mark as story: an introduc- tion to the narrative of...

MARK AS STORY: AN INTRODUC-TION TO THE NARRATIVE OF AGOSPEL, 3rd ed., by David Rhoads,Joanna Dewey,and Donald Michie.Fortress,2012. Pp. 191. $24.00 (paper).

During a decade and a half of universityteaching, one book that I have used in mycourses towers above the others: Mark asStory, the second edition. Apparently I am notalone in loving this book. In the “Afterword” ofthe third edition, Mark Allen Powell credits thefirst edition with launching his own passionfor narrative criticism. In 2011, an SBL booktwice the length of Mark as Story was issued tocelebrate its contribution to the whole field ofbiblical studies (Mark as Story: Retrospect andProspect, edited by Kelly R. Iverson and Chris-topher W. Skinner). So, when a new editioncame out, I found myself hoping that they didnot destroy what I loved about the earlier book,and skeptical that they could really improveupon it. Fortunately, the authors have suc-ceeded in improving it in light of ongoing de-velopments in biblical scholarship withoutlosing the earlier magic that I prize.

I have on a couple of occasions heard sometruly amazing guitarists, for example, Claptonand Santana. When I return from those con-certs, I look at my own guitar and am fullyaware of what I am not able to do with it. Manyscholars of the Bible are like those virtuosos.They write books and do phenomenal thingswith biblical texts and contexts, but they leavetheir readers feeling dreadfully inadequateand fearful of even picking up the Bible to seewhat they might discover on their own. As mykids were learning to play musical instru-ments, we enjoyed getting together with a fam-

ily friend named Brian. He too was immenselytalented and invoked wonder through his dex-terity and skill, but he patiently taught theyouth who sat with him how to play along andbring their skills to the next level. Even whenmy kids only knew songs with three standardchords, when Brian backed them up theysounded like they could be Clapton’s warm-upact. The authors of Mark as Story do for thoseinterested in studying the Bible what Brian didfor my kids’ musical interest. They provide aframework for understanding the narrative,observations about how setting, plot, charac-ters, and conflicts shape the story, specific di-rections of how to pay attention wheninterpreting the text, and wonderful work-sheets to take students to the next level ofinterpretation.

They achieve this by providing a compel-ling translation that maintains verbal threadsso that readers notice repetition for them-selves (I wish that a pdf of the translation weremade available online to facilitate student ex-ploration of these repetitions). The authorspresent their translation as a continuous storywithout breaking it up by chapter and verse.They have us first engage the full sweep of thestory by inviting us to read it straight throughin one sitting. And then they unpack the story’sdynamics, making our awareness of it morecomplex, yet without overwhelming us withthat complexity. This is a book I have put in thehands of college students who knew virtuallynothing about the Bible, but when they walkthrough the process outlined in light of a cho-sen pericope, allowing Rhoads, Dewey, andMichie to play back-up for them, they findthemselves writing five pages of intelligent,

410 Copyright © 2013 by Word & World, Luther Seminary, Saint Paul, Minnesota. All rights reserved.

wise observations about that pericope that arethe result of their own work and analysis.These fledgling interpreters consistently helpme to see new things in the text that I have notnoticed before and that even the authors ofMark as Story had not pointed out. The stu-dents leave the class knowing that the Bible isan instrument they can pick up and perform.

For those who already know these thingsabout Mark as Story, you will be interested toknow about new developments in the thirdedition. Three areas have received more atten-tion in this latest edition. Each of these repre-sents developments in the scholarly field ingeneral. Most central is the awareness that,given literacy levels in the first century (threeto five percent, according to the authors), thisgospel was not silently read by those who knewits story, but was experienced as a lively andengaging performance. Thus, several termsfrom the second edition have been altered.“Author” has become “composer,” storyteller

plays a more central role in understanding thenarrator, and “audience” or “hearer” replacethe “reader(s).” These subtle linguistic shiftscome together to make a major change in un-derstanding how the narrative makes its im-pact. At times, the seams between the secondedition’s assumptions and those of the thirdare visible, introducing minor discrepanciesinto the text. For example, the description ofthe narrator as “omniscient” is a literary termthat overstates, in my opinion, how the narra-tor operates in performance. Yet even here,they have nuanced their understanding of thestorytelling narrator from the second-editiondescription. Overall, the shift in understandinghow media shape the message is quite suc-cessful.

