Perspectives on the Bible - Reviews - The Biblical World - Book Review

The Biblical World. John Barton, editor. Routledge. [pounds sterling]130.00. Two volumes. Vol. I. 525 pages. Vol. II. 539 pages. ISBN Vol. I. 0415-27573-3. Vol. II. 0415-27574-1.

The editor of this impressive new reference work is the Oriel and Laing Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture in the University of Oxford and is something of an old hand at compiling such reference works: his Cambridge Companion to Biblical Interpretation was published in 1998. These two volumes take what may be loosely called a 'thematic' approach. The forty-nine entries are grouped into eight parts which deal with the Bible, 'genres' (of which more later), documents, history, institutions, Biblical figures, religious ideas and, finally, the Bible today.

As the editor notes in his introduction, for those who study the Bible historically, it is not so much a book but a 'library of books from, perhaps, a millennium of human history'. In such a massive compilation of legends, prophesies, stories, histories, explanations of the 'good news' that is in Christ and letters to believers in the first century A.D., written in a variety of languages and in separate eras, the ability to have different perspectives on the material before one is essential. The discovery of new texts from the ancient world, the work of archaeologists and the close study of language, all urge us to look again at the Bible from a variety of view points. The aim of these volumes is to 'suggest what some of these perspectives might be'. In other words, readers are invited to look behind what they know in order to see how it fits into what we now call the 'larger picture' or what Prof. Barton calls 'the Biblical World'. This was that long era in man's history that witnessed the creation of our Bi ble.

In such a vast collection a reviewer invariably has to single out certain entries to the exclusion of others: reviewing these two volumes is in that sense like reading the Bible itself. For this reviewer one of the most interesting sections was that devoted to 'genres' in which the contributors looked at certain types of works: near eastern myths; the Old Testament view of history; the nature of prophecy; the Jewish view of wisdom; the importance of apocalypticism in both the Jewish and the Christian faiths; the nature of the 'Jewish novel'; and, finally, discussions of the Gospels and letters as found in the New Testament.

In the second volume there are two sections that deserve special comment. The first is that devoted to 'institutions'. This part, which has ten essays, should prove extremely useful to those who wish to read the Bible with greater understanding. There are sections devoted to the Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic languages, to warfare, the arts and law. There are discussions of the Jewish religion at various periods and of the social life and religious practices of the early Church. The second section that deserves comment is that devoted to 'religious ideals'. Here are discussions of themes that pertain to our world as much as to the past: salvation, death and the afterlife, purity and the identity and role of Jesus. This last essay, by Catrin Williams of the University of Wales at Bangor, is particularly useful in describing how Jesus was seen and defined both in His lifetime and in the early Church.

This should prove a most valuable addition to any library. The illustrations, of which there are many, are helpful. Because the entries are not over-long they make for easier reading, essential in a reference work. The vagaries of style, such as the current use by American scholars of 'BCE' for BC and 'CE' for AD, may be put down to academic fashion, the penchant for peculiar terms to separate academic writing from plain English or the spurious feeling that it adds a sense of detached objectivity. It may also be a case of pandering to special interest groups. Having said all this, the use should not detract from the value of a good compilation. Indeed, some may enjoy the latest fad.

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