McKinion, Randall L

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Cedarville UniversityDigitalCommons@CedarvilleBiblical and Theological Studies FacultyPublications School of Biblical and Theological Studies12-2009Book Review: Challenging Prophetic MetaphorRandall L. McKinionCedarville University, rmckinion@cedarville.eduFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/biblical_and_ministry_studies_publicationsPart of the Biblical Studies CommonsThis Book Review is brought to you for free and open access byDigitalCommons@Cedarville, a service of the Centennial Library. It hasbeen accepted for inclusion in Biblical and Theological Studies FacultyPublications by an authorized administrator ofDigitalCommons@Cedarville. For more information, please contactdigitalcommons@cedarville.edu.Recommended CitationMcKinion, Randall L., "Book Review: Challenging Prophetic Metaphor" (2009). Biblical and Theological Studies Faculty Publications.262.http://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/biblical_and_ministry_studies_publications/262journal of the evangelical theological society850 52/4These volumes on Isaiah provide the student of  Scripture voluminous exegeticalinformation. Goldingay and Payne give careful attention to key aspects of  exegesis: rhe-torical structure, meanings of  words and phrases, key text critical variants, as well asthe most important interpretive debates. They connect key concepts with other OT pas-sages that make a similar point. They are abreast of  modern as well as older biblicalscholarship.In spite of  the set’s many strengths, Goldingay’s and Payne’s conclusions about theauthorship of  the book do affect their interpretation in numerous places. While that istotally understandable, the reader must recognize when an interpretation significantlydraws on the envisioned setting at least as much as the intrinsic date of  the text. Evenif  there should not be a separate “servant songs” category (as Goldingay and Payneargue), I found their explanation of  the identity of  the servant somewhat convolutedand ambiguous. Also, they did not give much attention to passages that were prob-lematic to their conclusion.Regardless, these ICC volumes on Isaiah offer numerous insights into the meaningof Isaiah 40–55 and demand careful study by any student of the book of Isaiah. Unfor-tunately, the price tag for these volumes will discourage most students of Scripture fromincluding them in their personal libraries.Michael A. GrisantiThe Master’s Seminary, Sun Valley, CAChallenging Prophetic Metaphor: Theology and Ideology in the Prophets. By Julia M.O’Brien. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2008, xxii + 202 pp., $24.95 paper.The basic issue that Julia O’Brien addresses in Challenging Prophetic Metaphor ishow the reader of  the prophets should respond when the reader’s ideology conflicts withthe writer’s. In other words, if  one reads the text and discovers that he or she disagreeswith the perspective of  the author, is there still a possibility of  salvaging the text andusing it in theological conversation? O’Brien resolves this dilemma with the assumptionthat ideological criticism may, on the one hand, not allow the reader to embrace theteaching of  the prophetic book, but on the other hand, may provide the catalyst for con-tinuing evolution of one’s ideological presuppositions. Ideological criticism offers “readersdeeper insight into the cultural scripts that shape their own thinking and thus informtheir responses to the text” (p. 60). Thus, as the prophets are read and the writers’ faultyworld view—particularly that of  the outdated views of  patriarchy—is encountered, thetext forces the reader to look inward and discover where vestiges of  these errors remainso that one’s ideologies may continue to be honed. As a result, O’Brien attempts to walka middle road between the conclusion of many feminists that the metaphors used by theprophets—e.g. God as husband, father, and warrior—taint the text to such an extentthat it has little to no redeeming value and the conclusion of  traditional OT scholarshipthat was unwilling to challenge the writers’ ideologies. In challenging the latter con-clusion, she states, “Perhaps abandoning the assumption that value goes hand in handwith assent will allow readers to find other forms of  value in their engagement with theProphetic Books” (p. 51). In challenging the former, she believes part of  the answer isreading the text as literature and calls for “engaging [the Bible] as fully as we do otherpowerfully told stories, to read the Bible for all that it is worth” (p. 52). In other words,the modern reader sees and interprets life through the lens of  literature even whenthere is no agreement with its teachings; we read with presuppositions dictated by ourown and our culture’s ideology.book reviews 851december 2009Chapter 6, entitled “God as (Angry) Warrior,” gives an example of  the author’sreasoning through these issues. After providing an extensive set of  passages dem-onstrating the prophetic warrior motif, O’Brien shows how reading these acts of  vio-lence—acts that are personified as being poured out upon women—from the perspectiveof  a feminist ideology leads to a rejection of  the prophetic teaching. Whereas some em-brace the teaching of  books such as Nahum, a feminist certainly cannot because of  itsviolence against women. However, the question remains as to whether she as the readercan find any redeeming value to this metaphor. In response to this, O’Brien concludesthat the anger of  God as portrayed in Nahum became an opportunity for her to explorehow a modern understanding of  anger “led me to clarify exactly what offends me aboutNahum” (p. 121). Moreover, engagement of  Nahum caused her to discover how thejustice that is called for might benefit one group while bringing injustice upon another.Thus, her ideological criticism has not caused her to view justice from the biblical per-spective, but rather to evaluate how her own concepts of  justice may be inadvertentlycausing injustice to come upon another group. Reading Nahum has caused her to cryout with renewed fervor for “equal justice for all” (p. 123).Although I will probably find little need for the book in my study, it did provide help-ful insight into the mindset of  those who approach Scripture in a manner quite differentfrom my approach. For me, Scripture provides the basis for my faith and practice; forher, it is a work of literature upon which modern beliefs and practices carry on mutually-authoritative dialogue, for “the Bible can be engaged rather than simply obeyed” (p. xxi)and the text is “a resource for our lives, even when we cannot or will not submit to itsclaims” (p. xxii). For me, Scripture paints a picture of  the real world to which I conformmy views of reality, particularly of my relationship to the God who it presents as graciousand merciful and who provides salvation; for her, the OT presents the archaic prac-tices driven by “problematic ideologies” that modern culture still struggles to overcome.Whereas I view Scripture as authoritative, she prefers not to speak in such terms, for“approaching the Bible in this way leads to theological dead ends and contributes toself-deception in interpretation” (p. 51). With such foundational differences in the waywe read the text, I was not surprised by much of  the content of  the book. What baffledme as I read O’Brien’s interaction with Scripture was her purpose in doing so, for thereseems to be little reason for her continued pursuit of  reading the OT when the veryfabric of  its teaching—wisdom sourced in the fear of  God—is rejected.Randall L. McKinionShepherds Theological Seminary, Cary, NCBasics of Verbal Aspect in Biblical Greek. By Constantine R. Campbell. Grand Rapids:Zondervan, 2008, 159 pp., $16.99 paper.Basics of Verbal Aspect in Biblical Greek represents the third volume on verbalaspect that Constantine Campbell, lecturer in Greek and New Testament at MooreTheological College, has published since 2007. In this volume, Campbell brings togetherthe findings from his two previous works, which build on a non-temporal understandingof  Greek tenses, and packages them as an introductory textbook. After an openingchapter highlighting the exegetical significance of  verbal aspect, the book is divided intotwo major sections. Part 1 deals with verbal aspect theory. Campbell begins by definingverbal aspect and explains how it differs from tense and Aktionsart (chap. 1). This isfollowed by a helpful, concise treatment of  the history of  verbal aspect (chap. 2), anintroduction to perfective (chap. 3) and imperfective aspects (chap. 4), and a discussion

Book Review: Challenging Prophetic Metaphor

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