Adopted into God's Family: Exploring a Pauline Metaphor (New Studies in Biblical Theology) [Paperback]

Trevor J. Burke (Author)

Book Description

Series: New Studies in Biblical Theology | Publication Date: October 24, 2006

The relationship between God and his people is understood in various ways by the biblical writers, and it is arguably the apostle Paul who uses the richest vocabulary. Unique to Paul's writings is the term huiothesia, the process or act of being "adopted as son(s)." It occurs five times in three of his letters, where it functions as a key theological metaphor. Trevor Burke argues that huiothesia has been misunderstood, misrepresented or neglected through scholarly preoccupation with its cultural background. He redresses the balance in this comprehensive study, which discusses metaphor theory; explores the background to huiothesia; considers the roles of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; examines the moral implications of adoption, and its relationship with honor; and concludes with the consequences for Christian believers as they live in the tension between the "now" and the "not yet" of their adoption into God's new family.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Burke offers a clear, precise and coherent study of what emerges as a major Pauline metaphor that has long been overlooked. . . . I believe this to be a very valuable addition to Pauline studies, one that I recommend to students and scholars alike." (Mary L. Coloe, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia, in Review of Biblical Literature )

"Not only the importance of God's family, but also the enormous privilege of belonging to it, are powerfully underscored by Paul's understanding of what it means to be the adopted sons of God. With such themes in view, a wide array of pastoral implications soon springs to light. In other words, this volume not only probes a neglected theme--it also edifies." (D. A. Carson )

About the Author

Trevor J. Burke (Ph.D., Glasgow) is Professor of Bible at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. Originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland, he has taught New Testament studies in seminaries in Nigeria, Wales and Fiji. He is the author of Family Matters and coeditor of Paul and the Corinthians.

Product Details

• Paperback: 237 pages
• Publisher: IVP Academic (October 24, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830826238
• ISBN-13: 978-0830826230
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #502,739 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A crux of Pauline theology, December 15, 2006

By 

Commentary Surveyor (Stoughton MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adopted into God's Family: Exploring a Pauline Metaphor (New Studies in Biblical Theology) (Paperback)

Having recently experienced a "long day's journey into night" in my own spiritual life, I know firsthand what it means to have temporarily experienced the seeming loss of God's presence and care and then to have found it again. In this process, I rediscovered the reality of God's relationship with me.

Trevor Burke's treatise on the subjective sense in which "sons" of God resonates with the personal experience of the believer in his/her relationship to God magnificently captures the concrete essence on what it means to be adopted into God's family; a condition that is far more relational than positional and characteristic of what it means to embrace a redefined understanding of what constitutes a family.

For anyone who perceives God to be an ephemeral presence, this book is a true wakeup call to what it means to be in sympathetic relationship with Christ and to all those who call on God as heavenly father who makes all things right.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indepth, Scholarly, and Pastoral, January 25, 2007

By 

M. Aubrey "Hellenistic Linguist" (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Adopted into God's Family: Exploring a Pauline Metaphor (New Studies in Biblical Theology) (Paperback)

Trevor Burke's book is a welcome addition to the New Studies in Biblical Theology series.

One of his essential premises is that the theme of adoption in Paul's letters has been historically misunderstood. Burke's goal is to help provide a balanced view of this theological theme and its implications for life.

His exegesis is stimulating and Trinitarian in focus, something which he clearly shows is directly from the text of scripture. All three Persons of the Trinity are in view considering the context of the five passages mentioning adotpion (though the Spirit occurs in four of the five).

Burke reveals an impressive grasp of Greek and the cultural situation of the times. And his vast knowledge of secondary literature surrounding the five passages in question is quite clear from the dialogue with contemporaries and also the footnotes and bibliography.

Finally to end with the beginning of the book, Burke's preface is excellent, providing an interesting glimpse into his own life and the impact that the concepts of adoption and sonship have had in his own life.

(...)

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Extremely scholarly, but worth it., May 16, 2008

By 

William Petruzzo (Annapolis, MD) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Adopted into God's Family: Exploring a Pauline Metaphor (New Studies in Biblical Theology) (Paperback)

It took me a pretty long time, but I finally finished Adopted into God's Family, from the New Studies in Biblical Theology series, written by Trevor Burke. This is my second book from this series, the first being Slave of Christ by Murray Harris.

In Adopted into God's Family Burke explores the Pauline metaphor of Adoption found in Ephesians, Galatians and Romans. He concludes that the adoption metaphor was likely based on the Roman legal adoption by the paterfamilias of men primarily for the sake of family honor. Burke does a thorough job of expanding the metaphor from all different parts of scripture as well other historical and cultural contexts.

So far both books have been painful to read; literature that I really have to kind of trudge through. The majority of the reason being that there are various, basically, style and organization things that make it daunting to truck through. The two big ones are, one, the font seems to be slightly smaller than usual and two, the chapters are relatively long for the topic. Most of the classic literature that I read has an archaic style of breaking up content that, I think, is much better and keeps information rolling as well as well organized in my brain.

In lots of classic literature chapters will sometimes be 40 - 50 pages long (at least in modern reprints), but will be broken up every two or three pages by numbered headings, subheadings and sub-subheadings. In this series of books, it seems that the trend is more toward long winded chapters and just a few subheadings spread throughout the chapter. This kind of organization means that if you want to read, you need to be committed to a good 15 - 20 minutes of reading, otherwise you'll lose your place next time. No reading these babies on the john. I know that's nitpicky and probably just the way the genre works, but it's a pain the butt for me.

Once I got passed the personal grievances, Adopted into God's Family was awesome. Of course, incidentally, it took me the entire book to get over those personal grievances. The point is though that the content of the book is so rich and the exploration of theology is so thorough and robust that while reading, it will be painful and daunting, but once done will offer a beautiful new perspective on scripture that really brings the metaphors to life. This I have found true with both installments of this series that I have read.

When reading scripture, we have a pseudo-understanding of what Paul means when he says we've been adopted. However, after reading this book, the metaphor carries far more weight and his words become much more meaningful.

Adopted is definitely a scholarly book. If you're going to read it, and benefit from it, you're going to need to commit to it, even if the going gets tough. If you finish, you'll almost certainly be enriched. For this reason, I don't recommend this book or series for casual readers. I suspect that pastors, lay people and bible students will have a lot to gain from this study.