Preston Sprinkle, Paul and Judaism Revisited: A Study of Divine and Human Agency in Salvation (Downers Grove: IVP

Academic), 2013.
Sprinkles book consists of these segments: Foreward by Stephen Westerholm Preface Abbreviations 1. Paul and Judaism Revisited 2. Deuteronomic and Prophetic Restoration 3. Restoration from the Curse of the Law 4. The Eschatological Spirit 5. Anthropological Pessimism in Paul and Qumran 6. Justification in Paul and Qumran 7. Judgment According to Works 8. Divine and Human Agency in Early Judaism: A Survey 9. Paul and Judaism: Soteriology Revisited Author Index Subject Index Scripture Index There are two problems with this volume. The first, which is rather something like a blast of cold water in the face at the very beginning, is the inappropriate mixing of the Hebrew and Greek titles of Ben Sira in the dedication (readers should never skip the dedication. Oftentimes thats the best part of the book).

What I mean is that when Preston dedicates the book to his friend Joey Dodson (a very nice thing to do) he quotes Ben Sira but calls the book Ben Sirach. Now, in the event that readers arent aware of the fact- the title of the book in Hebrew is Ben Sira and in Greek, Sirach. The combination of the two results in this monstrous (alright, that may be something of an overstatement- perhaps disconcerting is better) beast: . Jarring , to say the least. To be fair, its a common enough mistake. However, its presence here, in a scholarly volume, is offputting. Especially at the very beginning where moods are set and readers expectations are at their highest. The second problem with the volume is the fact that Hebrew and Greek texts are transliterated and not simply transmitted. If people can read Hebrew and Greek they dont need them to be transliterated and if they cant, then transliterated texts are just a bunch of chicken scratch which they skip over (unless they are the sorts of persons who like to pretend to know the biblical languages but who really dont). This issue isnt confined to this volume. Too many publishers (and I lay this at the foot of the publisher rather than the author) do this. But it makes no sense at all. In the old days, perhaps it did because changing fonts meant literally changing fonts on printing blocks. So, pages with multiple language fonts had to be printed twice. Once, with the dominant font, and then, with the secondary. But these days, with the advent of computers, printing one sort of font is as easy as printing another. Publishers should simply print the language font in question and abandon transliteration altogether. Those two issues aside, the book itself is brilliant. What this study will revisit is the soteriology of Paul and Judaism (p. 21). Drawing from the Dead Sea Scrolls, Sprinkle here, simply put, compares the ideology (soteriology) of the Scrolls with the soteriology of Paul. Fantastically. In comparing Paul with the Dead Sea Scrolls, I will compare the previously mentioned soteriological motifs that are important for both Paul and Qumran, in order to understand how both sets of writings articulated the relationship between divine and human agency (p. 36). If only the problems mentioned above didnt exist, because Sprinkles goal is commendable; his method is intelligible; and his results are convincing. As the Table of Contents makes clear, Sprinkle works through Paul and Judaism, setting the stage for his investigation. He then turns to the topic of Deuteronomic and Prophetic Restoration, showing, cleverly, the

connections between Pauls theology and that central Old Testament text. The remaining chapters flesh out the argument with, in my opinion, Justification in Paul and Qumran being the main segment of the book. Here, S. arrives at the heart of the matter. The rest of the book applies the ideas of chapter 6 to wider issues within Pauline studies. At the end of the volume, S.s conclusion is as simple as can be and in its simplicity, substantial: Paul does not exhibit total continuity with Qumran (nor Judaism) regarding divine and human agency, but neither is there complete discontinuity (p. 239). Indeed! And while it may seem a truism, the fact is, there are too many today who exaggerate either Pauls Essenism or his oddness (in terms of his dis-connection from his Jewish world). Sprinkles conclusion is both statement of fact and serious warning for in it, in his work, he shows that making Paul anything but Paul is an error and has no basis in the evidence. Let Paul be Paul. And Sprinkle does. This is a worthwhile book, deserving of your time and serious consideration. Tolle, Lege!

Jim West Quartz Hill School of Theology