Chee-Chiew Lee. When Christians Face Persecution: Theological Perspectives from the New Testament

As we remember the Nicene Creed, it is fitting to recall that confession often goes hand in hand with persecution.For instance, the title page of the Belgic Confession, written in the context of opposition, includes New Testament passages that implicitly allude to persecution situations (1 Pet 3:15; Matt 10:32-33; Rom 10:10).Oscar Cullmann's classic study on early Christian confessions identifies persecution as one of the situations that gave rise to them (see Oscar Cullmann, Les Premires Confessions de foi Chrtiennes, 2nd ed.[Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1948], 19-23).Chee-Chiew Lee's hint at the connection between persecution and witness adumbrates this context (60, 64, 113).Chee-Chiew Lee is a professor of New Testament at Singapore Bible College.When Christians Face Persecution: Theological Perspectives from the New Testament is her second book-length contribution to New Testament studies; her first, The Blessing of Abraham, the Spirit, and Justification in Galatians: Their Relationship and Significance for Understanding Paul's Theology, was published by Pickwick in 2013.The current volume is the culmination of a series of scholarly articles on the topic published between 2013 and 2021.Thus, it is the fruit of an extended reflection on the subject.Lee's book on the theme of persecution in the New Testament is a welcome and insightful contribution since few book-length treatments cover the entire New Testament data.Also, her particular focus on the responses to persecution in the New Testament and her non-Western perspective on the topic make her contribution unique.Thus, it fills a gap in the literature.The book's structure reflects its emphasis on responses to persecution.After a short introduction covering definitions and methodology, chapter 1 explores the historical context, the identity of the persecutors, and the reasons behind persecution.Chapter 2 outlines forms of persecution and various responses.Chapter 3, by far the longest, expands on how the different New Testament authors instructed the early Christians facing persecution.The concluding chapter 4 summarizes this study's results, and the epilogue offers helpful applications for contemporary Christians, including the global church.Lee's definition of persecution includes the following elements: "actions," not merely "attitudes," actions that need to be "unfair or cruel"; the definition also considers the perspectives of both the "persecuted" and the "persecutor" (1).Lee's definition is very helpful and takes into account modern sociological studies of persecution.In the body of her book, she provides biblical