Abstract
This is an ambitious collection of 62 essays written by a stellar cast of international scholars. Each essay is lucid and succinct, introducing the reader to up-to-date accounts of the scholarly consensus about the symbolic worlds, the places, the scripts, the actors, key theological themes, human society and the households of the first century world in which the New Testament writings were created. They are grouped by way of metaphors from the world of theatre: ‘Setting the Stage,’ ‘Inhabiting the Stage,’ ‘Themes on the Stage.’ The editors explain the rationale for the collection as follows: ‘each editor of this book has come to appreciate that the interpretation of the New Testament is greatly enriched when its texts are read in relation to their contexts . . . While there are different ways of the reading the New Testament profitably, historical study routinely sheds important light on this collection of diverse canonical texts’ (p. xxii). This reviewer says a hearty ‘Amen’ to that and has enjoyed going ‘behind the texts’ with the essayists to learn more about the ancient contexts. All the contributors have written so that the beginner can access the discussion and so that the more experienced researcher can take a deeper dive into a particular area, with excellent suggestions for further reading on each topic. Given the number, picking out any essay says more about the reviewer than the whole collection. With that caveat in mind, I will mention a few to whet the appetite. Having an interest in the Herodian dynasty, I found Morton Jensen’s account of the Herodians subtle and nuanced, welcoming his calling out of the tendency to demonise the dynasty (pp. 179-186). I was also struck by Steve Mason’s point that ‘Samarian’ auxiliaries were part of Herod’s army and were later deployed by Agrippa I during the Passover Festival (p. 38). The potential offence of their presence to Jewish pilgrims was something that I had not previously considered. I was intrigued to read in Eric Myers’ discussion of the Synagogues his contention that only 3% of the Jewish population in Palestine were literate (p. 77). If correct, I wondered what the implications of this might be for Jesus and his earliest followers. I could add many more examples – e.g. Louise Lawrence’s fine discussion of ‘Disabled Bodies’ (pp. 248-254) and Matthew Thiessen’s excellent review of the themes of ‘Purity and Holiness’ (pp. 302-308) - but will refrain. What I can say, however, is that all who persevere to the sixty-second essay will be rewarded with a helicopter view of the stage, the dramatis personae, the social, religious, geographical and cultural settings behind the events and formation of the New Testament.