New Testament Theology: History, Method, and Identity

FRANK J. MATERA The Catholic University of America Washington, DC 20064

NEW TESTAMENT THEOLOGY is often viewed as the culmination and goal of exegesis, a discipline by which exegetes mediate the fruit of their research in a comprehensive manner to a wider audience. From its inception, NT theology has been a Protestant project intended to assist and renew dogmatic theology, though, in recent years, Catholics have contributed to the discipline as well.1 The ideals of reaching a wider audience and of assisting dogmatic theology, however, are sel­ dom realized, in part, because NT theology suffers from something akin to an

1 For a history of the growth and development of biblical and NT theology, see D. A. Car- son, "New Testament Theology," in Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments (ed. Ralph P. Martin and Peter H. Davids; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1997) 796-814; Wilfrid J. Harrington, The Path of Biblical Theology (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 1973); Gerhard Hasel, New Testament Theology: Basic Issues in the Current Debate (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978); Hans-Joachim Kraus, Die biblische Theologie: Ihre Geschichte und Problematik (Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1970); Heikki Räisänen, Beyond New Testament The­ ology: A Story and a Program (2nd ed.; London: SCM, 2000). For recent trends in NT theology, see Gerhard Barth, "Über Probleme und Trends bei neutestamentlichen Theologien," KD 48 (2002) 261-75; John R. Donahue, S.J., "The Changing Shape of New Testament Theology," TS 50 (1989) 314-35; idem, "The Literary Turn and New Testament Theology: Detour or New Direc­ tion?" JR 76 (1996) 250-75; Robert Morgan, "New Testament Theology," in Biblical Theology: Problems and Perspectives (ed. Steven J. Kraftchick, Charles D. Myers, Jr., and Ben C. Ollen- burger; Nashville: Abingdon, 1995) 104-30; Mogens Müller, "Neutestamentliche Theologie als biblische Theologie: Einige grundsätzliche Überlegungen," NTS 43 (1997) 475-90; Dan O. Via, What Is New Testament Theology? (GBS New Testament Series; Minneapolis: Fortress, 2002).

1 2 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 67,2005 identity crisis about its task, method, and goal.2 Since there has been a renewed interest in NT theology in recent years, especially in Germany, it seems appropri­ ate (1) to review the history of the discipline, (2) to examine some newer works, and (3) to raise the issue of identity anew.

I. History and Method of New Testament Theology A. Founding and Refounding the Discipline Although others were already engaged in the work of biblical theology, Johann Philipp Gabler's inaugural lecture to the faculty «pf Altdorf in 1787 is usu­ ally regarded as the programmatic statement for modern biblical theology.3 Con­ vinced that the Scriptures (especially the NT) were "the one clear source from which all true knowledge of the Christian religion is drawn" (p. 134), Gabler called for a biblical theology, "pure and unmixed with foreign elements" (p. 142), that would provide dogmatic theology with the universal and unchanging truths of Scripture. He distinguished between biblical theology, which is historical in origin, and dogmatic theology, which is didactic in nature, "teaching what each theologian philosophises rationally about divine things, according to the measure of his ability or of the times, age, place, sect, school, and other similar factors" (p. 137). Biblical theology, as befits its historical approach, is "always in accord with itself," even though it may be elaborated in different ways, whereas dog­ matic theology is subject to change. The first task of a true biblical theology, then, is to provide an accurate historical description of the ideas found in the sacred writings. The second task is to compare these ideas with each other in order to determine which are universal and enduring. In this way, biblical theology can provide dogmatic theology with the enduring and universal truths of Scripture.4

2 There is a crisis of identity for the entire field of biblical theology, of which OT and NT theology are subdisciplines. For an insightful analysis of the problems, see James Barr, The Con­ cept of Biblical Theology (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1999). The collection of essays edited by Scott J. Hafemann {Biblical Theology: Retrospect & Prospect [Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2002]) provides a helpful evangelical perspective on the discipline. 3 Johann Philipp Gabler, Oratio de iusto discrimine theologiae biblicae et dogmaticae regundisque recte utriusque finibus ["On the Proper Distinction between Biblical and Dogmatic Theology and the Specific Objectives of Each"]. Page numbers refer to the English translation pro­ vided by John Sandys-Wunsch and Laurence Eldredge, "J. P. Gabler and the Distinction between Biblical and Dogmatic Theology: Translation, Commentary, and Discussion of His Originality," 57733(1980)133-58. 4 Gabler later distinguished between biblical theology in a broader and narrower sense. The first, "true biblical theology," has the task of developing a historical and systematic exposition of biblical religion; the second, "pure biblical theology," would then present the unchanging teaching of the Bible. See Hendrikus Boers, What Is New Testament Theology? The Rise of Criticism and NEW TESTAMENT THEOLOGY 3

Scholars quickly embraced the firstpar t of Gabler's project, a historical pre­ sentation of the theology in the Scriptures. Georg Lorenz Bauer produced a four- volume work that marked the beginning of NT theology as an independent discipline.5 Ferdinand Christian Baur provided a controversial interpretation of early Christian history and doctrine in terms of a struggle between Gentile and Jewish Christianity,6 and Bernhard Weiss and Heinrich Julius Holtzmann wrote comprehensive handbooks of NT theology that meticulously examined the doc­ trinal systems (Lehrbegriffe) of the various NT writers.7 But the second part of Gabler's project—providing dogmatic theology with the universal truths of Scripture—was abandoned. Instead of becoming a servant of dogmatic theology, biblical theology soon became its rival. Disappointed with the direction of NT theology in the handbooks of Weiss and Holtzmann, William Wrede wrote an essay in 1897 entitled "The Task and Methods of 'New Testament Theology.'" He called for a purely historical approach.8 In his view, NT theology should be "totally indifferent to all dogma and systematic theology" (p. 69), no longer confined by the limits of the canon or the doctrine of inspiration. Whereas Holtzmann's NT theology sought to set forth "in a scientific way the religious and ethical content of the canonical writings of the New Testament," Wrede advocated "the history of early Christian religion and theology" (p. 84). New Testament theology should explain ''what was believed, thought, taught, hoped, required and striven for in the earliest period of Chris­ tianity; not what certain writings say about faith, doctrine, hope, etc." (pp. 84-85; emphasis in original). Wrede concluded that the name of the discipline, "New the Problem of a Theology of the New Testament (GBS: New Testament Series; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1979) 33-35. 5 Georg Lorenz Bauer, Biblische Theologie des Neuen Testaments (4 vols.; Leipzig: Wey- gand, 1800-1802). For a summary of its contents, see William Baird, History of New Testament Research, vol. 1, From Deism to Tubingen (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992) 188-94. 6 Ferdinand Christian Baur, Vorlesungen über neutestamentliche Theologie (ed. F. F. Baur; Leipzig: Fues, 1864). For a summary of Baur's interpretation of early Christianity, see Baird, His­ tory of New Testament Research, 1. 262-69. 7 Bernhard Weiss, Biblical Theology of the New Testament (2 vols.; Edinburgh: Clark, 1882; German original, Berlin: Wilhelm Hertz, 1880, first published 1868); Heinrich Julius Holtz­ mann, Lehrbuch der neutestamentlichen Theologie (2 vols.; 2nd ed.; Tübingen: Mohr [Siebeck], 1911; first published 1896-97). Although it was not as imbued with the approach of the doctrinal system, one should also note the work of Willibald Beyschlag, New Testament Theology or Histor­ ical Account of the Teaching of Jesus and of Primitive Christianity according to the New Testa­ ment Sources (2 vols.; Edinburgh: Clark, 1895; German original, Halle, 1891-92). 8 Page references are to "The Task and Methods of 'New Testament Theology,'" in The Nature of New Testament Theology (ed. Robert Morgan; SBT 2nd series 25; Naperville, IL: Alec R. Allenson, 1973; German original, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1897), 69-116. The German title, Über Aufgabe und Methode der sogenannten neutestamentlichen Theologie, is more revealing of Wrede's viewpoint than is the English title. 4 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 67,2005

