David B. Capes

David Capes, Rodney Reeves, and E. Randolph Richards are three biblical scholars from three different institutions (Houston Baptist University, Southwest Baptist University, and Palm Beach Atlantic Univerisity, respectively). They have previously collaborated on a book about the apostle Paul, Rediscovering Paul: an Introduction to His World, Letters and Theology (IVP Academic, 2007). They are back at it. Their new book from IVP Academic is Rediscovering Jesus: An Introduction to Biblical, Religious and Cultural Perspectives on Christ.

Don't let the academic publisher or their resumés scare you. This is an engaging and interesting and accessible read! I had fun with this book. To me, this is really two books in one. Part I is a romp through the biblical images of Jesus, uncovering what is distinctive about the portrait of Jesus in Mark, Matthew, Luke and Acts, John, Paul's epistles, Hebrews, in the non-Pauline epistles and Revelation. Part II examines extra-biblical images of Jesus. Capes, Reeves & Richards look at the Gnostic Jesus, the Muslim Jesus, the Historical, demythologized Jesus, the Mormon Jesus, the American Jesus and the Cinematic Jesus. In each chapter, after exploring the distinctive portrait of Jesus in the Bible or culture, they ask, "What if this were the only Jesus?" The result is they showcase the important contribution of each Bible writers picture of Christ, and show how cultural depictions of Jesus, while sometimes illuminating, often obscure our perception of who the Jesus really is.

While there is some first-rate biblical theology and cultural analysis here, this is a completely practical and non-technical text about Jesus, appropriate for undergrads (or even a Christian high school). Part I is helpful because it reveals how the entire New Testament, all the books together, gives us our picture of who Jesus is. The Jesus of Mark appears on the scene, binding the strong man and fighting the religious establishment, but there is no mention of Jesus' virgin birth, his post resurrection appearances, his great commission or ascension. Luke's Jesus was more politicized, and didn't even give a theological account of the atonement (71). Matthew's Jesus is firmly connected with Israel's God and has the most developed ethic. John's Jesus is not of this world and focuses more on the after life than this life. "Christians who read too much of John's Gospel and not enough of Matthew's might talk abut eternal life but not about caring for the least of these" (86). Paul's high Christology is almost devoid of biography (how Jesus lived). If the Priestly Jesus of Hebrews were our only Jesus we'd focus on purity, perfection and completion. The non-Pauline epistles are immersed in Jesus' teaching but without the Gospels you wouldn't know that the origins of John, Jude, Peter and James' words are found in Christ's teaching. The apocalyptic Jesus is the disquieting image of the warrior lamb and the glorified Christ. Each of these images enlarge our picture of Christ. Any image that is excluded from our portrait of Jesus would result in bias and incomplete vision.

What of Jesus' cultural images? Capes, Reeves and Richards focus on images of Jesus that have a great deal of cultural pull. They profile the esoteric gnositic Jesus, the localized prophet of Islam, the Post-Enlightenment historical Jesus, the American hero, and the movie star. They observe (writing as one voice):

Jesus outside the Bible can on occasion help us rediscover some aspect of Jesus that has been ignored or sidelined. More commonly, though, these nonbiblical images influence and color our biblical image. Understanding these images helps reveal ideas that need to be expunged from 'my Jesus.' While I found themes and emphases from the various biblical images of Jesus that needed to be reintroduced into my picture of Jesus, I also found other themes and emphases from nonbiblical images that needed to be extracted from my portrait of Jesus. both of these processes help me to rediscover Jesus. (261)

The disparity between cultural images of Jesus and the Jesus of the Bible is highlighted well throughout part II. Perhaps it is the 'Cinematic Jesus' which highlights how much a depiction of Jesus for a particular era says more about that culture and time than it does about the real Jesus (244-245).

This is a fun, thought-provoking book that deserves a wide readership beyond the classroom. I give it five stars

Notice of material connection: I received this book from IVP Academic in exchange for my honest review.
… (mehr)

The church today has more than an image problem; it has an attitude problem. The attitude turns judgmental too often and too quickly. Sure, truth must be spoken. God invites us to judge and to help correct wrongs from a place of understanding. In Slow to Judge : Sometimes It's OK to Listen, scholar David B. Capes urges his readers to listen more, talk less. You may learn something important. Don't label other people or try to fit them into nice, neat little boxes. Don't pretend you have all the answers. Put yourself in the other's place. Be authentic. Recognize when you are trying to push your agenda on others. Be a true with no other motives.
King Solomon asked God for a listening heart. Jesus' teaching says that the prerequisite for judging another is humility. Capes spends a lot of time on interfaith and intercultural dialogue. Without discomfort and fundamental disagreement, there can be no such thing as tolerance. And the reason for 'sometimes okay to listen'? There are some ideas that are not worth your time and certain people to whom you need not listen. It takes wisdom to know the difference. Both the interesting perspectives of Fethullah Güllen and C.S. Lewis may teach you valuable lessons.
Various themes from Scripture are explored next to wisdom and a listening heart. Correction in the church is necessary. Judging by appearances is dangerous. Respect, love, and forgiveness are core to establish meaningful and lasting relationships. Hospitality, practicing an open soul, and authentic tolerance fuel the church's mission.
Each chapter ends with questions to discuss in small groups.… (mehr)