Second, they take more clearly the cosmicdimensions of the story. Mark’s Gospel isabout the cosmic event of God breaking intoGod’s good creation. They have shiftedMarkan interpretation from the passion nar-

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rative to the beginning, when God’s rule breaksinto the world. This is an important shift andone I would have liked to see even more devel-oped in the course of the analysis.

And, third, they have taken seriously theimperial context of Mark’s Gospel as the essen-tial reality over and against which the Gospelwas composed. Here their work follows a dom-inant development in New Testament studies.This focus enriches the analysis they offer andhelps us understand what early audiencesfound compelling in this story.

This third edition assures that the music ofMark is not overshadowed by the interpreter’scommentary. It also ensures that this Gospelwill play on and, for this, the authors deserveour heartfelt thanks.

Philip L. Ruge-JonesTexas Lutheran UniversitySeguin, Texas

JEWISH INTERPRETATION OF THEBIBLE, ANCIENT AND CONTEM-PORARY, by Karin Hedner Zetterholm.Minneapolis: Fortress,2012.Pp.187.$32.00(paper).

In her well-written, concise, informativebook Karin Zetterholm has provided a greatservice to all who seek to understand and servea living God while taking ancient texts to be au-thoritative, normative, or especially seriousfor our faith. For Christian preachers andteachers, her book is important for two rea-sons. First, Zetterholm introduces us to the lit-erature of Jewish biblical interpretation, abody of literature that is often, at best, unfa-miliar. Second, as she draws us into this worldof biblical study and interpretation, Zetter-holm corrects common misunderstandingsand misrepresentations of Jewish devotion toScripture. She helps her readers see the convic-tions that undergird varied interpretive posi-tions among Jews. In an excellent final chaptershe lays out how interpretive methods lead tovaried conclusions about contemporary issues

between particular expressions of Judaism(Orthodox, Conservative, Reform) as well aswithin them. Alert Christians will recognizemany of the same questions, assumptions, andtheologies of revelation and anthropology thatshape our own highly diverse claims aboutwhat the Bible says.

Zetterholm’s focus is on the work of therabbinic period, ca. 70–600 C.E., a period be-ginning with the destruction of the secondtemple and marked by a need to reinterpret theancient texts for a very different world. It isprecisely interpretation that provides the cru-cial link between ancient texts and the faith ofIsrael and how Jews live and believe today. Herexplorations begin with a rabbinic parable (5)that speaks of the “added value” of transfor-mation of an original (wheat and flax in theparable) into a brand-new form (a loaf of finewhite bread covered with a fine linen table-cloth). “The essence of Jewish tradition,” shesays, “can be characterized as an ongoing dia-lectical process between divine revelation andhuman creative interpretation” (5).

Differences in interpretation depend pri-marily on the weight given to text, context, andbeliefs about revelation. Zetterholm discusseswith care and subtlety how an understandingof oral torah developed in which the wholebody of rabbinic teaching was given orally toMoses at Sinai, versus the conviction that hu-mans are active agents in creating meaningwith God. Although the authority of rabbinictradition is different according to these twounderstandings, in both traditions human rea-soning is a highly valued component in dis-cerning divine truth. The rabbis realized thathaving multiple interpretations of one textcould be a problem, but insisted that such a re-ality was already known in Torah, quoting Ps62:12, “One thing God has spoken; two thingshave I heard,” and Jer 23:29, in which God’sword creates “fiery sparks” as a hammer doeswhen it strikes a rock. These sparks are the“many senses inherent in each and everyverse” (35).

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Word & World 33/4 • Fall 2013

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ENCOUNTERING JESUS, ENCOUNTERING SCRIPTUREReading the Bible Critically in FaithDavid CrumpForeword by James K. A. Smith“It is not surprising that David Crump’s Encountering Jesus, En-countering Scripture exhibits a deep understanding of the issues raised by historical-critical biblical scholarship. . . . He shows how it is possible for a person who knows about the critical issues to read the Bible as God’s word for today, addressed to existing hu-man beings.” — C. Stephen EvansISBN 978-0-8028-6466-6 · 155 pages · paperback · $20.00

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In a further chapter, Zetterholm providesabundant information concerning the devel-opment and use of sources of Jewish biblicalinterpretation, helping readers with descrip-tions of the form, content, and history of theMishnah and Talmud. She then goes on to talkabout methods of interpretation used amongthe rabbis, laying out, among other things,some of the assumptions about the biblicaltext. She sees four basic assumptions, based onJames Kugel’s work, namely, that Scripture isfundamentally cryptic, fundamentally rele-vant, perfect, and harmonious, and that it is inits entirety divinely inspired (72–73). She thenexamines how these assumptions are used ininterpretation, making use of the Binding ofIsaac (Gen 22) as a case study.