Testament Theology," was wrong in both of its terms. New Testament theology should be more concerned with religion than with theology, and it should not restrict itself to the canonical writings of the NT. The appropriate name for the subject matter is "early Christian history of religion, or rather: the history of early Christian religion and theology" (p. 116).

B. Proposals for Founding the Discipline Anew Wrede's project was never brought to completion.9 The rise of dialectical theology after the First World War resulted in a renewed interest in the theological dimension of NT theology, which found its greatest achievement in Rudolf Bult­ mann's Theology of the New Testament.10 A fascinating marriage of existential philosophy and a history of religion approach, Bultmann's work went beyond the canon, as Wrede proposed, but it was also a profoundly theological work of kerygmatic theology. Although other NT theologies followed, none presented a more compelling reading of the NT, even though Bultmann's work was essen­ tially a theology of Paul and John.11 Distinguished by a number of methodological proposals and the appearance of several NT theologies, the 1990s began a new period in NT theology. For example, the monograph of Heikki Räisänen, Beyond New Testament Theology, advocates a return to Wrede's proposal but in a modified form.12 Räisänen

9 Heikki Räisänen (Beyond New Testament Theology, 31) notes that the work that came the closest to fulfilling Wrede's project was the unfinished work of Johannes Weiss, Earliest Chris­ tianity: A History of the Period A.D. 30-150 (ed. Frederick C. Grant; 2 vols.; New York: Harper, 1959; German original, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1914). 10 Rudolf Bultmann, Theology of the New Testament (2 vols.; London: SCM, 1965; German original, Tübingen: Mohr [Siebeck], 1948-53). 11 In the German-speaking world important works included Hans Conzelmann, An Outline of the Theology of the New Testament (New York: Harper & Row, 1969; German original, Munich: Kaiser, 1968); Oscar Cullmann, Salvation in History (NTL; London: SCM, 1967; Ger­ man original, Tübingen: Mohr [Siebeck], 1965); Leonhard Goppelt, Theology of the New Testa­ ment (2 vols.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981; German original, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1975); Joachim Jeremías, New Testament Theology: The Proclamation of Jesus (New York: Scribner, 1971; German original, Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 1971); Werner Georg Kümmel, The Theology of the New Testament according to Its Major Witnesses: Jesus- Paul-John (Nashville: Abingdon, 1973; German original, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1969); Karl Hermann Schelkle, Theology of the New Testament (4 vols.; Collegeville, MN: Litur­ gical Press, 1971; German original, Düsseldorf: Patmos, 1968-76). Works in English included Donald Guthrie, New Testament Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1981); George Eldon Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974); Leon Morris, New Testament Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986); Alan Richardson, An Introduction to the Theology of the New Testament (New York: Harper & Row, 1958). 12 Räisänen's work was originally published in 1990. All references are to the 2nd ed., in which Räisänen has added considerable material and refined his thesis. NEW TESTAMENT THEOLOGY 5 acknowledges that NT theology "may be a legitimate part of self-consciously ecclesial theology." But those "who work in a broader academic context might want to abandon such an enterprise" (p. 8). New Testament theology should be replaced with two different projects: "the history of early Christian thought" and "critical, philosophical, ethical and/or theological 'reflection on the New Testa­ ment', as well as on its influence on our history and its significance for contem­ porary life" (p. 8). The audience for this project should be broader than the church so that biblical studies can serve society as a whole. Such a global perspective requires that this discipline be conceived in terms of critical information rather than proclamation, making the Christian tradition comprehensible to others and relating it to other traditions (p. 158). The recent work of Gerd Theissen, The Religion of the Earliest Churches,13 which Räisänen deems worthy to replace Bultmann's classic synthesis (p. 146), is an example of what Räisänen means by going "beyond" NT theology.14 Reacting against the approaches of Räisänen and Wrede, Peter Balla has defended the discipline of NT theology.15 He argues the following points: (1) that historical study does not exclude the study of theology, if the definition of theol­ ogy is understood broadly enough; (2) that there are important arguments, rooted in history, for limiting NT theology to the writings of the canon; (3) that the for­ mation of the canon was not an arbitrary ecclesiastical decision; and (4) that there is a unifying theology in the NT rooted in early creedal formulas. Accordingly, NT theology is a descriptive, historical enterprise that deals with the canonical writings of the NT. It is not a normative discipline, nor should it try to prove the claims of the NT. One need not be a believer to practice it. Challenging the modern project of NT theology that Gabler inaugurated, A. K. M. Adam criticizes NT theology for its modernity.16 By modernity he means (1) a commitment to novelty and progress and opposition to tradition; (2) a

13 Gerd Theissen, The Religion of the Earliest Churches: Creating A Symbolic World (Min­ neapolis: Fortress, 1999; German original, Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 1999). Theissen describes his program as "an attempt to give a scholarly description and analysis of primitive Christian religion. It seeks to describe the content of that religion in such a way that it is accessible to men and women whether or not they are religious" (p. xiii). Whereas a theology of the NT is written from an "internal perspective" to describe its theology for Christians, Theissen writes at a certain distance—though he is a committed believer—to describe Christian faith for those who are not necessarily believers. 14 Räisänen (Beyond New Testament Theology, 142-46), however, does not agree with Theissen's positive estimation of the growth and development of the NT canon. 15 Peter Balla, Challenges to New Testament Theology: An Attempt to Justify the Enterprise (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1997). 16 A. K. M. Adam, Making Sense of New Testament Theology: "Modern" Problems and Prospects (Studies in American Biblical Hermeneutics 11 ; Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1995). 6 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 67, 2005 concern with questions of chronology; (3) a commitment to a rationalized schol­ arly practice; and (4) a stance that is intellectually elitist and antipopulist (p. 47). Instead of engaging in historical reconstruction, a postmodern NT theology would formulate "an interpretation that begins with the sense one makes of the New Testament" and then restate it in a different way (p. 180). Thus "the New Testament theologian's interpretation would continue the discourse of the canon­ ized text in keeping with the theologian's (and the audience's) sense of the New Testament" (p. 180). Such a project would focus on the canonical writings and be explicitly theological in nature, as implied by the name of the discipline. The task, then, is neither the history of early Christianity (Wrede, Räisänen) nor a historical description of the theology in the NT (Balla) but a theological interpretation that makes sense of the NT.