David Capes, Rodney Reeves and Randolph Richards collaborated upon a textbook that could be utilized within the undergraduate setting with two primary goals. First, due to the plethora of textbooks on Paul and the New Testament writings, the authors desired one textbook that would concisely cover the key aspects of Paul, including his background, his letters, his ministry and his theology (p. 15). Second, there was a personal desire of the authors to rediscover Paul within the proper socio-historical setting of first-century Judeo-Christian faith, so as to “imitate him as he imitates Christ” (p. 20). The chapters accomplish the outset of these intended goals well, with the exception of a few conservative assumptions made in the beginning and an improperly arranged chapter placement which will be discussed further.
In the beginning chapter, the authors attempt to un-package the Westernized mindset of readers upon Paul and his writings, and introduce the reader to the first-century Mediterranean world in which Paul existed. In doing so, this writer was introduced to the plurality of gods, a “dyadic personality”, an honor and shame society and the importance of rituals within the first-century culture (pp. 25-35). This sheds light on a proper exposition of Paul’s opposition with Peter in Galatians 2 in regards to an honor and shame battle.
In the following chapter, the authors give an extensive treatment of the practice of letter writing within the culture discussing a standard outline of a letter, the use of secretaries and the communal technique of writing letters. An assumption made within this textbook that must be understood is the traditional conservative view of Pauline authorship. These authors believe that all thirteen of the letters are from Paul, assuming Paul utilized secretaries for his writing. This undergirds the defense of Pauline authorship and forces the uses of secretaries to account for the stylistic and grammatical differences used in Paul’s books (pp. 72-77). It is interesting to note that the section concerning “Paul’s Legacy” which deals with the canonization of Paul’s letters is placed after the analysis of his letters and not coupled with this chapter. Perhaps this sheds light upon a careless assumption of Paul’s use of secretaries to account for stylistic, grammatical and even chronological discrepancies in the text.
The chapter on Paul’s conversion, call and chronology was by far one of the most intriguing and challenging chapters of the text. In particular is the conclusion of the authors that Paul did not have a conversion experience in Damascus, but a call to a new vocation (pp. 84-87). This is supported by the fact that Paul did not leave his Judaistic faith, but now “believed Jesus to be God’s Messiah” (p. 93). A helpful section of this chapter is the chronological analysis of Paul’s writing in an attempt to date Paul’s life and ministry within the book of Acts, and connecting it with key primary dates given for external evidence. There is little discussion upon the conflicting views of the North and South Galatia debate, though it is apparent from the text that an early date is favored for the book of Galatians. The conservative mindset has again attempted to place all of Paul’s writings in an exact chronology of Acts to confirm Pauline authorship. This difficulty forces one to overlook the distance and time that would have to be maintained to assume Pauline authorship in such a chronology.
In the following chapters of the textbook, the authors do a good job at giving a good introduction to each of Paul’s writings and synthesizing the key elements of each of the books. The ordering of the chapters is upon Paul’s itinerant ministry and his imprisonment, which are those addressed to the churches and then those addressed to individuals. The authors pick up on several key elements and discussions that are noteworthy for students and debatable issues within the text, examples like the interpretation of Galatians 2:16 (Galatians), discussion of rapture (Thessalonians), baptism (Romans), the household code (Colossians), etc. Throughout the text, there are many sidebars dispersed to help the student dig deeper into thought and discussion on topics, such as the key elements of the Colossian Heresy (p. 221). The text seems to build upon itself, in that it utilizes the early concepts of the Mediterranean world in its discussion of the chapters. One example is the explanation of 2 Thessalonians 3, when the authors state that “the apostle is using social pressure to shame them into compliance, a good technique in a dyadic culture but no so effective in our modern individualistic one” (p. 140). This emphasizes the use of honor and shame society and the dyadic culture introduced earlier in the discussion.
In the final chapters of the book, there is an emphasis upon the theology of Paul and the implication of his writings to our present day society. The authors conclude that the center of Paul’s theology is “Christological monotheism”, but the chapter would have been better aligned at the beginning of the text where the students could see how Paul’s theology affected his writings throughout the period (p. 272). One of the most beneficial chapters for applying the Pauline corpus was the contemporary analysis of Paul’s writings upon the issues of race, division, poverty, politics and sexuality.
The text is a good introduction for the undergraduate student and will provoke thought and question one’s previous interpretation of Paul in regards to the socio-historical setting, but fails to challenge the conservative mindset seen by so many different authors. All of the suggested reading at the end of the chapters leans to the Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, which doesn’t give much variety as to the outside authorship of non-conservative thought. This reviewer would like students to be challenged to make his or her own interpretation of the Pauline corpus by being presented the two differing views of conservative and non-conservative scholarship.… (mehr)