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2010 67: 224Theology TodayShane Berg

Parker: New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 368 pp. $99.00An Introduction to the New Testament Manuscripts and Their Texts: D. C.

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TheologyTodayBook Reviews224

in the opening to his book, it is not accidental that the commandments found

a place at the beginning of the liturgy in TheBook of Common Prayer. I can

only hope that if this book is read as widely as it deserves, that practice might

be recovered.

Stanley Hauerwas

Duke Divinity School

Durham, North Carolina

An Introduction to the New Testament

Manuscripts and Their TextsD. C. Parker

New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 368 pp. $99.00.

David Parkers introduction to New Testament textual criticism is an impres-

sive and important work that no doubt will quickly ascend to a place of promi-

nence in the field. Not only is the book beautifully written and executed, but

it also provides a helpful orientation to New Testament textual criticism while

providing a wealth of innovative and creative new ways to conceive of the task

of textual criticism. It is a rare book that can serve as both primer and mani-

festo. Parker has written just such a book.

The book is divided into three sections, the first of which deals with manu-

scripts. In addition to an excellent overview of important manuscripts and textual

traditions, Parker provides practical guidance for the major tools and resources

that one must employ in order to study ancient manuscripts. He even includes

a section on visiting a manuscript library, which one is hard pressed to find inany comparable work. Parkers conviction that New Testament textual criticism

must begin with the study of the manuscripts themselves, not transcriptions

of manuscripts, comes through very clearly. This emphatic assertion is a most

needed and welcome corrective to scholars in the field who have increasingly

been working several steps removed from the actual textual artifacts.

The second section of the book offers an overview of, and introduction to,

the rise of textual criticism and its principle methods and goals. The treatment

of the history of the discipline and its major reference tools and editions is

clear, succinct, and helpful. Parkers discussion of the nature and purposes

of textual criticism is tantalizingly brief (he has written about this topic more

fully in some of his other works) but theologically quite provocative and inter-

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TheologyToday Book Reviews 225

esting. Parker does not regard New Testament textual criticism as merely the

process of determining the earliest possible text of the New Testament. Rather,

he articulates a much more sophisticated position that entails first and foremost

thinking of the relationship between text and communitieswhether one isthinking of ancient texts and the communities who copied and preserved them

or modern communities (both academic and ecclesial) who produce critical

textual editions. The theological implications of Parkers way of conceiving of

the task of textual criticism warrant careful consideration and reflection.

The third and final section of the book covers the textual history of various

parts of the New Testament: Revelation, Pauls epistles, Acts and the Catholic

Epistles, and the Gospels. This way of organizing the final section takes seri-

ously the fact that each of these groups of New Testament texts requires its

own independent treatment when considering questions of textual transmis-

sion. One cannot assume that what is true of the textual history and transmis-

sion of the Gospels, for example, is true for the Pauline letters. This section,

like the previous two, is impressive in its breadth, brevity, and lucidity.

Parkers introduction will serve well both students and scholars in the field

of New Testament textual criticism, and it should become a primary refer-

ence for students and scholars in studies of the New Testament and of ancient

Christianity.

Shane Berg

Princeton Theological Seminary

Princeton, New Jersey

Incarnation: The Person and Life of ChristThomas F. Torrance, edited by Robert T. Walker

Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2008. 371 pp. $37.00.

This book is a veritable theological gold mine. It comprises T. F. Torrances

lectures on christology and soteriology given at the University of Edinburgh

from 1952 to 1978. Published posthumously and ably edited with a lengthy

and very helpful introduction by Robert T. Walker, Torrances nephew, this

work should be required reading for all who seriously would engage in the

study of theology today. Instead of attempting a christology from above or

from below, Torrance simply begins by asserting that we cannot compare the

fact of Christ with other facts, nor can we deduce the fact of Christ from our

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