Ancient Wisdom Today » Hermeneutics

Genesis 1 and Shaping a Christian Worldview

Maer — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:39:56 +0000

Daniel Kirk, author of Unlocking Romans, shared a few thoughts on his blog about J. Richard Middleton’s book The Liberating Image: The Imago Dei in Genesis 1.
You can read his thoughts in Image as Function in Gen 1, Liberating Image: Imago Dei in ANE Context, and Liberating Image: Some concluding remarks. Although I have not read the book yet, it looks like the type of book I would enjoy reading.

Here is what Peter Enns has to say about it:

“The Liberating Image is a balanced yet challenging articulation of the Imago Dei in Genesis, its ancient Near Eastern context, and its present-day theological implications. By locating himself in his postmodern context, Middleton brings a refreshing hermeneutical self-consciousness to the scholarly task, which is aimed at providing a substantive and compelling argument without posing as the last word. His analysis of Imago Dei in Genesis in the context of ancient Near Eastern religions leads Middleton to the conclusion that the Israelite theological traditions of Genesis 1-11 are recontextualized in conscious opposition to ideological categories of Mesopotamia. That Israel’s story promotes the dignity of all humans, not just of the royal or priestly classes, should have vital ethical implications for today.”

Three Views on the NT Use of the OT

Maer — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 01:20:38 +0000

Berding, Kenneth, Stanley N. Gundry and Jonathan Lunde, eds. Three Views on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2007.

Issues surrounding the NT use of the OT have been of great interest to me for a long time, so it was with equally great delight that I read yet another contribution to this complicated and yet fascinating field of study.

The structure of Three Views on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament is very simple. It contains an introduction, closing remarks by one of the editors and three essays followed by a response by the two other opposing views. Although the length of the essays were adequate, I wish more space had been given for the responses.

Reading the Old Testament with The Ancient Church

Maer — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 19:20:07 +0000

Heine, Ronald E. Reading the Old Testament with The Ancient Church: Exploring the Formation of Early Christian Thought. Grand Rapids, Michigan: BakerAcademics, 2007.

Although I am not particularly interested in the Church Fathers (CFs), there is something about their interpretation of the Bible, and in particular the OT, that fascinates me. Sometimes reading the CFs on particular issues or passages helps us understand the shape of our own hermeneutics. I also find quite interesting that people who value the contribution of the CFs tend to pick and choose the portions that they find helpful and almost ignore all the other things they have to say on other passages (often less palatable to our modern sensitivities). I will be honest, I haven’t read any complete work of any of the CFs, but I have read many of their sermons and commentaries on specific passages. Although I value their contribution to the development of Christendom and fight against heresies, I do not find them to be very helpful. This is especially true of their reading of the OT. That’s one of the reasons why I picked up this book.

Beyond the Bible

Maer — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:40:34 +0000

Marshall, I. Howard. Beyond the Bible: Moving from Scripture to Theology. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academy, 2004.

This book is a collection of three lectures by I. Howard Marshall entitled “Evangelicals and Hermeneutics,” “The Development of Doctrine,” and “The Search for Biblical Principles.” These lectures are followed by two responses by Kevn J. Vanhoozer and Stanley E. Porter. Marshall’s third lecture is where he lays out his arguments of how one goes about finding biblical patterns and principles for going beyond previous Scripture. There are basically three: 1) Christian interpretation of the OT took place in light of the NT, 2) Jesus’ teaching was given “between the times,” and 3) we need to understand apostolic preaching in light of the whole revelation of the gospel. In Vanhoozer’s mind, this comes very close to William Webb’s “redemptive trajectory” approach. I think this is exactly where Howard is heading.

Some Final Thoughts on the Sabbath

Maer — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:29:39 +0000

There are many contributions on the discussion of the Sabbath in this book. The biblical data is considered when looking at Jesus’ attitude towards the Sabbath in the four Gospels, Luke and Acts, the Pauline epistles and Hebrews. What we can safely say from these discussions is that there was not a transfer from the Sabbath to Sunday. As a matter of fact, there is doubt as to when Sunday as a day of worship actually began and, whenever it was, it was not a substitute for the Sabbath. Richard Bauckham walks us through the history of the Lord’s day, including the book of Revelation, from the post-apostolic period to the Reformation which comprises a big chunk of the book. A. T. Lincoln then tries to synthesize the results from the previous articles.

God’s Words in Human Words

Maer — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 17:13:39 +0000

Sparks, Kenton L. God’s Words in Human Words: An Evangelical Appropriation of Critical Biblical Scholarship. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academy, 2008.

There are some books that have the ability to drastically shape your worldview. This is one of them, at least for me. I found the book to be quite a challenging read and made me think about things I had never thought of before.

This book sort of reminded me of my experience reading Peter Enns’ book “Inspiration and Incarnation.” Whereas Enns focused primarily on the Old Testament, the scope of this book is a lot broader, and I felt that the author wrote as much as he wanted to get his points across without worrying about making it easier for a general audience. To me, that’s one of the strengths of the book. I liked Enns’ book quite a bit and, after all the controversy surrounding it, I have come to the conclusion that one of Enns’ book’s primary weaknesses is that it should have probably been double its size. Although Enns wrote the book for lay people at a popular level, it is quite apparent that many evangelicals are not ready for this type of book (given all the objections against it). You not only have to be nuanced when writing about the nature of Scripture, you also need to spend the time building your case from the ground up. You need to interact with other people and attempt to answer more questions than you ask even if they are tentative or preliminary. And I think Sparks’ book does a better job in that sense.

