21. Language

The editor’s purpose is ‘to display discourse-analytical methods in order to show the possibilities and drawbacks of each method’ (p. ix) and for the analysis of each NT document in this book to ‘help the reader understand that writing as a holistic unit rather than a “string of pearls”’. Also, the editor hopes ‘that pastors will consult this book profitably’ (p. x). Admitting the difficulty of settling a definition, Scacewater says that Discourse Analysis involves the study of ‘(1) language beyond the level of sentence; (2) language use; and (3) the social and interpersonal aspects of communication’ (pp. 2-3). The bulk of the Introduction (pp. 1-30) sets out what can be taken as the topics involved in Discourse Analysis: context, semantics and pragmatics; cohesion; coherence; global patterns; coherence relations; pragmatic features of coherence; macrostructures and the representation of discourse; and prominence and peak. The remainder of the book comprises a chapter on each of the NT documents; the Pastoral Epistles are treated together as are the Johannine ones. The essays by Robert E. Longacre on Mark and by David L. Allen on Philemon have been previously published. In any collection of essays contributions will stand out. In this set, Cynthia Long Westfall, rightly taking Discourse Analysis as an approach rather than a method, provides a strong essay on Hebrews, as does Christopher J. Fresch on 2 Peter. Taken together, the essays provide helpful examples of the use of Discourse Analysis. It is unfortunate that no indexes are provided.