II. Some Recent New Testament Theologies Several NT theologies have appeared since the 1990s.17 Viewed from Adam's perspective, these works remain "modern" in their orientation. They

17 The following works have appeared since 1990: G. B. Caird, New Testament Theology (completed and edited by L. D. Hurst; Oxford: Clarendon, 1994); Brevard S. Childs, Biblical The­ ology of the Old and New Testaments: Theological Reflection on the Christian Bible (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992); Joachim Gnilka, Theologie des Neuen Testaments (HTKNT Supplementband 5; Freiburg: Herder, 1994); Ferdinand Hahn, Theologie des Neuen Testaments, Band 1, Die Vielfalt des Neuen Testaments: Theologiegeschichte des Urchristentums; Band 2, Die Einheit des Neuen Testaments: Thematische Darstellung (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2002); Hans Hübner, Biblische Theologie des Neuen Testaments, Band 1, Prolegomena; Band 2, Die Theologie des Paulus; Band 3, Hebräerbrief, Evangelien und Offenbarung Epile gomena (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1990,1993,1995); Walter Schmithals, The Theology of the First Christians (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1997; German original, Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1994); Georg Strecker, Theology of the New Testament (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2000; German original, Berlin: de Gruyter, 1996). Peter Stuhlmacher, Biblische Theologie des Neuen Testaments, Band 1, Grundlegung: Von Jesus zu Paulus; Band 2, Von der Paulusschule bis zur Johannesoffenbarung: Der Kanon und seine Auslegung (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1992, 1999); François Vouga, Une théologie du Nouveau Testament (MDB 43; Geneva: Labor et Fides, 2001); Ulrich Wilckens, Theologie des Neuen Testaments, Band 1, Geschichte der urchristlichen Theologie, Teilband 1, Geschichte des Wirkens Jesu in Galiläa (Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 2002); Alfons Weiser, Theologie des Neuen Testaments II: Die Theologie des Evangelien (Kohlhammer Studienbücher 8; Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1993). The recent NT theology of I. Howard Marshall (New Testament Theology: Many Witnesses, One Gospel [Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2004]) appeared as this essay was going to press. Marshall's work treats the writings of the NT under four headings: (1) Jesus, the Synoptic Gospels and Acts; (2) the Pauline letters; (3) the Johannine literature; (4) Hebrews, James, 1-2 Peter, and Jude. Marshall summarizes the content of each writing and then provides a synthesis of each writ­ ing's theology. The most distinctive aspect of his work is a series of chapters in which he shows the relationships between the four major blocks of material that he examines. As suggested by his sub- NEW TESTAMENT THEOLOGY 7 organize their material either diachronically or thematically, with one author (Ferdinand Hahn) employing both approaches.

A. Diachronie Approaches Diachronie approaches investigate the theology of individual writings or blocks of material in a chronological order. The recent works of Georg Strecker and Joachim Gnilka offer two examples. Although Strecker adopts the customary title Theology of the New Testament, he makes no claim to delineate the theology of the NT "since the theological unity of the New Testament documents sug­ gested by this term cannot be presupposed" (p. 2). Instead, he investigates and presents the NT writings "according to their own structures of thought, in relation to their own historical and literary contexts" (p. 3). His purpose is not to write a history of early Christian religion or theology but "to investigate the theological conceptions advocated by the NT authors on the basis of the theological (church) traditions they had received" (p. 3). Strecker's approach, then, is redactional in nature, seeking the theology of the NT writers in light of their editorial activity. His work deals with the theologies of Paul, the Synoptic Gospels, the Johan- nine school (including Revelation), the deutero-Pauline writings, and the Cath­ olic letters (Hebrews, 1 Peter, Jude and 2 Peter, and James), in that order. Since Strecker is interested in the redactional theology of these writings, he has exten­ sive sections on the pre-Pauline elements in Pauline theology and on the early Christian traditions that led to the composition of the Gospels. This includes pre­ sentations of John the Baptist and Jesus. The result is a redaction-historical analy­ sis of blocks of material that, apart from the Pauline and deutero-Pauline letters, appear unrelated to each other. Gnilka is interested also in the traditions the NT writers employed. Accord­ ingly, he begins each part of his work with a brief description of the traditions (Vorgaben) that underlie the material under discussion.18 Gnilka, however, is more sensitive to the narrative and rhetorical elements of the writings. He makes some connections between blocks of material such as John and the Synoptics, Paul and the deutero-Paulines, and in a final chapter he summarizes the various title, "Many Witnesses, One Gospel," he seeks to show the fundamental unity of the diverse NT writings. 18 The overall structure of Gnilka's book is similar to that of Strecker: (a) the theology of Paul, (b) the theology of the Synoptic evangelists, (c) the theology of the Johannine writings (but not Revelation), and (d) the theology of the writings after Paul (Colossians and Ephesians, the Pas­ torals, Hebrews, Revelation, 1 Peter, Jude, 2 Peter). He discusses 2 Thessalonians and James in separate excursuses. There is no section on the message of John the Baptist or Jesus, in part because he has already written a book on Jesus (Jesus of Nazareth: Message and History [Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1997; German original, Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, 1993]) and because he believes that a NT theology should concentrate on the writings of the NT. 8 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 67,2005 ways in which the NT writings present Christ, the human condition, redemption, eschatology, the church and its relation to Israel, sacraments, and faith, thereby suggesting how a thematic study might be organized. In his view, however, the richness of the NT is evident in a variety of positions that cannot always be recon­ ciled; for example, the tensions between present and future eschatology, between justification by faith according to Paul and according to James, and between models of the church that are charismatic and those that are based on office. This variety arises from the different experiences of faith of the NT writers (p. 464). If there is a unifying principle of NT theology, it is to be sought in the kerygma of Jesus' death and resurrection (pp. 462-63).19 Strecker and Gnilka present reliable accounts of the theologies in the writ­ ings of the NT, but each author offers essentially a description of the theologies in the NT rather than a theology of the NT.

