BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES

century to such an extent that Myers considers any other approach obsolete (France, 673, n. 13). Regretfully, a new consensus may be forming. I say "regret fully" because I believe that any hypotheses of accidental loss or intentional pruning lack conviction. Additionally, Mark's emphasis on discipleship in times of distress coheres well with the 16:8 ending, so that Mark is proclaiming an existential message for his readers in a time of trial. Through a skillful presen tation of the story of Jesus, Mark avoids closing with a different Jesus who would distract from this suffering one. Witherington (415) contends, "An ancient biography of one's hero is most unlikely to end in this fashion." Maybe the dou ble conclusion of Mark as biography and containing a lost ending should both be rejected in favor of Mark's present ending, demonstrating that his gospel is kerygmatic history and gospel proclamation to his community from the Jesus tradition. Certainly, we will be debating these issues for a long time. The con tributions of France and Witherington will greatly benefit the Christian com munity in our search to understand the mission and message ofJesus and his first followers. Dean Deppe The Resurrection of the Son of God by . T. Wright. Minnneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2003. Pp xxi + 817. $39.00 paper. The newly installed Anglican bishop of Durham, England, has written a mas sive monograph on the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. This careful and lively book puts all orthodox Christians in the author's debt. Throughout the book, but especially in the concluding chapters, the author confronts the per spectivesindeed, dogmasof the Enlightenment. Every serious reader will be challenged to reevaluate personal assumptions and convictions, but the author's most sharply focused challenge is to liberal-modernist Christians, most specifically those who follow the lines set out by Rudolf Bultmann in the early twentieth century. Dr. Wright argues convincingly that these Christians (Roman Catholics as well as Protestants) are the revisionists. These revisionists have dominated the field of New Testament studies for more than a century, especially in Germany and America. The Resurrection of the Son of God is the third in a series by the author on Christian origins and the question of God. The first two books in the series The Nero Testament and the People of God and Jesus and the Victory of Godare fre quently cited in The Resurrection of the Son of God, but this third book can stand alone or serve as the entry point for the series. As the author notes in his pref ace, this study began as the 1996 Schaffer Lectures at Yale Divinity School. The shape of the expanded study is important, not least in the author's treatment of Paul first and the Gospels last. The book includes a useful bibliography and indexes, which detail some of the author's involvement in current scholarly debates as well as his remarkable mastery of the biblical text and other primary sources.

CALVIN THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL

Dr. Wright's insistence on the Jewish matrix of earliest Christian experience and thought is notable in this book, as in the author's previous two studies in the series. Specifically, his repeated, positive appeal to the teaching of the Pharisees is a good antidote for the still-common negative use among Christians of the term Pharisaical An important base for the main thesis of the book is that the ancient terms translated by the English word resurrection necessarily referred to bodily resurrection. "Life-after-death" is something else, which might be designated an intermediate state (as that experienced by "the souls under the altar" in Rev. 6:9-11). Resurrection, Dr. Wright insists, is life after life-after-death (31). A great number (perhaps a majority) ofJews contemporary with Jesus and the disciples believed in the resurrection at the last day, but the Christian doctrine (a "mutation" of the Jewish belief) split the resurrection into two stages: Jesus was resurrected already on Easter morning in anticipation of the last day. Put the other way, Jesus' bodily resurrection marked the beginning of the end. In part 1, Setting the Scene, the author surveys ancient paganism, the Old Testament, and postbiblical Judaism. Here, and throughout the study, the author insists on unsentimental, historical analysis. Although the idea of resurrection was clear in ancient paganism, it was not part of any of the various beliefs in life after death: "The road to the underworld ran only one way" (81 ). Similarlyand somewhat surprisingly to orthodox Christians as well as to orthodox Jews todaythe canonical Old Testament gives little explicit hope of resurrection. Nevertheless, "explicit belief in resurrection...developed markedly in the post-biblical period" (86). Making a point that he presses home again and again later, the author notes, "resurrection was from the beginning a revolutionary doctrine" (138). This goes a long way toward explaining the conservative resistance to the doctrine by the Sadducees. Part 2, Resurrection in Paul, is the powerful center of gravity for this study. Although this entry point into the main discussion (instead of starting with the accounts in the four gospels) might seem counterintuitive to the general reader, it makes sense in a historical argument to begin with the oldest documentary evidence. This move also follows the requirements of the guild of New Testament studies, which the author is scrupulous in observing. After canvassing "Resurrection in Paul (Outside the Corinthian Correspondence) "with reasons given for including Ephesians and Colossians, the author carefully works through 1 Corinthians (apart from chapter 15) and 2 Corinthians (apart from 4.7-5.11) before treating 'The Key Passages." These passages do not develop another topic but, indeed, provide the key to everything Paul wrote and so explain the conviction that animated the early Christian communities. A chapter detailing "When Paul Saw Jesus" concludes part 2. Part 3, Resurrection in Early Christianity (Apart from Paul), carefully considers all the evidence in the four canonical gospels (before the Easter narratives) , including the record in Mark 12:18-27 (and parallels) of Jesus' answer to the Sadducees' question about marriage in the resurrection. Continuing under the rubric "Hope Refocused," the author canvasses the other New

