Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians, Volume I: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on Titus, 1-2 Timothy and 1-3 John

by Ben Witherington III

Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians, Volume 2' is the third of three volumes extending Ben Witherington's innovative socio-rhetorical analysis of New Testament books to the latter-Pauline and non-Pauline corpora. By dividing the volumes according to the socioreligious contexts for which they were written, Witherington sheds fresh light on the documents, their provenance, character and importance.Throughout, Witherington shows his thorough knowledge of recent literature on these texts and focuses his attention on the unique insights brought about through socio-rhetorical analysis that either reinforces or corrects those gleaned from other approaches.Bridging the Horizons sections point to the relevance of the text for believers today, making this volume of special value to pastors and general readers as well as to students and scholars.

Genres: Theology, Biblical Studies, New Testament

656 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Ben Witherington III (PhD, University of Durham) is Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky, and is on the doctoral faculty at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. He is the author or coauthor of more than thirty books, including The Jesus Quest, The Paul Quest, and The New York Times bestseller The Brother of Jesus. He has appeared on the History Channel, NBC, ABC, CBS, and CNN.

Reviews

[Jimmy Reagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume covers Titus, I and II Timothy and the Epistles of John in the socio-rhetorical commentary style that Witherington has become famous for. In fact, it is almost beyond belief that Witherington has had such an enormous output of commentaries on New Testament books. If you suspect he may have written too quickly to have covered such ground, you will see in this volume that he hasn’t cut any corners in the subjects he addresses.

He makes quite a distinction about some of these epistles being homilies, but I couldn’t help but think as I read, what real difference does it make for we who study God’s Word? In the Pastoral Epistles he had a lengthy and quite good Introduction on them as a whole. Then there was an Introduction for each individual book before the commentary. I felt it covered the same sort of issues a regular commentary would. I did not agree with some of his conclusions, and feel perhaps his socio-rhetorical method can be overdone, but I still felt it a solid contribution.

I was even less in agreement with his conclusions on the Epistles of John, especially about who the writer is, and wonder if his thoughts about a theme of “wisdom” are beyond what the text can bear. Still, I found it easier to read than many commentaries.

At times he can be a little dogmatic, but the fact that he is a superb writer makes that a small price to pay. He will force you to think about his viewpoint, and even if you disagree, you will be far richer for having done so. In short, though I disagree in places, I give this volume a high ranking as a volume that succeeds in its mission–helping the reader to formulate his or her own positions.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the intro Witherington deals with the issue of apostolic authorship, what authorship meant in the first century and other issues revolving around these texts.

I read some of his work on 1 Timothy, on which this review is solely based. Witherington has a board view of he calls "authorship." This view allows him to make the claim the Paul was indeed the author of 1 Timothy but Luke actually wrote it. He cite word choice similarities between the pastorals and Luke-Acts as well as other evidence. Witherington makes a compelling case that Luke did write the pastorals, this is a theory I had not heard before and, if nothing else, it was interesting.

His treatment of the text is informative and helpful. He is very academic and less pastoral in his scope.

My only concern is that Witherington has writing commentaries on a lot of the books of the NT that differ in genre. How does one specialize in both gospel and epistles? Just a thought.