B. Thematic Approaches The works of G. B. Caird and François Vouga are good examples of thematic approaches. Caird views NT theology as a historical discipline whose purpose is descriptive rather than dogmatic and apologetic (p. 1). New Testament theology is "involved with the reconstruction of the past, a past accessible to us not by direct scrutiny but only through the interrogation of witnesses" (p. 3). Caird pro­ poses a conference-table approach and views himself as presiding over a confer­ ence of "faith and order" at which there will be at least twelve participants: the four evangelists; Paul; the pastor; the authors of Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, and Jude; John the Seer; and still others if Paul cannot speak for 2 Thessalonians, Colossians, and Ephesians. The participants should speak for themselves, but as "the chair" of the conference, Caird will determine the agenda and the order in which the questions will be posed, and from time to time he will take the sense of the meeting (p. 19). The agenda Caird sets reveals his intuition of the unifying structure that underlies the NT: (1) the divine plan of salvation foreshadowed in Israel's Scrip­ tures; (2) the need for salvation because of humanity's moral bankruptcy; (3) the accomplished fact of salvation in Jesus Christ; (4) the present experience of sal­ vation in terms of new life, worship, grace, imitation, life in Christ, life in the Spirit, life in the church; (5) the hope of future salvation grounded in the resurrec­ tion of Jesus Christ; and (6) the bringer of salvation, Jesus the Christ. Thus

19 This appears to be the reason that Gnilka prefaces his presentation of a given writing or block of material with a discussion of Vorgaben, the materials or traditions with which a particular writer worked. NEW TESTAMENT THEOLOGY 9

Caird's conference deals with questions of revelation, anthropology, soteriologe ecclesiology, eschatology, and christology. Regarding the unity of the NT, he writes, "The question we must ask is not whether these books all say the same thing, but whether they all bear witness to the same Jesus and through him to the many splendoured wisdom of the one God" (p. 24).20 Whereas Caird views NT theology as a historical and descriptive discipline, Vouga offers a theological and hermeneutical interpretation that concentrates on the human subject in light of God's revelation in Christ.21 He argues that the writ­ ings of the NT are concerned with a new understanding of human existence and demand to be read and understood as if written for us (p. 19). Two consequences follow from this. First, a NT theology is not an introduction to the NT or a history of its literature. Second, the discipline should investigate the relevance of the NT writings for the Christian faith (p. 20). Vouga insists that the theological diversity of the NT is a constitutive ele­ ment of the unity of Christianity in the apostolic period. He views unity and diversity not as opposed to each other but as two moments of a dialectic that enables interpreters to grasp Christianity's unique self-definition (p. 20).22 There­ fore, rather than examine each writing separately, he purposely juxtaposes diverse writings and blocks of material to show "how, at the interior of the New Testa­ ment, the dialogue and controversy over the great themes of Christian theology (what is the gospel, the kingdom, salvation, life, faith, hope, love?) renders an account of the event of the revelation of God, who, in the history of the Hell- enized and Jewish West, disrupts the perception that the human subject has of itself (p. 21; emphasis in original). Thus Vouga effects the kind of dialogue between the writings of the NT that Caird promises but does not fulfill. Vouga's major themes come from the central message of the NT writings, which has its origins in a common experience: an encounter with the uniqueness of a word outside the ordinary and beyond all the probabilities of common human

20 Caird does not begin his NT theology with the message of Jesus, but he does conclude with the message of Jesus, proposing "that in the teaching of Jesus, as recorded in the four Gospels, we can see both the starting point and goal of New Testament theology" (New Testament Theol­ ogy, 345-46). 21 Vouga's interest in the human subject and the implications of the NT for the subject's understanding of existence is reminiscent of Bultmann's program of existential interpretation. Vouga's method, however, is not wedded to a particular existential philosophy, as was the case with Bultmann. 22 Vouga, Une théologie du Nouveau Testament, 20: "La diversité des théologies néotesta­ mentaires est un élément constitutif de V unité du christianisme de l'époque apostolique, de sorte qu'unité et diversité ne peuvent être considérées comme des contraires, mais doivent être saisies comme deux moments d'une dialectique qui fait la particularité de la définition que le christian­ isme donne de lui-même" (emphasis in original). 10 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 67,2005

reason.23 The NT writings identify this experience in a variety of ways, for exam­ ple, the presence of the kingdom; the coming of Emmanuel, the Savior of Israel and Lord of the nations; the incarnation of the word of God; and the resurrection of a crucified Messiah (p. 31). The event of this word results in the appearance of a subject (le surgissement du sujet) that structures its new life according to the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love (p. 113). This new existence of the subject is rooted in the resurrection of Christ, which leads to a new understanding of human existence (p. 221). In the present this new existence is lived within the social sphere of the church (p. 315), where believers hope for a future in which God's word will be the last word (p. 391). Vouga's understanding of the unity of the NT can be summarized in this way: the diversity of the NT writings is a para­ doxical witness to the unity of the NT, which testifies to the singular event of the gospel in a multiplicity of ways.

G Biblical Theology of the New Testament The projects of Peter Stuhlmacher and Ferdinand Hahn are more difficult to categorize. Stuhlmacher's work is diachronic in approach, as is the first volume of Hahn's NT theology, but Stuhlmacher explicitly identifies his project as a work of biblical theology, by which he means a theology of the NT rooted in the theol­ ogy of the Bible.24 Although Hahn does not identify his work in this way, it can be put in this category inasmuch as it too interprets the theology of the NT in light of the entire Bible. Both authors insist that the message and work of the earthly or pre-Easter Jesus play a central role in NT theology,25 and they explicitly call upon NT theologians to deal with the unity as well as with the diversity of the NT.26

23 Ibid., 31: "Le point de départ du message essentiel des écrits néotestamentaires est l'ex­ périence commune d'une rencontre avec la singularité d'une parole hors norme et extra-territoriale par rapport à toutes les probablitités de la raison commune." 24 In a small volume entitled How to Do Biblical Theology (PTMS 38; Allison Park, PA: Pickwick, 1995), 11-12, Stuhlmacher writes that a biblical theology of the NT must elucidate four things: "First, it be must be shown that the New Testament message of faith comes thoroughly from the Old Testament and that the Old Testament testimonies pointed forward to the events of fulfillment in the New Testament. Second, it must set forth that God, through the mission, passion, resurrection of Jesus, provided salvation for Jews and Gentiles at a time when both were still god­ less and unbelieving sinners (Rom 5:6, 8). Third, the historical development and diversity of the post-Easter testimony to Christ and to the faith must be traced and explained. Fourth and finally, it must be shown how the Old and New Testaments came together to form the two-part Christian canon, where the theological center of the canon lies, and what hermeneutical demands it places upon theological exegesis." 25 Stuhlmacher (Biblische Theologie, 1.40-50) and Hahn (Theologie des Neuen Testaments, 1. 30-32) prefer the term "earthly Jesus" to "historical Jesus." 26 Stuhlmacher, Biblische Theologie, 2. 287: "Die Aufgabe einer Biblischen Theologie des Neuen Testaments erschöpft sich nicht in der Analyse von neutestamentlichen Teiltraditionen, NEW TESTAMENT THEOLOGY 11

