Book Reviews Archives - Page 8 of 12

The Blackwell Companion to Paul, ed. Stephen Westerholm

December 23, 2015

Moses and Paul: these two would likely be considered the two most prominent and influential biblical authors who have shaped world civilization through Christianity. (Jesus, of course, did not write anything.) As Westerholm’s Perspectives Old and New on Paul showed us, Paul shaped the Christian theological giants theologically more than any other biblical writer. It is therefore no surprise that Pauline studies continues to be (perhaps) the most active and saturated field in biblical studies today (I’ve never heard of any seminary short on Pauline scholars)….

A Reader’s Greek New Testament, 3rd Edition, edited by Richard J. Goodrich and Albert L. Lukaszewski

November 29, 2015

Todd Scacewater

What is the best way to keep up with your vocabulary? Flashcards are definitely a big help, but there’s no substitute for simply immersing yourself in a language day after day. Goodrich and Lukaszewski understand this. As they note in the introduction, if you were to learn all the vocab words Mounce requires in his Basics of Biblical Greek, you would still be far from being able to sit down in your armchair….

The Routledge Handbook of Discourse Analysis, edited by James Paul Gee and Michael Handford

November 23, 2015

Todd Scacewater

Several handbooks on discourse analysis have been published lately, including one by Bloomsbury and one by Wiley Blackwell (review coming soon). If I had to rank them, I would rank this Routledge handbook best for non- or beginning linguists, and the Wiley Blackwell volume the best for specialists, while the Bloomsbury edition tries to straddle both worlds but falls a bit shorter in breadth of topics….

Dead Sea Scrolls Handbook, by Devorah Dimant and Donald Parry

November 12, 2015

Todd Scacewater

This new handbook from Brill is a unique volume that you may or may not want in your library. Because texts are constantly being edited and readings are being better deciphered, the authors believe such a handbook is not superfluous, but supplements other textual editions already published (xix). There are no translations, commentaries, discussions of dating, or any other….

Canaanite Religion According to the Liturgical Texts of Ugarit, 2nd English Revised Edition, by Gregorio del Olmo Lete

November 5, 2015

Todd Scacewater

The Ugarit liturgical texts have received a good amount of attention since their discovery, often because of their significance for the Old Testament. Ugaritic liturgical texts contain word and deed, incantations and sacrifices. The Old Testament does as well, but they are more often separated, as we see cultic instructions in Leviticus 1-7 and praises and song in the psalms, for example. The importance of these texts makes Olmo Lete’s book significant for Ugaritic and OT scholars alike. His work was originally published with CDL Press in 1999 and reprinted in paperback by Eisenbrauns in 2004….

Toward a Canon-Conscious Reading of the Bible: Exploring the History and Hermeneutics of the Canon, by Ched Spellman

November 3, 2015

Jennifer Guo

Historically there has been a lamentable lack of attention among Evangelicals on the formation of the canon. This is unfortunate, writes Ched Spellman in the introduction of Toward a Canon-Conscious Reading of the Bible, because “one’s understanding of the story of how the Scriptures came to be has a direct impact on how God’s revelation is understood and how the Bible is interpreted” (1)….

Aposynagōgos and the Historical Jesus in John: Rethinking the Historicity of the Johannine Expulsion Passages

October 27, 2015

Warren Campbell

As the title suggests, Jonathan Bernier’s McMaster University PhD thesis, Aposynagōgos and the Historical Jesus in John, is a reconsideration of the Johannine expulsion passages found in John 9:22, 12:42, and 16:2. Bernier’s central thesis is both exegetical and hermeneutical. With respect to the former, Bernier argues….

Philippians (Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament), by Joseph Hellerman

October 12, 2015

Todd Scacewater

This handbook on the Greek text of Philippians is part of B&H Academic’s EGGNT series, several volumes of which we have reviewed. Each volume is aimed at intermediate Greek readers and focuses on syntax, vocabulary, and grammar. But each volume is also slightly distinctive, given an author’s chosen emphases.

Hellerman begins with a brief commentary introduction, concluding that Paul wrote the letter from Rome. He writes one long paragraph on aspect and Aktionsart….

A Companion to Augustine, edited by Mark Vessey

October 5, 2015

Todd Scacewater

Augustine is arguably the most important Christian theologian outside of the biblical authors. Many different theological camps claim Augustine for their theological positions. The Confessions makes him a very personal historical figure. Because of the massive weight of Augustine’s historical character it is essential that we understand Augustine in his historical context as well as his social context. That is the purpose for which this companion has been written….

Endangered Languages: An Introduction, by Sarah Thomason

September 28, 2015

Todd Scacewater

“According to most experts’ estimates, at least half of the world’s seven thousand languages will vanish before the end of this century” (2). What an amazing statistic! Those of us interested in biblical languages have felt the sting of this statistic recently, as we heard news about the last of native Aramaic speakers dying out. What is it that leads to language “death,” and how can languages be revitalized? Or should they be? The purpose of this book is “to introduce the general topic of language endangerment…and to describe some methods designed to prevent endangerment from leading to the disappearance of a threatened language” (2)….