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES

Testament writings andwith more sharply divided resultsnoncanonical early Christian texts. Most important for the author's argument are the apologists: Justin Martyr, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Minucius Felix, and "the great early theologians": Tertullian, Irenaeus, Hippolytus, and Origen. 'Text from Nag Hammadi and Elsewhere" including the Gospel of Thomas and the Epistle to Rheginos advance the author's argument mainly by contrast. Chapter 12, "Hope in Person: Jesus as Messiah and Lord" concludes with the author's statement of "Resurrection within the Early Christian Worldview." Part 4, The Story of Easter, begins with a consideration of general issues in the Easter stories, including four "surprises" (599): "The Strange Silence of the Bible in the Stories," 'The Strange Absence of Personal Hope in the Stories," 'The Strange Portrait of Jesus in the Stories," and 'The Strange Presence of Women in the Stories." Each of the four gospel accounts is then examined, with care taken to consider and explain what is unique in each account. Any reader who has gotten this far in the book will not be surprised by the author's emphasis on the differences (and apparent contradictions) between the accounts. The reader may be uneasy, however, by the author's boldness in claiming "the surface inconsistencies" between the gospel accounts stand as "a strong point in favour of their early character" (612). Part 5, Belief, Event, and Meaning, is itself a substantial section in a different key. Although the author has argued his case throughout the exegetical chapters, he recapitulates the arguments in explicitly historical and philosophical terms in this last part of the book. The chapter, "Easter and History," explains why the empty tomb and the resurrection appearances, taken together, are "necessary" and "sufficient" for the rise of the early Christian belief in Jesus' bodily resurrection. The chapter, 'The Risen Jesus as the Son of God," explains the resurrection meaning of "Son of God" in terms of messiahship, world lordship, and the question of God. The scope of this study and the detail of the various arguments are obvious, as is the author's personal engagement in Christian faith. What is also remarkable about this book is Dr. Wright's willingness and determination to face all the difficult questions in the field. Already the book has established itself as a definitive workthe standard by which other discussions of resurrection will be measured. I have no doubt that pastors, biblical scholars, and theological students, as well as undergraduates, will continue to discuss and debate the biblical texts and the arguments laid out in this book. I imagine that every critical reader who gets through the whole book will emerge with at least a short list of important questions or challenges. Three areas that seem certain to draw fire are (1) questions about the authority of Scripture, (2) the place of the "nations" (ethne) in Saul/Paul's murderous zeal, and (3) the author's emphatic position on "the intermediate state." Space constraints limit my response in this review to the third. Almost half a century ago, Oscar Cullmann published a study in English on Immortality of the Soul or Resurrection oftheDeadi The Witness of the New Testament (London: Epworth, 1958). This short study anticipated some important argu-