Stuhlmacher structures his two-volume work in two parts.27 Part 1 ("The Origin and Originality of the Preaching of the New Testament") comprises most of the two volumes. It deals with (1) the proclamation of Jesus, (2) the proclama­ tion of the primitive community, (3) the proclamation of Paul, (4) the proclama­ tion in the time after Paul (the deutero-Pauline letters, James, 1 Peter, Hebrews, Jude, and 2 Peter); (5) the proclamation of the Synoptic evangelists; and (6) the proclamation of John and his school (including the Book of Revelation). In the shorter second part, he considers the formation of the church's two-part canon, the central message of Scripture (die Mitte der Schrift), and the canon and its interpretation. The decision to begin with the preaching and ministry of Jesus reflects Stuhlmacher's determination "to trace the path which God took when he, in and through Jesus Christ, came to humanity."28 Consequently, whereas Bultmann viewed the message of Jesus as a presupposition for the theology of the NT but not a part of it,29 Stuhlmacher understands the preaching and ministry of Jesus as having a foundational role. His presentation of Jesus, however, is not to be con­ fused with a reconstruction of the historical Jesus. Stuhlmacher is confident that the Synoptic Gospels contain reliable traditions about Jesus preserved by his first disciples and handed on to faithful tradents. For Stuhlmacher, as for Adolf Schlat­ ter, the earthly Jesus is none other than the Christ of faith.30 In the firstvolume , Stuhlmacher presents a portrait of Jesus as one who was conscious of fulfilling the promises of the OT in his capacity as Israel's Messiah, and who freely gave his life to reconcile humanity to God. The early Christian community preserved this tradition of Jesus and, in light of Easter, proclaimed Jesus' reconciling death to the world. Paul inherited these traditions from the early community and made the work of Jesus the foundation for his missionary theology. Thus Paul's teaching on justification was realized in the mission, cruci­ fixion, resurrection, and exaltation of the Lord.31 The foundation for the unity of sondern schliesst die Verpflichtung ein, die Einzelüberlieferungen zusammenzusehen und das ihnen theologisch Gemeinsame herauzuarbeiten." Hahn, Theologie des Neuen Testaments, 1. 770: "Mit dem Nachweis einzelner theologischer Konzeptionen und ihres theologiegeschichtlichen Ortes ist die Aufgabe einer neutestamentlichen Theologie noch nicht hinreichend durchgeführt. Es bedarf, wie schon angedeutet, einer Antwort auf die Frage nach der inneren Einheit." 27 Volume 1, Grundlegung: Von Jesus zu Paulus, deals with sections 1-2 of part 1; volume 2, Von der Paulusschule bis zur Johannesoffenbarung: Der Kanon und seine Auslegung, deals with sections 3-6 of part 1, as well as with part 2. 28 Stuhlmacher, How to Do Biblical Theology, 15. 29 Bultmann, Theology of the New Testament, 1. 1. 30 Stuhlmacher, Biblische Theologie, 1. 157: "Der irdische Jesus war kein anderer als der Christus des Glaubens." 31 Ibid., 1. 391: "Wenn Jesus als der messianische Menschensohn und Versöhner (Versüh- ner) verstanden werden darf, seine Person und Lehre die Basis der christologischen Traditionen 12 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 67,2005

NT theology, then, is the preaching of Jesus, the primitive community, and Paul. Stuhlmacher's second volume traces the growth and development of these tradi­ tions in the deutero-Pauline letters, James, 1 Peter, Hebrews, the Synoptic Gospels, and the Johannine school.32 After establishing a trajectory from Jesus to the writings of the NT, Stuhl- macher investigates the growth of the church's two-part canon, arguing that the Hebrew and Greek canons were not closed at the beginning of the Christian era and that the writings of the NT provide a Christian interpretation of, and conclu­ sion to, Israel's Scriptures. He summarizes the central message of the NT in six statements.33 (1)... the chief witnesses of the New Testament join in confessing the one God, who has definitively revealed himself in his one Son, consubstantial with him, and who has brought about the salvation of the world in him. (2) According to the New Testament the common confession of the one God, who has definitively revealed himself in and through Christ, is connected to the procla­ mation of the one apostolic Gospel of God about Jesus Christ. (3) The (major) New Testament witnesses teach in common that the crucifixion of Jesus is to be understood as an atoning death performed for "the many" in God's commission. (4) The New Testament writers are in agreement in seeing in Jesus' resurrection the creative act (which affects all human beings) of the one God, who brings the dead to life, and they are also in agreement in teaching the expectation of the parousia and the last judgment. (5) The individual witnesses of the New Testament join in calling those who believe in Jesus Christ to an exemplary praxis of love of God and neighbor. (6) According to the unanimous witness of the New Testament, the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the one God and his Christ bears and determines the witness, the knowledge of the faith, and the sanctification of the community of Jesus Christ.

The recent work of Hahn is the most ambitious example of a NT theology to date. Comprehensive in scope, his Theologie des Neuen Testaments consists of two volumes. The first, Die Vielfalt des Neuen Testaments: Theologiegeschichte des vorpaulinischen Christentums bilden und diese wiederum das Fundament der paulinischen Theologie von der Rechtfertigung des Gottlosen um Christi willen allein aus Glauben sind, dann darf Paulus als der Apostel verstanden werden, der das Werk Jesu in einzigartiger Weise theolo­ gisch durchdrungen und zur Grundlage seiner Missionstheologie gemacht haf (emphasis in orig­ inal). 32 Stuhlmacher argues that the deutero-Pauline authors remain essentially faithful to Paul in their christology, ecclesiology, paraenesis, and eschatology, even as they adapt Paul for a new age. He views James, 1 Peter, Hebrews, Matthew, and John as related to Jewish Christianity. He views the Synoptic Gospels as dependent on reliable apostolic traditions, and he sees important relations between John and the Synoptics and John and Paul, despite their differences. 33 Stuhlmacher, Biblische Theologie, 2. 309-11 (emphasis in original). NEW TESTAMENT THEOLOGY 13 des Urchristentums [The Diversity of the New Testament: A Theological History of Primitive Christianity], presents a theological history of early Christianity, and the second, Die Einheit des Neuen Testaments: Thematische Darstellung [The Unity of the New Testament: Thematic Presentation], is a thematic presentation of the theology of the NT. Although it might appear that Hahn has written two distinct works, one diachronic and the other thematic, he insists that the task of NT theology is not complete until one has wrestled with the question of the inner unity of the NT, and that one cannot deal with this question of inner unity until one has investigated the writings of the NT, taking into account their diversity, tensions, and contradictions.34 The first volume of Harm's work consists of eight parts. In the first, he con­ siders the preaching and work of Jesus and the reception of the Jesus tradition by the early community. Like Stuhlmacher, he insists that Jesus' message is an inte­ gral part of NT theology, since God's revelation of salvation began with Jesus' ministry. In Harm's view, therefore, NT theology must show how Jesus' message and work were received by the later tradition. Accordingly, he repeatedly shows how the early church received and adapted the Jesus tradition to its needs. In doing this, he lays the groundwork for his second volume on the unity of the NT. In the second part he deals with the preaching and theology of the earliest Christian communities, insisting that Easter was the decisive moment when they realized that the salvation begun in Jesus' ministry was ongoing. Easter brought together, deepened, and raised to an enduring validity the meaning of Jesus' pre- Easter work. In part 3 Hahn provides an extensive treatment of Paul's theology, and in part 4 he considers the theology of the Pauline school, highlighting Paul's enduring legacy and its development. He treats the Hellenistic Jewish Christian writings of the early church (James, 1 Peter, Hebrews, Revelation) in part 5 and then offers an extensive treatment of the Synoptics and the Acts of the Apostles in part 6, followed by a consideration of Johannine theology in part 7. The eighth and final part deals with those writings that provide a transition to the second cen­ tury (Jude, 2 Peter, and the Apostolic Fathers). Hahn begins his second volume by noting that a treatment of the theologies of the various NT writings is not a theology of the NT if the focus is merely on what is distinctive. One can only speak of a NT theology if there is an effort to

