Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Reading the Prophets as Christian Scripture: A Literary, Canonical, and Theological Introduction by Eric J. Tulley (review)

2023; Catholic Biblical Association; Volume: 85; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/cbq.2023.a908833

2163-2529

Historical and Linguistic Studies

Reviewed by: Reading the Prophets as Christian Scripture: A Literary, Canonical, and Theological Introduction by Eric J. Tulley Eric J. P. Wagner eric j. tulley, Reading the Prophets as Christian Scripture: A Literary, Canonical, and Theological Introduction (Reading Christian Scripture; Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2022). Pp. xii + 409. $49.99. Aiming to guide readers through prophetic literature regarded as canonical in Tulley's church ("we") (p. 3), this book sketches some salient historical and literary features and, above all, highlights how prophetic literature contributes to the Bible's theological meta-narrative, in which God establishes a series of covenants with the chosen people. For T., that metanarrative culminates in the NT's account of Jesus, which provides the hermeneutical key for interpreting OT prophets/prophetic literature. An introduction identifies the prophetic books to be studied, discusses their relevance for contemporary Christians (unspecified), and highlights theological, historical, and literary contexts of this literature that pose challenges for the contemporary church (again unspecified but apparently of a more conservative Protestant character). Three parts follow. Part 1 ("The Context of the Prophets") begins with chap. 2 establishing covenant theology as the foundational (sole) theological concern of biblical prophets. For T., prophets are committed keepers of the covenants established between God and Noah, Abraham, Moses and the Israelites at Sinai, David, and Jeremiah. And all these covenants are fulfilled in Jesus. In chap. 3, T. treats historical contexts of biblical prophets beginning with Moses (undated), moving to the early monarchy (undated), and continuing into the tenth–seventh centuries, the exile, and the early postexilic periods. A later chapter articulates the guiding principles of this historical account: (1) biblical literature is inerrant in all facts "regarding [End Page 786] history, religious practices, politics, and social conventions," and (2) Christian readers today ("we") must "have confidence that any claims made in the text regarding [these matters] are true" (p. 144). Consequently, T. considers Jonah an eighth-century prophet (p. 43) and claims that Daniel "lived and prophesied in Babylon almost twenty years before Jerusalem was finally destroyed" (p. 46). In part 2 ("The Old Testament Prophet"), five chapters treat the nature and function of biblical prophets and prophetic literature. In chap. 4, T. defines OT prophecy, discusses expectations of prophets as established in Deut 18:15–19, and explores the broader OT picture of prophets. In chap. 5, T. discusses false prophets/prophecy in light of Deut 18:9–14, 20–22 and then briefly discusses prophets/prophecy in the broader ancient Near Eastern context based on selected (dated) extrabiblical sources. For T., Deuteronomy 18 may limit itself, but it is the primary gauge for assessing true/false prophets. Further, when it stipulates death for false prophets, a chilling message is conveyed to unfaithful teachers of Scripture today: "[death] is a lighter sentence than what God ultimately has in store for those who set themselves against him" (p. 84). Chapter 6 introduces "five phases" of time of which prophets speak: the past, a near future of judgment, a near future of repentance and restoration, an eschatological future of restoration, and an eschatological future of (final) judgment. These phases constitute an analytical tool for treating each prophetic book in later chapters. Thus, T.'s OT prophets are primarily temporal rather than spatial agents (i.e., they speak before an event rather than before God/the people). In chap. 7, T. enumerates fourteen "persuasive strategies" (broadly conceived) used by prophets and prophetic literature and, in chap. 8, charts a seven-step process through which prophetic events gave rise to prophetic literature. The same chapter concludes by rejecting critical approaches to prophetic literature on the grounds that these approaches fragment biblical texts, derive from a secular academy rather than a faith community, and threaten biblical claims, especially those historical in nature. The chapters in part 3 ("The Prophetic Books") examine each prophetic book of the Protestant Bible in canonical order. These chapters have sections entitled "Orientation," "Exploration," and "Implementation" and conclude, like prior chapters, with "Christian Reading Questions." "Orientation" sections highlight basic theological claims, articulate historical contexts, and note distinctive features of each prophetic book to help readers approach the biblical text. "Exploration" sections comment on major portions of...