The Expository Times

http://ext.sagepub.com Book Review: BIBLICAL UNDERSTANDINGS OF THE CONCEPT OF `MESSIAH' Stanley E. Porter (ed.), The Messiah in the Old and New Testaments (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2007. 16.99. pp. xiv + 268. ISBN 9780802807663)
Glenn Balfour The Expository Times 2008; 119; 310 DOI: 10.1177/00145246081190061114 The online version of this article can be found at: http://ext.sagepub.com

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the expository times

BIBLICAL UNDERSTANDINGS OF THE CONCEPT OF MESSIAH stanley e. porter (ed.), The Messiah in the Old and New Testaments (Grand rapids, mi: eerdmans, 2007. 16.99. pp. xiv + 268. isBN 9780802807663). this edited work looks at how various biblical writers understood and wrote about the messiah. ten scholars address various questions that surround the concept of messiah, and from that offer suggestions about how we as Christians can be more informed when we call Jesus messiah. the book is divided into two main sections. the first section comprises four essays that treat biblical writers who preceded or were contemporary with the New testament writers. two essays are arranged around the traditional division of the Jewish scriptures (one looks at the Law and Writings, the other looks at the prophets); two essays deal with extracanonical Jewish texts (one looks at Qumran texts, the other looks at Apocalyptic and related literature). the second section treats various New testament writings: mark and matthew; Luke and Acts; John; pauline epistles; and hebrews and the General epistles. the volume concludes with a critical response by Craig evans to both sections. this publication is well written and highly informative, particularly for the reader who is fairly new to this subject area. it makes excellent use of the primary sources, and provides significant recourse to the secondary literature by means of footnotes. Necessarily, this kind of publication cannot provide an exhaustive treatment of such a vast and vitally important subject matter within the Judaeo-Christian tradition. But what it can do and does well is provide a critically aware and engaging perspective on some of the most relevant biblical and extracanonical writings. moreover, it does this in a way that is specifically designed to inform a contemporary messianic understanding of Jesus of Nazareth. my one real criticism of this book is the lack of a bibliography. one that was organized to offer further reading material for each essay i am sure would have been much appreciated by many readers who will undoubtedly feel their appetite whetted by this publication. GLeNN BALFoUr mattersey hall, mattersey

REFUTING THE GOSPEL OF JUDAS FOR THE FAINT-HEARTED stanley e. porter and Gordon L. heath, The Lost Gospel of Judas: Separating Fact from Fiction (Grand rapids, mi: eerdmans, 2007. $16.00/8.99. pp. 135. isBN 9780802824561). Amid the plethora of early publications on the Gospel of Judas, another volume has appeared weighing into the debate surrounding this controversial text. this book, however, is not so concerned with what the Gospel of Judas actually say, but rather with showing that its message is discordant with the New testaments portrayal of Judas, and moreover that this non-canonical text is of no historical value for understanding the Jesus who wandered the Galilean countryside preaching the Kingdom of God before meeting his fate in Jerusalem. in this sense the authors see their task as one of setting the record straight and refuting claims that this new text is capable of challenging traditional Christian beliefs and consequently creating a crisis of faith. the introduction attempts to provide an overview of media coverage and published books treating the Gospel of Judas. the problem is that in such a fast-moving field this survey is already somewhat dated. thus the books by N. t. Wright, Judas and the Gospel of Jesus, Bart ehrman, The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot, April DeConick, The Thirteenth Apostle, elaine pagels and Karen L. King, Reading Judas, and simon Gathercole, The Gospel of Judas: Rewriting Early Christianity are all omitted. only three books receive comment, Kasser, meyer and Wurst, The Gospel of Judas from Codex Tchacos, Krosneys racy description of the recovery of the text The Lost Gospel: The Quest for the Gospel of Judas Iscariot, and J. m. robinsons The Secrets of Judas. it is a shame, though perhaps unavoidable, that the authors have not had the opportunity to interact with DeConicks work since she presents a radically different reading of the text from that given by other interpreters. even more significantly there is no reference to the critical edition of this text edited by Kasser and Wurst (2007). the consequence is that the introductory chapter fails to adequately reflect the current discussion on this text. Chapter one looks at the portrayal of Judas in the Gospels and shows that this is nothing like the portrayal in the eponymous gospel. this is agreed upon by all who read the text, but it is precisely what

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