CALVIN THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL

ments in Dr. Wright's book, so I was surprised to see that the bibliography does not list this booklet. Whether or not Dr. Wright was influenced by Professor Cullmann's little book, there is certainly a link between the two books in the emotional response already expressed to Dr. Wright's clear distinction between resurrection and going to heaven when you die (367). In Switzerland, pastors who followed their teacher in disclaiming belief in "immortality of the soul" precipitated sharp reactionsespecially when one young pastor chose a graveside service as the venue for the argument. Dr. Wright's rejection of the idea of "the sleep of the soul" (216taking instruction, perhaps, from the Westminster Confession of Faith, 6.177) with his biblical argument for the consciousness of those who are "with the Lord" awaiting resurrection should give most readers confidence to consider the biblical evidence without shorting out further discussion. James LaGrand

Theology and History

Van Tils Apologetic: Reading and Analysis by Greg L. Bahnsen. Phillipsburg, N.J.: Presbyterian & Reformed, 1998. Pp. xxiv + 764. $39.99 hardcover. For those who are students and critics of the Reformed apologetic method of Cornelius Van Til (1895-1987), the late Greg L. Bahnsen's (1948-1995) work has become a welcome addition. As a proponent of Van Til's apologetic method, Bahnsen maps out in systematic fashion the corpus of Van Til's project. The work is encyclopedic in scope because Bahnsen arranged his treatise like a topical anthology. In fact, as each topic is presented, Bahnsen provides sections from Van Til's own writings as the essential content of each subject that is discussed. At times, one may think that the volume is merely a republication of excerpts from Van Til's works. Although this may seem like a weakness, in my judgment, it is a strength. As Bahnsen brackets and interweaves each section with his own introduction, explanation, and commentary (in the main text as well as in footnotes), the reader has the benefit of Bahnsen's insights as well as Van Til's own thoughts. The reader can evaluate and engage Bahnsen's interpretation with Van Til's original text before him. In service to his reader, Bahnsen arranged Van Til's thoughts in a logical sequential manner: introduction to apologetics, task of apologetics, epistemologica! side of apologetics, apologetic side of epistemologa psychological complexities of unbelief, presuppositional apologetic, comparisons and criticisms of apologetic methods, how to defend the faith. In each section, Bahnsen unfolds the complexities of Van Til's definitions and insights, e.g., Christian apologetics is a defense of Christian theism (34-38), the "absolute certain" proof for Christian theism (78-82; 112-14), defending and arguing by presupposition (88-143), the rejection of epistemological neutrality (144-54), revelational epistemology (165-94; 203-19), epistemology and antithesis (261-317),

^ s
Copyright and Use: As an ATLAS user, you may print, download, or send articles for individual use according to fair use as defined by U.S. and international copyright law and as otherwise authorized under your respective ATLAS subscriber agreement. No content may be copied or emailed to multiple sites or publicly posted without the copyright holder(s)' express written permission. Any use, decompiling, reproduction, or distribution of this journal in excess of fair use provisions may be a violation of copyright law. This journal is made available to you through the ATLAS collection with permission from the copyright holder(s). The copyright holder for an entire issue of a journal typically is the journal owner, who also may own the copyright in each article. However, for certain articles, the author of the article may maintain the copyright in the article. Please contact the copyright holder(s) to request permission to use an article or specific work for any use not covered by the fair use provisions of the copyright laws or covered by your respective ATLAS subscriber agreement. For information regarding the copyright holder(s), please refer to the copyright information in the journal, if available, or contact ATLA to request contact information for the copyright holder(s). About ATLAS: The ATLA Serials (ATLAS) collection contains electronic versions of previously published religion and theology journals reproduced with permission. The ATLAS collection is owned and managed by the American Theological Library Association (ATLA) and received initial funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The design and final form of this electronic document is the property of the American Theological Library Association.