incompatible traditions first retreats from a physical to anaesthetic body, then (as in Levinas) “denies the existence ofhuman nature” altogether. That denial is the problem asOser sees it. His solution lies in a resurrection of the Aristo-telian body, a return (as Beckett’s Hamm put it) to “the oldquestions, the old answers, there’s nothing like them!” If theold questions go, Oser believes, we go with them. Nobodycan argue with that, and there is still nothing like the musicof the argument from Beckett to Blake to answer the Aristo-telian sense Oser makes of the world.

Steven SchroederChicago, IL

RELIGION AND THE MUSE: THE VEXED RELA-TION BETWEEN RELIGION AND WESTERN LIT-ERATURE. By Ernest Rubinstein. Albany: State Universityof New York Press, 2007. Pp. xiii + 262. $70.00, ISBN 978-0-7914-7149-4.

There are some conceptual cruxes of Western thoughtabout which literature and religion seem to be diametricallyopposed, such as the value of fiction or the function ofbeauty. But Rubinstein discovers that though the relationsbetween religion and literature may certainly be vexed, theyare not always combative, especially when Western religionis broadly conceived to include Platonism as well as theJudeo-Christian tradition. The initial chapters outline someof the major points of contention between religion and litera-ture, and point out the way that the two worldviews critiqueeach other. Later chapters complicate the scene of mutualcritique by examining sites where religion and art variouslydiverge and overlap as they draw upon each other forimagery and support. One such chapter is “Creation andCreativity,” which explores the twin analogs of divine andartistic creation. Much of the book is taken up with theestablishment and explanation of lineages of thought thatextend through religious and secular philosophers as well asliterary and biblical authors. The points of conflict and ofagreement are seen where these lineages overlap. In addi-tion to the Bible, which appears in all of them to somedegree, there are a number of authors mentioned in Rubin-stein’s genealogies, some of whom appear with more fre-quency than others, among them Plato, Dante, Milton, Blake,Kant, Hawthorne, Dostoevsky, and Tolstoy. Earlier chaptersmay be of most interest to literary scholars working withreligious themes, but the final, short chapters on individualconcepts (including “Love,” “Death,” “Evil,” “Suffering,”“Forgiveness,” and “Saintliness”) could serve as useful intro-ductions to those concepts for less expert readers.

H. G. S. JohnsonIndiana University Bloomington

THE BEAUTY OF GOD: THEOLOGY AND THE ARTS.Edited by Daniel J. Treier, Mark Husbands, and RogerLundin. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007.Pp. 233. $22.00, ISBN 978-0-8308-2843-2.

This book of ten essays emerged from the 2006 WheatonTheology Conference, which brought together artists andtheologians. Divided into three sections, the essays followthe biblical narrative, moving from creation to fall toredemption. The result is a distinctive evangelical contribu-tion to the field of theological aesthetics that aims to movebeyond static formulations of beauty toward dynamic under-standings rooted in the drama of redemption and the cen-trality of the crucified Christ. The concept of a “brokenbeauty” (drawn from a 2005-06 traveling exhibition and pub-lication by Christian artists) captures this approach, point-ing to a beauty that emerges from the transfiguration of thedisfigured. Begbie’s opening essays provide the Trinitariantheological ground for this approach, while subsequentessays explore examples of a “broken beauty” in music,painting, relationships, film, poetry, and scripture. The finalessays, drawing from Barth and von Balthasar, emphasizethe redemptive and apologetic potential of a Christologicaland Trinitarian approach to theological aesthetics. Despitethe initial and concluding call for a fully Trinitarian theologi-cal aesthetics, however, the Holy Spirit tends to fade into thebackground in the majority of these essays. Furthermore,not everyone will be convinced by their almost sole focus onthe cross and redemption (contra creation and incarnation).Nevertheless, this is an exciting and valuable contribution tothe dialogue between theology and the arts that takes sin andsuffering seriously, even as it highlights the excessive loveof God that shines through. It should be welcomed by theo-logians and practitioners alike.

John W. NelsonLuther Seminary

Ancient Near EastTHE REVELATION OF THE NAME OF YHWH TOMOSES: PERSPECTIVES FROM JUDAISM, THEPAGAN GRAECO-ROMAN WORLD, AND EARLYCHRISTIANITY. Edited by George H. van Kooten. Themesin Biblical Narrative: Jewish and Christian Traditions 9.Leiden: Brill, 2006. Pp. xiv + 264. $170.00, ISBN 978-90-0415398-1.

Delivered originally at the 2004 annual conference heldat the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, the thir-teen essays are organized into three parts reflecting perspec-tives from the OT and early Judaism, the Graeco-Romantraditions, and the NT and early Christianity. Part oneexplores the meaning of the divine name in relation topiyyutic and kabbalistic traditions, its connection to theAaronic Blessing in Num 6:22-27, its significance in Kingsand Chronicles, its adaptation by the second-century BCEJewish poet Ezekiel Tragicus and several other rabbinic lit-eratures from the second-century CE, and its relation to thecommand in Exod 3:5 (remove your sandals from your feet)that foreshadows the priestly customs in the Tent of Meetingand later the Temple. Part two offers papers discussing

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perspectives from the Classical world, including positiveevaluations of Moses (comparing him to the mythical signerMusaeus and works of Moses-Mochos and Numenius ofApemea) as well as a negative attack on the Jews and theirGod (by Celsus in regards to Origen). Part three deals withthe divine name in the contexts of Phil 2:6-11, the Gospel ofJohn, Philo’s works, and gnostic texts. This volume is veryvaluable to all students of antiquity and belongs in anyresearch library.

