Book Review : Jesus, the Middle Eastern Storyteller (Ancient Context, Ancient Faith) : Gary Burge

The broader series objective remains the same for this second book in the "Ancient Context, Ancient Faith" series, released by Zondervan.  Attempting to address deficiencies in Bible background held commonly by Christians without formal biblical training or sustained interest in issues of biblical culture and history, Gary Burge provides this second entry, Jesus, the Middle Eastern Storyteller, in order to meet what is a sure need in the evangelical church at large.  My earlier review of The Bible and the Land explains a bit more concerning the series, so the review for this and the remaining titles in the "Ancient Context, Ancient Faith" series will be much more brief and address the merits of the book individually and their value as an entry in the series.

Dr. Burge supplies fairly straightforward analyses of various story-types throughout this book, drawing primarily from the middle of Luke's Gospel, while also addressing Matthew's account of the parable of the unforgiving servant and a general introduction to the place of stories as a didactic method in first century Israel.  Overall, the book meets a place of need so far as the general topic of the book is concerned.  Sadly, many are easily persuaded to hold to some unhelpful cultural reinterpretations of Scripture, whether it be the vogue theologies of the day or outright liberal understandings of doctrine and Christology.  Because of this, to have a scholar like Burge provide an entry that would appeal to the desire for "unlocking hidden meanings" while supplying orthodox backgrounds to ground the reader is of great value.  Whether the reader is coming from a perspective needing significant correction or just wants to fill in some gaps, this book does a fine job serving the purpose of painting a helpful, biblical, and accurate picture concerning some of the central stories employed as teaching tools by the Savior.

The popularity of the stories addressed by Dr. Burge lends a particular degree of helpfulness to the level of applicability owned by the book.  Addressing parables from Luke 15 and the Good Samaritan has tremendous potential benefit because they are among the most (American) culturally popular passages to be found in the Gospels.  Because each chapter is under 20 pages in length, one sitting can yield a helpful amount of information without a great degree of time commitment on the part of the reader.  And, because Dr. Burge provides background without delving into bizarre assumptions or assessments found among other books attempting to account for the cultural context of Scripture, the content is orthodox.

By and large, this book would be a fine, inexpensive, and helpful addition to the library of any Christian wanting to squeeze a bit more out of some significant parable/story passages found in the Gospels.  My only complaint with the book is that it doesn't broaden its scope to include more from the other Gospels, particularly Matthew, which is, like Luke, heavily stocked with content that would fit the bill for Burge's stated aim of contextualizing the story content of the Gospels.  Nevertheless, the book does its job and does so in manageable, engaging, and helpful chapters that are accessible to a wide audience.

Book Review : A Theology of Luke and Acts (Biblical Theology of the New Testament) : Darrell Bock

When associating biblical scholars with their area of specialty, the realm of Lucan studies (at least in my mind) belongs to Darrell Bock.  His two volume commentaries on Luke and one volume on Acts in the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament series are commonly regarded by conservative evangelical scholars as close to, if not the best available.  Bock's acquaintance with the Lucan material is unquestionably deep and his work on the material will most likely be, taken together, his magnum opus contribution to the field of biblical studies.  For depth of treatment and faithfulness in scholarship to Luke-Acts as the very Word of God, Bock is arguably the number one draft pick to take if treating the inspired physician's New Testament contributions is your priority.

In 2009, Andreas Kostenberger published the inaugural volume of a series plainly called Biblical Theology of the New Testament.  His contribution, which I have not finished reading, addresses a theology of John's Gospel and letters.  I found the portion of the book I've read to be helpful.  When I saw that Bock would be releasing the next volume in the series on Luke-Acts, I was excited and looked forward to reading a biblical theological treatment of Luke's NT contribution.

I began reading Bock's book, A Theology of Luke and Acts: God's Promised Program, Realized for All Nations, with high hopes.  And, altogether, the book doesn't disappoint in providing an encyclopedic treatment of the themes Dr. Bock writes about in his contribution to the BTNT series.  The book is, above all things, informative.  If you have a question about how Luke addresses a particular matter, consulting this volume could be a first stop for you.  That being said, I have to say I found it difficult to make it through the book for the following reasons:

1)  As noted, the book is informative.  It reads more as a reference volume and less as a contribution to a series that seeks to connect biblical theological dots.  This isn't a knock on the book as a matter of content, necessarily.  However, it is to say that it's not as engaging as I expected and doesn't provide as many new angles on biblical theology as I expected.  I'm certainly not looking for bizarre interpretations of texts, but I was hoping to be helped by a Lucan scholar to string things together in a more memorable way.  This, I suggest, is the primary weakness I found with the book.

2)  I was hoping to find Bock addressing some of the more controversial issues that find justification in Acts, particularly, from a solid biblical perspective.  The explosion of the charismatic movement over the past hundred years has given rise to a generation of Christians who have an understanding of Acts that is largely deficient.  It would have been very helpful for Bock to write more (as he does address it somewhat, though, in my opinion, not nearly enough) on the way that Acts functions as a descriptive/prescriptive book in relation to other portions of the Scriptures.  That would have probably been the most needed thing to take away from a book like this and I'm disappointed that it wasn't addressed, seeing as there is both a deep pastoral need and it fits within the parameters of a book devoted to addressing Luke's relationship to biblical theology.  After reading the book, this would be my primary request for something that wasn't handled and could/should have been.

These things being said, Bock does a fine job of presenting the material and staying in bounds with Luke-Acts.  His integrity as a Lucan scholar is clear throughout the book and he doesn't wander into unnecessary territory.  Apart from the above, there's not much one can find fault with in this book and it would do any man well who has a responsibility to preach or teach Luke and Acts to get a copy of this book to support that work.

Altogether, Dr. Bock's contribution to the Biblical Theology of the New Testament series was not as enjoyable as I expected, though it wasn't because the book veers off a cliff anywhere.  It just wasn't as readable.  As a reference volume, the book does a fine job (with the primary exception of my concern regarding the normative nature of Acts, particularly).  I would not recommend it as a book to "read through," but rather as a book to "consult," in order to give a healthier perspective on themes in Luke and Acts.  Thank you to the folks at Zondervan for providing a complimentary copy without expectation of a positive review.