Journal for the Study of

the New Testament

http://jnt.sagepub.com

Book Reviews : Frank E. Gaebelein (ed.), The

Expositor's Bible Commentary, Volume 9: John by
M.C. Tenney, and Acts by R.C. Longenecker.
Zondervan, 1981. Pp. 573. $19.95
B.D. Chilton
Journal for the Study of the New Testament 1984; 7; 125
DOI: 10.1177/0142064X8400702018
The online version of this article can be found at:
http://jnt.sagepub.com

Published by:
http://www.sagepublications.com

Additional services and information for Journal for the Study of the New
Testament can be found at:
Email Alerts: http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts
Subscriptions: http://jnt.sagepub.com/subscriptions
Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav
Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav

Downloaded from http://jnt.sagepub.com by Andreas Gerstacker on

November 29, 2007
1984 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial
use or unauthorized distribution.

125
Robert C. Gregg and Dennis E. Groh,
SCM, 1981. Pp. xiv + 209. £12.50.

Early Arianism: A

View

of Salvation.

The debate between Arianism and Christian orthodoxy, the authors maintain,
turned on competing conceptual schemes and competing notions of salvation.
Orthodox theologians worked within the framework of being and essence;
the Arians stressed the language of becoming, willing and electing. Grace in
Arian theology meant not so much transference into a stabilized order of
redeemed creation, as that which empowers the believer for a process of
moral advance. Christology, therefore, is also viewed within a framework of
process rather than being. One special point of interest for New Testament
studies is the authors attempt to show how readily certain New Testament
texts (especially in the Epistle to the Hebrews) may be thought to lend
support to Arian ideas when they are viewed from within an Arian

framework of thought.
B.E. Thiering, Redating the Teacher of Righteousness (Theological Explorations:
Australian and New Zealand Studies in Theology and Religion). 1979.

Pp. 234.
In the first part of her study the author seeks to challenge many of the most
widely accepted conclusions, claiming to give rather more value to the

internal or textual evidence than has yet been done. In the second part she
examines the Teachers doctrine and its setting, and in the third and final
part attempts a reconstruction which would place the Teacher of Righteousness
around AD 26-30. In spite of the difficulties, she does not exclude the
possibility of identifying him with John the Baptist.
Frank E. Gaebelein (ed.), The Expositors Bible Commentary, Volume 9: John
Acts by R.C. Longenecker. Zondervan, 1981. Pp. 573.
by M.C. Tenney, and

$19.95.
While Merrill C.

Tenneys commentary on John is designed primarily to

the
Christian
pastor, Richard C. Longenecker engages more fully with
help
current issues relating to Acts in New Testament studies. In a substantial
introduction he reviews most of the basic issues carefully, and for this reason
it is all the more noteworthy that he himself is willing to defend the tradition
that the author of Acts was Luke the physician, and to argue for a date as
early as AD 64. He argues that Acts was written for several purposes among
which a kerygmatic purpose and conciliatory intent are prominent. The
commentary on the text takes into account the needs of the Christian pastor,
but regular and frequent inter-action with recent literature on Acts extends
its usefulness also to the student.
B.D.

Chilton, Department of Biblical Studies, The University of Sheffield

Downloaded from http://jnt.sagepub.com by Andreas Gerstacker on

November 29, 2007
1984 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial
use or unauthorized distribution.