J. Ross Wagner, Reading the Sealed Book: Old Greek Isaiah and the Problem of Septuagint Hermeneutics (Baylor University Press/Mohr-Siebeck, 2014), 308 pages, ISBN 9781602589803.

Reading the Sealed Book aims to bring together the academic fields of Translation Studies and Biblical Studies to help us better understand the choices made by the translator(s) of Isaiah from Hebrew to Greek in the Septuagint Bible. The Septuagint is important for two reasons. Not only is it the earliest written translation of the Old Testament into any other language but, if New Testament quotations of the Old Testament are anything to go by, it was also the Bible of common use in the early days of the church. Understanding the translation choices made by the Septuagint translators therefore offers great potential to bring us closer to the approach to Scripture used by the early Church.

J. Ross Wagner’s argument is that we can apply approaches from Translation Studies to help us interpret these choices, including the translator’s reasons for making them. This would seem a promising approach, especially since most current discussion of Bible translation seems to be still entrenched in debates around types of “equivalence” and the well-worn “free” vs. “literal” debate, which have long been abandoned in Translation Studies. The precise approach adopted by Prof Wagner is Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS), which treats the translation as a text in its own right, only turning to the “assumed source text” (Toury 2012, p.99ff) when and if the particular research questions requires it. This means that it is possible within DTS to study translation choices without any reference to the source texts at all, since this could be done by comparing texts which present themselves as different translations of the same source text.

This is relevant for Wagner’s book not just because he claims to be using DTS in his study but because it suggests a shift in focus from the traditional arguments about accuracy towards understanding how the text was shaped by its community. This is where terms like “acceptability” (Wagner 2013, pp.227–234)[1] come into play, underlining that every translation is created for a person or group of people whose expectations will necessarily be taken into account by the translator. The Septuagint is no exception to this principle.

Wagner’s book follows a very simple structure, introducing the problem and historical background in the first chapter, before providing a clear exposition of the theories involved in the second. The third and fourth chapters are by far the longest and contain a close examination of the Septuagint version of Isaiah 1. Here, readers will find an exhaustive analysis of the translation choices made in this chapter and their possible rationales and effects. Unfortunately, this analysis bears much more resemblance to traditional source/target text comparisons than to what most researchers in Translation Studies would understand as DTS. It is perhaps no accident that it is in those places where the author does lean more towards what would traditionally be thought of as DTS (eg. pp. 216-217, 224-225) that the analysis provides some of the most thought-provoking details on how the translation would have been received by its first readers.

C. Peter Wagner and Joseph Thompson, eds., Out of Africa: How the Spiritual Explosion Among Nigerians is Impacting the World (Ventura, CA: Regal, 2004), 219 pages, ISBN 9780830732920.

Every once in a while, I get to review a “must read” book and this is one that every sensitive person in Christendom must read. I was challenged from the moment I began to read the introduction, and I did not halt my reading until I had reached the end of the book.

Peter Wagner has partnered with Joseph Thompson, a Nigerian born minister who is part of Ted Haggard’s New Life Church in Colorado Springs, to produce this short book that describes a move of God that most of us in America know little about.

Wagner starts this inspiring book with the introduction that sets forth some numerical statistics that are necessary preparation for what follows. I have been to West Africa, Northern Africa and my engineering firm had a good-sized project in Cape Town, South Africa. I had acquaintances in both construction and missionary efforts in Nigeria including Sam Odunike, who at one time was a local leader in my denomination’s efforts in his country. I have read about the “success” of Christianity in Nigeria and news accounts about the rivalry between the Muslim and Christian populations there. Even with all of that background, I was astonished by what I read.

I did not know that half of Africa’s people live in Nigeria or that one of every five black persons in our world lives there. I learned of the comparison that Nigeria is two and one half times the size of Texas. I knew that Africa is producing Christians every day and that it was a large number. Wagner’s introduction cites David Barrett who believes that each day in Africa 24,500 souls are added to the Kingdom of God. We add 5,000 a day in the United States.

The church in Africa grows at 2.62 percent per year. In Nigeria, half of the population professes Christianity. That means right now that there are 75 million people who claim to follow Jesus and next year there will be 86 million that say so. In ten years, Nigeria will be as Christian as any nation can become. No other nation has achieved the depth of belief that Nigeria possesses today. Peter describes his astonishment at his own experiences during his travels to this country, starting with a pastoral training session ten years ago to which 13,000 pastors came.

