death and the afterlife in the new testament – by jaime clark-soles

Religious Studies Review

• VOLUME 33 • NUMBER 4 • OCTOBER 2007

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tions. The depth of detail in Kühn’s discussion derives fromthe fact that she examined them personally, often

in situ

, andmany of them are illustrated by the author’s own pictures.Commemorations of the dead serve to maintain a sense ofreciprocal relationship between the living and the dead,especially with the goal of the deceased continuing to lookout for the welfare of the living. This relationship was con-cretely expressed in monuments and inscriptions and cele-brated in a memorial banquet. The final third of the bookdeals with similar ideas reflected in OT texts dealing withburial customs, commemoration of the dead, the

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banquet, and the royal ancestor cult. In the postexilic periodin particular, these were integrated in the Yahweh cult byaffirming that the dead were also united with Yahweh. It isfor scholarly libraries.

John L. McLaughlinUniversity of St. Michael’s College

THE TOMB OF PAY AND RAIA AT SAQQARA. ByMaarten J. Raven. London: Egypt Exploration Society, 2005.Pp. xxiv + 171; plates, illustrations. $190.00, ISBN 0-85698-164-68.

The director of the harem of Tutankhamun at Memphis,Pay shared a tomb at Saqqara with his son and successor,Raia, who served into the early years of dynasty 19. Thisbeautifully illustrated volume covers the careers and familyof the two officials, the architecture, inscriptions, and deco-ration of their tomb, and the objects excavated in the tombduring excavations beginning in 1994. The tomb consists ofa pair of courtyards and three decorated chapels. A pair ofstelae showing Raia worshipping the gods Osiris and Ra-Horakhty, now in Berlin, certainly derive from the tomb.Another well-preserved stela shows Pay and his family offer-ing to the same deities. Along with funerary offerings suchas pottery shabtis and canopic jars found in the excavations,the author identifies other objects from the tomb now inmuseums. The book offers new insights into the administra-tion and burial customs at the Memphite capital during thefascinating era following the Amarna period.

Denise M. DoxeyMuseum of Fine Arts, Boston

WHAT IS STRONGER THAN A LION? LEONINEIMAGE AND METAPHOR IN THE HEBREW BIBLEAND THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST. By Brett A. Strawn.Orbis biblicus et orientalis, 212. Fribourg, Switzerland:Academic Press Fribourg, 2005. Pp. xxix + 587. €136.00,Fr 175.00, ISBN 3-7278-1515-9.

Strawn classifies the more than two hundred HB textsmentioning or evoking lions as either naturalistic or meta-phorical, subdividing the latter into positive images for theself/the righteous, negative ones for enemies/the wicked,plus references to the monarch and other “mighty ones,” andto the deity. In excavations, unprovenanced seals and relatedonomastica from Israel (1,500-332 BCE) lions are associatedwith the monarch/mighty one and various deities, usually in

cultic or official contexts, with evidence of external artisticinfluence. Archaeological and literary evidence for lionselsewhere in the ancient Near East indicate that the lion wasa symbol of both power and threat, serving as a negativeimage for enemies/the wicked/threats to order, a positiveimage for the monarch/mighty one, and as an image forvarious deities. The lion as both powerful and threatening inthe HB is consistent with the nonbiblical evidence, but theconnection with Israelite kings is both different and minimalcompared to elsewhere. Lions are used as metaphors forYahweh similarly to elsewhere, as is the symbolism for thewicked, although the latter is more pronounced in the HB,especially the Psalms. Leonine imagery for Yahweh probablyderives from violent goddesses such as Sekhmet or Ishtarrather than Baal/Seth. Two appendices discuss lion termi-nology in the HB and the semantic domain of lion imagery,with a third comprising line drawings of the 483 imagesdiscussed in the book. Strawn’s book offers detailed andinsightful treatment of this polyvalent image. It is for aca-demic libraries.

John L. McLaughlinUniversity of St. Michael’s College

TEXTS FROM THE PYRAMID AGE. By Nigel C.Strudwick. Writing from the Ancient World 16. Atlanta, GA:Society of Biblical Literature, 2005. Pp. xxxvii + 517; map.N.p., ISBN 978-1-58983-138-4.

