THE OXFORD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE (2 volumes)
Edited by Michael D. Coogan
Oxford University Press. 600 pages each. £189.00
ISBN 978 0 195 377 378
These are the first two volumes in an ambitious project to publish many ‘Encyclopedias of the Bible’ — the Bible and the law, the Bible and the arts, the Bible and theology, etc.
This attempts to cover what is called ‘The Books of the Bible’ but includes surveys of a whole host of non-canonical material ranging from the Acts of Pilate, the Acts of Paul, and the gospel of Mary, to the Prayer of Azariah, and many others.
On the positive front this represents where ‘mainstream’ scholarship is situated today. There are some excellent, thorough and informative articles on extra-biblical issues such as the Apocrypha, pseudepigrapha, rabbinic literature, Dead Sea scrolls, text criticism, and translations. Lots of this material is great. It is in this area of extra-biblical material and issues that the articles were strongest. There is a helpful note in most articles about ‘the reception history’ of a book, i.e. how the book has inspired reflection, the creative arts, music, and science over the centuries.
But there are very major disappointments. There is a general but notable trend towards caution/scepticism regarding authors and date. Often contributors are negative about issues such as the Pauline and Petrine authorship of epistles. The historicity of books such as Genesis and Daniel is not so much questioned as assumed to be ‘mythical’ or ‘ahistorical’. The evangelical understanding of the Bible as the ‘breathed out’ word of God and hence trustworthy and authoritative is hardly represented. Rarely do the authors reflect upon Jesus’s own use of the Bible, and His supreme role as Lord and King.
Evangelical scholarship also seems to be sidelined with significant omissions from the bibliographies.
And these volumes raise some other questions. Can they supplant the excellent Old or New Testament introductions now available (e.g. Longman, Carson, or Moo)? Do they really add much to buying a good commentary with a good introduction? Who would or even could buy such expensive books — probably institutions? Who would really benefit from this material — probably only scholars who will use the material to interact with and challenge many of the assumptions of the ‘liberal’ scholarship that is expressed?
There are many better books for even the ‘above-average reader’ to get stuck into.
Ray Evans & Martin Salter,
both serving on the leadership team of Grace Community Church, Bedford
