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Responses to 101 Questions on the Dead Sea Scrolls
Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J.
(Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1992) 201 pp., $8.95
Joseph Fitzmyer poses questions about the scrolls and related subjects and then answers them on the basis of his authoritative knowledge. He has worked with the scrolls since the 1950s and was one of the compilers of the now-famous concordance of the Qumran texts. At present he is editing some of the remaining unpublished documents. The subjects in the book covered are of all kinds: general (What are the Dead Sea Scrolls? What Q[umran] S[crolls] have been definitely published?), specific (In what languages have the QS been written? Is Jesus of Nazareth mentioned in any of the QS?), theological (How does the Qumran understanding of God differ from that in the New Testament?), and controversial (Is there any truth to the claim made by John Allegro, an original member of the scroll editing team, that his colleagues on the team were suppressing texts? Has there been a conspiracy to hold up publication for the scrolls?). Fitzmyer has organized the material under four headings: Questions and answers 1–38 deal with the discoveries of the content of the scrolls; 39–67 with the influence the scrolls have had on the study of the Hebrew Bible and Early Judaism; 68–84 with their influence on the study of the New Testament and Early Christianity; and 85–101 with recent developments and controversies. This is an ideal source for clearly stated, reliable information. It is ironic that even this careful and authoritative book follows the time-honored precedent of having a picture of an upside-down scroll on the cover (a gaffe for which the publisher, not the author, must take responsibility).
Encyclopedia of the Early Church
ed. Angelo Di Berardino
(New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1992)
Two volumes, 1130 pages, 44 maps, 320 illustrations, timeline and index. $175. This extraordinary reference tool, the work of 167 European (principally Italian) scholars, covers the first eight centuries of Christianity. Biographical articles form a strong suit, including items on many figures not to be found in, say, the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Another strength here is geography; the reader will find articles on every region and major city of the early church, containing a mine of information on topography, archaeology, episcopal successions, councils and the like. There are also many fascinating articles on ideas and phenomena in early Christianity, such as “Body,” “Color,” “Memory,” “Child, Childhood,” and “Desert.” The authors do not dwell on the substance and the immediate context of the New Testament (in contrast with the recent Encyclopedia of Early Christianity, ed. Everett Ferguson); yet this fact may actually enhance the work’s value for students of the Bible, for it allows for a unique focus on the Bible’s legacy. Thus although the authors of the article “Paul” allot a mere 750 words to the Apostle’s life and thought, they devote 1000 words to the fortunes of his ideas in subsequent centuries, and then another 1000 words to early Christian commentaries on Paul, and yet another 1000 words to the tradition of Pauline iconography.
Writings From Ancient Israel: A Handbook of Historical and Religious Documents
K.A.D. Smelik
(Westminster/John Knox Press, 1991) 191 pp., $19.99
After an introductory chapter about the development of writing, scripts and writing materials, Smelik reviews well-known texts—the Gezer calendar, the Mesha Stele, the Deir Alla texts, ostraca (inscribed potsherds) and seals—from 1000 and 500 B.C.E. found in Palestine and which are thought to illuminate the Hebrew Bible. For each text he supplies introductory material, a drawing of the text, a translation of it and a discussion of its contents. The book is a translation from Dutch but reads well. Besides the useful collection of comparative texts, Smelik’s volume includes other helpful items such as a fairly extensive bibliography, maps and indices. It would work well as a textbook for an introductory course on the Hebrew Bible.
Responses to 101 Questions on the Dead Sea Scrolls
Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J.
(Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1992) 201 pp., $8.95