Pisteuomen - πιστευομεν - T. Michael W. Halcomb

Michael Halcomb. Review of David A. deSilva, Honor, Patronage, Kinship & Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture . Downers Grove, Ill: IVP, 2000. 336 pp. $30.00. David deSilva, one of the foremost scholars in ancient Judaic and Greco-Roman culture, offers, in this work, helpful tools for responsible and integral Biblical interpretation. Reading the New Testament in light of its cultural milieu, deSilva’s socio-rhetorical methodology aims to school the reader in first-century values and practices that unlock the meanings of oft trivialized and overlooked New Testament passages. The thesis of deSilva’s work is to “[recover] the ideology of the early Christians” (20)—a recovery ultimately intended to strengthen the Church of modernity. Carefully and critically, deSilva analyzes Biblical passages through all of the lenses mentioned in the book’s title: honor, patronage, kinship and purity—each of which he devotes two chapters to. Tactfully ordered, each section of New Testament interpr...

It is no mystery that when Jesus went back to His hometown, His success rate was lower than usual. In fact, I would suggest that this is one of those places where Mark seeks to remind his audience that, in addition to His divinity, Jesus was very, very human! In Mark 6.1-6, we do not see Jesus fending off mighty storms, nor do we see Him bringing people back to life, no, we see Him meeting criticism after criticism head-on. Even 6.2, which is normally read as a positive statement, can and probably should be read as a negative remark. The English rendering “amazed” could very well have a negative sense to it. The Greek term, εξεπησσοντο, which has the connotation of amazement or astonishment, can be taken positively but does not have to be taken as such. To give a simple, common example from the English language, one could say, “I am amazed that he did that, I didn’t know he was that type of person.” In this comment, of course, the word “amazed” has a negative sense to it. Thus, I would...