No Stone Upon Another: Studies in
the Significance of the Fall of Jerusalem in the Synoptic Gospels
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THE BOOK ONLINE HERE
(On the idea that the disciples expected the
world to end)
"an injunction to flight implies a crisis within history and not the end."
(p. 28)
WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID
David E. Blair
"I cannot recommend this book highly enough. For information regarding
Jesus and the early Church on the topic of Jerusalem and its Temple, this
book is indispensable. That being said, it also presents some major
challenges to any potential reader. The author quotes all his secondary
German sources in the original language. Therefore, expect frequent
paragraph length quotes in German. Also, in shorter snippets, you will find
substantial amounts of untranslated Biblical Hebrew and Greek, and
occasionally Aramaic equivalents for the Hebrew. These are so quoted because
idiomatic translations into English are difficult. Therefore, if you are not
literate in these Biblical languages, keep your Hebrew-English and
Greek-English dictionaries handy. If one must translate the German, it
creates greater problems because of the length of the quotes. And yet, if
you have none of the languages but are knowledgeable in New Testament
studies, early Church history, and work on the historical Jesus, I urge you
to read this book as there is still much to be gained here. And, advanced
students of the topics covered in this book will probably find a great deal
of interest and value in these pages.
If your are fully literate in all the necessary languages, still expect to
spend substantial time with this work. It is an extremely dense monograph
filled with challenging exegesis of the appropriate materials from the New
and Old Testament along with other contemporary ancient sources including
the Dead Sea Scrolls. The text runs to over four hundred eighty pages plus
an exhaustive secondary source bibliography of pre-nineteen seventies
material. Almost, every scholarly opinion from previous works is engaged and
debated. However, there are few points of contact between this book and the
works of S. G. F. Brandon and Robert Eisler. If this book is correct, then
Brandon and Eisler are wrong along with their later day heir, Robert H.
Eiseman. Also, included is an ancient source index and an "index auctorum"
both of which along with the bibliography contain a great deal of
information worthy of further study.
This book is divided into four "chapters" which are realistically topical
section headings as well as an important introduction which clearly defines
the problems the book will be concerned with and the questions that need to
asked of the materials considered. The first section of the book is a form
criticism and functional analysis of Mark chapter thirteen. Gaston opts for
a Neronian or post Neronian Roman setting for the Gospel. He finds chapter
thirteen to be an exhortation in the form of a farewell speech with
apocalyptic elements. These elements are usually subordinated by the word
"for" and where they are not Gaston argues that they should be, and
therefore, subordinate as well. Gaston finds an eschatological text in this
chapter of Mark which is of course a minority position. The second "chapter"
deals with Jesus and the Temple. During the ministry of Jesus on Earth, the
author finds that Jesus was absolutely indifferent to the Temple by in large
and totally disinterested in its cult. The early Church was also not engaged
with the Temple or its cult. For example, they may have taught there but
nowhere in the N.T. does an apostle, disciple, or Jesus offer sacrifice at
the Temple.
Section three deals with "The Fall of Jerusalem as a Political Event in
Luke-Acts." Following B. H. Streeter and Vincent Taylor the author opts for
Proto-Luke as a distinct, early, and identifiable written document
integrated into these N.T. books. Ultimately, the early Jerusalem Church is
seen offering redemption to Israel through Jesus Christ while predicting
destruction of Israel at some future date in the event of its rejection of
salvation through Jesus. The final section deals with the Gospel of Mark as
an eschatological interpretation of the coming fall of Jerusalem. Many
topics of interest are covered therein, but I found Gaston's work on early
Christian prophets compelling. I have truly been unable to scratch but the
surface of the contents of this book in this review. Whether you agree or
not with the author's conclusions, he argues his points with precision and
brilliance. The quality of the exegesis offered is first rate and original
in many ways. Unfortunately, this book is unavailable except in the used
market and then at about two hundred dollars. However, it can be found in
most major seminary library collections. This is a must read for any serious
student of the early Church.
Dr. Lloyd Gaston studied at Dartmouth College and earned
his B.A. cum laude with distinction in Philosophy, 1952. He was ordained in
the United Presbyterian Church, USA, in 1961, and served as Pastor of First
Presbyterian Church, Hamburg, New Jersey, till 1963. From 1963 to 1973 he
taught at the Department of Religion, Macalester College. During this time
he earned his D. theol. summa cum laude at the University of Basel,
Switzerland, in his major field, New Testament. Further studies followed at
Ulpan Ezion, Jerusalem, in 1970. In 1973 he was also Visiting Professor of
New Testament at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. From 1973
to 1978 Dr. Gaston was Associate Professor of New Testament and from 1978 to
his retirement in 1996 Professor of New Testament, Vancouver School of
Theology. In his long teaching career Prof. Gaston served in a number of
organizations and on many committees, among them Society of Biblical
Studies, Societas Novi Testamenti Studiorum, Phi Beta Kappa, Canadian
Council of Christians and Jews, Canadian Professors for Peace in the Middle
East. He published a number of books, among them No Stone on Another,
Studies in the Significance of the Fall of Jerusalem in the Synoptic Gospels
and Paul and the Torah, as well as many articles and papers. |
