Joel B. Green, Luke as Narrative Theologian

Abstract

command to love (Lev 19:18), suffering, obedience to God in the “world,” the relationship between faith and works, and false teaching in the church. Lockett goes to extremes to find some of these themes in multiple letters. To find a reference to the love command in Jude, Lockett must argue that one should consider the command to have mercy in Jude 22–23 as “an implicit command to love” (p. 216). Regarding the theme of trials and persecution in Jude, Lockett considers the church’s stand against false teaching “a trial the church must overcome” (p. 219). The book offers an adequate introduction to these letters. It is clearly intended for those with little knowledge of the New Testament. For example, Lockett explains the term “chiasm” in his discussion of 1 Peter 2:13–3:12. He points out that the event to which the author of 2 Peter refers in 2:17 is the transfiguration, which, he notes, is found in the Synoptic Gospels. Lockett tells his readers that midrashim is the plural of midrash. Lockett’s reading of these letters follows mostly traditional trajectories; he states that the author of James is the brother of Jesus, and John the son of Zebedee wrote 1 John and the Gospel of John. Lockett does, however, admit that there is good reason to believe that Peter was not the author of 2 Peter. Although several of the connections between the letters were forced, the book does serve as a reminder that these letters share perspectives on common themes and that a canonical reading can be fruitful. I can recommend this book for students unfamiliar with the New Testament in general and with these documents in particular, with the caveat that in a classroom setting one would have to be prepared to present more critical and nuanced arguments in some cases.