The article reviews the book  Neue Studien Zu Den Johanneischen Schriften,  by Johannes Beutler

Von Wahlde, Urban C.

The article reviews the book \u22Neue Studien Zu Den Johanneischen Schriften,\u22 by Johannes Beutler

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Neue Studien Zu Den Johanneischen Schriften

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Loyola University ChicagoLoyola eCommonsTheology: Faculty Publications and Other Works Faculty Publications12-2012Neue Studien Zu Den Johanneischen SchriftenUrban C. Von WahldeLoyola University Chicago, uvonwah@luc.eduThis Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Publications at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion inTheology: Faculty Publications and Other Works by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contactecommons@luc.edu.This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.© Theological Studies, Inc., 2012Recommended CitationNilson, Jon. "Neue Studien Zu Den Johanneischen Schriften." Theological Studies, 73, no. 4 (2012): 936-938.936 THEOLOGICAL STUDIESmade to Abraham that all nations would be blessed in him, shows that theeschatological age has been inaugurated through the death and resurrec-tion of Jesus. Gentiles are now included in God's people. In addition, thegift of the Spirit in human hearts empowers recipients to faithfully followthe ways of God. But Paul understands such faithful service apart fromfollowing the Jewish Law, for that Law now belongs to the former age.M. makes a good case for interpreting "the curse of the Law" (3:12) asreferring primarily to death—not to the Law itself or to the exile—thatresulted from Israel's failure to obey the Law. Thus, what the Spirit bestowsis eschatological life.M.'s reading of Galatians 3-4 is largely well argued. However, it wasdisappointing that M. gives only one paragraph to Paul's famous statementthat Christ "became a curse for us" (Gal 3:13) and offers no comment onthe biblical passage in connection with it ("Cursed be everyone who hangson a tree"; see Deut 21:23). Not all wih be convinced by M. that thereferent to "our hearts" in Galafians 4:6—where Paul writes, "God hassent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts"—refers specifically to JewishChristians rather than to all Christians, including the (Genfile) Galatians.M.'s best exegetical work is found in chapter 5, his analysis of Galatians5-6. There he succeeds in demonstrating how Paul's exhortations dependon the eschatological groundwork of the earlier argument. For instance, thenine manifestations of the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23align well with the eschatological hopes expressed in prophetic and SecondTemple texts. M. convincingly argues that, in this exhortative section, Pauluses the term "flesh" (sarx) interchangeably with the Jewish Law, bothof which belong to the old age. In the new age, the appropriate way forSpirit-filled believers—including the Gentile Galatians—to manifest theirpossession of eschatological life is by pariicipafing in Christ's self-sacrificiallove (2:20; 5:14; 6:2), not by attempting to observe the Jewish Law, which,Paul concluded, could not give the life it promised (3:21).While readers may quibble with various exegetical details, M.'s surveyof the religious and cultural background of Paul's references to the Spiritin Galatians is a worthy contribution to Pauline scholarship.Boston College School ofTheology and Ministry THOMAS D . STEGMAN, S.J.NEUE STUDIEN ZU DEN JOHANNEISCHEN SCHRIFTEN. By Johannes Beutler,S.J. Bonner Biblische Beiträge 167. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht,2012. Pp. 287. $62.Beutler is a major figure in Johannine studies in Europe, but he isperhaps less well known in the United States. This is unfortunate, becauseBOOK REVIEWS 937he is a scholar with careful judgment and a remarkable grasp of the fieldof Johannine studies as well as other aspects of New Testament the-ology. His range of expertise is reflected in this collection of essays writtensince 2000. The majority of the essays were originally published in German,but five were published in English, two in Italian, and one in Spanish.This alone suggests remarkable erudition. (In the present collection 15 arein German and flve are in English.)A survey of the topics covered is another indicator of the range of B.'sinterests and competence: Law and commandment in the Gospel andLetters* (* indicates article in German); the authorship and purpose ofthe Johannine writings*; the Johannine school*; the hermeneutic of thebook of Revelation*; the identity of "the Jews" in the Gospel; Jesus'conflict with Jewish institutions reflected in chapters 5-12; the influenceof the Synoptics on the Last Discourses in John; faith and confession inthe Gospel; the "glory" of God and of humans*; the use of Psalm 82:6 inJohn 10:34-36*; the meaning of John 14:31*; Jesus' dialogue with Marthain