Changing the landscape of New Testament studies: essays in honor of David M. Rhoads.

Billman, Kathleen ; Hendel, Kurt ; Swanson, Mark 等

The August issue of Currents in Theology and Mission again pays tribute to the contributions of David M. Rhoads, who retired this spring from full-time faculty service as Professor of New Testament at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

When Dave's colleagues met to plan a Festschrift in his honor, we determined that two distinct issues would be needed to honor the breadth of his work. The April 2010 issue of Currents, "Faith and Earthkeeping: A Tribute to the Environmental Ministry of David Rhoads," centered on Dave's contributions to environmental ministry and featured vibrant essays by others who are partners in this vital cause. This issue highlights Dave's significant contributions to the field of biblical studies, particularly in the area of performance criticism. The common bond in both issues is collegial respect and gratitude for the groundbreaking work Dave has accomplished and the way that this work has inspired theological vision and creative ministry in generations of his colleagues and students.

David Rhoads is one of the pioneers of narrative criticism. His book Mark as Story, written with Joanna Dewey and Donald Michie, has served as an accessible and practical introduction for how to do narrative criticism for almost thirty years, and there have been many testimonies about how this text consistently opens up for students a whole new way of interpreting and experiencing the Gospels.

Although Dave has been a leading scholar of the Gospel of Mark, he has not settled into just one portion or approach to the New Testament studies. In his scholarship, as in his teaching and living, Dave celebrates diversity! His book The Challenge of Diversity: The Witness of Paul and the Gospels contains incisive introductions to Paul and each of the Gospels. It is one of those rare examples of a book that makes the best of scholarly insight into the New Testament available to a wide readership and seeks to engage people in conversation about how the variety that characterizes the New Testament canon can enliven faith and community.

Dave has also been committed to using a variety of lenses or approaches in interpreting New Testament texts. He can proficiently and simultaneously use narrative, social science, rhetorical, and post-colonial approaches sprinkled with an expertise in Greek syntax. His publications are too numerous to mention, but in addition to numerous books and articles on the Gospel of Mark, he has written on the historical Jesus, the Judean revolt, Paul's letters (Galatians), James, and Revelation. He has excelled in bringing together his expertise in biblical interpretation and his passion for the care of the earth.

This is already an impressive list of achievements that reflect amazing erudition and creativity, but perhaps the most creative and impressive contribution of all is his development of performance criticism. Early in his career, Dave began to dramatically perform the Gospel of Mark, and then other New Testament texts such as Galatians and Revelation. As he began to bring these texts to life with his body and soul, this fundamentally changed his understanding of the nature of these texts and their impact. He began to teach what he was learning about performing Scripture by heart and has slowly but surely initiated what is coming to be recognized by some as a revolution in biblical studies.

It is especially inspiring, in reflecting on Dave's work, to celebrate how he has carried on scholarly inquiry in conversation and community with students and colleagues. His work on performance criticism has been carried out over the years in a community of scholars and with students. Dave is always the first person to give credit to those he is collaborating with on the various projects on which he is working. The essays in this issue were written by members of this broad community of colleagues, and bear witness to the collegiality and life-giving vitality of Dave's gifts as teacher, mentor, scholar, colleague, friend, and co-collaborator.

The issue begins with a tribute from James Kenneth Echols, president of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, focusing on how Dave Rhoads has been an ambassador of the gospel in the classroom, the church, and in the cosmos.

In honor of Dave's illuminating work in performance criticism, the first five essays explore various aspects of performance criticism and the relevance of this new form of biblical scholarship not only for those who serve in the academy but for those who "speak Scripture," preach, and teach in local congregational contexts. All five contributors have long been involved with Dave in the Bible and Ancient and Modern Media Group at the Society of Biblical Literature. Each of the essays attests to influence of his work on performance criticism on their scholarship and teaching.

Thomas Boomershine served as the G. Ernest Thomas Distinguished Professor of Christianity and Communication at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio (2004-06), and also as Professor of New Testament (1979-2000). He founded the Network of Biblical Storytellers in 1977. In "All Scholarship Is Personal," he offers an engaging reflection on the character and implications of performance criticism, and of Dave's role in its development. Replete with anecdotes, the essay offers an "insider's look" at an emerging field and its implications for scholarship as well as the revitalization of Christian faith and ministry practice.

In "Performance Criticism as Critical Pedagogy," Phil Ruge-Jones, Associate Professor of Theology at Texas Lutheran University, explores how performance criticism may aid theological educators in the academy and the local congregation to teach in ways that contribute to a liberating and transformative engagement with biblical texts.

James Maxey, Director of the Nida Institute for Biblical Scholarship of the American Bible Society, investigates how words function as events, and their power, impact, and limitations in the Gospel of Mark.

Margaret Lee of Tulsa Community College begins by relating how Dave encouraged her to perform the Sermon on the Mount and then describes how performing it impacted her work on how ancient audiences may have experienced the Sermon as spoken performance, and also presented interpretive opportunities for translating it for contemporary audiences. Richard Swanson has used performance as a mode of teaching and interpreting at Augustana College, Sioux Falls, for the past ten years. He writes about using performance criticism in conjunction with other methods of biblical interpretation, and about the risks and rewards of performing biblical texts.

Dave's long-time colleague at LSTC, Edgar Krentz, Christ Seminary-Seminex Professor of New Testament, Emeritus, honors the diversity of Dave's New Testament scholarship as well as Dave's concern to celebrate the diversity of perspectives within the Bible by examining the many ways that Peter is portrayed in the Bible and early Christian literature.

These essays attest to the impact of the scholarship of Dave Rhoads, especially in the area of performance criticism. They are offered in appreciation not only for his many books, articles, and performances of biblical texts, but also in honor of a life devoted to teaching, learning, and perhaps most importantly, embodying the Scriptures. The contributors to this volume have not only been influenced by what Dave has written. Rather, each of them worked with him in various ways over the years because, whether in the academy or in the classroom, he is always collaborating; challenging himself and others in the community to think new thoughts and try new approaches. Through these essays and, perhaps most of all his countless colleagues and students, Dave Rhoads will continue to inspire others to allow biblical texts to live and breathe in ways that foster justice, compassion, and diversity. We bless him and thank him for that precious gift.

Raymond Pickett and Kathleen Billman

Co-editors for the August 2010 issue

Editors' Note: With the August 2010 issue we note with deep appreciation the many years of service rendered by Pamela Challis, Randall Lee, Richard Ramirez, Susan Rip-pert, Barbara Rossing, Susan Swanson, Vicki Watkins, and Fritz Wehrenberg on the editorial board of Currents in Theology and Mission. We welcome and give thanks for the newly-constituted editorial board, with faculty and alumni representatives from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, and Wartburg Theological Seminary, and look forward to working together to build on the strong foundation we have inherited.