to the religions of “inferior” cultures but resent the application of such interpretations to their own culture. This book serves as a reminder of the judgment and fulfillment of all cultures in Christ.

The most reflective non-Indian essay is Richard Comstock’s. He shows how eschatological expectations of a harmonious union of Europeans, native Americans, animals, and nature, depicted so eloquently in Hick’s “Peaceable Kingdom” give way to the myth of a “no-good savage.” “It is as if the societies with the complex technologies have felt some kind of threat from these people so easy to defeat in an uneven battle, but so difficult to exorcise from the secret imaginings of their hearts.”

Quietly, like the slaves of ancient Egypt, the native peoples are gathering world-wide. Will Christ become their liberator, their second Moses? This book could well be read in conjunction with Hannah’s song, Isaiah, the Magnificat, and Jesus’ words about the future of the meek.

Churches Behind Bars

A Christian’s Guide to Effective Jail and Prison Ministries, by Dale K. Pace (Revell, 1976, 318 pp., $11.95), is reviewed by John de Vries, Protestant chaplain, Centre Federal de Formation, Laval, Quebec.

This book will fill a conspicuously empty spot in the library of every minister and church worker. As a supervisor chaplain and regional coordinator for Good News Mission, which has chaplains in jails in several states, Dale Pace is well qualified to write a comprehensive and well documented introductory textbook. This easy-to-read book focuses on the chaplain and related ministries in correctional institutions.

The author honestly and candidly describes the problems and issues that the chaplain and Christian workers must manage to have an effective ministry to the “Church Behind Bars.” Pace describes the biblical imperatives for such a ministry, and he rightly laments the lack of religious or spiritual ministry in more than 1,600 of the 4,000 American correctional institutions. The “house of penitence,” first established by the Quaker Christians as an alternative to ruthless corporal punishment, is today a “foreign mission field” within driving distance of every North American city (and church?). The author is encouraged by the growing evangelical awareness and response to the needs of our incarcerated population.

Pace wants results. His book is pragmatic. The basic underlying issues of injustice in the correctional institutions, the unchristian forms of punishment, and the questionable methods of many correctional institutions should not be ignored by the Christian and the chaplain. But Pace does not discuss these issues. Perhaps his book will serve as an introductory text to be followed by more writing and study in this much neglected area of ministry. He says that a biblical and theological approach to penology and criminology must be developed.

Pace gets needlessly bogged down in a diatribe over the pros and cons of clinical pastoral education, which he finds wanting, and the chaplain’s source of income, which he feels strongly should come from the church rather than the government.

Some of the author’s minor views regarding chaplaincy training, income, and the establishment of a “Church Behind Bars” are debatable, but his overall pastoral thrust is deeply rooted in both the Word and personal professional experience. The book is challenging and is a vital source of information for ministering to prisoners, a class of persons often neglected even by those who believe that Christ came to minister to all men.

The Pilgrimage Of Karl Barth

Karl Barth: His Life from Letters and Autobiographical Texts, by Eberhard Busch (Fortress, 1976, 369 pp., $19.95), is reviewed by Donald G. Bloesch, professor of theology, Dubuque Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa.

The author of this perceptive study was Karl Barth’s last assistant and is now curator of the Barth archives in Basel. The book presents an illuminating summary of Barth’s thought, as well as an informative and scintillating account of his life. Some of Busch’s material is based on unpublished letters in the Barth archives and on records of addresses and conversations not generally available.

Of particular interest to students of theology is Barth’s spiritual pilgrimage, as the author describes it. In his early years as a theological student Barth was exposed to the liberal theology that dominated German and Swiss universities. At one stage in his career his philosophy was that the only divine element in the world is good will (à la Kant). After his studies in Berlin he came to regard Schleiermacher as the leading light in his thought. Among his professors Harnack and Hermann exerted considerable influence on him. His commitment to liberal theology was irrevocably shaken when his German teachers identified with the Kaiser’s war effort. As a pastor in Safenwil, Switzerland, he veered toward the right theologically and toward the left politically. In his teaching years at German universities he moved steadily toward a theocentric as over against an anthropocentric theology. In his book on Anselm (1931) he finally arrived at a theological method (“faith seeking understanding”) that broke with philosophical theology. These years also saw his conflict with National Socialism and his role in the Barmen Confession, which was drawn up by German theologians and pastors against the German Christians who sought to accommodate the faith to Nazi ideology. For Barth the battle against National Socialism was a battle against natural theology and a defense of the first commandment.

Barth’s relation to the Confessing Church in Germany was not always amicable. When Hitler assumed absolute power, Barth was compelled to return to his native country where he took a teaching post at Basel, but he continued to maintain close contact with the Confessing Church. As the Confessing Church became evermore concerned with right doctrine over against a public witness in the face of growing paganism, Barth began to express reservations. He criticized the Confessing Church for fighting only for itself and for the freedom and purity of its proclamation while keeping silent over the persecution of the Jews, the harsh treatment of political opponents, and the suppression of the press in the new Germany.

In his later years Barth became increasingly disenchanted with existentialism, and his earlier break with Gogarten, Bultmann, Tillich, et al. now became an open rupture. He regarded existentialist theology as the latest development in Neo-Protestantism, where the point of departure is religious experience rather than divine revelation. He argued against Bultmann that philosophy is not the handmaid of theology but that both theology and philosophy can only be the handmaid of the church and of Christ.