John 11:20-27*; relecture in John 6*; new approach to John 21*; resur-rection and forgiveness in John 21; on John 1:5*; on the prologue ingeneral*; on the introduction to the last discourses*; on John 21:20-25*;and on John 11:16*.B. is judicious and careful in his analysis. His discussion of the inter-pretation of Psalm 82 through the Septuagint, the NT, the Peschitta, andthe rabbis is thorough and displays an obvious comfort with such wide-ranging literature. That same comfort and skill is evident in the way heconfidently traverses the wide-ranging issues of the meaning of the verbkateiaben through the various textual and translational traditions. It is notlip-service; it is genuine engagement. In terms of methods, B. makes use ofrelecture developed by Jean Zumstein, and is convinced that the Gospelhas been influenced by the Synoptics. Both impact his interpretation.Over the years, B. has devoted considerable effort to the study of theattitudes in the Gospel toward Judaism. (He published a book on thetopic in 2006 and has been regularly involved in ecumenical discussions onthe topic in both Germany and Israel.) In his current essay, B. makes useof narrative criticism's helpful distinction between the "real reader" andthe "implied reader." He also calls attention to the necessary distinctionbetween reading the Gospel as an isolated document and reading it in thecanonical context of the remainder of the NT. B. suggests that it was verypossible that the use of "the Jews" to refer to an authoritative subgroupwithin Judaism was still clear when the Gospel was read alone; but whenread in a canonical context, the distinction would have been lost. I findthis a helpful distinction and would completely agree.One statement, however, puzzles me. B. comments that the "impliedauthor is accessible to us, and we may suspect that he was already filled938 THEOLOGICAL STUDIESwith hate against 'the Jews,' even if he left us a work where a distincdonbetween the Jewish people as a whole and the decisive group of its leaderscould sdll be observed" (75). To use "hate" here seems to imply an atd-tude of extreme and undeserved negative emotion. I do not see that inthe Gospel. Rather it seems to me that the attitude of the author is one ofutter bafflement that the authoritative Jewish view could be one of rejec-tion. The reader must also take into account John 16:2-3 ("But an hour iscoming in which those who kill you will think they are giving worship toGod. And they will do these things because they did not know the Father orme"). Such an attitude would be in keeping with the repeated assertionsin the Jewish canon itself that Israel did not "know" Yahweh (e.g., Isa 1:2-4says: "The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib; but Israeldoes not know, my people do not understand").B. goes on to wrestle with the question of how to handle the ambiguoustexts within the church today. However, B. (in my mind, righfly) insiststhat, while misinterpretation is all too easy, the text of the Gospel itselfin its original meaning is not at fault, and the Gospel cannot be excludedfrom either the canon or from usage. Rather it must be explained properlyas it would have been understood by the original reader and as intended bythe original author in his historical context.This review reflects just a sampHng of B.'s contributions in the volume.If there is a shortcoming, it is that because some of the articles werewritten for dictionaries, we are not supplied with the depth of discussionor documentation that we might like and that we find in his the otherstudies. Also, it is an unfortunate reality that, because so many articles arein German, the appeal to some readers, at least among a more generalreadership, will be limited.Loyola University Chicago URBAN C. VON WAHLDESYDNEY ANGLICANS AND THE THREAT TO WORLD ANGLICANISM: THESYDNEY EXPERIMENT. By Muriel Porter. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2011.Pp. xvi -f 173. $39.95.Muriel Porter does not write from a disinterested point of view. Indeed,she clearly has an ax to grind, and even confesses that she is "obviously notable to report on Sydney objectively and even-handedly" (xv). Though aprofessional academic of the University of Melbourne, she has also formany years represented the Diocese of Melbourne on the General Synodof the Anglican Church of Australia and its Standing Committee (whichtransacts the business of the national Church between Synod sitdngs).Given that this book traces the recent history of the engagement of theother 22 dioceses of the Australian Church with the Diocese of Sydney,Copyright of Theological Studies is the property of Theological Studies and its content may not be copied oremailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission.However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.

Neue Studien Zu Den Johanneischen Schriften

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