But Sparks comes from a very different perspective. At the end of his book, he says, “the importance of my project rests in its attempt to assimilate the useful methods and reasonably assured results of biblical criticism to a healthy Christian faith” (356). Perhaps it is this attempt at assimilation that is the book’s greatest strength and weakness. On the one hand, he grapples with the implications of biblical criticism and what it would mean for a Christian to engage in what he likes to call believing criticism. On the other hand, many will be put off by the fact that he believes that biblical criticism has yielded “reasonably assured results.” Many will not agree with that and may dismiss the premise of the book as fanciful. This would be a mistake. I think that the reader who may be bothered by the author’s apparent approval of the results of biblical criticism will still benefit from his discussion of what it would mean for Christians to take some of the results seriously and still believe in the inspiration and authority of the bible. Although I don’t know enough to pass judgment on most of the critical readings of the bible, I know that some of my readings are not traditional and some are. This book has made me think about how I can hold both readings and still be faithful to the word of God. This book has certainly encouraged me to dig deeper and read more broadly.

The Sabbath at the beginning of the Christian Era

Maer — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 23:38:41 +0000

This was pretty much a survey of the attitude of the Jews towards the Sabbath at the beginning of the Christian era. Rowland talks about the book of Jubilees, the Damascus Document, the Rabbinic tradition and Philo. What I am going to do is just include a few excerpts and let them speak for themselves.

Here are two excerpts from Jubilees that will give you a flavor of the author’s attitude towards the Sabbath.

And He finished all his work on the sixth day -all that is in the heavens and on the earth, and in the seas and in the abysses, and in the light and in the darkness, and in everything. And He gave us a great sign, the Sabbath day, that we should work six days, but keep Sabbath on the seventh day from all work. And all the angels of the presence, and all the angels of sanctification, these two great classes -He hath bidden us to keep the Sabbath with Him in heaven and on earth. And He said unto us: ‘Behold, I will separate unto Myself a people from among all the peoples, and these shall keep the Sabbath day, and I will sanctify them unto Myself as My people, and will bless them; as I have sanctified the Sabbath day and do sanctify (it) unto Myself, even so will I bless them, and they shall be My people and I will be their God. And I have chosen the seed of Jacob from amongst all that I have seen, and have written him down as My first-born son, and have sanctified him unto Myself for ever and ever; and I will teach them the Sabbath day, that they may keep Sabbath thereon from all work.’ And thus He created therein a sign in accordance with which they should keep Sabbath with us on the seventh day, to eat and to drink, and to bless Him who has created all things as He has blessed and sanctified unto Himself a peculiar people above all peoples, and that they should keep Sabbath together with us. And He caused His commands to ascend as a sweet savour acceptable before Him all the days . . . (Jubilees 2:16-22)

The Sabbath in the Old Testament

Maer — Sat, 31 May 2008 22:28:23 +0000

Harold H. P Dressler begins his discussion on the Sabbath by looking at the different theories about its origin. One of those theories is the Babylonian Origin which states that the Israelites learned about the concept of a seven-day week from the Canaanites who, in turn, learned it from the Babylonians. Other theories are the Lunar, Kenite, Socioeconomic and Calendar Origin. However, Dressler does not see why the Sabbath could not have originated with the Israelites specially since there is not a lot of evidence to refute it. Even the etymology of the word shabbat is not helpful since some scholars don’t see any interdependence of this word and the verb shabat (to cease, stop). Dressler summarizes: “since all available sources have failed to produce conclusive evidence for an alternative origin of the Sabbath, we suggest that the Sabbath originated with Israel and that with the Sabbath came the seven-day week” (24).

The Sages and Midrash

Maer — Thu, 29 May 2008 23:10:23 +0000

In his article entitled “Ancient Biblical Interpretation and the Biblical Sage,” James Kugel surveys the development of the interpretation of the Hebrew Bible after the exile and shows the influence that the sages had on its development. The post-exilic condition that ushered in this new wave of biblical interpretation is what Kugel calls the “mode of return” (5). Basically, the dilemma faced by those returning from exile was how to go back to the glorious days.

The interpreters of Scriptures were not only priests or Levites (due the the centrality of the laws) but also wisdom sages. If we read Proverbs, Qohelet, or Job, one of their striking characteristics is that they are quite detached from history. The post-exilic sages, however, went back to the biblical writings and showed how principles of wisdom could be derived from them. Kugel first talks about how previously the sages used the meshalim and then how these teachers of wisdom became teachers of Scripture using Sirach and the Wisdom of Solomon as examples of these “transitional figures” (12).

From Sabbath to Lord’s Day

Maer — Tue, 27 May 2008 14:01:31 +0000

I was not planning to write about the Sabbath as my next topic in hermeneutics, but I happened to come across a book in the library called “From Sabbath to Lord’s Day,” edited by D. A. Carson. Although I thought a book like this would be stimulating in many ways, my experience has been that, by the end of a book about the Sabbath, I am still left with this annoying feeling that I should have understood the big picture, but the questions are still there. But, after reading the short introduction by Carson, I thought “I gotta read this book!”

In the introduction, Carson listed some of the arguments and conclusions with which he and the writers disagreed:

“First, we are not persuaded that the New Testament unambiguously develops a “transfer theology,” according to which the Sabbath moves from the seventh day to the first day of the week. We are not persuaded that Sabbath keeping is presented in the Old Testament as the norm from the time of the creation onward. Nor are we persuade that the New Testament develops patterns of continuity and discontinuity on the basis of moral/civil/ceremonial distinctions. However useful and accurate such categories may be, it is anachronistic to think that any New Testament writer adopted them as the basis for his distinctions between the Old Testament and the gospel of Christ. We are also not persuaded that that Sunday observance arose only in the second century A. D. We think, however, that although Sunday worship arose in the New Testament times, it was not perceived as a Christian Sabbath. We disagree profoundly with historical reconstructions of the patristic period that read out from isolated and ambiguous expressions massive theological schemes that in reality developed only much later” (16).