Intended to make Egyptian Old Kingdom texts accessi-ble to a wide audience, this book translates a range of mate-rial, including historiographic texts, temple texts, royalinscriptions, administrative texts, nonroyal tomb inscrip-tions, legal and administrative texts, graffiti, expeditioninscriptions, and letters. The Pyramid Texts, which are thesubject of another book in the series, are not included here.An extensive introduction furnishes historical background,context, literary and linguistic issues, and notes on the com-mon genres of literature. No previous publication in Englishhas provided so thorough a selection of writings from thepyramid age (dynasties 3-6). The translations are clear andreadable, illuminating the civil, religious, and political life ofOld Kingdom Egypt. Scholars, students, and interested non-specialists should all welcome this book.

Denise M. DoxeyMuseum of Fine Arts, Boston

Christian OriginsCHARACTER ETHICS AND THE NEW TESTA-MENT: MORAL DIMENSIONS OF SCRIPTURE.Edited by Robert L. Brawley. Louisville, KY: WestminsterJohn Knox Press, 2007. Pp. xvi + 269. $29.95, ISBN 978-0-664-23066-1.

Originating from discussions in the Character Ethicsand Biblical Interpretation Group of the SBL, these sixteenessays approach from varying viewpoints the fundamental

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Religious Studies Review • VOLUME 33 • NUMBER 4 • OCTOBER 2007

question: why do we know what is right but fail to do it?Among the contributors, C. Clifton Black provides subtleanswers to the question whether suffering is educational inMark. A. Verhey finds many ways in which scripture (andespecially the Beatitudes) is “performed”: in sermons, inprayers of confession, petition, thanksgiving, and in worshipand the liturgy, whose actions ideally should overflow intodaily life. W. M. Swartley expounds the idea of peace as afundamental part of the NT message, elaborated in variousways according to the point of view of individual NT authors.N. Elliot proffers an unusual insight: it was Roman (state)ethnocentrism, not Jewish, that is the key to understandingPaul’s argument in the Letter to the Romans. Readers ofthese collected essays will certainly profit from the percep-tiveness of the contributors, who often put a new spin uponmoral questions that are often taken for granted.

Casimir BernasHoly Trinity Abbey

DEATH AND THE AFTERLIFE IN THE NEW TESTA-MENT. By Jaime Clark-Soles. New York: Continuum, 2006.Pp. x + 261. $29.95, ISBN 978-0-567-02912-6.

The author examines much of the primary evidence forNT beliefs in the afterlife and enters into dialogue with asuccession of secondary sources in order to present a coher-ent picture of the subject. After a preliminary survey ofnotions of the afterlife in the Greco-Roman and OT/Jewishcultures, Clark-Soles limits her treatment of the NT to influ-ential representatives: Paul, John, Matthew, and 1 and 2Peter. According to Clark-Soles, ideas about the afterlife inIsrael and Judaism were influenced by concrete, historicalevents that posed life-threatening crises to individuals andsociety as a whole. God’s justice and his governance of theworld were at stake; wrongs must be righted, if not here,then at a future great assize. On the contrary, in the Greco-Roman world, judgment follows death, not in an apocalypticfuture. For Paul, Christians will die (except for those alive atthe Parousia) and eventually be raised to a new life, but theconvoluted relationship in his thought between death, “inter-mediate state,” judgment, and resurrection has never beensettled to the satisfaction of everyone. Clark-Soles addressessome interesting parallels between the Fourth Gospel andthe Epicurean doctrine. In Matthew, a communitarian ele-ment accompanies the future fate of the individual. Animportant outcome of Clark-Soles’s study is that there is nounified portrait of the afterlife in the NT, but rather a seriesof discrete images that depend upon the prevailing socialand religious milieus. This is hardly a revolutionary insight.In any case, we have here a concise, accurate, well-researched study that should prove of benefit to students andscholars alike.


THE NEW PROCLAMATION COMMENTARY ONTHE GOSPELS. Edited by Andrew F. Gregory. Minneapo-

lis, MN: Augsburg Fortress Press, 2006. Pp. xii + 211.$35.00, ISBN 978-0-8006-3752-1.

One outstanding product of the ecumenical movementhas been the production and use of a common liturgicallectionary among many of the mainline English-speakingchurches. The volume under review comments on the Gospeltexts that are used in this lectionary, or at least those textsthat occur on Sundays and Festivals during the three-yearcycle of readings. In effect, therefore, it is a runningcommentary on the individual Gospels, in proper order ofchapter and verse (not as the pericopes occur scatteredthroughout the lectionary), with the omission of texts (fortu-nately few in number) that have not been included in thelectionary. Each Gospel is treated by a separate contributor:A. F. Gregory (Luke, plus an informative Introduction);D. Bartlett (Matthew); M. D. Hooker (Mark); and H.Wansbrough (John). The comments expound each individualGospel section as a discrete unit. The remarks are brief andincisive. At first glance, the treatise might appear super-ficial, but a closer reading reveals a wealth of insightscompressed into a small space; and the stature of thecontributors assures a rigorous scholarly underpinning towhat is a popular presentation. If comments on sections ofthe Gospels that are omitted in the lectionary were included,this would make an excellent beginner’s introduction toGospel study.


