It is a rare pleasure to have a set of essays in which one sees chronicled, not only the intellectual journey of an influential scholar of Christian Origins, but at the same time the very birth of a new method -- Socio-Rhetorical Criticism. The wealth of insight is breathtaking, for Robbins not only engages traditional redaction critical issues, but 'unpacks' the rhetorical aspects of Markan pericopae and the various social dynamics which ... make ground-breaking contributions to understanding how the evangelists went about composing from their source material. One cannot but be impressed with the agility of Robbins' thought, his expansive and sensitive erudition, and his care in linstening to the text. — John S. Kloppenborg, University of St. Michael's College