Resurrection

...The exposition does not proceed historically (from the earliest proclamation and credal affirmations to the later narratives) but combines treatment of blocks of literature (the Resurrection in the Gospels) with thematic groupings (the Resurrection as apostplic commission, as kerygma, and as an affirmation of Jesus' presence...

...The work is a product of immense scholarship, attested by the over twenty pages of bibliography and roughly ninety pages of notes...

...In response Paul, the founder of the community, cites the tradition of the Resurrection that he received, draws on his own experience of living "in Christ," and offers counter arguments against the positions of his opponents...

...Bodily resurrection means that death will not separate die Christian from community (which is achieved through "bodily" presence) either with Jesus or with those who have also lived in the presence and power of the risen Lord...

...Pheme Perkins has presented the only major study on the Resurrection in any language which combines the highest level of exegetical competence, dialogue with major Catholic and Protestant theologians, and attention to the contemporary discussion of death and life after death...

...However, as Perkins notes, after the first two centuries the distinctive New Testament presentation of the Resurrection exists in tension with other Christian doctrines...

...A christology which stressed the Incarnation as the moment of God's definitive entry into human history, and a soteriolgy which portrayed the cross as an atoning sacrifice, made the Resurrection into a virtual epilogue of the life of Jesus...

...This alone makes it unique among other studies of the emergence of Christian belief in the Resurrection...

...The organization of the material causes a certain confusion...

...First, resurrection can not be treated in isolation...

...Here she is as adept in dialogue with contemporary theology as with ancient texts...

...Books and articles abounded on individual aspects of the Resurrection in the New Testament and its implications for theology...

...Though Perkins says that the proclamation of the Resurrection is the foundation of subsequent development, she begins with the later narratives and does not treat the kerygma until almost midway through the work...

...She also draws on her background as a recognized expert in Gnosticism to trace the changing shape of resurrection statements from the New Testament into the second and early third centuries, both among the heterodox groups who authored Gnostic treatises and apocryphal gospels, and among church fathers...

...Though this may sound like a truism, only by following Perkins's careful and detailed exegesis does the pervasive power of resurrection faith become clear...

...The reader who might be overawed by the earlier detailed exegesis could well begin with these chapters which also summarize the major perspectives of the book...

...For all who wish to deepen their faith as they stand before the mystery of the Resurrection, no better description exists of the rich tapestry of early Christian resurrection faith...

...John R. Donahue Barely a quarter of a century after the Resurrection of Jesus, disputes arose in Corinth about its meaning and impact on Christian life...

...The discussion of individual passages tfaematkally rather than in their historical and literary context gives a certain disembodied quality to much of the exegesis and effects some strange dislocations such as the dissection of 1 Corinthians IS into two sections which are treated in two different chapters, and in a manner somewhat unrelated to the literary dynamics of the letter...

...Not only in Paul, but throughout the New Testament, resurrection is the foundation of Christian life...

...Rather, christology, the understanding of salvation and Christian ethics receive their distinctive identity in relation to the Resurrection...

...In the final two chapters Perkins turns to "Resurrection as the Foundation of Christian Faith" and to "Resurrection and the Contemporary Encounter with Commonweal: 216 Death...

...Secondly, the unifying thread of the different expressions of resurrection is the symbolization of the ongoing presence and activity of the risen Jesus in the world...

...With the theological and biblical renewal associated with Vatican II, resurrection moved again to the center of exegesis and theology...

...Perkins's own original and engaging exegesis of the primary texts too often is submerged by the commentary on secondary literature...

...Issues such as the historicity of the "empty tomb" and the nature of the appearances of the risen Jesus became flash points of theological controversy...

...It should shape the discussion for years to come...

...However there is too often a weary procession of paragraphs and sentences which begin with *'X" says or "Y" holds...

...From this careful and detailed exegesis emerge two major affirmations...

...Whatever the sporadic problems in organization and style, this work is a major contribution to the study of the New Testament and to theology...

...The tradition that judgment occurs at the moment of death is scarcely reconcilable with the New Testament narratives of the return of Jesus to save the elect and judge sinners...

...3-9) comprises careful exegetical studies of virtually every reference in the New Testament to the Resurrection and exaltation of Jesus, to the resurrection of the Christian, and to life after death...

...She also draws on the resources of psychology and social analysis in a programmatic overture to contemporary issues...

...The hope for a "beatific vision" promised to the just after death, along with the teaching on the immortality of the soul, renders the resurrection of the body almost superfluous...

...While this work represents a most significant moment in theological and biblical reflection on the Resurrection, it will not be easy reading for those who have not worked with the material or who are unaware of the shape of the contemporary debate...

...After introductory chapters which locate the discussion in the language Used to express resurrection (mainly narrative and metaphor) and in the understandings of it in pre-Christian Judaism, the bulk of the work (chs...