Joseph Thompson writes the first chapter which he titled “Rising from the Mediocre to the Miraculous.” Pastor Thompson chronicles the period in his country following the Second World War and the utter despair his people faced not many years ago—despair which can still be found. Corruption and every type of evil were pervasive as Nigerians found themselves without income and without hope. Out of this despair, Christians began gathering for annual and then more frequent prayer gatherings. These gatherings were led by a number of professionals, Nigeria’s lawyers, engineers, doctors, and architects. These leaders quickly became a force for a difference in their country—a prayer force—and our God responded.  

C. Peter Wagner, Humility (Regal Books, 2002), 130 pages.

Peter Wagner has written a short and easy-to-read book on the subject of humility. The book has eight short chapters, each of which is followed by a series of questions and some blanks for the reader to express her thoughts to herself. This format would be useful as a personal devotional or in a group study setting.

Peter starts his book by noting that he could find little written on this subject and the scripture that says “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” Mat 23:12 (NIV). Indeed Peter ended up with a very short bibliography which essentially consists of just one book written by Andrew Murray more than 100 years ago.

Peter takes a look at his subject from a variety of perspectives. Then he proceeds to discuss the subject in his eight chapters by covering the value of humility, its two dimensions, the definition of humility, and your need to choose the course you will take. He outlines five signposts on the way to pride and ten signposts on the way to humility. He concludes with a discussion on the stable foundation humility provides, even when we face adversity. He closes by encouraging us to live as scripture urges: be humble before God.

C. Peter Wagner

Peter believes that we are all challenged daily to be humble. I found his thoughts provoking and worth looking at, particularly since he uses himself as the person who may or may not have victory in the area under discussion. My daily efforts at being humble are far less difficult than those that face Peter since no one has heard of me nor do I have any position or reputation to defend. Indeed I am constantly interfacing with people and situations that keep my feet on the ground, and my head and heart guarded. It is hard to hold you head high when by doing so it becomes a better target.

Nonetheless I would like the Lord to exalt me and at the same time to increase my spiritual effectiveness and my income. I imagine that desire applies to most of you reading this review.

Peter’s 61^st book is easy to read, it will challenge you to examine yourself and to examine Peter Wagner and his idea of his humility, which I found fascinating. I will not comment on what I think of Peter’s success or lack thereof at being humble beyond noting that he is exalted far beyond most of us.

Reviewed by H. Murray Hohns

Preview Humility: http://books.google.com/books/about/Humility.html?id=TLM_R0wvHFIC  

C. Peter Wagner, Churchquake!: How the New Apostolic Reformation Is Shaking Up the Church As We Know It (Ventura, CA: Regal Publishers), 274 pages, ISBN 9780830719181.

I started reading Peter Wagner’s books soon after he began to be published, and I took his class on ‘Signs and Wonders’ at Fuller Seminary. I recall some of his early writing when he confronted things such as: the obvious impact of the uneducated, unpolished, and under financed Pentecostal preachers who came to Bolivia, found an empty lot for their raggedly tents and drew large enthusiastic crowds. Those things made no sense to Missionary Peter, who thought back then, thought that he was doing all things the right way.

Peter had to confront that his right way was not necessarily God’s way, and that confrontation led to a career in the Christian world in which Peter has become one of the ‘experts’ in church growth and the work of the Holy Spirit.

When Peter started off 45 years or so ago, the church world was far different than the one to which we have become accustomed. There were no Willow Creeks, Saddle Backs, and Church on the Ways or any other seeker sensitive megachurches. People were just starting to hear about Pat Robertson, John Osteen, and all of today’s leaders. The largest churches in the world today were still forming and in their infancy.

The wave that washed over the church world back then carried a challenge to allow the Holy Spirit to take His rightful place in the kingdom of God and the kingdom of your heart. Much of that early effort was forged by the FGBMFI, which was headed by an Armenian dairy farmer from Southern California.

Forty years ago the church world was told to seek the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, which was evidenced by speaking in tongues and would endue the recipient with power from on high that would produce the ability to touch the world for Jesus. When that wave washed ashore it caught many of us and permeated the church world. One result of that wave is a world dotted with megachurches, most of which, to Wagner’s study, buck and rebel at the restraints of denominationalism.

Peter’s book is an upbeat review of how and why these megachurches function so well in today’s otherwise declining North American church scene. Peter spends much effort defining or naming the movement that best fits these churches with an apostolic connotation.

Once named, Peter examines the administrative structure of these new megachurches. He presents charts that look like the organizational charts I created when seeking new consulting work from clients who were impressed with that sort of thing. Peter finds that much of the success of these churches is the chief executive role accorded the Senior Pastor, a role that allows the casting and fulfilling of God given visions. Peter compares the failure of the congregationally ruled church to the more theocratic one-person rule model. This is contrasted to a pastor who picks his board and keeps only those who are on the team, this is the pastoral team model.