THE WISDOM OF EGYPT: JEWISH, EARLYCHRISTIAN, AND GNOSTIC ESSAYS IN HONOUROF GERARD P. LUTTIKHUIZEN. Edited by AnthonyHilhorst and George H. van Kooten. Ancient Judaism andEarly Christianity, 59. Leiden: Brill, 2005. Pp. xii + 557;illustrations. $164.00, ISBN 90-04-14425-0.

Collected in this volume are twenty-nine essays writtenfor the occasion of G. Luttikhuizen’s retirement. They cele-brate a professor who devoted his career to the study ofEgyptian Gnostic texts and Christian-Jewish sects such asthe Elchasaites. Many of the articles reflect the fact that hetaught Coptic to his students and instilled in them a fascina-tion and appreciation for Gnosticism and its importance inearly Christianity. This book is truly beyond the canon, mir-roring Luttikhuizen’s own emphasis on the diversity of ear-liest Christianity. Contributions fall into three categoriesrelating to Egypt: Judaism, early Christianity, and Gnosti-cism. They highlight a number of traditions that point toEgypt in terms of subject matter, background, or prove-nance. The collection shows how vibrant early Christianitywas in Egypt. Contributors include Noort, Martínez, vanRuiten, Kugler, Bolyki, Peerbolte, van Henten, van der Horst,Menken, Hilhorst, Kooten, te Velde, van de Sandt, Loman,Roukema, Herrmann, van den Hoek, Bremmer, Bakker,Pesthy, Jakab, Hogeterp, Bos, van Dijk, Tigchelaar, Lazillotta,Tubach, Czachesz, Meyer, and van der Vliet. Like most largecollections, however, the content of the book is highly vari-


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able, reflecting the research agendas of individual contribu-tors. Like many books on Egypt that are written by scholarsof early Judaism and Christianity, the contributors approachthe material as exegetes of the Jewish or Christian texts. Sothere is very little interaction with Egyptian culture or mate-rial remains. There are exceptions: te Velde’s examinationof the concept of the “heart” in Egypt and how this under-standing affects the reading of 1 John 3:18-20, and Her-rmann and van den Hoek’s discussion of the Sphinx’sinfluence on Clement of Alexandria.

April D. DeConickRice University

ACCORDING TO JOHN: THE WITNESS OF THEBELOVED DISCIPLE. By John F. O’Grady. New York:Paulist Press, 1999. Pp. v + 174. $12.95, ISBN 0-8091-3852-2.

Written from a distinctively Catholic perspective,O’Grady’s book consists of two parts: “The Gospel of John”(nine chapters) and “The Johannine Community and Theol-ogy” (four chapters). Taken together they include literary,historical, and theological features. One might best think ofthe book as a buffet because the order of the book does nothave a chronological, thematic, or methodological structure;each chapter can stand on its own. This will prove useful toseminary professors who want to assign a concise introduc-tory chapter on one or two aspects of the Gospel. Seminari-ans and pastors will enjoy O’Grady’s linking the text toissues of modern Christian piety not only by attention toimportant topics, but also through the excellent study ques-tions provided in each chapter. O’Grady also effectively high-lights the distinctiveness of the Fourth Gospel. One mightwish for more rigor in certain places. For instance, in treat-ing the Martha passage, he contrasts “the incompleteness ofthe old religion” with “Christian faith.” Would John reallyimagine such mutually exclusive categories for his commu-nity? Likewise, many scholars would find questionableO’Grady’s talk of the evangelists adapting the “actual words”of Jesus or his declaration that the synoptic authors “had amore conservative approach in preserving the historicalwords of Jesus.” All in all, the book is quirky but useful, withan occasional flash of brilliant or moving insight.

Jaime Clark-SolesPerkins School of Theology

MOVING BEYOND NEW TESTAMENT THEOLOGY?ESSAYS IN CONVERSATION WITH HEIKKIRÄISÄNEN. Edited by Todd Penner and Caroline VanderStichele. Publications of the Finnish Exegetical Society, 88.Helsinki: Finnish Exegetical Society, 2005. Pp. xiii + 490.€45.00, ISBN 951-9217-43-6.

