New Testament History: A Narrative Account

New Testament History: A Narrative Account. By Ben Witherington III. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2001, 430 pp., $26.99.

Witherington (a NT professor from Asbury Theological Seminary) has written a well-conceived history that covers the period from Alexander to Domitian. The subtitle well describes the story that is convincingly reconstructed through integrating the evidence we can garner from ancient materials with the evidence we can reconstruct from the NT itself. Though packed with information-and sometimes a great deal of detail-the book is immensely readable and constantly interesting, with frequent reminders of long-forgotten pieces of information. Into his narrative, Witherington has also woven the stories of some of the figures of the NT along with their theological contributions. However, there is too often a close and sometimes unacknowledged dependence on The Jewish People in Classical Antiquity: From Alexander to Bar Kochba by John H. Hayes and Sara R. Mandell (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998).

The author begins by explaining how the Jews had become so Hellenized between the end of the OT era and the beginning of the NT era. From there he goes on, in fifteen other manageable chapters, to deal with NT history from the birth of Jesus in the context of the rise of the Herodians and the dawn of the empire to the two decades after the fall of Jerusalem in which there was suffering for Jews and Christians, as well as the writing of a number of NT documents.

Well positioned through the text are a number of helpful aids. There are twenty-five pieces called "A Closer Look," each covering around two pages on subjects such as "Miracles and History" (p. 120-21), "Acts as a Historical Source" (pp. 174-75), "The Ancient Art of Rhetoric" (pp. 240-42), and "An Ephesian Imprisonment?" (to which the answer is "more than likely," pp. 285-87). Set in different type, these pages provide information that may otherwise interrupt the flow of the narrative. Unfortunately, material found in the body of the book is too often repeated in these pieces.

Another set of aids strategically placed through the book are twenty-four sidebars, of about a page or less in length, which give information on less important topics ranging, for example, from itinerant doctors in antiquity (p. 256), to Athens (pp. 265-66), to sellers of royal purple cloth (p. 259), or to Rome (pp. 320-21). There are also a number of maps (pp. 81, 112, 190, 230, 251, 279). Charts of dates set out Jewish history before Roman occupation (p. 30), Jewish history during Roman occupation (pp. 50-51), a chronological comparison of Paul's letters and the book of Acts-in which Galatians 2 and Acts 11 are matched (pp. 171-74)-and Pauline chronology (pp. 196-99) in which there is a good deal more detail than one would expect. For example, Paul's visionary experience of 2 Cor 12:1-10 is dated at AD 41-42. Generally clear black and white photographs, some of them graphic as in the case of one showing human remains at Pompeii (p. 162), are also scattered through the book helping put the reader in touch with the NT world.

Many of the issues with which NT scholarship grapples, such as authorship and dating, are decided in favor of a conservative perspective: Paul is the author of Ephesians and Colossians (pp. 326-27), for example, and the Pastoral Epistles "were composed very shortly after Paul's death by one of Paul's co-workers in their own style and hand, based on authentic Pauline notes and instructions" (p. 352). Similarly, a well-informed discussion on the virginal birth concludes: "it is easier to explain the Gospel evidence on the assumption that the virginal conception was a historical event that the Gospel writers tried to explain, albeit somewhat awkwardly, than to assume that this is a theological idea dreamed up by some early pious Christians" (p. 70). Also, with support by reasonable argument, Paul is said to be released after the end of Acts 28. Sometimes historical questions are left begging with such statements as, "If we accept that the 'we' passages reflect the actual travel of Luke. . . ." (p. 189). Also Witherington seems unaware of some recent works, such as Leonard L. Thompson's important reevaluation of Domitian in The Book of Revelation: Apocalypse and Empire (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990).

Most readers will be looking for more consistent and obvious interaction with primary and secondary data to help follow and assess the arguments or to explore issues further: many of the footnotes refer to the author's own work. And there is no bibliography nor a modern author index. We await a NT history to replace books like George Caird, The Apostolic Age (London: Duckworth, 1972) or F. F. Bruce, New Testament History (Garden City: Doubleday, 1980).

Graham H. Twelftree

Regent University, Virginia Beach, VA

Copyright Evangelical Theological Society Mar 2003
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