In this intriguing book, Samuel Adams tries to figure out what it means to do history about the Bible if we assume that God actually exists. The proposition is an interesting and important one: biblical studies has a legacy of being forced to decide whether to approach its object of study either theologically or historically, with the implication that historical approaches are not intended to reckon with the reality of God. In this revision of his PhD thesis, completed under the supervision of Alan Torrance at the University of St. Andrews, Adams picks at the historical method of popular biblical scholar N.T. Wright to ask whether his account of history can cope with a God who is more than simply an element in the worldviews of the biblical authors. Ultimately, Adams believes that Wright’s Critical Realist approach to history is insufficient when applied to knowing God as it does not take account of the implications of making God the object of knowledge. Having diagnosed the problem Adams sets out to offer a solution, situating himself as a theologian who is attempting to resolve a problem built into Wright’s method by drawing on the resources of apocalyptic theology (181-2). This is a bold claim, considering the status of Wright.

Adams begins by describing Wright’s approach to history. He is particularly interested in what the former Bishop of Durham has to say about how we come to know things. Wright argues that knowledge is gained when we come into contact with things outside ourselves, and Adams rightly diagnoses here the epistemological underpinning of Wright’s project. Although Adams does not dispute that Wright’s approach helps him understand what the biblical writers intended to say, he does not think it can address the ‘reality’ which they were writing about: it addresses their worldviews, rather than the subject matter of the text.

Following Torrance, Adams sees this as ‘God-talk-talk’ (talk about what people have said about God) rather than ‘God-talk’ (talk about God). For example, Adams accepts that Wright can understand the apocalyptic worldview of the writer of revelation, but argues that this is completely different from understanding the revelation (‘apocalypse’) of God in Christ. Although Wright wants to move from the history of Jesus to talk about his status as Christ, Adams argues that his theological comments are actually only comments about the worldviews of the biblical authors (56) and never quite manage to become truly theological statements. Wright describes descriptions of God, not God – despite his claims to the contrary.

Here, Adams comes to his main criticism: Wright’s method is naturalist because “the knowledge of God is treated no differently than the knowledge of reality external to the knower in general” (74-5). Rather than allowing God – as a unique object of knowledge – to shape the way he is known, Adams sees Wright as imposing an inappropriate way of knowing onto God. Because of the importance of ‘contact’ to Wright’s own account of knowledge, Adams goes on to argue that this is actually self-contradictory: Wright has previously argued that we come to know things through contact with external reality, so surely such a different reality should be known differently?

Craig S. Keener asks what can be known about Jesus using basic historical methods?

This lecture was given on March 18, 2014 as part of the Ministry Conference at Asbury Theological Seminary.

Although John Wesley had spoken about the Holy Spirit prior to 1738, it was not until after Aldersgate that he began to develop a distinct pneumatology. Aldersgate was not Wesley’s conversion-initiation; rather it was largely a pneumatological experience of the “internal witness of the Spirit.”¹ His ‘heart strangely warmed’ marked a theological shift from outward works toward an experiential focus on the Spirit. He continued to develop this focus on the role of the Holy Spirit in Christian experience throughout his life. One can trace the role of the Spirit in the three distinct stages of Wesley’s thinking; early, middle, later.²

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that there is a recognizable development of Wesley’s doctrine of the Holy Spirit, which began to take form at Aldersgate and continued to be developed throughout his lifetime. This article will begin by briefly looking at the role of the Holy Spirit in each of the three stages of Wesley’s life and at the corresponding sermon corpus. This research will lead to an analysis of the various influences on the development of Wesley’s pneumatology. In addition, there will be an evaluation of the various ways in which the Holy Spirit played a role in his overall theology.

The Early Wesley 1725-1738

As mentioned earlier, there are three distinct stages of Wesley’s theological development. The early Wesley refers to the time between his ordination as a deacon on September 19, 1725 to his Aldersgate experience on May 14, 1738. Many scholars believe that 1725 marked the beginning of John Wesley’s religious awakening and the first of three phases in his theological development.³ He began to think seriously about entering the Church and his parents enthusiastically encouraged him. During this time several major things helped shape Wesley’s religious thought. Wesley came into contact with Bishop Jeremy Taylor’s Rules and Exercises of Holy Living and Dying, Thomas a’ Kempis’s Christian’s Pattern, and William Law’s Christian Perfection and serious Call.⁴ These writings made a profound impact upon Wesley’s spirituality. They put him on the path toward inward holiness.

