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REIDAR HVALVIK, The Struggle for Scripture and Covenant: The Purpose of the Epistle of Barnabas and Jewish-Christian Competition in the Second Century (WUNT 2:82; Tubingen: Mohr [Siebeck], 1996). Pp. xiii + 415. Paper DM 118.
"The author's material is traditional; his use of the material, however, is often original," claims Hvalvik, who, in this slightly revised form of a dissertation supervised by Oskar Skarsaune, seeks to determine the purpose of Barnabas, that enigmatic early Christian document that is frequently seen as little more than a revision of traditional materials to which the author has made minimal contribution. H. finds in the document (I) an attack on the Jews and on Jewish religious practices, (2) a conviction that Christians have the true knowledge of God's ordinances and true insight into the real meaning of Scripture, and (3) a strong emphasis on the need to choose between the two ways, Judaism and Christianity. In light of these findings he concludes that the document's "purpose is to persuade the addressees to make the right choice" (p. 330). As such, the letter reflects "a response to the presence and activity of (Gentile) Judaizers...