For Christian readers, this section is worththe price of the entire book. Not only do we seeimportant Jewish methods of study and greattheological themes that emerge from them,we also see how deeply rooted in Scripture,method of study, and theology are our under-standings of the person and work of Jesus.Isaac understood as a willing sacrifice, as anatoning sacrifice for all of Israel, was familiarto Jews before, during, and after the time of Je-sus. This sense of Isaac was derived fromscriptural study shaped by theological convic-tions about God and God’s written word.

In addition, Zetterholm examines biblicalinterpretation in the Gospels and in Paul’s let-ters. Looking carefully at a number of parablesfound in similar form in Jewish sources and inthe Gospels, she separates the layers of originalparable from those of later Christian interpre-tation. These later layers move away from theirJewish connections and begin to cast the “badguys” of the parable as the Jews over against Je-sus. For instance, in the parable of the vineyard(Matt 21:33–46; Mark 12:1–12; Luke20:9–19), she points out that Matthew changesthe vineyard from being seen as Israel to thevineyard as the kingdom of God in verse 43.Since this interpretation uses different lan-guage than is customary for Matthew, Zetter-

holm calls upon her fine acquaintance withcontemporary scholarship to note that somebelieve “kingdom of God” language in v. 43 isan editing of Matthew’s gospel, indicating athird layer increasingly hostile to Jews.

All this careful reading is seen as character-istic of the need to hold tradition and adapta-tion together for Jewish (and Christian) Biblereaders. In her final sections, Zetterholm of-fers the rare opportunity for most Christianreaders to consider how “scriptural” is inter-preted by contemporary Jews. She looks at twocase studies where Christians have had towrestle with texts that seem to prohibit some-thing outright (homosexual behaviors) orguide the faithful in matters that would havebeen inconceivable to their authors (medicalethics). To read her descriptions of the variousways Jews have engaged Scripture aroundthese issues is to see a passionate commitmentto God whose mercy, kindness, justice, andcreative power are glimpsed by us in preciselythe same stories that seem no longer to speakto whom we know ourselves to be as lovers ofGod.

There is no way to escape this wrestlingmatch. Zetterholm seems to suggest that wetake it up with the zest and confidence of a peo-ple called by God to do so, with clarity aboutour assumptions and charity toward one an-other. This book will help to promote both ofthose things.

Sarah HenrichLuther SeminarySaint Paul, Minnesota

THE CHARACTER OF CHRISTIANSCRIPTURE, by Christopher R. Seitz.Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2011. Pp.218. $23.00 (paper).

Carrying forward the prodigious efforts ofBrevard Childs, our author has given a sterlingtreatment of the subject of the Bible as atwo-Testament canon testifying to one Godand one Lord Jesus Christ. Among the chief

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major works by Childs during the latter part ofthe twentieth century were Introduction to theOld Testament as Scripture, The New Testa-ment as Canon, and Biblical Theology of the Oldand New Testaments, concluding with his finalbook, The Church’s Guide for Reading Paul(2008). Helpful too for the reader, in this re-gard, would be an important work by DanielDriver, Brevard Childs Biblical Theologian: Forthe Church’s One Bible (2010), which gives adetailed examination of Childs’s literaryachievements and an analysis of his works.

Seitz called Childs’s work “the most brilliantproposal for theological exegesis offered in re-cent memory” (in Word Without End [BaylorUniversity, 2004], 109). He spoke as a former stu-dent of Childs, and was, and is, a master in his ownright. In his preface, he writes that he has “en-deavored to wrestle with the form of the two-tes-tament Bible and to understand its uniquecharacter. There is nothing else like it” (13).

