writer is regrettably vague: p. 155), this may be a fresh point of view. Guerra hasarrived at this identification, he tells us, by ‘motif analysis’ in preference to wordanalysis and thematic analysis. Personally, as one of the former group of scholars,I found the case for classifying Romans as basically protreptic to be too readilyassumed, on the one hand, and its implications for the letter as a whole not wellsustained, on the other.What is unassailable in Guerra’s argument, however, is for one thing his

acquaintance with protreptic and apologetic literature from classical times up tothe second century Christian apologists; he moves easily from Aristotle to Justin,having published previously on the latter. Whether Paul was equally conversantwith protreptic models through a rhetorical education seems to be assumedrather than demonstrated. Guerra locks horns with the great Pauline commen-tators; he finds himself at odds with Francis Watson in chapters 1 and 5, optingfor the view that it is Jewish Christians whom Paul has principally in mind in chs9–11, now correctly regarded as ‘the heart of Romans’ once the ‘pangs of con-science’ approach to the letter in the wake of Luther was abandoned. KristerStendahl strangely goes without mention, as well as RC scholars (like J. A. Fitzmyer)generally.If one accepts Guerra’s opening argument that the letter belongs to the pro-

treptic genre, the rest of the book settles down to being a commentary onRomans, generously documented from classical, patristic and recent (i.e., prior to1993) scholarly literature. A (very brief) glossary is provided, bibliography and twoindexes.

Australian Catholic University, Sydney Robert C. Hill

The Rhetoric of Characterization of God, Jesus, and Jesus’ Disciples in the Gospel of Mark.By Paul L. Danove. Pp. xii, 190, T&T Clark, London, 2005, $55.00.

The author of this new study of the rhetoric of Mark tells us that he is ‘analyzing thesemantic and narrative rhetoric of repetition and function of characterization . . . instudies of the characterization of God, Jesus, and Jesus’ disciples in the Gospel ofMark’. This is a characteristic sentence, and tells you a good deal about what theauthor is doing, and his manner of doing it. Incidentally the title, as reproducedabove, is capitalised as the author left it. Two sentences from quite early on (and I didmanage to read through the entire book) may serve to catch the flavour: ‘. . . therepetition of constructs constitutes a deconstructive rhetorical strategy. For narrativeframes that do not include preinterpreted content, repetition is deemed deconstructiveif it initially realizes and then reinforces content that diverges from or contradictspreinterpreted content’ (pp. 17–18). Fortunately there are abundant repetitions thatenable us eventually to work out what Danove is talking about. And it is a pity thatwhat he has to say is so impenetrable, for some of his insights are decidedlyinteresting. So in chapter 2 he is surely right about the profound identificationbetween Jesus and God in Mark 1:16–8:26, and also about God’s remoteness fromJesus and from the narrative audience (p. 59).Who would make good use of this book? You would probably need to know the

Greek text of Mark quite well to profit from it; but in that case you would probablyalready have your own ideas on the rhetoric of it. There is however a good deal thatone would perhaps not otherwise have noticed, for example on the deceptivelyfamiliar verb poieo (poie,w) on p. 65; and Danove is positively illuminating on thephrase ‘‘Son of Man’’ (pp. 73ff). Danove is particularly good on how language

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actually works in the text, and, in chapter 4 in particular, where he discusses thecharacterisation of disciples inMark, has taught me to be more careful about listeningto the context in which words and phrases are used and repeated. It is not, however abook for your introductory course on the second gospel.

Campion Hall Nicholas King

The Holy Spirit and Christian Origins: Essays in Honor of James D. G. Dunn. Edited byGraham N. Stanton, Bruce W. Longenecker and Stephen C. Barton. Pp. xxii,382. Grand Rapids, MI and Cambridge, UK, Eerdmans, 2004, $50.00.

This is a collection of twenty-seven essays offered with respect and veneration tohonour James Dunn on his sixty-fifth birthday. The title of the work is aptly chosensince most of Professor Dunn’s essays and books are on one or other of the two topics.In the list of his publications between 1970 and 2003 given at the end of the collection,the first work noted is his Baptism and the Holy Spirit, while the last (in 2003) is JesusRemembered. The word ‘Spirit’ appears in the title of over twenty of his publications.Many of these articles appear in his two-volume collection Christ and the Spirit (1998;vol. 1: Christology; vol. 2: Pneumatology). With regard to the editors, one is a closefriend from the days of PhD study, another a long-standing colleague, and another anadmiring former PhD student. The editors’ preface traces the long and active career ofJames Dunn (known to his friends as ‘Jimmy’), and give an appreciation of hiscontribution to his favourite area of research over the years, spanning his institutionalinvolvement as Lecturer and Reader with the University of Nottingham (1970–82), asProfessor of Divinity with the University of Durham (1982–2003), and as LightfootProfessor of Divinity with the University of Durham (1990–2003). His 1968 PhDdissertation, written at Cambridge under the supervision of C.F.D. Moule appearedin revised form in Baptism in the Holy Spirit. This was followed in 1975 by one of hismost significant books: Jesus and the Spirit, the fourth part of which deals with diversevarieties of Christian religious experience as reflected in the New Testament. This inturn led in 1977 to his other work: Unity and Diversity in the New Testament. Threeyears later he published another major work Christology in the Making (2nd edition1989). E.P. Sanders’ seminal work Paul and Palestinian Judaism (1977) had him turnhis attention to a reevaluation of Paul in the light of Sanders’ work. This led to a two-volume commentary on Romans in 1988, followed by one on Galatians in 1993, andthe work The Theology of Paul’s Letter to the Galatians that same year. Next came themonograph of over 800 pages The Theology of Paul the Apostle (1998). In themeantime had been examining the relationships between Early Judaism and EarlyChristianity, leading to his work The Partings of the Ways between Christianity andJudaism in 1991. His latest major work was Jesus Remembered (2003). At the time ofgoing to press the editors awaited the two companion volumes of Jesus Remembered,remarking that together they will comprise an ambitious three-volume study of theChristian movement from its inception until the middle of the second century, aproject whose overarching titles bears the obvious imprint of its author: Christianityin the Making.The twenty-seven essays in the present volume are in the tradition of James Dunn’s

own researches. They probe deep into the nascent Christian communities and theirwritings and investigate the early Christians’ convictions concerning the Holy Spirit.As noted in the dust cover, ranging widely through Scripture and across early churchhistory, many of the essays introduce groundbreaking research in biblical studies, andsome engage directly with Dunn’s work in the field.

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