34 Hahn echoes the seminal article of Heinrich Schlier, "The Meaning and Function of a Theology of the New Testament," in The Relevance of the New Testament (New York: Herder & Herder, 1968) 1-19; German original, BZ 1 (1957) 6-23. Schlier notes (pp. 18-19): "The task of composing such a theology is only done when we have succeeded in showing the unity of the dif­ ferent 'theologies.' Only then does the name make sense and the concept of 'a theology' find veri­ fication. . . . The structure of this unity may already be glimpsed in the elementary theology of those formulas of faith which have influenced to a greater or lesser extent the whole of the New Testament." 14 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 67,2005 correlate the different elements and explain Christian faith.35 Accordingly Hahn views the work of NT theology as akin to that of fundamental theology. It should integrate what has been learned about the earthly Jesus and develop a unified con­ ception of the NT (2. 33). Hahn undertakes this synthetic task by employing, as his guiding principle, the revelation of the one God who created all things and made himself known to humanity and to the world (2. 26-27). With this guiding theme in view, he divides his second volume into five parts. The subject of the first part is the OT as the Bible of the early church. Hahn insists that the OT is the presupposition for all parts of the early Christian tradi­ tion, for it was the normative Scripture for the early church. As the church's Scripture, the OT witnesses to God's action in creation and history as well as to God's future salvific activity. Adopting the OT as its Bible, the early church read Israel's Scriptures in light of God's action in Christ. Since an analysis of early Christian texts shows that the concept of revela­ tion was of prime importance for the early Christian message, in part 2 Hahn takes up the theme of the revelatory act of God in Jesus Christ. This revelation occurs with the in-breaking rule of God that Jesus proclaimed and realized through his ministry, which then became the basis for the church's christology. Hahn notes that, inasmuch as the Spirit was at work in Jesus' ministry and procla­ mation, there is an implicit trinitarian structure to the witness of the NT. In the third part, on the soteriological dimension of God's revelatory act, Hahn considers the human condition, the problem posed by the Law, the redemp­ tion of humanity, and the gospel as the proclamation and realization of salvation. Since the redemption of humanity leads to new life, Hahn takes up the topic of the ecclesial dimension of God's revelatory act in part 4. This allows him to discuss a number of themes such as discipleship and faith, the nature of the church, bap­ tism, Eucharist, prayer, creeds, worship, the gifts of the Spirit, mission, and the ethical life. This discussion of the present aspect of the Christian life leads to the final part, in which Hahn considers the future hope of the Christian life, the eschatological dimensions of God's revelatory act. Hahn is aware that the NT writings express these themes differently and that there are tensions and even contradictions among them, for example, their under­ standing of the Law, the relationship between works and faith, and, most impor­ tant, the tension between present and future eschatology. Nevertheless, there is a remarkable agreement and convergence among the NT writings in regard to God's revelatory activity in Christ (2. 803-5). The unity of the NT consists not in

35 Hahn, Theologie des Neuen Testaments, 2. 1: "Von einer Theologie im strengen und eigentlichen Sinn kann doch nur dort gesprochen werden, wo es um einen Gesamtzusammenhang geht, bei dem in einer durchreflektierten Weise zum Ausdruck gebracht wird, was christlicher Glaube ist und beinhaltet." NEW TESTAMENT THEOLOGY 15 uniformity (Gleichförmigkeit) but in a multifaceted development of the early Christian message.36 The decisive characteristic of the early Christian message is its faith in the God of the OT and his promises, which, for the early church, found their culmination in the person and history of Jesus Christ (2. 805-6). Hahn argues forcefully for the inner unity of the NT. His proposal, like Stuhlmacher's, is similar to the church's rule of faith, a narrative account of God's revelatory activity that began at creation, continued with the election of Israel, and culminated in Jesus Christ. However, whereas Stuhlmacher concentrates more intently on God's work of reconciliation in Christ, Hahn employs the more embracing theme of revelation to disclose the inner unity of the theology of the NT.

III. The Identity of New Testament Theology A. The Task of New Testament Theology The task of NT theology has been described and carried out in variety of ways: (1) as a history of early Christian religion or thought; (2) as a descriptive presentation of the diverse theologies in the NT; (3) as a thematic statement of the theology of the NT; (4) as a theological interpretation of the NT intended to engage the contemporary believer. The many ways in which scholars have con­ structed their works suggest that one can ascribe a variety of tasks to NT theology ranging from historical reconstruction to kerygmatic proclamation. But if NT the­ ology is to be clear about its identity, it needs to clarify its task further. Two points need to be made here. First, although Wrede and Räisänen assigned the discipline traditionally called NT theology the task of writing a history of early Christian religion or thought, for the sake of clarity it would be better to identify the discipline that car­ ries out that task as the history of early Christian religion or thought and to acknowledge that the discipline called NT theology has a specifically theological task. The history of early Christian religion or thought is of immense value to NT theology, but it is not NT theology.37 A theology of the NT ought to be a literary

36 Ibid., 2. 805: "Die Einheit des Neuen Testaments besteht nicht in Gleichförmigkeit, son­ dern in einer vielgestaltigen Entfaltung der urchristlichen Botschaft." 37 The investigations of Christian origins currently being undertaken by James D. G. Dunn (Jesus Remembered, vol. 1, Christianity in the Making [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003]) and Ν. T. Wright (Christian Origins and the Question of God, vol. 1, The New Testament and the People of God; vol. 2, Jesus and the Victory of God; vol. 3, The Resurrection of the Son of God [Minneapo­ lis: Fortress, 1992, 1996, 2003]), as well as the recent work of Larry W. Hurtado (Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003]), are not the kinds of histories of early Christianity that Wrede envisioned, but they are the kinds of historical- theological investigations that are most helpful for NT theology. 16 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 67,2005 and theological analysis of the NT writings rather than a history of early Christian thought. Second, many NT theologies (e.g., those of Gnilka and Strecker) provide reliable descriptions of the diverse theologies in the writings of the NT, but these works are primarily expositions of the diverse theologies in the NT rather than theologies of the NT. They are best viewed as the indispensable prolegomena to NT theology. As many of their authors readily acknowledge, these works do not offer a theology of the NT. For those who ascribe scriptural status to the writings of the NT, the task of NT theology should be bolder, since it is incongruous for a discipline that identi­ fies its writings as Scripture bearing witness to God's revelation to be indifferent about their inner coherence.38 New Testament theology, then, should seek to pro­ vide a theological interpretation of the NT that integrates and relates the diverse theologies of the NT into a unified whole without harmonizing them, as elusive as this task may be. One way to achieve this goal would be to take into account the implied nar­ rative that underlies what the NT writings claim about Israel, Jesus, and the church. Such an approach would allow NT theology to communicate what the NT writings say about God through the narratives they tell or presuppose.39 This task would be historical and literary, descriptive and interpretive, and ultimately theo­ logical. It would be historical because it must respect the historical dimension of the writings; literary because it will treat the narrative and rhetorical dimensions of the writings; descriptive because it seeks to provide a faithful account of the implicit and explicit theological claims of the writings;40 interpretive because the act of describing is already a work of interpretation; and theological because it would be an expression of faith seeking to understand what it already believes about the God who reveals himself in the story of Israel, Jesus, and the church. By viewing the theology of the NT within the history and theology of Israel, the works of Stuhlmacher and Hahn have made significant progress in the direction

