When "new wine" is not "new wine" (Acts 2 vs. Luke 5)
I was recently preparing for a sermon based on the Pentecost text from Acts 2:1-41. After I had done my initial planning for the sermon, I was perusing some commentaries for possible additional insights. In one commentary (which shall remain nameless), I instead found some things that were simply false.
The one example that stands out most prominently is when he talks about the onlookers thinking the disciples are “filled with new wine.” The commentator says something to the effect of “The astute reader will notice that Jesus used these very same words back in Luke 5:33-39.” That’s the passage about “new wine” needing to go into “new wineskins.” The commentator says that it is a deliberate allusion by Luke to say that they are filled with the “new wine” of the gospel. I thought: “Wow, that’s cool. That’d be a great point.” But upon closer inspection, I noticed that they are not the same words in Greek! The word in Acts 2:13 is γλεῦκος while in Luke 5, two words are used: ὁ οἶνος ὁ νέος. Both are translated as “new wine” in many English translations. Neat symbolism, but it’s not truly in the text.
The commentator had a number of other shaky points on the passage, mostly when he appealed to some kind of deeper symbolic allusion like this “new wine” proposal. So, this is a testimonial for preachers (or seminary students writing papers) to make sure you double-check what you use from commentaries and a plea for scholars who publish commentaries to check the original language! (though, that should go without saying… )
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A James Revolution!
Pretty much every book or commentary–and most articles–on James highlight the fact that James is one of the most neglected books of the New Testament, relegated to that catch-all category, the “catholic epistles”. For most protestants, following Luther’s declaration about it being an “epistle of straw,” James takes a backseat to Paul. The Anabaptists seem to be one of the only Christian groups to really place an emphasis on James–though I’d be interested to look into how that plays out in the life and practice of actual communities. Well, it seems the scholarly community is catching up with what the Anabaptists have known all this time: James is an amazingly rich text, ripe for all sorts of reflection.
I would like to do some in-depth research on James this summer and have been requesting some James commentaries to review on my blog. I am excited about one of the most recent commentaries on James by seasoned Catholic New Testament scholar, Patrick J. Hartin, in the Sacra Pagina series (April 2009). I am also taking a look into Hartin’s older work, A Spirituality of Perfection (1999). Incidentally, I am reading through an essay of Hartin’s for my Monday seminary on Wisdom and Apocalyptic with Boustan: “Who Is Wise and Understanding among You? (James 3:13): An Analysis of Wisdom, Eschatology, and Apocalypticism in the Letter of James,” in Conflicted Boundaries in Wisdom and Apocalypticism (2005) edited by Benjamin Wright and Lawrence Wills (a collection of papers given for the Wisdom and Apocalypticism SBL group). Also from that collection, Patrick Tiller’s “The Rich and Poor in James: An Apocalyptic Ethic.” All these Patricks interested in James!
Testifying to the new interest in James, Abby Cox of T & T Clark was quite generous in sending along a collection of essays edited by Robert Webb and John Kloppenborg, Reading James With New Eyes: Methodological Reassessments of the Letter of James (2007)–part of a series looking into new methods of reading those neglected New Testament epistles. From what I am assuming will be a much different perspective, Chris Fann of Zondervan is sending out the James volume (2008) in the newer Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament series, written by Craig L. Blomberg and Mariam J. Kamell.
But wait, there’s more! If Jeremy Pierce’s list is still accurate (commentary assignments shift fairly often, from what I understand), we are in for some real commentary treats on the letter of James. Upcoming commentators include John S. Kloppenborg (Hermeneia), Dale Allison (ICC replacement), Joel Green (New Testament Library), Scot McKnight (NICNT replacement), A.K.M. Adam (Baylor Handbook on the Greek New Testament), John Painter (Paideia Commentaries on the New Testament), Wesley Hiram Wachob (Rhetoric of Religious Antiquity). The methodological diversity represented here is very exciting. If the names associated with these volumes is any indication, we are indeed in the midst a James revolution in biblical scholarship!