100 - An Outline of the Theology of the New Testament

An Outline of the Theology of the New Testament
By Hans Conzelmann, translated by John Bowden
373 pp. New York, Harper & Row, 1969. $8.50.

At the beginning of this richly stimulating book, the author announces that he intends it to be at once a kind of summary of recent studies in New Testament theology, an interpretation of that theology which avoids the shoals of historical positivism and psychological subjectivism, and a textbook to introduce students to the field. In order to realize this last purpose, Professor Conzelmann (of the University of Göttingen) has deliberately produced "a quite possible and appropriate simplification, a picture which can be taken in." The chief divisions of the book

101 - An Outline of the Theology of the New Testament

indicate much about its author's approach and interests. Approximately seventy pages are allotted to the kerygma of the pre-Pauline churches (the kerygmas of the primitive Palestinian and the hellenistic churches are not distinguished in detail), sixty to the synoptic kerygma (Jesus' teaching and that of the gospel tradition), a hundred and thirty to Paul's theology, thirty to the development after Paul, and forty to the theology of John's gospel. In most of the well-organized sub-sections, the key problems of interpretation are concisely stated, some representative scholarly opinions (mostly German) are set forth, and the author presents his own.

One of the book's major theses is that New Testament, eschatology has to do primarily not with temporal futurity but with the present character of faith. Conzelmann contends that Jesus' teaching about eschatology strikingly unconnected. to his words about God and ethics. These areas of his teaching are, however, linked by Jesus' understanding of himself "as one who opens up immediacy to God in every relationship" (p. 127). Jesus did not regard himself as Messiah, Son of God, or Son of Man.

Another leading thesis of the book, one developed especially in relation to Paul, is that early Christian theologians worked largely as interpreters of community creeds (e.g., I Cor. 15: 3-5; Rom. 1: 3-4). ,Paul's theology is anthropology, but only in the sense that man comes to know himself by knowing God in Christ. Faith rests on the encounter with the saving word, not on human experience as such (p. 192). It means objective knowledge as well as subjective obedience. There are detailed discussions of certain Pauline passages and controverted themes (eg., the righteousness of God and Israel's place in salvation history).

The structure of faith is also the organizing principle for much of the presentation of John's theology. The relatively crude miracle stories in the gospel simultaneously disclose Jesus' glory and the questionableness of a faith resting on miracles. Jesus reveals only that he is the revealer, but this brings the responsive hearer to self-knowledge (p. 350). Faith's stumbling block is not the incarnation as such but the cross.

Penetrating, provocative, and usually lucid, the book will be, enjoyed by students, pastors, and advanced scholars alike. Yet careful readers will discern that this is no neutral presentation of the subject (is such a thing possible?) but a distinctly Bultmannian study both in method and in the main lines of its results. Demythologizing is practiced overtly andcovertly in the direction of an individualistic, existentialist hearing of texts. This leads to some highly illuminating remarks (e.g., about predestination-pp. 253-54, 354), but it also promotes neglect of the role of corporate church and cosmos in the New Testament.

Brevity charms, but it is not uniformly accompanied by clarity. The book contains some cryptic conclusions and unfortunately curtailed

102 - An Outline of the Theology of the New Testament

arguments. One could wish that Conzelmann had provided fuller discussion of the early confessional formulae embedded in the New Testament. It is not obvious that the early church attached as much importance to them as he does. Perhaps related to his pursuit of compression is the decision to concentrate on main New Testament theologians. But it seems unfortunate that one who pioneered in redaction criticism should devote only twelve pages to the theologies of all three synoptic gospels. The theologies of Hebrews, I Peter, and Revelation receive almost no attention. There are intriguing observations about the unoriginal character of early Christian ethics and about the historical unity of the New Testament. On these and other topics one hopes the author will elaborate his views more fully in future writings.

It is heartening to find an important work such as this one translated deftly and quickly (the first edition of the German original appeared in 1967). A significant sentence about Stephen has been unaccountably omitted on p. 31.

David M. Hay
Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton, N. J.