Booklist 20.

Early Christianity

133

The Gospel o f Peter and Early Christian Apologetics: Rewriting the Story ofJesus Death, Burial, and Resurrection

Timothy P. Henderson W U N T 2.301; Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 20 1 1, 978-3-16 x + 258 pb ,64.00 ,150709-0

-In this lightly revised thesis from Marquette University, Henderson offers a comprehen sive overview of the Gospel o f Peter (GP). The survey begins with a discussion of ancient .sources which mention GP and proffer an opinion on its perceived authority or otherwise Until winter 1886/87 these references yielded the sole testimony to GP 's existence. At this time, the French Archaeological Mission discovered a codex containing a portion of GP in a grave near Akhmm in Egypt. This extant portion reveals GP 's Passion and ,Resurrection narratives. From the rapid publication responses of Cambridge academics Henderson traces the secondary literature through to the present, highlighting Vaganays .suggestion that GP displays a freedom of composition and apologetic tendencies 1930 ,Henderson builds on this to propose that GP is rewritten gospel, recalling the category rewritten Bible. He notes with regret that Fosters 2010 commentary on GP was ,published too late for interaction with it. Five chapters begin with a synoptic analysis where the Greek texts of GP, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are placed comparatively ,side by side. The similarities and differences, which are indeed significant, are discussed followed by an examination of early Christian parallels, and an analysis of apologetics .and polemics. Form and redaction criticism are utilized Hendersons thesis that GP was probably written around the mid-second century by an author who had experienced real or perceived conflict or tension with the Jews is argued convincingly. He acknowledges his discomfort at writing on this subject as a citi .zen of a post-Holocaust world Diana Woodcock

The Heresy o f Orthodoxy: H ow Contemporary Cultures Fascination with Diversity Has Reshaped our Understanding o f Early Christianity

Andreas J. Kstenberger & Michael J. Kruger Nottingham: Apollos, 2010, 978-1-84474-446-6, 1 1.99, 250 pb

The present book has in its sights the Bauer-Ehrman thesis (labelled the new orthodoxy) and explains for perhaps an undergraduate-level audience this view that the origins of Christianity consisted of a rag-bag of diverse positions, and in which (at least for Bauer) heresy generally preceded orthodoxy. This book aims to give a synthetic account both of its target and of various problems that have been identified with it. After a first part principally setting out the theory, a second part traces the development of the NT canon, arguing for inter alia the antiquity of the fourfold gospel and the Pauline letter collection, and the lateness and Gnostic character of the apocryphal gospels. Finally, two chapters address Ehrmans orthodox corruption of Scripture theory, by emphasizing the adequacy of the scribal infrastructure and the relative insignificance of textual variation. Overall, the aim is to present a response to the Bauer-Ehrman thesis, highlighting the stability of core beliefs, canonical writings and the textual tradition.

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Journo for the Study o f the New Testament 34(5)

The authors clearly land some punches on Ehrman, e.g., in the evidence he adduces from Acts 4.13 and Celsus about the social location of early Christians, and his appeal to Hermas 5.4 as evidence for the poor quality of scribes. On the other hand, there is a slight tendency to present the data in an unbalanced way. In the arguments for the shortness of the gap between the composition and the extant copies of NT texts, the standard date of c. 125 c e is given for P52, noting Aland in support of a date of c. 100 c e (in fact the article cited gives beginning of the second century), but no reference to Nongbris questioning of the standard date. Similarly, P66 is assigned to the late second century, with a reference to Hungers earlier date but no mention of the later date assigned by Turner and Parsons. Similarly, the date of 125 c e is given for Papias, with reference to a possible earlier date, but no reference to scholars such as Lightfoot, Westcott and W. Bauer, who placed him rather later. There is a lot of very valuable material here, but it is a shame that scholarly positions are sometimes presented a little tendentiously. Simon J. Gathercole

Jesus in apokryphen Evangelienberlieferungen: Beitrge zu auerkanonischen Jesusberlieferungen aus verschiedenen Sprach- und Kulturtraditionen

Jrg Frey & Jens Schrter, eds. W U N T 254; Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2 0 10, 978-3-16 - 15 0 147-0, 139.00, xi + 798 hb

This latest collection edited by two leading German Neutestamentler contains 25 essays, mostly in German, with 7 in English and 1 in French. Scene-setting chapters are supplied by the editors and Christoph Markschies, after which (Part II) comes a series of chapters on particular Gospels, such as Jewish-Christian Gospels (Frey), Secret Mark (E. Rau), infancy Gospels (U.U. Kaiser), the Gospels of Peter (T. Nicklas), Thomas (E.E. Popkes), Philip (H. Schmid), Mary (E. de Boer) and Judas (U.-K. Plisch). Part III treats points of wider controversy, such as the definition of Gospel (J.A. Kelhoffer) and Gnosis/ Gnosticism (K.L. King). Finally, Part IV covers the spread of influence of apocryphal traditions in Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Arabic, Ethiopie, Slavonic and Irish milieux. The treatments of particular works are interesting and fresh, with some of the European contributions offering important correctives to positions widely held in North America. For example, Wursts argument that Eugnostos is an essentially Christian work (rather than an instance of pre- or non-Christian Gnosticism) is welcome and thoroughly deserving of a wide readership. Hagen rightly presses for attention to the Coptic Christian context of works such as the Gospel o f the Saviour. In the third part, some material will already be familiar to scholars from the authors other work (e.g., Kelhoffers How Soon a Book Revisited, Kings What is Gnosticism?) It is perhaps the fourth part which will provide most new material for booklist readers. Nevertheless, something of an omission here is non-Coptic transmission of apocrypha in eastern Manichaeism (see, e.g., H.-J. Klimkeits 1999 essay Apocryphal Gospels in Central and East Asia). Overall, however, this is an impressive and important book. Simon J. Gathercole

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