Abstract
Skinner’s introduction clearly defines the intention of the volume: “This book aspires to make the ideas of Donald H. Juel available to readers who are unfamiliar with his life’s work, as well as to readers who have known this work but may remain less fully aware of how influential it has been to their ways of thinking about God and the Bible” (p. 1). More than just a retrospective survey, however, the book also intends to convey a core emphasis of Juel’s work, “that reading and interpreting the Bible is a theological endeavor—that is, an opportunity for encountering God through the words of Scripture” (p. 1). Juel’s key interests are readily and consistently discernible as one reads through the book, and much of what he wrote arose out of his early study of the Gospel of Mark. I would like to highlight three such interests.
First, the chapter entitled “Interpreting Israel’s Scriptures in the New Testament” (originally published in 2003) is an excellent introduction to a subject Juel had begun to engage in his 1973 dissertation, Messiah and Temple: The Trial of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark (Scholars Press, 1977) and directly addressed in Messianic Exegesis (Fortress, 1987). The topic of the “Old Testament in the New” has been important in Christian circles since Justin Martyr’s “Dialogue with Trypho” in the 2nd century, but publications have abounded in the last decade or so. What makes Juel’s essay in this book particularly attractive is the concise way he outlines the major issues involved in this complex topic and engages some of the work done between 1988 and 2003. Many of the more recent studies have tended to reflect modern preoccupations. They fret over the function of prophecy (how aware were the Old Testament authors that their pronouncements applied specifically to Jesus?) or build anachronistic constructs based on an analysis of patterns and themes (e.g., making claims based on form-critical details of the Psalms or on a hypothesized character like the “Righteous Sufferer”). Instead, building upon the work of his teacher, Nils Dahl, Juel insists that the primary focus should be on the confession of Jesus as the Messiah. The earliest use of Scripture in the New Testament is not an attempt to defend the gospel by appealing to Scripture, but instead reflects the attempt to understand the gospel by searching the Scriptures. That is, the confession of Jesus as the crucified and risen Messiah is not the deduced conclusion but the presupposition of “messianic exegesis” in the New Testament. Further, our approach to this topic needs to be based on the practices of early Jewish scriptural interpretation, not on modern literary evaluations. Juel’s claims may seem obvious, but continued disregard for them shows how significant this chapter should be.
Second, Juel was among an early group of scholars interested in the rhetorical and narrative analysis of the biblical texts, the Gospel of Mark in particular. He focused on this topic in A Master of Surprise: Mark Interpreted (Fortress, 1994), but the chapter in this volume on “Interpreting Mark’s Gospel” is from his commentary The Gospel of Mark (Abingdon, 1999). It reflects development from his earlier work and provides an outstanding and accessible introduction to the Gospel of Mark in general. Borrowing from Paul Ricoeur, Juel approaches the Gospel by considering the “World Behind the Text,” the “World of the Text,” and the “World in Front of the Text.” Each of these “worlds” is important, and in this brief introduction, Juel provides a good survey of the kinds of details one should know in order to read Mark productively. The “World in Front of the Text” most interests Juel, however, and leads to his use of a rhetorical approach whose goal is “to teach, to delight, and to move” (p. 135). What this means is “that the task of biblical scholars is to help a contemporary audience understand the Bible, and that the task of a contemporary audience is to experience the force of the narrative’s argument in the present” (p. 136). Juel, therefore, is concerned with understanding the narrative as a whole and with its ability to “move and shape imagination” (p. 151). For this to be accomplished, Juel highlights the importance, even necessity, of oral performance of the text. Mark is meant to be heard, and that means that persons reading the text out loud will need to make decisions. Should they tip the audience that the character in the text is speaking sincerely or sarcastically? Should a character be portrayed sympathetically or not? Not everyone will agree on how a text should be read, but this approach means that Bible reading should actually do something to the audience, and that is far better than the uninspired, boring readings we usually hear in church.
This last point serves to highlight Juel’s third interest, which comes through clearly in this book and is addressed directly in the chapter co-authored with Richard Nysse, “Interpretation for Christian Ministry.” Juel was not only an excellent scholar but also one who understood himself to be in the service of the church and the gospel. As the book’s subtitle indicates, biblical studies should have something to say about “truth, meaning, and the theological interpretation of the Bible.” When reading or hearing the Bible, Juel insists that there should be an engagement with the text that challenges us to new ways of thinking. It is not that reading the Bible will provide answers, but it should ultimately result in a genuine encounter with God. We get a sense of how this works in the collection of Juel’s sermons. The word of God he proclaims is not an easy word, but it is always a living word.
In terms of prospective readers for this book, much of the writing was intended originally for a seminary audience. The eight essays or chapters drawn from Juel’s previously published work are from 1992–2003, and the eight sermons are from 1980–1999, but none of them feel dated. Since Juel’s work is perhaps not as well known as it should be, it will be for some an excellent introduction and for others a helpful refresher. For everyone, it provides a background to understand where much of the recent work in the Gospel of Mark, narrative studies, and use of the Old Testament in the New originated. While his writing is undergirded by considerable academic expertise (with abundant footnotes relegated to the end matter), the book is well-suited for pastors and other church educators. In the sermons especially, one can almost hear Juel’s voice and see him wave his hand and toss his head.
Berg was able to review some of Juel’s unpublished and unfinished work, and in a concluding chapter, he comments on the directions in which Juel was moving before his tragic illness and death in 2003. Those writings demonstrate Juel’s “conviction that it is fruitless to approach biblical interpretation without attending to its proper goal—to nurture and sustain faith in believing communities” (p. 189). His hope was that theological education would adopt a rhetorical model with the result that church leaders would be better equipped to engage congregations in exegetical deliberation.
This book is a fitting tribute to a master scholar and teacher, but more importantly, it is a fitting reminder for all of us who read the Bible. What Juel encourages, and what clearly comes through in this collection, is the need for Christians to read Scripture together faithfully, intelligently, and imaginatively.