Apocryphal Prophets and Athenian Poets: Noncanonical Influences on the New Testament

"Greg Lanier has done a great service to the field of ancient studies by synthesizing the breadth, diversity, and complexity of noncanonical traditions that influenced New Testament authors and their texts. Apocryphal Prophets and Athenian Poets is detailed and comprehensive, and it makes an important contribution to the fields of intertextuality, reading practices, and the transmission and adaptation of tradition and literary works. Students and scholars of the New Testament, Hellenistic Judaism, and classical literature will find something with which to engage in this work."

"Parallelomania and parallelophobia. These are the extremes of the compara- tive enterprise. Either one discovers the noncanonical influence of 1 Enoch in Jude and affirms the fluidity and openness of the canon (the parallelomanic), or one ignores and even denies the existence of noncanonical influences on the canonical, sacred text (the parallelophobic). Greg Lanier charts the necessary path between the two in this comprehensive, user-friendly work. By assessing noncanonical (Jewish and Greco-Roman) and pre-canonical early Christian influences on the New Testament, Lanier goes where scholars fear to tread. The results are monumental because he challenges and undoubtedly enhances the comparative enterprise as we know it."

"Books abound on the Scriptures' use of Scripture. Fewer have attempted to categorize and summarize Scripture's use of noncanonical sources. While some overemphasize the influence of noncanonical sources, others underemphasize it. Lanier presents a fair-minded and well-organized overview of noncanonical influences that will be a help for scholars and pastors alike for generations to come. This is a book I wish I'd had in years past. Now many will benefit from it."

"Apocryphal Prophets and Athenian Poets is a monumental achievement. We have long held and taught that the New Testament authors functioned with literary conventions of their respective contexts, so it should come as no surprise that they evidence familiarity with the literature itself. Readers of Lanier's carefully adduced research will see that authors of our New Testament were themselves readers of works that often leave subtle but nonetheless recognizable traces on the pages of our sacred texts."

"In Apocryphal Prophets and Athenian Poets, Gregory R. Lanier offers a much-needed resource for accessing and understanding the noncanonical influences on the writers of the New Testament. While clearly acknowledging that Israel's Scriptures had the most profound influence on New Testament writers, Lanier convincingly demonstrates that noncanonical influences are far more pervasive and formative than often granted.' This comprehensive, well-researched survey covers Jewish writings and traditions beyond the Hebrew Bible, non-Jewish writings and traditions (especially Greco-Roman), and precanonical Christian material (e.g., sayings of Jesus). It moves the conversation well beyond the use of 1 Enoch in Jude or Greek poets in Acts 17. Lanier's nuanced discussion indicates extensive awareness of the complex issues that factor into this immense project. This survey is lucidly written and well organized. The chapters covering cultural commonplaces are especially helpful. To borrow from a now somewhat dated cultural commonplace, this book takes New Testament texts from black and white and brings them into vibrant Technicolor!”

"Lanier's survey of noncanonical influences in the New Testament will be a staple in my teaching for years to come. Lanier understands the complexities of classifying such material, but the comprehensive nature of the work makes it an excellent starting point for further research. The result is a powerful confirmation of the historicity of the New Testament writings, as the subtlety and authenticity of their interaction with their theological, philosophical, and cultural context are revealed."

"Dr. Gregory Lanier has provided students, pastors, and scholars with a comprehensive and clear resource for their study of the New Testament. He offers numerous examples from noncanonical sources in the ancient world and from the New Testament canon to support that the New Testament authors either interacted with noncanonical texts (e.g., Jude with 1 Enoch and the Assumption of Moses) or engaged ideas codified in noncanonical texts. Dr. Lanier argues his thesis by avoiding what one famous scholar has called 'parallelomania.' This book is an important contribution to New Testament studies and a helpful resource for students of the New Testament."