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460
book reviews
Arie W. Zwiep
Christ, the Spirit and the Community of God: Essays on the Acts of the Apostles
(Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck, 2010). xviii + 237 pp. $88.50 paperback.
Focus on Acts gives cohesion (if not unity) to these independent essays. This review summarizes each chapter and critiques a point likely to interest readers of Pneuma.
Chapter one (“The Text of the Ascension Narratives”) discusses textual vari- ants in Luke 24:50–53 and Acts 1:1–2, 9–11. With Bruce Metzger’s A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament (1994), Arie Zwiep prefers the longer Alexandrian reading over the shorter Western text.ContraMikeal Parsons (The DepartureofJesusinLuke-Acts,1987),hecharges“theWesternreviser”with“ten- dentious” removal of “any suggestion that Jesus ascended physically” (34–35).
Chapter two (“Assumptus est in caelum: Rapture and Heavenly Exaltation in Early Judaism and Luke-Acts”) argues the “ascension story is not a narrative description of the exaltatio ad dexteram Dei, but a description of the last post- resurrection appearance” (63). Christ’s resurrection is his exaltation, while “the ascension is set in immediate relation to the (eschatological) return of Jesus (Acts 1:11)” (50).
Chapter three (“The Mysterious Death(s) of Judas”) shows how differing accounts of Judas’s death (Matt. 27:3–10, Acts 1:16–20) resemble the variety in other villains’ stories (Antiochus Epiphanes, Herod). Luke presents Judas’s fate as “the death of a traitor” (74), but “what really happened” cannot be determined (75).
Chapter four (“Judas and the Jews:Anti-Semitic Interpretationof Judas Iscar- iot, Past and Present”) responds to a sermon that ascribed Judas’s character to Jews in general. Zwiep cites ancient and medieval defamation of Jews as “thieves” and “traitors”—in theology, art, music, and drama. Even more trou- bling are passages in John (6:70; 13:2, 27; 8:44) stereotyping “the Jews” and associating Judas and “the Jews” with “the devil” (96–97). Zwiep observes: “Whatever the original author intended, theeffectof his words has been disas- trous” (97). Invoking Hans-Georg Gadamer (Wahrheit und Methode, 1960, 1990) and his idea of Wirkungsgeschichte, “effective history”—the text’s effects as interpreted—Zwiep declares: “Wirkungsgeschichte is an essential part of the historical exegete’s task, and … the historical critic needs an ethic of interpre- tation” (99).
Chapter five (“Luke’s Understanding of Baptism in the Holy Spirit”) cri- tiques two positions regarding Spirit baptism: “the conversion-initiation thesis of James Dunn [Baptism in the Holy Spirit, 1970] … and the traditional Pente- costal doctrine of a second blessing” (105). Both risk interpreting Acts “from
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2014 | doi: 10.1163/15700747-03603013
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a perspective somewhat alien to Luke” (105), trying “to systematize what can- not … be systematized” (106). When persons receive the Spirit is a legitimate question but not Luke’s central concern (110). Luke is interested in “diversity” of experience but not questions of “subsequence” (106).
Although faulting Dunn (and Evangelicals), Zwiep challenges Pentecostals more. He critiques W.W. and R.P. Menzies (Spirit and Power, 2000) for insist- ing that Spirit-baptism empowerment is available to all: “there is no convinc- ing proof for the systematic individualization of Spirit baptism in Luke-Acts” (111). Calling this “the Achilles heel of the Pentecostal thesis” (112) is over- statement. More accurately he charges the Menzies with “reading Luke-Acts through a Pauline lens” (112). Fair enough. Let Luke speak as he wishes, with- out imposing Paul or John on him, but pneumatology is not limited to Luke. As Zwiep acknowledges (111–112), John and Paul emphasize the Spirit’s effects on and through individuals. Zwiep maintains (correctly) that Luke empha- sizes renewed community, not individuals. But if individuals do not experience Spirit empowerment for mission, the community will not.
Zwiep decries “the Pentecostal wall of division that separates Spirit bap- tized believers from ordinary believers,” contradicting “Luke’s universalizing tendency” (116–117). If that criticism is fair, we might invokeWirkungsgeschichte again. What are other effects of Pentecostal promotion of Spirit baptism? Zwiep admits the “irony” that Pentecostals have “managed to cross the demarcation lines of ethnicity, class, and gender” (117). To that add explosive evangelis- tic growth and lay empowerment! These are significant effects of Pentecostal emphases, even if the exegesis needs refinement.
Chapter six (“Church between Ideal and Reality”) corrects “the usual picture of Luke as a representative of early Catholicism” (127). For Luke, the “church is not primarily an institute or an organization, but a community” (129). This charismatic community is also a “bearer of tradition” (129–132), “a historical community related to Israel and the scriptures and it cannot exist without either” (132). But “faith in Christ bridges ethnic and social barriers,” as this community expresses “the deepest motives of the gospel of Jesus” (138).
Chapter seven (“Jesus Made Both Lord and Christ”) focuses on Acts 2:36, Peter’s “statement that God made (ἐποίησεν) him both Lord and Messiah,” which might imply “Jesus became … something he was not before” (139). If this is “a relic” of early “adoptionist Christology” (141), it sits uneasily with Luke’s habit of calling Jesus “Lord” in his gospel (1:43; 2:11, etc.). Luke portrays “Jesus’ Lordship as … a present reality, already so during Jesus’ earthly career” (144). Drawing on speech act theory, narrative criticism, and ideas from Paul Ricoeur (Temps et récit, 1983), Zwiep suggests “the meaning of κύριος gets its shape and contours through the narrative, through the completed narrative, that is” (155).
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Luke tells his gospel in light of Acts (150–154), and later events change “our present perceptionof the past” (151). Mary’s child is the Lord.
Chapter eight (“Putting Paul in Place with a Trojan Horse: Luke’s Rhetorical Strategy in the Acts of the Apostles in Defence of the Pauline Gospel”) explores Luke’s portrayal of Paul. He parallels the careers of Peter and Paul (164–170), yet he “quasi-subordinates Paul to the Twelve … to affirm the authority and legitimacy of the Pauline mission” (170).
This volume contains careful, erudite scholarship. Pentecostals should con- sider Zwiep’s critique of their exegesis, but in a way that maintains the realities of Acts and the positive effects of the world-wide Pentecostal renewal.
Arden C. Autry
Adjunct Faculty, Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, Oklahoma
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