Of special interest today in light of Marquardt’s book Theology and Socialism: The Example of Karl Barth (1972) is Barth’s complex relation to socialism. Marquardt maintains that Barth’s theology was an attempt to give conceptual undergirding to his commitment to socialism, already evident in his pastorate in Safenwil. Barth was outspoken in his defense of the rights of workers and at Safenwil was even known as “the Red pastor.” Yet Busch makes it clear that Barth always maintained a certain distance from socialist ideology though he was active in socialist politics. Barth was careful never to identify a political program with the kingdom of God and felt that Christians should enter the political arena anonymously. He declared: “I regard the ‘political pastor’ in any form as a mistake, even if he is a socialist. But as a man and a citizen … I take the side of the Social Democrats.” For Barth theology must not become political nor politics become theological. At the same time he saw that the object of Christian faith and responsibility is not only divine justification but also human justice. The church’s message should be addressed to concrete life situations and therefore should have political implications and consequences. He contended that a genuine confession of faith should have something definite to say in terms of both dogmatics and ethics. This is why he refused to support the confessional statement of the No Other Gospel movement, since he believed that it did not effectively challenge the principalities and powers of our time.

Barth was passionately concerned with both doctrine and life. “The question of right doctrine,” he lamented, “introduces us to the vacuum at the heart of our church and inside Christianity.” At the same time he saw that doctrine must be integrally related to life, for otherwise it becomes irrelevant and saltless. Barth sought to call the church back to a confessional basis without succumbing to the temptation of a confessionalism that blocks the free movement of the Spirit and that exempts the confession from judgment and reformation in the light of the Word of God. A confession must never be a straitjacket that leaves no room for free inquiry, but an invitation to obedience to the Word of God in the concrete situation in which people find themselves. One does not have to agree with everything Barth says on confessions and theology to appreciate Busch’s fine contribution to theological understanding in our time.

Gnosticism Popularized

The Laughing Savior, by John Dart (Harper & Row, 1976, 154 pp., $7.95), is reviewed by Malcolm L. Peel, chairperson, department of philosophy and religion, Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

A perennial challenge to scholars of the ancient past is to make their studies readable to a non-professional audience. Here the task has been performed for them by a journalist, John Dart, religion news writer for the Los Angeles Times. Supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, Dart did his work at Stamford University. However, the scholar upon whose files and information he depended most, James M. Robinson, is based at the Claremont Graduate School.

Dart has produced a highly-readable, non-technical introduction to one of the truly great manuscript discoveries of the 20th century, the Gnostic documents of Nag Hammadi. The book is divided into four parts. Part One contains a dramatic account of “The Discovery,” from 1947 when Jean Doresse first saw a codex in the Coptic Museum in Old Cairo to 1976 when Robinson revisited the scene of the find. It is a tale of how scholarly jealousies and international politics combined to delay full publication of the find for more than thirty years. Also included is an admission by Robinson that his primary motivation in tackling Nag Hammadi was the prospect it afforded of vindicating Rudolph Bultmann’s contention that New Testament Christology was formatively shaped by a pre-Christian Gnostic redeemer myth.

Part Two, “The Jewish Connection,” sets forth the widely-held theory that Gnosticism, the most virulent heresy combated by the early church, originated in heterodox Jewish circles. Evidence for this is offered from selected Nag Hammadi texts held to contain rabbinic-style interpretations of the Old Testament (notably, Gen. 1–3), interpretations that reveal a radical transvaluation of Jewish values (such as, the Serpent in Genesis is declared good, the Creator evil).

Part Three, “Will the Real Savior Please Stand Up?,” raises two crucial questions about the new texts: first, whether they yield any new, non-canonical but reliable information about the historical Jesus; second, whether they contain evidence of a pre-Christian Gnostic redeemer myth. Dart, accepting the conclusions of Robinson and his close associates, affirms that the Gospel of Thomas contains sayings of Jesus older in form than their canonical New Testament counterparts, and that the Paraphrase of Shem and the Apocalypse of Adam do contain non-Christian and probably pre-Christian versions of a Gnostic redeemer myth.

Part Four, “The Gnostic Phenomenon,” examines less heterodox writings in the library, notably, the Valentinian Gospel of Truth. Also, it reports that there is no evidence in the manuscripts library for the orgiastic excesses and anti-feminism attributed to Gnostics by the early Church Fathers. Finally, there is an attempt to present a schematic development of Gnosticism on the basis of types of laughter found on the lips of the Saviour and certain female beings found in the texts. The volume concludes with a helpful appendix, prepared by James Brashler of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity at Claremont, containing summaries of all fifty-two writings of the library.

The volume includes a valuable up-to-date, accurate account of the discovery and publication of the documents; the identification of key scholarly theories emerging about the texts; and the appendix. However, there are some shortcomings: a complete lack of documentation; the omission of any extended discussion of more than half of the texts; a failure to mention the names of all those members of the Coptic Gnostic Library Translation Team who provided the Institute for Antiquity with its transcriptions and translations; and silence regarding the dissenting opinions of other scholars on the question of the presence of a pre-Christian Gnostic redeemer myth in Nag Hammadi texts. In spite of these things, however, this is currently the best popular account of Nag Hammadi available in English, a fitting prelude to the publication by Harper & Row of all the library in English translation within a few months.

Briefly Noted

A wide range of tension-creating issues is treated by Russell A. Cervin in Mission in Ferment (Covenant Press [3200 W. Foster Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60625], 120 pp., $3.50 pb). Among the topics are: calls for moratorium, cultural resistance, church/mission tension, and the struggle of liberation theologians.

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