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BRIAN S. ROSNER, Greed as Idolatry: The Origin and Meaning of a Pauline Metaphor (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007). Pp. xiv + 214. Paper $22.
When the apostle Paul equates greed with idolatry (as he does in Col 3:5 and Eph 5:5), is he expressing a central and profound notion in Christian theology and ethics ("distilling much in arresting fashion"), or is he merely engaging in "an ill-considered exaggeration?" (p. 4). That is the question Brian Rosner poses in this monograph. The result is an illuminating excursion into the background of the convergence of the concepts of "greed" and "idolatry," a reasonable explication of the idea cluster's metaphorical power, and a welcome opportunity for the contemporary church to reflect theologically on the problem of greed.
A primary aim of R.'s analysis is to parse the Pauline equation: "greed-as-idolatry." R. detects six meanings in the history of interpretation. Three he sets aside as not likely Paul's: hyperbolic (greed is as bad as idolatry), moralistic (greed leads to idolatry), and literal (greed entails the worship of the demon...