Identity and Experience in the New Testament.

Klaus Berger, Professor of New Testament at Heidelberg University, adopts the method of "historical psychology" in Identity and Experience in the New Testament (Fortress, $27). He challenges the current psychological approaches to the Bible and insists that the work of the historian must precede that of the psychologist. Still, he does use psychological insights to recover the human experiences of New Testament figures, finding them less spiritual, less individualistic, and less attentive to personal feelings than our modern notions. The author ranges widely over diverse topics: personhood, demon possession, bodily experiences, inner and outer relations, perceptions, emotions, suffering, religion, and behavior. Pastors will find the discussion of faith, the Spirit, and sin in chapter 9 most helpful. The book is not easy to read because the writing is not well integrated, and the chapters often lack helpful summaries. But for readers willing to spend the time, there is much material that often sheds new light on our interpretations and experiences.