Another important development was that Wesley became acquainted with ancient Christian literature through the assistance of fellow John Clayton, who was a competent patristics scholar.⁵ Wesley’s love for the Eastern Fathers can be seen throughout his Works, particularly “Macarius the Egyptian” and Ephrem Syrus.⁶ He became convinced that their pattern of holy living was true and authentic Christianity. More importantly for this study, was the ancient Christian’s emphasis on the person and experiential work of the Spirit, which no doubt had an impact on Wesley’s thinking.⁷ These various influences made Wesley’s time at Oxford an important season of religious and theological development and no doubt sowed impressionable seeds, which would later develop into Wesley’s mature pneumatology.

“The Circumcision of the Heart” 1733

On January 1, 1733, at Saint Mary’s Oxford, Wesley preached “The Circumcision of the Heart”, which contains the basic elements of his soteriology. This sermon also says more about the Holy Spirit than any of his other sermons prior this time. However, it appears that he was still working out his understanding of the relationship of the Holy Spirit and his overall theology. He said that, “without the Spirit we can do nothing but add sin to sin,” and “that it is impossible for us even to think a good thought without the supernatural assistance of his Spirit as to create ourselves, or to renew our whole souls in righteousness and true holiness.”⁸ Wesley recognized early on that Spirit played a vital role in overcoming sin and living a holy life. He was also developing his doctrine of Christian assurance. It is important to mention that Wesley sought assurance long before Aldersgate. He said:

This is the next thing which the ‘circumcision of the heart’ implies-even the testimony of their own spirit with the Spirit which witnesses in their hearts, that they are the children of God. Indeed it is the same Spirit who works in them that clear and cheerful confidence that their heart is upright toward God; that good assurance that they now do, through his grace, the things which are acceptable in his sight; that they are now in the path which leadeth to life, and shall, by the mercy of God, endure to the end.⁹

Paul Rhodes Eddy (Ph.D. Marquette University) is professor of biblical and theological studies at Bethel University, and Gregory A. Boyd (Ph.D. Princeton Theological Seminary) is the senior pastor at Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. These two scholars have set forth to analyze the plausibility of conceptualizing the story of Jesus of Nazareth as mere legend.

Debates about the historical reliability of the gospels are not new. However, Eddy and Boyd here look at the issue from a new perspective. In fact, they take a particular approach of investigating whether the synoptic gospels can be judged as actual history on the one hand, or fictional legend on the other. In so doing, they analyze eight commonly held contentions of those who hold to a form of the legendary Jesus hypothesis. I will elucidate these eight contentions momentarily, but first it would be helpful to elaborate on the legendary Jesus hypothesis. There are three general groups of scholars that maintain, in some form, the idea that the Jesus of faith was some sort of legend. For example, some scholars (e.g. Bauer, Drews, and Wells) maintain that the Jesus (or Christ) of faith is entirely fictional, and that there is no historical basis of belief in him, either as a person or the son of God. A second group of scholars, typified by Bultmann, hold that while a historical person named Jesus in fact lived, the reports of him are saturated with legend and myth, insomuch as we have very little accurate historical information regarding him. Third, there are numerous scholars (Funk and Crossan, e.g.) who argue that while the present form of the gospels may contain myth and/or legend, there is a historical ‘core’ of truth to them.

These various groups of scholars contend that the naturalism of the present era excludes the plausibility—and even the possibility—of the supernatural occurrences reported in the gospels. Moreover, they posit that the Hellenistic Judaism of the era in which the Jesus-legend arose was conducive to the type of fabricated myths that one finds in the gospels. Third, they note that the parallels of Jesus-like (i.e. miracle workers, etc.) people in the surrounding areas in the same time frame, undercuts the validity of the reports of Jesus of Nazareth. They also contend that the relative silence in non-biblical literature and the relative silence in the epistles of Paul of the historical (not the risen Jesus, i.e.) Jesus, make the case for the gospels’ historical reliability tall indeed. Sixth, they point out that the oral nature of the first transmission of the gospels was inherently free-form and unstable, thus possibly allowing error and myth to creep in to them. Moreover, they question whether the writers of the gospels themselves intentioned their writings to be viewed as historical. And finally, these Jesus-legend advocates generally hold that those who view the gospels as historically accurate hold the burden of proof to prove it.