A session of the 2001 meeting of the International SBLin Rome analyzed on an international and interdisciplinaryscale Räisänen’s recently published Beyond New TestamentTheology. These seventeen essays, plus an Appendix byRäisänen, are the result of that session. The fundamentaltheme of the contributors, as with Räisänen himself, is the

agelong dichotomy between faith and/or reason, theologyand/or history, and the canon and/or the entirety of earlyChristian literature. For example, P. Balla concludes that weare certainly not beyond NT theology. Penner appreciatesthe value of Räisänen’s thought for the promotion of dialogueamong the many conflicting voices in the world today, eachwith its own confessional agenda. Similarly, V. K. Robbinsexpress a desire for interpreters to move beyond historical-critical methods that reinforce prejudices which, while nour-ishing the religious life of communities and individuals,can lead to hatred and violence. Scholars will find in thisimmense reservoir of erudition a number of challengingpositions and conclusions, many of which are worthy ofassimilation and development.


THE MESSAGE OF ACTS IN CODEX BEZAE: ACOMPARISON WITH THE ALEXANDRIAN TRADI-TION. VOLUME 2: ACTS 6.1-12.25: FROM JUDAEAAND SAMARIA TO THE CHURCH IN ANTIOCH. ByJosep Rius-Camps and Jenny Read-Heimerdinger. Library ofNew Testament Studies (JSNT Supplement Series), 302. NewYork: T&T Clark, 2006. Pp. xiii + 400. $130.00, ISBN 0-567-04012-7.

A continuation of the authors’ project to compare thetext of Codex Bezae (D/05, ca. 400), “a cohesive and coherentwork” in its own right, with the better-known “Alexandrian”version of Acts that lies behind nearly all modern transla-tions. The authors believe that Bezae preserves a form ofActs that 1) both predates the Alexandrian text (“a revision”of Bezae) and stands closer to Lucan thought and language,2) represents a significantly different story of the church’searliest days (one that is primarily theological rather thanhistorical in focus), and 3) is written from a first-centuryJewish perspective and adopts a typically Jewish approachto theological debate. The key issue in Acts 6-12 is a divisionof opinion among believers regarding “the continuation ofIsrael as the privileged people of God,” with resolution com-ing “with Peter’s final realization that God is bringing hispeople out of the old religious order and that the traditionalexpectations have been superceded;” consequently, “in cer-tain respects,” chapter twelve (“The Release of the Churchfrom Israel”) becomes the most important chapter in Acts.The authors present their stimulating and provocative casewith undeniable learning, erudition, skill, insight, andpatience. One need not accept either their perspective ortheir conclusions to enjoy, appreciate, and learn from theirclose (and often intertextual) reading of Acts.

Michael W. HolmesBethel University

THE SPIRIT OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION. ByRobby Waddell. Journal of Pentecostal Theology SupplementSeries, 30. Dorset, UK: Deo Publishing, 2006. Pp. xii + 226.$24.95, ISBN 90-5854-030-8.

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In this revision of his PhD thesis written at the Univer-sity of Sheffield, Waddell explores the function of the Spiritin the Book of Revelation from a confessedly Pentecostalpoint of view. Beginning with a survey of recent studies, hefinds a dearth of research on the subject and a lack of consen-sus in the results of scholarly discourse. His exegetical focusis on Rev 11:1-13 (the temple and the two witnesses), whichhe finds to be the intertextual center of the writing. By “inter-textual,” upon which he places great emphasis, Waddellmeans the interpretative play between the OT and the NT inRevelation (or in any writing), along with (and most impor-tantly) the role that one’s own contextual world plays in thetask of interpretation (which for him is Pentecostalism). Thisis merely stating in another fashion the often-invoked truismthat the interpreter’s cards must be laid on the table; that onecannot observe any phenomenon except from a preciseobservation point, which in turn influences the resultsdespite all attempts at objective impartiality. Waddell con-cludes that the Spirit in Revelation is the seven spirits; thatthe church is made up of prophets (11:20); that worshipmust be the result of the meeting with God which resultsfrom the reading of scripture; and that the Bible, after all, isnot just another piece of literature. With most of the above,one can heartily agree. In sum, Waddell’s Pentecostal view-point is less intrusive than one might have initially feared.


