14AR19-39

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Apologia Report 19:39 (1,222)

November 12, 2014

Subject: Ancient adoption, sonship concepts and Jesus

In this issue:

CHRISTOLOGY - Roman and Jewish concepts of adoption and sonship clarify New Testament context

LIBERALISM - addressing the naïve optimism behind social evolution

NEW TESTAMENT CRITICISM - the fruit of patient, informed labor in the restoration of the original textual form

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CHRISTOLOGY

Craig A. Evans (professor of New Testament at Acadia Divinity College) reviews The Son of God in the Roman World: Divine Sonship in its Social and Political Context by Michael Peppard [1] (New Testament and Early Christian Studies, Fordham) who "attempts to shed light on Roman and Jewish ideas of adoption and sonship and to clarify the Christology of the Gospel of Mark in the light of these ideas.

"Peppard takes a fresh look at the Roman imperial cult, in which the emperor is viewed as a 'son of god' (*divi filius* or *theou huios*). What is original in Peppard's study is the attention he gives to the role of adoption. ... I am very impressed by Peppard's control of the primary literature. ...

"The payoff comes when Peppard applies his findings to the interpretation of Mark. ... Peppard concentrates on the story of the baptism of Jesus, the heavenly voice, and the descent of the dove (Mark 1:9-11). [T]he meaning is not what most commentators usually take it to mean. The divine voice has not announced that Jesus is God's Son; it has chosen Jesus, it has adopted Jesus, in a way that would have reminded readers and hearers of the imperial practice of adoption and divinization. ...

"I am convinced that in its major points the book is sound. My only caveat is that the influence of the Old Testament has been underestimated. My only serious criticism is that in places Peppard has not been fair in his treatment of Larry Hurtado's work on the origins of the divinity of Jesus." Expository Times, 126:1 - 2014, p50.

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LIBERALISM

The Silence of Animals: On Progress and Other Modern Myths, by John Gray (emeritus professor of European thought, London School of Economics) [2] -- in response to the popular liberal idea that "the world just keeps getting better," Matthew Anderson offers a summary explaining that "much of the book is devoted to deconstructing what he calls the 'myth of progress,' a vague but ubiquitous belief that human societies are slowly but inexorably advancing out of darkness into a brighter future, guided by reason and science. He believes that the myth of progress constitutes the 'chief consolation of modern humankind,' and his book uncovers and interrogates this deep-seated conviction." Touchstone, Sep/Oct '14, p49.

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NEW TESTAMENT CRITICISM

Revisiting the Corruption of the New Testament: Manuscript, Patristic, and Apocryphal Evidence, Daniel B. Wallace, ed. [3] (New Testament, Dallas Theological Seminary) -- reviewer Robert W. Yarbrough (Covenant Theological Seminary) observes that "When a major evangelical publisher produces a series with the words 'under fire' in it ... it is fair to say that the book under review shows Bart Ehrman's views on NT textual transmission to be under fire.

"Contributors to Revisiting ... were all formerly academic interns for the editor at Dallas Theological Seminary. Their seminar papers for their internship gradually grew into the corpus found here. ... Wallace argues that Ehrman is skeptical of the NT text in informal, public settings (like NPR interviews), but in print he often makes statements that render his position indistinguishable from that of his mentor, the late Bruce Metzger. Wallace does not press this issue, except to document its existence, but the implication is that Ehrman is not always honest in representing his view. In sum, by raising questions about Ehrman's method, assumptions, and conclusions, Wallace shows that the alleged 'orthodox corruptions' of the NT text in antiquity are not 'nearly as pervasive or as significant as Ehrman' alleges. 'There is no ground for wholesale skepticism about the wording of the autographic text,' and Ehrman 'is far less skeptical than the impression he gives in the public square.' Elsewhere: 'Viable textual variants that disturb cardinal doctrines in the NT have not yet been produced.'"

One of the contributors, Brian J Wright, "ponders the perennial question of whether Jesus is called 'God' in the NT and if so what textual criticism contributes to our knowledge in this question. Wright concludes that John 20:28 'calls Jesus *Theos* in every respect,' with other verses joining suit to a considerable degree.... While this chapter does not arrive at startling or even new findings, it does update discussion in dialogue with recent publications on the subject.

"An essay by Tim Ricchuiti goes outside the NT: 'Tracking Thomas: A Text-Critical Look at the Transmission of the Gospel of Thomas'" which Yarbrough considers "substantial scholarship on a topic that needed to be explored.

"Philip Miller's chapter, 'The Least Orthodox Reading Is to Be Preferred: A New Canon for New Testament Textual Criticism?," concedes that 'theologically motivated alterations are a reality and are the best explanation for some textual variants....' But he argues that Ehrman overstates the number and significance of these examples. To the extent that Ehrman often goes against [accepted] readings due to his implicit criterion of preferring heterodox readings, the credibility of his findings suffers.

"Finally, Matthew Morgan ('The Legacy of a Letter: Sabellianism or Scribal Blunder in John 1:1c?') tells a fascinating story of two eighth-century witnesses that add an article in John 1:1 that is lacking in all other Greek witnesses ["and the word was a God"]. Only those two witnesses add the article to *Theos*. Morgan argues that the variant actually confirms the (correct) witness of the hundreds of other textual witnesses that lack it. 'To argue that the reading of John 1:1c originally included the article with *Theos* and preserves a Sabellian Christology is to violate the historical context, the scribal and transmissional story, and the demonstrable norms of NT Greek syntax.'

"Hallmarks of this volume include precision of expression and thoroughness in scope. I enjoyed the footnotes as much as the text in many places, for they extend the discussion into the nooks and crannies that make text-critical questions so intriguing and their solutions often so nuanced. While these essays are not likely to make Bart Ehrman or his like-minded colleagues change their positions, they are a learned rendition of evidences and arguments that show why their skepticism has not found more followers among text-critical experts, exegetes, and other specialists in NT studies. [And will likely encourage more evangelicals to develop an interest in textual criticism.] Corruption is a reality when the NT manuscript data are subjected to careful scrutiny, but so is the restoration of the original textual form that patient, informed labor like that displayed in this book makes possible." Trinity Journal, 35:1 - 2014, pp161-3.

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SOURCES: Monographs

1 - The Son of God in the Roman World: Divine Sonship in its Social and Political Context, by Michael Peppard (Oxford Univ Prs, 2012, paperback, 304 pages) <www.ow.ly/E0CRT>

2 - The Silence of Animals: On Progress and Other Modern Myths, by John Gray (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014, paperback, 240 pages) <www.ow.ly/E0R8Q>

3 - Revisiting the Corruption of the New Testament: Manuscript, Patristic, and Apocryphal Evidence, Daniel B. Wallace, ed. (Kregel, 2011, paperback, 288 pages) <www.ow.ly/E0IGJ>

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