The book is laid out in a series of sevenchapters, the first being (by far) the most ex-tensive (64 pages). This deals at length with thecanonical approach and biblical interpreta-tion. There are two Testaments in the ChristianBible, and each must be given a proper place inour reading of Scripture, while at the sametime each has a distinctive message it pro-claims. The Hebrew Canon is written, to beginwith, by and for the nation of Israel; it pro-claims the truth and existence of one Lord,Creator, covenant-maker, and Redeemer. TheGreek New Testament opens with a tying-together statement, saying that Jesus Christ is“the son of David, the son of Abraham” (re-spectively the greatest king of Israel, and thefather of the Hebrew nation), and, later in Mat-thew 1:23, that he is God come in the flesh.Seitz gives due consideration in this openingchapter to several issues: the relationship be-tween the Testaments, including text-criticalobservations; the possibility of doctrinallenses, namely, that we do not read neutrally;and, finally, biblical theology. Each of these isimportant to the study at hand.

A key query at the outset is: What is “bibli-cal theology”? Our author surveys a number ofanswers to this question, ranging from JamesDunn to H. Hubner and P. Stuhlmacher, to B.Childs, to A. J. M. Wedderburn, to O. Hofius.He insists that the critical element is to put inthe foreground the character of the relationshipbetween the Testaments (96, italics his) as thecenter of treating the subject of biblical theol-ogy. We need to maintain a “more evaluative”position, particularly with respect to the rela-tion between historical description and theo-logical significance, and to evaluate how themessage of the OT does Christian theologicalwork. And while the church may naturally feela greater tie-in with the NT, it should be notedhow the early church, in the first four centu-ries, gave great attention to texts like Proverbs8 and Genesis 1, for example.

Another point to consider is Paul’s use ofthe OT. Is it something we can or should eventry to imitate? Christ did what he did, in Paul,“according to the Scriptures” (as in 1 Cor.15:3–4). Apart from “imitating Paul,” as hefrequently calls his readers to do, can we imi-tate his exegesis of the OT? From a cultural orrevelatory point of view the answer might beno, but from a more literal fashion, usinghistorico-grammatical exegesis, the answercould well be yes (a point made by R. Longe-necker in his Biblical Exegesis in the ApostolicPeriod, 1975, and elaborated on by Seitz,104–109).

There is also the example, given with em-phasis by the risen Lord himself, in Luke 24, ofhow the Christian reader is to interpret/under-stand the OT. “And beginning with Moses andall the prophets, he interpreted to them in allthe scriptures the things concerning himself”(v. 24); and “that everything written about mein the law of Moses and the prophets and thepsalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened theirminds to understand thescriptures”(vv.44–45).

One final illustration, where Seitz sums upsome critical point: we need to see the OT asChristian Scripture; we need to employ the rule

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of faith, both as a historical reality and as apoint of reference in modern studies of the au-thority of Scripture; to see the importance ofthe way the OT is used in the NT and its theo-logical consequences; and to have a healthfulunderstanding of the NT as canon, within agreater two-Testament witness. It is vital toview and understand the two Testaments ofScripture as mutually informing, mutuallyinfluencing witnesses.

I heartily commend this book to its readers.Some may find it daunting in terms of its his-torical and theological analyses; some mayfind its frequent long sentences irritating. Butby diligent and even repeated readings, muchhelp can be afforded—intellectually, histori-cally, and spiritually. Pray for the Holy Spirit tominister through its words.

Walter M. DunnettSt. Mark’s Episcopal ChurchGlen Ellyn, Illinois

FINDING THE HISTORICAL CHRIST,by Paul Barnett. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,2009. Pp.194. $22.00 (paper).

Barnett offers this third volume in his seriesAfter Jesus, in which he explores first-centuryChristianity. After a brief methodologicalchapter, Barnett draws upon the followingsources to establish Jesus as the “historicalChrist”: the Gospels, non-Christian sources,“the Jerusalem biographical tradition,” andPaul’s letters. His primary argument is that itcan be established historically that Jesus wasthe Messiah during his earthly life and not sim-ply acknowledged as such by his followersafter his death.

Barnett begins by investigating via sec-ond-century usage which Christian gospelswere earliest, and concludes that the canonicalGospels were being circulated by the secondgeneration of Jesus’ followers. Barnett sug-gests that each Gospel attaches itself to a “mis-sion leader” in the early church (Peter, James,John, and Paul), with auxiliary NT writings at-

tached to that leader and Gospel (e.g., James asmission leader with Matthew’s Gospel, and thebook of James as the related literature).Whether or not his entire hypothesis can besustained, Barnett succeeds in sketching a pic-ture of early Christianity that suggests moreconnections between various NT writings thanare usually admitted by traditional formcriticism.

