New Testament scholar Chilton, author of Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography, here expounds upon ideas of sacred time in the Jewish and Christian festal calendars. The general reader may feel a bit lost by terms such as "heilgeschichte" and "mimesis," or confused by the relevance of Chilton's considerable first chapter digression about the fundamentalist-modernist debates of the 20th century. However, scholars will find much of interest here, particularly in Chilton's third and fourth chapters, which explore the origins and meanings of various Jewish and Christian festivals, and how those celebrations changed over time. He makes the provocative argument that the Gospels have "deliberately excised" a systematic understanding of the rhythms of time from the New Testament. Chilton is sensitive to issues of theology as well as history and language, though the text is often inaccessible. (Oct.)