Bill T. Arnold & H.G.M. Williamson, eds., Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books (Downers Grove, IL & Leicester, England: InterVarsity Press, 2005), xxiii + 1060, ISBN 9780830817825.

It is exciting to see this present work in print. Many in ministry consistently reach for reference works in the IVP dictionary series to help them in their teaching preparation. This series includes New Testament Background, Jesus and the Gospels, Paul and His Letters, The Later New Testament and its Development, as well as the Bible Background Commentary volumes for both Old and New Testaments. These were later followed by an Old Testament series beginning with Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch. Each volume has proven to be of superior quality in both scholarship and ease of use. The present volume, Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books covers a wide variety of topics covering the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah.

It should be noted that the IVP Dictionary series are written by American and European scholars who are not necessarily Pentecostal or charismatic. Because of this, some may find the articles somewhat disappointing.

Of general interest for Pentecostal/charismatics will be the biographical articles on such notables as “Caleb,” “David,” “Elijah,” “Elisha,” “Hezekiah,” “Joshua,” “Isaiah,” “Solomon,” “Zerubbabel” and others. While a general article on “Women” is included, specific articles on Deborah, Hanna and other notable women are conspicuously absent. Companion articles can usually be found to enhance the biographies. For example, in addition to the article on “David” there are also articles on the “Davidic Covenant” as well as “David’s Family.”

Of specific interest for Pentecostal/Charismatics will be topical entries such as “Anointing,” “Faith,” “Forgiveness,” “High Places,” “Prayer,” “Salvation and Deliverance,” “Sickness and Disease,” and the “Word of God.”

Those interested in theology will find beneficial insights in the articles on “Death and Afterlife,” “Ethics,” “Evil,” “God,” “Justice and Righteousness,” “Law,” as well as the article on “Sin.”

For those who profit from historical, geographical and cultural context studies the entries on “Agriculture and Husbandry,” “Archaeology,” “Canaanite Gods and Religion,” “Egypt,” “Geographical Extent of Israel,” “Hebrew Inscriptions,” “Israelite Society,” and “Trade and Travel” will be of assistance.

For readers who are more interested in Biblical interpretation, the articles on “Chronology,” “Deuteronomistic History,” “Genealogies,” “Hebrew Language,” “Hermeneutics,” “Inner-biblical Exegesis,” “Linguistics,” “Methods of Interpretation,” and “Oral Tradition & Written Tradition” will prove helpful.

While there is much to like in the DOTHB there is something that is critically absent; that being any kind of article or reference to God’s Spirit. There is no entry on the Spirit of the Lord, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit or God’s Spirit. In the subject index there is not a single listing of any of these phrases. It seems woefully inadequate for a Bible dictionary that covers a select group of historical writings which includes “Judges,” where the Spirit is present in abundance, to not make mention of that same Spirit.

Israel continues to be a land of archeological discovery as yearly excavations unearth more and more of her past. The Historical Atlas of Jerusalem, written by one of Israel’s preeminent archeologists, takes you on an epoch-by-epoch exploration of the city where God chose to establish His Name. Through written text as well as rare photography, maps, and diagrams, each of the 13 chapters covering 400 pages help you understand this city’s legacy of agriculture, architecture, and administration, within a context of the religious movements sweeping the landscape.

Interested in knowing what was there before God called Abraham? Then read chapter one. Looking for information on the destruction of the First Temple and the subsequent rule under Nebuchadnezzar? Then read chapter three. Perhaps your interests lie on Jerusalem during Roman rule or later Muslim occupation, or perhaps much later under the Ottomans or the British. It is all there, right up the city’s 5,000 anniversary in 2000. The Historical Atlas of Jerusalem is an inviting introduction for everyone to one of the oldest cities in the world.

Reviewed by Kevin M. Williams