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Edwards his pulpit. Edwards became concerned that people were joining churches without any heartfelt conversion experience. When he insisted on that as a condition for church membership, his congregation turned against him. Part of the problem was what Marsden called Edwards's "brittle, unsociable personality." His sacramental views were also a source of alienation. He said that only true believers should receive communion, because others made a mockery of the sacrament. Those who took communion without true faith were sealing their own damnation. People who were not true believers, according to his definition, could not have their children baptized. Finally, the congregation had enough and voted Edwards out. He moved on to an Indian mission and, finally, became the president of Princeton, although he did not live long after that appointment. His life came to a sad end. Having once been loved and appreciated by his congregation, his rigidity and refusal to face the realities of human nature did him in. There is a lesson there for all pastors. William O. Paulsell Lexington Theological Seminary Lexington, Kentucky

The Resurrection of the Son of God. By N. T. Wright. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2003. xxi + 817 pp. $39.00. The Resurrection of the Son of God is the third volume in N. T. Wright's magisterial series on Christian Origins and the Question of God. It turns out to be a detour from the original project, yet this "untimely born" volume may be Wright's boldest creation yet in the series. Its sheer bulk is designed to supports its audacious claim: that it is historically "highly probable" that Jesus of Nazareth was raised bodily from the dead. The novelty of Wright's work is not in the historical arguments that he brings to bear upon this perennial issue in Christian origins. Indeed, his central claim is reminiscent of an argument made by C.F.D. Moule decades ago. What is unique is the thorough treatment of the primary data concerning what ancients-pagan, Jewish, and Christian-believed about resurrection. Of the five parts

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of the book, the first four (over 700 pages) are devoted to sifting through this evidence. The development of Wright's historical case includes three crucial steps. The first is definitional and occupies parts one through four. A virtually exhaustive exposition of the data pertaining to resurrection throughout the Classical and Hellenistic worlds, the Scriptures, and across the ante-Nicene Christian centuries establishes conclusively that "resurrection" was understood in corporeal terms. The common notion among modern scholars that Jesus arose invisibly and spiritually ought now to be buried, never more to rise again, in the face of the evidence marshaled by Wright. A second, correlative step involves the fact that the hope of resurrection became central to the Christian faith, and was grounded in the belief that it had been concretely inaugurated in Jesus' resurrection. The argumentative point drawn out by Wright is that a messianic pretender who had been executed by the Romans could not be credibly hailed as Messiah and universal Lord; and it will not do to say that these designations originated from visionary revelations of Jesus. Least of all would it have been possible for ancients to confuse hallucinations or warm spiritual experiences with the belief that Jesus had been resurrected. Thus, thirdly, in part five Wright contends that the empty tomb and the post-resurrection appearances together constitute the sufficient and necessary condition for the rise of early Christian belief. Alternative theories simply do not possess the same explanatory power or historical plausibility. This work is a formidable defense of the historicity of Jesus' bodily resurrection. It will serve as a benchmark in resurrection studies for decades to come. Wright's characteristic color and clarity, for one, make it a pleasure to read, which cannot often be said of ponderous volumes. So pastors, students of theology, as well as scholars (and perhaps highly interested laypersons) can profit from it. The apologetic, and at times polemical, edge to this work makes it all the more interesting, in addition to challenging and strengthening: challenging to those who are inimical to the resurrection of Jesus, and strengthening to those who already have faith in the risen Son of God. Kevin L. Anderson Asbury College Wilmore, Kentucky

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