BOOK REVIEWS 513 absence of influential bibliography pertaining to the matter (Wilckens, Klein, Räisänen) is symptomatic.The final section of surveys brings one of the two or three finest entries: "Jesus and Christology" (J. Reumann), where the 39-page bibliography matches the depth and coherent sweep of the coverage. R. Fuller, at the end of the volume, appears to leave NT theology stranded at the crossroads of historical and doctrinal approaches. No latter-day Bultmann or (NT) von Rad appeared in his crystal ball. Fordham UniversityRICHARD J. DILLON THE DISCIPLES ACCORDING TO MARK: MARKAN REDACTION IN CUR-RENT DEBATE. By C. Clifton Black. Sheffield, Eng.: Sheffield Academic, 1989. Pp. 392. $37.50.Black examines redaction-critical studies of the role of the disciples in Mark as a test case for determining the value and viability of applying redaction criticism to Mark's Gospel. He begins by reviewing selected redaction-critical studies in order to discern their disciplinary bases and methodological procedures. He then narrows his focus to the disciples and the theme of discipleship. A "research review" of these issues reveals three distinct positions, each of which is advocated by numerous redaction critics: type 1, the "conservative" position, which emphasizes the favorable portrayal of the disciples; type 2, the "mediate" position, which emphasizes a tension in the portrayal of the disciples; and type 3, the "liberal" position, which emphasizes the unrelentingly negative portrayal of the disciples. B. selects a representative of each type and devotes a chapter to his work. Robert P. Meye represents the "conservative" position; Ernest Best, the "mediate"; and Theodore J. Weeden, Sr., the "liberal."Although B. has defined his terms carefully and identified traits peculiar to each position, his choice of terms seems puzzling. Terms used in debate and polemic invite value judgments where B. intends none. His language seems to defeat his purpose rather than promote it. Since his typology is central to his project, he might well have sought a terminology more intrinsic to the nature of the critical task and less susceptible to misunderstanding. More importantly, his choice of Weeden over Kelber as a representative of type 3 is at least questionable. It certainly sets up a schema defined by two extremes which are nuanced by a sober and clearer-headed middle position. The reader will not be surprised to discover that Black finds the mediate position most persuasive.However, B.'s study is not a simplistic setup of extremes against a middle way. In collating his three types of redaction critics, he discovers among them a high degree of agreement on method, even though their interpretations differ widely from one another. More to the point, their
This experiment in biblical interpretation works with the parable of the sower (Mark 4:1-9) as a parable from the historical Jesus spoken in a village setting in Galilee. This study explores the character of the parable as an example of Jesus' oral communication. As its oral nature comes to the fore so does the potential for the parable to reveal a "hidden transcript" of village resistance to Roman and Herodian rule. This theme of resistance is pursued by creating an imaginary conversation among peasants in a village in Galilee on the model of the discussion of Gospel texts by the peasants in Solentiname. This conversation will break open the parable in a manner much different from the earlier discussion of the parable and the questions it raises. The experiment in interpreting the parable in these different ways raises questions about the role between critical and creative approaches to biblical texts.
O. rightly stresses that Balthasar wants to avoid collapsing the meaning of divine immutability to a merely philosophical code word for the Bible's notion of God's fidelity to his covenant. There is, in other words, something valuable in the term "immutability" as applied to God that Balthasar wishes to retain. But in his struggle to understand the value of that term, coupled with the necessity of understanding God's act of creation and the totality of his revelation in the historical being of Christ, Balthasar is continually forced to concede an intratrinitarian "eventfulness," a liveliness and vitality in God which the traditional term "immutability" cannot convey.O. has correctly limned the basics of this position and explained their effect on Balthasar's doctrine of creation, incarnation and eternity. He has also seen the inner principle that generates and governs Balthasar's treatment of this theme: the priority of theological categories over philosophical ones. "Ultimately truth is mystery, the mystery of love with its creative freedom and originality which enjoys a primacy over knowledge[Balthasar] wishes to suggest that akin to the reserve and discretion which preserve the creativity and freedom of love within the trinitarian relationship of the omniscient Father and Son, there is a divine 'latency' with respect to the creation which allows us also to share in the Son's surprising of the omniscient Father" (160). In other words, the eternal and ceaseless trinitarian acts of interpersonal disclosure ground the possibility for the disclosure of God to his temporal creation. The eternal God has disclosed himself in a universe of his own creation, where each new event somehow constitutes a surprise, something new, and this gives hope that change is not merely a degradation from being to becoming but a grounding in the very newness of God.This study of a subtle and difficult theme is one of the most important secondary works on Balthasar's thought to have appeared in any language. New York UniversityEDWARD T. OAKES, S.J. WHY NARRATIVE? READINGS IN NARRATIVE THEOLOGY. Edited by Stanley Hauerwas and L. Gregory Jones. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989. Pp. viii + 367. $29.95; $19.95.The readings in this volume document the increasing attention being given to narrative by theologians and ethicists, especially during the 1970s and 1980s. The editors declare that the collection may "illumine the significance of narrative for theology and ethics," while its diversity may raise questions about the usefulness of the category of narrative in future discussions (2).
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