T and T Clark International, 2005

David C. Sim provides a description of the book he has recently co–edited.

The Gospel of Matthew has long been considered the most Jewish of the Gospels, and scholars have particularly focused on the Jewish setting of this early Christian document. In this collection of essays, the attempt is made to broaden the setting from which this Gospel emerged by considering its Roman imperial context. What does Matthew have to say about the Roman Empire? Certainly both Jews and Christians had suffered at the hands of Rome, and it is to be expected that the evangelist would have presented his own views regarding Roman power and domination. He does recount the story of Jesus of Nazareth, a Jew living under Roman occupation who was ultimately crucified by the Roman governor of Judaea.

The volume comprises eight essays written by an international team of specialists. The first four explore Jewish and Christian attitudes to Rome. First Philip F. Esler finds that Jewish apocalyptic and Rabbinic literature present a very negative portrayal of Rome and predict the destruction of this empire. Next is a study of Rome in the writings of Josephus by James S. McLaren, who argues that Josephus, despite his close association with the Flavian emperors, was a veiled critic of Roman imperialism. Then Dennis Duling uses social-scientific analysis to describe the workings of the Roman Empire and to highlight its exploitation of and brutality towards those under its domination. Lastly, Peter Oakes provides an overview of New Testament views concerning Rome, which are generally unfavourable. These studies emphasise that Jews and Christians believed that the Roman Empire stood against the purposes of God and would at some point be visited with divine retribution.

The next four contributions concentrate on the Gospel of Matthew, largely concurring that the author stood in agreement with his Jewish and Christian contemporaries. In a study of Matthew's eschatology, David C. Sim contends that the evangelist directly associates Rome with Satan and expects that both will be destroyed at the end of the age. Dorothy Jean Weaver examines the Roman characters in Matthew's story, suggesting that the Gospel has a mix of both positive and negative Roman figures. John Riches argues that the call to evangelise the world by the risen Christ at the end of the Gospel represents a direct challenge to Roman imperialism. Finally, Warren Carter contends that the key Christological terms in the Gospel's very first verse are intended to set God's messiah against the arrogant claims of Rome and its imperial cult. These studies establish that Matthew expresses his opposition to Roman rule in a variety of ways and, like many Jewish and Christian contemporaries, expects Rome to suffer a terrible eschatological fate.

About the Editors

John Riches, Emeritus Professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism at the University of Glasgow, is presently Honorary Research Professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at that University. He is the author of many scholarly books and articles on Biblical themes and three books on the Gospel of Matthew.

David C. Sim is Senior Lecturer in the School of Theology, Australian Catholic University, and a member of the University's Centre for Early Christian Studies. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Jewish-Christian Relations in Cambridge in 2003. He has written two books on the Gospel of Matthew and many articles on various New Testament topics.