Acts

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Dec 2006 by Green, Joel B

Acts. By Jaroslav Pelikan. Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible. Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2005, 320 pp., $29.99.

In the past two decades, the genre of the "Bible commentary" has become increasingly pliable, with commentators negotiating the plethora of presumably relevant interpretive data in the service of diverse approaches to assisting readers in their understanding of a particular book's message. The approach taken here is self-avowedly theological. Pelikan's is the first in a new commentary series "born out of the conviction that dogma clarifies rather than obscures." According to the series editor, R. R. Reno, who has provided for this volume a six-page preface, "Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible advances upon the assumption that the Nicene tradition, in all its diversity and controversy, provides the proper basis for the interpretation of the Bible as Christian Scripture" (pp. 13-14). Set within the landscape of over 100 years of scholarly commentary writing motivated by all sorts of considerations-e.g. philological, grammatical, source-critical, historical, social-scientific, and literary, but only rarely theological and ecclesial-this is a remarkable claim for what may well become a remarkable series. As a "commentary on the Bible," however, this inaugural volume is disappointing precisely for perpetuating the very dichotomy the series seems to have been designed to overcome.

If, whatever else it might do, a commentary purposes to provide information, organized schematically in relation to the structure of the book, presumed to be relevant for grappling with the book's message, then it is unclear that Pelikan has actually given us a commentary. This is not because of its theological and doctrinal interests, which are much to be welcomed. Also, it is not because Pelikan has had to be selective in what issues or texts to address in detail; this problem faces all commentators. It is, rather, that the majority of the theological and/or doctrinal issues he addresses are only loosely associated with the Lukan narrative-which, then, is often little more than a jumping-off point for Pelikan to address theological topics.

As one might expect in a commentary, Pelikan moves through Acts chapter-by-chapter. Sprinkled here and there throughout the volume are insights into the narrative of Acts that come only through genuine intimacy with the text. Pelikan has a keen sense especially of thematic development within the Lukan narrative, but he gives us far too little access to this kind of wisdom. Instead, the real substance of the book resides in the 84 "theological topics" ("τοποι or loci communes"), arranged three per chapter of Acts in a fashion that Pelikan admits may seem "higgledy-piggledy," through which we are introduced to "most of the content of Christian theology" (p. 30). Acts 1, for example, provides him with opportunity to discuss "the gospel of the forty days," ascension and second coming, and Mary the Mother of God ("Theotokos"). Acts 5, on the other hand, is the occasion for comments on the deity of the Holy Spirit, the Twelve and the primacy of Peter, and the sovereignty that trumps any human authority. These brief essays are for the most part astonishingly unrelated to the book of Acts. In spite of its title, the essay on "Ascension and Second Coming" provides no theological reflection on the ascension itself, no engagement with the contemporary theological problem of the ascension, and no discussion of how the ascension functions within the Lukan narrative. Pelikan's discussion of Mary follows traditional lines but accounts neither for Luke's particular contribution to Mariology nor for recent attempts among Protestants to reappropriate Mary; neither do we hear how Christian reflection on the significance of Mary might help us to read Acts. With regard to his discussion of human authority, Pelikan urges that "the subordination of all human authority in [Acts 5:29] was not to be taken to apply to Holy Church as administered by human beings any more than it did to Holy Scripture as written by human beings, but only to 'purely human' authorities" (pp. 89-90)-a claim that is hard to square with the history of an all-too-human church. With respect to chapter 1, given the "theological topics" Pelikan has chosen, it is fascinating that the seminal missiological passage in the Lukan narrative, Acts 1:8, receives no attention; similarly, issues around leadership and decision-making raised by Acts 1:15-26 are bypassed without comment.

To illustrate further, Acts 2 provides the occasion for theological discussion of the Holy Spirit, the resurrection of Christ, and the classic definition of the church as "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic." Taking up the historical-theological problem of the procession of the Spirit, Pelikan draws extensively on the Gospel of John but offers little about how the church's discussion of this issue might help us to read Acts; neither do we have the benefit of Pelikan's views regarding what contribution Acts might have made (or might still make) to the issue. We find no theological engagement with contemporary pneumatology, and no discussion of the diverse readings of the pentecostal gift of the Spirit championed in the past century. Moreover, Luke's presentation of "apostolic fellowship" (κοινωια) is parsed in terms of polity (especially with reference to 1 Timothy), omitting any reference to economics.