38 Here I am adapting a quotation fromJoh n Barton's essay "Unity and Diversity in the Bib­ lical Canon," in Die Einheit der Schrift und die Vielfalt des Kanons: The Unity of Scripture and the Diversity of the Canon (ed. John Barton and Michael Wolter; BZNW 118; New York: de Gruyter, 2003) 11-26. The quotation reads: "It is perhaps difficult to imagine a religion which ascribed 'scriptural' status to a collection of books and yet was indifferent to their mutual consistency—a problem that Christian ethicists who wish to use the Bible still grapple with today" (p. 11). 39 While the gospels present explicit narratives about Jesus, an implicit narrative of Christ underlies other NT writings. I have tried to show this in New Testament Christology (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1999). 40 Strecker (Theology of the New Testament, 2) correctly notes, "Since all expressions of religious experience imply structures of believing comprehension, even if the authors of the New Testament documents were not necessarily aware of this in particular cases, such cognitive struc­ tures were also fundamental to the New Testament's witness of the act of God in Jesus Christ." NEW TESTAMENT THEOLOGY 17 of a theological interpretation of the NT. Neither work, however, employs a thoroughgoing narrative or literary approach to the material of the NT.

B. The Method of New Testament Theology In the discipline of NT theology, scholars have approached the subject mat­ ter in one of two ways. Either they begin by analyzing individual writings or blocks of material with a view to describing the implicit or explicit theological claims the texts make, or they organize the material thematically according to the individual interpreter's understanding of how the various writings or blocks of material cohere with each other to disclose the inner theological unity and struc­ ture of the NT. The first approach, employed by Strecker and Gnilka, is especially suited to highlighting the diverse theologies in the NT. The second, preferred by Caird and Vouga, is better adapted to showing the theological unity of the NT writings. Practitioners of each approach, however, must find a way to deal with both the unity and the diversity of the NT. Those who analyze the theology of the individual writings or blocks of material tend to approach their task as descriptive and historical. This usually entails presenting the material in a chronological order, even though the chrono­ logical order of the material is often disputed. Although such an approach is suited to, and necessary for, a historical account of early Christianity, it can become problematic for a theological exposition of the NT when rigidadherenc e to a chronological order separates materials that, from a theological perspective, should be treated together, for example, the nondisputed and the disputed Pauline letters.41 Therefore, unless a chronological approach can provide an overarching scheme that contributes to a unifying vision of the material, it may be more advis­ able to employ a narrative approach that discloses the way in which particular writings or blocks of material inscribe the story of Christ and the story of the church into the story of Israel. For example, one could start with the four Gospels, even though they post­ date the nondisputed Pauline writings, thereby beginning with the message of Jesus as remembered by the evangelists and giving them—especially the Synop­ tic writers—a more prominent place than they normally receive in NT theology. Such an approach would force the interpreter to confront one of the central issues of any NT theology: the theological relationship between the proclamation of the Synoptic Jesus and that of the Johannine Jesus. The Acts of the Apostles would

41 For example, Gnilka begins his NT theology with a study of Paul's theology but treats the deutero-Pauline writings after the Synoptic writers and the Johannine material. He then deals with 2 Thessalonians in an excursus after his exposition of Hebrews. By studying the material diachron- ically, he separates material that "claims" Pauline authorship. It would be better to study these writings together since they belong to a Pauline corpus, even if Paul is not the author of all of them. 18 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 67,2005 then follow as a literary and theological example of how Jesus' preaching was taken by the early church. Moreover, Acts would function as a literary and theo­ logical bridge between Jesus' preaching as remembered by the Gospel writers and the proclamation about Jesus in the Pauline corpus, Hebrews, and the Catholic Epistles. The Book of Revelation would then serve as an appropriate conclusion to a narrative NT theology by pointing to the final victory of the Lamb. This approach allows one to hear the diverse voices of each writing or block of writings within an overall narrative framework that moves from the story of Jesus as remembered by the evangelists; to the story of the early church as told by Luke; to its apostolic witnesses, Paul and the pillar apostles (James, Peter, and John); to the story's conclusion in the Book of Revelation. For the narrative to be complete, however, NT theology must show how the writings or blocks of writ­ ings within the NT present this story of Christ and the church within the more encompassing story of Israel. Put another way, it must explain how the NT writ­ ings inscribe their narratives into the narrative of Israel. Those who choose to approach the material thematically seek an overarch­ ing framework that organizes and synthesizes the major theological themes of the NT writings. If their project is to succeed, they must avoid two dangers: (1) mut­ ing the diverse voices of the individual writings, and (2) imposing extrinsic theo­ logical categories on the material. One way to avoid the second danger is to interpret the message of the NT as the continuation of a larger narrative rooted in Israel's Scriptures, much as Luke does in his two-volume work or as Paul does in his letters. Such a thematic presentation of NT theology would show how the NT writers inscribed the story of Jesus and the story of the church into the story of Israel, thereby proclaiming that Israel's story comes to its climax in Jesus Christ, the bringer of salvation, whose death and resurrection establish an eschatological community that already enjoys salvation and anticipates final redemption.42 An outline for such a thematic approach would be: (1) Christ the bringer of salvation; (2) the benefits Christ brings; (3) the community of the sanctified; (4) the life of the sanctified; (5) the hope of the sanctified. With such an approach arise ques­ tions of christology, soteriology, ecclesiology, the moral life, and eschatology within a narrative framework that highlights Christ's redemptive work, within the narrative of God's dealing with Israel, rather than as separate theological cate­ gories.

