Prophets and Proverbs: More Studies in Old Testament Poetry and Biblical Religion

Biblical Theology Bulletin, Spring, 2004 by Terry W. Eddinger

By Anthony R. Ceresko. Quezon City, Philippines: Claretian Publications, 2002. Pp. xiv + 160. Paper, n.p.

Ceresko's book, PROPHETS AND PROVERBS: MORE STUDIES IN OLD TESTAMENT POETRY AND BIBLICAL RELIGION, is a collection of eleven articles previously published in various journals and is the second anthology of his writings (the first one is PSALMS AND SAGES: STUDIES IN OLD TESTAMENT POETRY AND RELIGION, published in 1994). Most of these articles are published in journals with a limited audience, in India and the Philippines, two countries where he taught as a seminary professor. He states that his purpose for compiling the book is to share the work with a wider audience than is available in India or the Philippines (p. xi).

The themes of the eleven articles, each one a chapter, are quite varied and are much broader than the prophets or poetry suggested by the book's title, such as covenant, ecology, and the Indian Church. Yet, most of the chapters tend to have a very specific focus (examining a specific passage, such as Genesis 1:26-28 in chapter 8) and are disjointed in relation to each other. The first two chapters focus on two prophetic passages, one from Isaiah (52:13-53:12) and another from Amos (1:3-2:16). Chapters 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 incorporate biblical wisdom literature to some degree; yet most of the references come from the Wisdom of Ben Sirach. Chapters 4 and 7 claim to be about the Indian Church; however, chapter 7 actually has little to do with the Indian Church beyond the title ("The Identity of the Indian Church: A Biblical Perspective") and one sentence in the last paragraph (p. 96). Chapter 6 deals with Israel's origins, using Joseph Callaway's discovery of a jar handle at Raddana inscribed with the name "Ahilud" as a launching point. Chapter 10 discusses the Hebrew terms for blind and lame in 2 Samuel 5:8b (but the chapter actually focuses on the larger passage 5:6-10). The book has an author index and an index of scriptural references, both of which will be helpful to the reader.

I find PROPHETS AND PROVERBS to be exactly what Ceresko intended--a collection of articles he has written since 1994 and previously published in various journals. They are not connected by theme or by any discernable reason except perhaps that they contain an emphasis toward social concerns and Liberation Theology. One chapter does not lead into the next; thus they can be read independently. The language is easy to read, so that it should not be a problem for a layperson to understand the message that Ceresko is trying to convey. Most of the articles, however, are too elementary for the scholar, since they include much general information when claiming, by chapter title, to look at a more specific topic.

Assigning an audience to the book is difficult. The disjointedness of the book does not lend it to classroom use, nor does its subject matter seem appropriate for someone looking to learn more about prophets, proverbs, or the Wisdom Literature. Perhaps an appropriate reader would be someone who wishes to examine a Liberation Theology/social justice approach to selected biblical passages or a person interested in the work of Anthony Ceresko.

Terry W. Eddinger

Houston Graduate School of Theology

High Point, NC 27262