EARLY CHRISTIAN VOICES IN TEXTS, TRADI-TIONS, AND SYMBOLS: ESSAYS IN HONOR OFFRANÇOIS BOVON. Edited by David H. Warren, Ann Gra-ham Brock, and David W. Pao. Biblical Interpretation Series,66. Leiden: Brill, 2003. Pp. xxiii + 471. $223.00, ISBN 978-0-391-04147-9.

This volume celebrates the outstanding career of Bovon.True to Bovon’s earnest commitment to the importance of allearly Christian writings, this volume includes thirty-twostudies on a range of subjects: Q, Gos. Thom., Luke–Acts,John, Hebrews, Montanism, Athanasius, Acts Paul, Asc. Isa.,Allogenes, Gos. Mary, Life of Adam and Eve, Ps.-Clem.,Hildegaard of Bingen, a hagiographical text, and a Man-ichaean letter. The book is divided into six sections: JesusTraditions; Lukan Traditions; Ancient Movements; AncientInterpretations; Ancient Motifs; and Ancient Manuscripts.Contributors include Robinson, Koester, Cameron, Attridge,Brock, Matthews, Pao, Marguerat, Warren, Bonz, Thomas,Zumstein, Aikten, Desreumaux, Junod, Tissot, Kienzle, Red-alié, Rordorf, Norelli, Elliott, Herrmann, van den Hoek, King,MacDonald, Kaestli, Stanley Jones, Prieur, Vogt, Bouvier,Amsler, Duffy, Morard, and Dubois. A biography and bibli-ography for Bovon is a highlight. Although the content of thevolume is variable according to the research interest of eachscholar, there are many strong original contributions amongthe articles. Although these are too many to detail in thisshort review, it should be noted that several chapters arestudies and editio princeps of manuscripts never before pub-

lished or are little known (Amsler and Bouvier: The Miracleof Michael the Archangel of Chonai; Duffy: Ms. Typ 234H,Gregory of Nyssa, De deitate Filii et Spiritus Sancti; Morard:Borgianus 265, Coptic Homily; Dubois: P. Kell. Copt. 18,Manichaean letter). The wide variety of voices in this singlevolume perhaps is the greatest compliment to a scholarwhose own research and voice has known no canonicalboundaries.

April D. DeConickRice University

Judaism: ModernNEUE ORTE—NEUE MENSCHEN: JUEDISCHE LEB-ENSFORMEN IN ST. PETERSBURG UND MOSKAUIM 19. JAHRHUNDERT. By Yvonne Kleinmann.Schriften des Simon-Dubnow-Instituts, Band 6. Goettingen:Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2006. Pp. 459; plates. €54.90,ISBN 978-3-525-36984-5.

This study of the patterns of Jewish life in St. Petersburgand Moscow in the nineteenth century is a welcome additionto the literature on the modernization of Jewish life in Rus-sia. Even though most Jews were not allowed to live in thecapital cities of Russia before the revolution, and the fewwho succeeded were highly atypical, this study is veryenlightening about the many aspects of the transition tomodernity. The author deals with geographical mobility, cul-tural mobility, and internal Jewish politics. Particularlyinteresting are her discussions of changes in religiosity, forinstance, the tendency in Moscow and Petersburg to mod-ernize the synagogue and establish “choral” synagogues aswell as conversion. The integration of these topics with thesocioeconomic information gives the author’s conclusionsadded authority. The author bases her work on a wide vari-ety of sources, and when read together with B. Nathans’srecent book Beyond the Pale offers a rich description of theworld of a minority that was seen by many as the picture ofthe future. The uniqueness of the analysis of religiousresponses of Jews in Russia to modernity should make it anecessary book for relevant collections.

Shaul StampferHebrew University

JEWS AT THE CROSSROADS: TRADITION ANDACCOMODATION DURING THE GOLDEN AGE OFTHE HUNGARIAN NOBILITY. By Howard N. Lupovitch.Budapest: Central European Press, 2007. Pp. xxviii + 277.$44.95, ISBN 978-963-7326-66-0.

If attention is given to the history of the Jews in Hun-gary, and especially religious history, it is usually withregard to Jewish Orthodoxy or the development of ReformJudaism, and attention is concentrated on Pressburg, Budap-est, and sometimes the Hassidic areas. This important bookoffers a significant correction, as it deals with a large com-munity that was in central Hungary, where the Jews weregenerally traditional but also acculturated and nonideologi-

death and the afterlife in the new testament – by jaime clark-soles

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