Barnett examines the “hostile” sources forJesus or his later followers, which include theJewish historian Josephus, Tacitus, and Pliny.From these sources, Barnett confirms basicparameters of Jesus’ (and the Baptist’s) minis-try, death, and later worship by Christians.

Barnett’s chapter on oral sources behindthe gospels examines early kerygmatic formu-las in 1 Cor 15 and Acts 10 and 13. He attemptsto demonstrate a “common biographicalthread” in Pauline and Petrine material fromJohn the Baptist’s preaching to Jesus’ death,resurrection, and Jerusalem appearances (72).Barnett suggests that these common biog-raphies were early and set the sequentialand ideological patterns for the writtengospels.

Turning to the canonical Gospels, Barnettaffirms Papias’s testimony that Mark recordedhis recollections and interpretation of Peter’steachings (107). Barnett suggests that Mark11–16 was likely written as a discrete narrativein the early 40s (by Mark and Peter), whilechapters 1–10 were a later addition based onPeter’s testimony. This hypothesis is sup-ported, for Barnett, by the thematic referencesto Peter, the irregularly occurring vivid de-scriptions across Mark, and the evidence of Je-sus as rabbi, grounding Peter’s continuation ofJesus’ teachings in Mark.

Barnett examines the Lukan prologue(1:1–4) to indicate that Luke draws upon anumber of narratives that themselves arisefrom eyewitness testimony. For Barnett, atleast three of these narratives can be identifiedfrom source criticism: Mark, Q, and L (uniqueLukan material). Since these sources provide

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some independent attestation of certain bio-graphical details and christological affirma-tions, Luke is a dependable source for thehistorical Christ.

Taking on the most contested gospel forhistorical use, Barnett affirms John as a credi-ble source about Jesus. Barnett highlights themajor events common to both Mark and John.He draws upon details unique to John in nar-rating these events to suggest that these detailsare “surprising” (i.e., not promoting John’stheological interests) and so credible. Barnettalso argues that, if John is independent fromMark, the accounts of common events inMark and John provide independent attesta-tion. Finally, Jesus’ self-portrayal in John ismore understated than John’s portrayal of Je-sus and so sits “rather closer to the synoptics’presentation than we may have assumed”(174).

In his chapter on Paul, Barnett concludesthat Paul was convinced that the historical Je-

sus was the Messiah before his death and res-urrection, evidenced by Paul’s use of tradi-tional language of “Christ [vs. Jesus] crucified.”He also provides evidence that Paul knew vari-ous details about the life, teachings, and char-acter of the pre-resurrected Christ. Finally,Barnett traces what he calls “Christ’s radicalinfluence on Paul” (197), examining, for in-stance, Jesus’ (and Paul’s) understanding ofGod as father and “Christ’s radical affirmationof women” (205). A specific concern here isBarnett’s tendency to paint first-century Juda-ism rather monolithically and in clear contra-distinction to Jesus and Paul. Yet recent workby scholars like A. J. Levine brings caution andnuance to the conversation about how Chris-tianity differed from Judaism in the areasBarnett discusses.

Barnett’s final chapter analyzes Markan in-formation on first-century life in Galilee. Heargues that Mark’s “incidental references” co-here with what is known about Galilee from

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nonbiblical sources. Barnett concludes thebook with an appendix on the gospel genre anda summary chapter in which he reaffirms hishistorical and personal conviction that “thehistorical Jesus was the Christ, both in his ownmind and eventually also in the minds of thedisciples” (269).

Barnett offers his readers a comprehensiveproposal evaluating the NT writings as credi-ble sources for historical reconstruction of Je-sus as the Christ. He works with a broad rangeof sources, including second-century Chris-tian and non-Christian writings, Josephus, pa-pyri, and the NT texts. Along the way, heprovides interesting historical insights andproposals, though the whole of his argumentmay not be compelling except to those alreadyprone to accept his general assumptions aboutthe reliability of the NT sources. For instance,Barnett uses Paul’s affirmation of the pre-resurrected Jesus as Christ to prove that thepre-resurrected Jesus was indeed the Messiah.Yet opposing scholars would likely acknowl-edge that Paul believed this affirmation; theywould simply disagree with Paul! Barnett’shistorical arguments do not always lead fullyto his conclusions.

