Book Launch - Mighty in Word and Deed

The launch of Dr Stephen Hultgren's two-volume book: Mighty in Word and Deed took place in ALC’s Library on Tuesday, 7 July. Held in conjunction with the Society of Biblical Literature’s international meeting in Adelaide, the event attracted a local Lutheran audience as well as biblical scholars from around the world.

Dr Robyn Whitaker, Associate Professor of New Testament Studies at Pilgrim Theological College in Melbourne, presided over the launch. She also stepped in to read the critical response prepared by Dr Bart Bruehler, Director of Biblical Studies at the Uniting College for Leadership and Theology in Adelaide, who was unexpectedly sidelined by illness.

Work on the two books took Stephen 15 years to complete and reflects his interest in how the New Testament gospels preserve both the early Christian community’s traditions about Jesus and the insights of the individual gospel writers.

'While scholars generally agree that the Gospel of Mark is our oldest gospel, they have differing views on how this gospel reflects memories of Jesus in the early Christian communities versus what the gospel tells us about how Mark (as an individual) wanted to tell the story', said Stephen.

'My work, using a “social memory” approach, tries to show how Mark drew on the memory frameworks of the early Christian communities, thus bringing together the roles of community and individual evangelist.'

It is Stephen’s hope that his work advances scholars’ understanding of how our oldest gospel came to be written.

This two-volume book, published by De Gruyter Brill, is available for purchase through various online outlets including Amazon and will soon be available to borrow from the ALC Library.