The Indelible Image: The Theological and Ethical World of the New Testament, Vol. 1: The Individual Witnesses

by Ben Witherington III

All too often, argues Ben Witherington, the theology of the New Testament has been divorced from its ethics, leaving as isolated abstractions what are fully integrated, dynamic elements within the New Testament itself. As Witherington stresses, "behavior affects and reinforces or undoes belief." Having completed commentaries on all of the New Testament books, a remarkable feat in itself, Witherington now offers the first of a two-volume set on the theological and ethical thought world of the New Testament. The first volume looks at the individual witnesses, while the second examines the collective witness. The New Testament, says Ben Witherington, is "like a smallish choir. All are singing the same cantata, but each has an individual voice and is singing its own parts and notes. If we fail to pay attention to all the voices in the choir, we do not get the entire effect. . . . If this first volume is about closely analyzing the sheet music left to us by which each musician's part is delineated, the second volume will attempt to re-create what it might have sounded like had they ever gotten together and performed their scores to produce a single masterful cantata." What the New Testament authors have in mind, Witherington contends, is that all believers should be conformed in thought, word and deed to the image of Jesus Christ--the indelible image.

Genres: Theology, Biblical Studies, Religion

856 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

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

[Bryan Neuschwander · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated the overall approach of the two volume series. BW3 respects the texts, which earns him a hearing in my book--though I promise not write 800 pages for him.

The indelible image allusion, oratorio metaphor, and Venn diagram were successful and helpful. Unfortunately, the writing ranged from occasional strikes of brilliance, to agonizingly bland tedium, to repetitive quirkiness, with the "consummation devoutly to be wished" occurring only half a dozen times or once every 280 pages on average. I guess it doesn't seem that often.