In the end, the pastor or church leader willlikely find much of value in this book due toBarnett’s extensive knowledge of the sourcesthat surround the New Testament as well asBarnett’s abilities to draw constructive holisticproposals from the textual and historical de-tails of these sources.

Jeannine K. BrownBethel SeminarySaint Paul, Minnesota

THE THEOLOGICAL AND THE PO-LITICAL: ON THE WEIGHT OFTHE WORLD, by Mark Lewis Taylor.Minneapolis: Fortress,2011.Pp.256.$35.00(cloth).

Mark Lewis Taylor, Maxwell W. UpsonProfessor of Theology and Culture at Prince-

ton Theological Seminary, has offered a pro-vocative text in his latest book, The Theologicaland the Political: On the Weight of the World.The major objective of this project is not ob-scured by the title; rather, the title reveals theheart of the project in a nutshell. Taylor seeksto offer the reader a vision of how the theologi-cal and political collide. He begins the book bypresenting a distinctive break with what hecalls “theology” as defined as the work of aguild, which draws from history and doctrineto construct its discourse. Taylor wants tomove past this concept and turn from “theol-ogy” to what he calls the “theological.” The“theological,” he contends, is inextricablybound to the political, for the theological at-tends not to doctrine and history but to thosebearing the weight of the world—thosesuffering under oppression.

Taylor, then, does not see the political asjust politics, but as a reality bound in socialpractice that delivers agony and strife. So Tay-lor pushes us to see agony as the true text of thetheological enterprise, and not doctrine andcreeds. Taylor has many harsh things to sayabout such theologizing that attends to guilddiscourses of doctrine, creed, and history. Hisultimate concern is that these perspectivestake on such a heavy, nonmaterial view of tran-scendence that they escape the world andtherefore perpetuate what he calls agonisticpractices. Using French social theory andpoststructuralism, Taylor wishes to makewhat he calls the agonistic, those oppressed bythe practice of the political, the text of thetheological enterprise.

Yet, Taylor doesn’t wish to only crash allconceptions of transcendence on the rocks ofimminence, but rather to offer a way betweenthese dichotomies, seeking a narrow path be-tween the rock cliffs with what he calls“transimminence.” “Transimminence” is thepractice-centered move into the political tohear and act for those living under the weightof the world.

Taylor begins this journey in chapter one

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by providing a rich discussion of Foucault andDerrida, using their discourse as a way ofprioritizing those in agony, pushing the readerfurther to see the agonistic as fertile ground forthe theological. It is in this chapter that Taylorwrites most lucidly, using his own story ofworking in a prison to give significant flesh tohis argument; he articulates an experience hehad with a man in prison. Yet, this narrationonly lasts for a few pages, to disappear intorich, but difficult, academic prose. This re-viewer yearned for Taylor to continue with thenarrative shape he gives the reader in these fewpages, but alas, it was not to be. The authorchooses obscure (made-up) academic wordsand quotes from French intellectuals over re-porting the acts and words of those truly livingin agony. If Taylor had done the latter, thebook would have sung a tune hard not to seekharmony with. Yet, instead, in the remainderof chapter one and into chapter two, Taylordiscusses the problems with transcendence,otherworldliness, white/male dominance, andthe many problems with sovereignty. Inchapter two the author also offers a significantdiscussion of Bourdieu.

Chapter three takes a more constructiveturn, as Taylor discusses art. He articulatesthat the text for the theological is agonistic(agony brought by the social practices of thepolitical). But the material textuality of theagonistic is the artistic expressions of those inoppression. It is turning to these pieces (notdoctrinal history or even the biblical text) thatis the job of the theological theologian. Chap-ters four and five flesh this out by looking atGuatemalan poetry as it articulates torture.These two chapters examine deeply the experi-ence of torture through the art of the tortured,leading Taylor to rework his very concept ofthe cross and other theological positions.