42 In The New Testament and the People of God, N. T. Wright proposes a methodology that concentrates on narrative and story. He writes: "To sum up: I am proposing a notion of 'authority' which is not simply vested in the New Testament, or in 'New Testament theology,' nor simply in 'early Christian history' and the like, conceived positivistically, but in the creator god himself, and this god's story with the world, seen as focused on the story of Israel and thence on the story of Jesus, as told and retold in the Old and New Testaments, and as still requiring completion" (p. 143). NEW TESTAMENT THEOLOGY 19

To avoid the danger of muting the diverse voices of the NT writings, one needs to hear the different and sometimes conflicting ways in which the story is told, for example, as the in-breaking of God's kingdom (the Synoptic Gospels), as the revelation of the Father to the world (the Fourth Gospel), as the reconciliation effected by Jesus' death and resurrection (the Pauline writings), as the entrance of the high priest into the heavenly sanctuary (Hebrews), as the victory of the Lamb over the Beast (Revelation). Instead of blending the different christologies, soteri- ologies, ecclesiologies, and eschatologies of the NT, such an approach would jux­ tapose them, as does Vouga, and then ask how they express different experiences of a common reality. For example, the experience of the in-breaking kingdom of God announced in the Synoptic Gospels would be correlated with the apocalyptic revelation of God's righteousness proclaimed in Romans and with the revelation the Son brings in the Fourth Gospel. Concepts such as eschatology and righteous­ ness would be described in a multiplicity of ways, because the experience of sal­ vation cannot be expressed in a single formula. Thus, the realized eschatology of the Fourth Gospel and the consistent eschatology of Paul's writings would be jux­ taposed to one another to explain the full significance of Christ's benefits: a salva­ tion already experienced but not fully appropriated.43 Likewise, the juxtaposition of Paul's notion of righteousness as gift and Matthew's understanding of righ­ teousness as conduct would enable interpreters to view the moral life from differ­ ent vantage points, as both gift and task.

G The Message of Jesus in a New Testament Theology The most famous words of NT theology are the opening sentence of Bult­ mann's Theology of the New Testament: "The message of Jesus is the presupposi­ tion for the theology of the New Testament rather than a part of that theology itself (emphasis in original). Bultmann explains: For NT theology consists of the unfolding of those ideas by means of which Christian faith makes sure of its own object, basis, and consequences. But Christian faith did not exist until there was a Christian kerygma; i.e., a kerygma proclaiming Jesus Christ—specifically Jesus Christ the Crucified and Risen One—to be God's eschatological act of salvation.44 In contrast to Bultmann, Stuhlmacher and Hahn begin their works with the message of Jesus and argue that the salvation the Christian community experi-

43 Although the author of the Fourth Gospel does not employ the apocalyptic scheme of the Synoptic Gospels, he is aware that the present experience of salvation is yet to be completed. See John 5:25, 28-29; 6:39, 40, 50; 14:3, 18, 28. These texts are more than "remnants" of consistent eschatology introduced by a later ecclesiastical redactor; they are integral to the Fourth Gospel's presentation of salvation. 44 Bultmaim, Theology of the New Testament, 1.1. 20 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 67,2005 enced in Jesus at Easter had already begun in the life and ministry of the earthly Jesus. What role, then, should the message of Jesus play in NT theology? For those who are constructing a history of early Christian religion and thought, the message of the historical Jesus is the proper point of departure. This message needs to be critically reconstructed as is currently being done by a num­ ber of scholars. Scholars should not bypass this work as if it were irrelevant to their task. Scholarly reconstructions of the historical Jesus and the early church enable us to see more clearly the traditions about Jesus that the writers of the NT received and so how they interpreted them in light of his resurrection. In this way historical research enables the interpreter to understand the diverse theological approaches within the NT. The primary focal point of a NT theology, however, is the message of Jesus as presented in the Gospels.45 It is the message of Jesus as remembered in the Gospels, then, that ought to play the central role. In such a NT theology, the Synoptic Gospels will have a more prominent role than they have enjoyed to date, taking their rightful place alongside the Pauline and Johannine writings.

Ζλ Unity and Diversity in New Testament Theology Whereas the diversity of theologies in the writings of the NT is a well- established fact, the unity of the NT is not. From the point of view of the histo­ rian, the unity of the NT is a presupposition that must be proved. From the point of view of the believer, however, the unity of the NT is a presupposition of faith.46 Faith presupposes that the diverse writings of the NT witness to the same reality, even though faith may not immediately comprehend or articulate how these writ­ ings are related to each other. In this regard, NT theology is a genuine work of theology because it is faith seeking to understand what it believes; namely, that the one God of Israel revealed himself in Jesus Christ, and that the witness to this revelation is found in the diverse writings of the NT. Although the task of identi­ fying the unity underlying the diverse writings of the NT may not be of interest to those engaged in a history of early Christian religion or thought, those engaged in

45 The point is made by Räisänen, Beyond New Testament Theology, 182. He writes: "For the sake of consistency, church-theological NT theology should concentrate on Jesus as remem­ bered, on the 'faith image' of Jesus. By contrast, historical and traditio-historical reconstructions are suited to provide material for non-church study of early Chrisitian religion." 46 Schlier ("Meaning and Function of a Theology of the New Testament," 19) writes: "That there is such a unity, that ultimately there is no contradiction between the various theological prin­ ciples and utterances, is from the point of view of theology a presupposition which derives from the inspiration and canonicity of the New Testament or Bible." Barton ("Unity and Diversity in the Biblical Canon," 11) begins his essay as follows: "That the biblical canon contains diversity is obvious to most readers; that it is nevertheless a unity is the conviction of those for whom it func­ tions as Holy Scriptures." NEW TESTAMENT THEOLOGY 21 writing an "ecclesial" NT theology—to use Räisänen's term—will find it an appropriate and necessary task. The unity of the NT is not found in doctrinal formulas or in its historical development. Nor is there a theme or series of themes that immediately unites its diverse writings. The unity of the NT is more profitably sought in the story or nar­ rative world to which the various writings witness and in which they are now embedded. It is found in the narrative of how the God of Israel revealed himself in Jesus Christ for the salvation of Israel and the nations. This is not to say that the whole story is present in every writing or block of material. But it does affirm that the NT writings witness in diverse ways to an overarching narrative of revelation, redemption, life in community, new moral life, and eschatological hope, all of which are rooted in the story of Israel, Jesus, and the church. Given the diversity of the writings, this unity will be expressed in any given NT theology in a variety of ways. To the extent that NT theology is an expression of faith seeking under­ standing, each practitioner of NT theology will witness to this unity in his or her own way.

IV. Conclusion Gabler called for a true biblical theology, historical and descriptive in nature, that would present dogmatics with the universal biblical truths (a pure and time­ less biblical theology) upon which it could construct a philosophical theology. His project was never completed as he envisioned it. This vision, however, did give birth to the discipline of NT theology. Throughout most of its history, this discipline has been a Protestant endeavor, in part, because the Reformation prin­ ciple of sola scriptura provided the impetus to establish a theology rooted in the Bible and the Bible alone. The nature and identity of NT theology have been and remain disputed as scholars try to balance the competing demands of history and theology, with historical research emphasizing diversity and theology seeking unity. In this essay I have argued that NT theology is a literary and theological discipline that must respect the diversity of the writings even as it seeks their unity, and it must acknowledge their historical nature even as it tries to interpret them theologically. I propose here that a narrative approach that takes into account how the story of Jesus and the church is related to and written into the story of Israel may be a fruitful way of doing NT theology. ^s

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