Early Christian Rhetoric: The Language of the Gospel

Thirty-five years ago an ever-so-slim volume appeared whose impact would be not only far-reaching but long-lasting. Amos Wilder's Early Christian Rhetoric arguably started the wave of interest in narrative and literary aspects of the New Testament that has swept over biblical studies in recent years. At the time, Wilder's views were a bold departure from the prevailing historical-critical methodology or the literary-theological approach to the Bible as literature. By the time the volume was reissued in 1971, Wilder could observe, “Today we have moved beyond either an idealist aesthetic in art or a theological rationalism in religion, and wide common ground is opened up in our total exploration of language and its uses” (from the introduction). The reappearance of the volume attests to the enduring contribution of Amos Wilder to the field of biblical studies and to the validity of this approach to studying the New Testament.

Amos N. Wilder was, at the time of his death in 1993, Hollis Professor of Divinity Emeritus at Harvard Divinity School. Known as a poet, theologian, and literary critic, Wilder authored more than thirty-five volumes, including poems that grew out of his experience as an ambulance driver in World War I, numerous books on the Bible, literature, and theology, and a volume on his younger brother, playwright and author Thornton Wilder.