The Political and the Theological is withoutquestion a deep and important book and onethat offers academics in the guild—the guildsTaylor rails against—much to think about andconsider. It is a wonderful piece of academic

work, but the irony is that this is its limit.Though the theory provides a vision of thetheological that moves beyond the guild andinto those concretely suffering, it is difficult forthis reviewer to see how this book would be ap-plicable and readable to any such audience. Itis not that it is hard, but that it is obscure, withits many made-up academic phrases. I canimagine that most pastors would find this textsignificantly challenging to read. If they willtake the risk and wade through it, they mayfind treasures within, but the journey will betreacherous.

This reviewer has some other questions inrelation to Taylor’s argument as well, ques-tions that surround the need to depart from allcreedal, doctrinal articulations. I agree that iftheology is only a human-constructed history,then it may be time to move past it. But, if Godis an active presence in the world, and if creedsand doctrines are practicing believers’ past ar-ticulations of their experience of the mystery ofthis active God, then doctrine and creed can beplaced in discourse with our own, evenagonistic, experience, allowing experience tocritique the doctrinal, but also the doctrinal (asarticulations of divine action) to push againstthe experiential.

Andrew RootLuther SeminarySaint Paul, Minnesota

WALTHER’S HYMNAL, CHURCHHYMNBOOK FOR EVANGELICALLUTHERAN CONGREGATIONS OFTHE UNALTERED AUGSBURGCONFESSION, translated and edited byMatthew Carver. St. Louis: Concordia, 2012.Pp. 440. $39.99 (paper).

In 1839, Saxon Lutherans came to St. Louiswith the Dresden Pastor Martin Stephan(1777–1846) as their bishop. He took absoluteauthority and was accused of misconduct, sothey deposed him. Pastor C. F. W. Walther(1811–1887) became their leader. In 1847 they

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organized the Lutheran Church–MissouriSynod. In the same year they published theK i r c h e n g e s a n g b u c h f ü r E v a n g e l i s c h -Luther ische Gemeinden ungeänderterAugsburgischer Confession. Walther preparedit for his congregation in St. Louis, but it be-came the hymnbook of the Missouri Synod. Itcontained 437 hymns and was edited byWalther on the basis of earlier hymnals thanthe one they brought with them from Dresden,the Dresdnisches Gesangbuch (Dresden, 1796),which was a product of the Enlightenment. AsCarl Schalk notes in his Source Documents inAmerican Lutheran Hymnody (St. Louis,1996), p. 71, Walther’s editorial intent was toinclude hymns “pure in doctrine” for “univer-sal acceptance” in “the orthodox German Lu-theran Church,” intended for “publicworship,” with “Christian simplicity…of atruly Christian poetry.” Rhythmic choraletunes, which were a symbol of orthodoxLutheran practice, were presumed.

Matthew Carver, a translator of German lit-erature, has translated the Kirchengesangbuchfrom its printing of 1892. He did not translateeverything in the hymnal. These are omitted:the Antiphons, the biographical squibs in theindex of authors, the liturgical Prefaces, Lu-ther’s Small Catechism, the Augsburg Confes-sion, and the Epistles and Gospels for theChurch Year (which were given in full). Theseare added: an appendix of supplementarytunes (in four-part harmonizations), an indexof English first lines, and an index of transla-tors. Most of the tunes are not included. Theyare cited, as in the German book, at the head of

each hymn. Carver adds sources for them ei-ther in English hymnals or in the appendix ofsupplementary tunes.

Carver relied on English translations thathave been used in the Missouri Synod, espe-cially those found in The Lutheran Hymnal(1941). For “about 120 hymns, and an un-counted number of additional stanzas” (xv) hemade the translations himself.

This book makes available responsibleEnglish translations of all the hymns in theKirchengesangbuch. Though many of these arereadily available in translation elsewhere,putting them together like this makes it easy tofind them without extensive searching, givesEnglish speakers a sense of the Kirchen-gesangbuch as a whole, and provides completetranslations of all stanzas. These positive at-tributes are balanced by questions about thechoice of English style. Elizabethan English isused throughout. That does two things: it givesthe texts a stilted character that does not matchthe more personal character of the German,and in our context makes the male pronounsstand out. The nineteenth-century users prob-ably would not have experienced either thedistance we feel or the heavy male emphasis. Ifused with those recognitions, the book is avaluable tool for anyone who is interested inthis source.

Paul WestermeyerLuther SeminarySaint Paul, Minnesota

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