Won W. LeeCalvin College

PRECOVERING THE DAUGHTER’S NAKEDNESS: AFORMAL ANALYSIS OF ISRAELTE KINSHIP TER-MINOLOGY AND THE INTERNAL LOGIC OF LEV-ITICUS 18. Madeline Gay McClenney-Sadler. New York,NY: T & T Clark, 2007. Pp. xv + 132. $140.00, ISBN 978-0-567-02676-7.

Based on anthropological studies, the author assertsthat kinship terms are not only biological in nature, definingfamily ties, but also jural, specifying rights and obligationsof one person to another within a family. Building upon thisconcept, she identifies the ancient Israelite kinship systemembedded in the Pentateuch as preferring “FaBrDa mar-riage” (marriage to a father’s brother’s daughter), takingpostmarital residence as bilocal or ambilocal, and organizinggenerational descent bilaterally or bilineally. This findingsheds new light on understanding the internal logic of Lev18:6-18 that organizes it into two parts: 1) YHWH’s rightsover “you” (those listed in the rest of the passage; v. 6), and2) a person’s rights that should be respected by other people(vv. 7-18), beginning with a mother’s rights (v. 7a), andtraveling through a father’s rights (vv. 7b-11), a father’sfather’s rights (v. 12), a mother’s father’s rights (v. 13), afather’s brother’s rights (v. 14), sons’ rights (v. 15), a broth-er’s rights (v. 16), and ending with a wife’s rights (vv. 17-18).The inclusio of this jural-literary structure points to theimportance of a mother’s rights in a society, which impliesthe editor’s attempt to mediate the existing reality of gender-power imbalances. This is a fruitful addition to understand-ing the incest prohibitions in Lev 18.

Won W. LeeCalvin College

DIE DEUTERONMISTISCHEN GESCHICHTWERKE:REDAKTIONS—UND RELIGIONSGESCHICHLICHEPERSPEKTIVEN ZUR “DEUTERONOMISMUS”—DISKUSSION IN TORA UND VORDEN PROPHETEN.Edited by Markus Witte, Konrad Schmide, Doris Prechel,and Jan Christian Gertz. Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für diealttestamentliche Wissenschaft, Band 365. Berlin: Walterde Gruyter, 2006. Pp. xvii + 444. €98.00, ISBN 978-3-11-018667-3.

The collected eighteen articles given at conferences inHeidelberg (2005) and Mainz (2004) are organized into fiveparts: 1) “History of Religion and Methodological Perspec-

tives” calls for textual comparison of Kings and Chronicles,the literary and redaction-historical analysis of the textsassigned to “Deuteronomismus,” and a three-stage develop-ment of DtrH; 2) “ ‘Deuteronomistic’ Deuteronomy” viewsthe book as an integral part of the Pentateuch, Deut 1-3 asconnecting Deuteronomy to Joshua, and Deut 13 as a law-abiding addition from the exilic period; 3) “Pre- and Post-Deuteronomistic Layers in the Former Prophets” argues fornonexistence of an independent DtrH, existence of morethan one or two DtrHs, existence of a pre-Deuternomisticversion of Absalom’s rebellion, and nonexistence of royalinscriptions with possible linguistic and ideological connec-tions to Deuteronomistic texts; 4) “Aspects of History ofReligion” discusses concepts of love, the divine, and fiction-ality in historical texts; and 5) “Contexts of the Deuterono-mistic Covenant Idea” deals with literary form of Hittitetreaties, their presence in Syria, the vassal treaties of Esar-haddon, dependence of Deut 28:20-44 on Assyrian adê, andthe influence from Hittite traditions in the Sefire inscrip-tions. These articles collectively indicate that no consensusexists in understanding DtrH as a unified literary work, asM. Noth argued.

Won W. LeeCalvin College

Greece, Rome, Greco-Roman PeriodROMAN RELIGION AND THE CULT OF DIANA ATARICIA. By C. M. C. Green. Cambridge: Cambridge Univer-sity Press, 2007. Pp. vii + 347; plates, maps. $80.00, ISBN0-521-85158-0.

C. M. C. Green surveys the cult and sanctuary of DianaNemorensis at Aricia from the Bronze age to the secondcentury CE., exploring the nature of Roman religion in thisdense volume. This exploration is divided into three parts:“Grove and Goddess,” “Fugitives and Kings, Greeks andSlaves,” and “Healing and Ritual.” In part one, Green focuseson the evidence of the sanctuary from the Archaic age to theclosing of the sanctuary in the fourth century CE. In addition,turning to Diana herself, these chapters also present thegoddess as she is represented in art and literature. The ritualand associated functionaries of the cult are the centralconcern of part two, including the rex nemorensis, Orestes,Virbius, and Egeria. Finally, in part three, Green assessesthe relationship between Diana and the countless worship-pers who came to her sanctuary seeking ritual healing. Anyserious scholar of Roman religion will undoubtedly benefitfrom this exhaustive, erudite treatment of the cult of Diana.

Matthew R. HaugeClaremont Graduate University

ANFÄNGE UND FRÜHZEIT DES HEILIGTUMS VONOLYMPIA: DIE AUSGRABUNGEN AM PELOPION1987-1996. By Helmut Kyrieleis. Olympische Forschungen

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