Part 4: The Religion and Theology of Israel

The line of distinction between study of the religion of Israel and study of the theology of the Old Testament is not always clear. The former focuses on a description of the ideas and actions (both good and bad) that were representative of any given period in Israel’s relationship to the divine. The latter, by contrast, seeks to establish what was normative for Hebrew religion, and its context is that of revelation as described in the Old Testament rather than religion per se. Such a definition presumes, of course, a particular understanding of biblical theology that is not always shared by writers on the subject; in actual fact, some of the books described as Old Testament theologies are actually histories of Israel’s religion, and vice versa.

The Religion Of Israel

Religious history (sometimes indistinguishable from what is called Old Testament theology) is amply covered at all levels. Basic to such a discussion is still the classic work of W. Robertson Smith, Lectures on the Religion of the Semites (Black, 1907; reprinted with supplements by KTAV, 1969). Smith leans heavily on comparative Semitic materials, drawing much material from primitive Arab cult practices; although his method is inadequate to explain the uniqueness of biblical religion, it does throw much light on externals. For a more theological treatment emphasizing the distinctive element of Israel’s faith in Yahweh as its liberator, Th. C. Vriezen’s The Religion of Ancient Israel (Westminster, translation, 1967) may be recommended. A somewhat more specialized study from the pen of H. H. Rowley, Worship in Ancient Israel (Fortress, 1967), discusses ways in which the worship of Yahweh came into Israel and various aspects of this worship in the temple and the later synagogue. From H. Ringgren comes another general treatment of the subject, Israelite Religion (Fortress, translation, 1966). Ringgren, whose main interest is the period of the monarchy, has written a book of great use to the general reader.

Similarly committed both to comparative methodology and to the uniqueness of Old Testament religion are three by W. F. Albright: Archaeology and the Religion of Israel (Doubleday, revised, 1968), From the Stone Age to Christianity (Doubleday, revised, 1957), and Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan (London University, 1968). The first volume looks at the subject from the standpoint of modern archaeological research and deals particularly with the period between the conquest and the early monarchy; the second is a more extensive analysis of the developing process of monotheism and might be considered Albright’s classic effort; the third contains the mature reflections of the author on the relation between Israelite and Canaanite religion. Also from the pen of an archaeologist, and graced with a foreward by Albright, is the non-technical survey by J. L. Kelso, Archaeology and the Ancient Testament: The Christian God of the Old Testament vs. the Canaanite Religion (Zondervan, 1968).

Greatly divergent views are represented by the collected essays of certain Old Testament scholars, notably A. Alt’s Essays on Old Testament History and Religion (Blackwell, 1966), I. Engnell’s A Rigid Scrutiny (Vanderbilt, 1969), and M. Noth’s The Laws in the Pentateuch and Other Essays (Oliver and Boyd, 1966). Each of these volumes is made up of selections from the author’s more extensive writings; all are intended for the advanced scholar, and despite their unquestioned value, none of them reflects a particularly conservative attitude toward the biblical sources. For a minority report on Hebrew religion, see Y. Kaufmann’s The Religion of Israel, abridged from an eight-volume Hebrew original (University of Chicago, 1960), a book that should be required reading for all aspiring Old Testament scholars. Kaufmann combines reverence for the Scriptures with a creative approach to critical questions, a combination that has produced considerable stimulation to research as well as its share of controversy.

A number of monographs treating various phases of Canaanite or Israelite religious history could also be mentioned alongside the more general treatments listed above. For research purposes, however, the student should familiarize himself with works on Ugaritic literature, Palestinian archaeology, and Babylonian ritual (cf. our earlier sections on these subjects). Perhaps a coming day will see the production of a much needed major work from an evangelical writer in this fruitful field.

Theology Of The Old Testament

To an earlier generation of theologians, biblical or Old Testament theology was simply the exegetical preparation for doing systematic theology. The older literature in this genre is abundant, and we shall make no attempt to outline the material. Most scholars who write theologies of the Old Testament today have in common a concern that the content of Hebrew theological thought be developed within a historical context. But having said this, we must point out that much difference of opinion exists among the various writers.

To get some idea of the issues involved and the historical development of the subject, the reader should begin with an introductory volume, such as the concise treatment by R. C. Dentan, Preface to Old Testament Theology (Seabury, 1963). Considerably less comprehensive, but important as an apology for a more traditional, Reformed formulation of categories, is E. J. Young’s The Study of Old Testament Theology Today (Revell, 1959). A good survey of seven influential writers on Old Testament theology is Contemporary Old Testament Theologians, edited by Robert Laurin (Judson, 1970).

There is really no “best” textbook on the theology of the Old Testament; the student will be best advised to sample the various volumes mentioned below and learn first-hand the organizing principle used in each. A good starting point is F. F. Bruce’s New Testament Development of Old Testament Themes (Eerdmans, 1968), which opens with a chapter organizing the subject under the category of promise and fulfillment. In actuality, Bruce is arguing against any single “catch-phrase” as dominant within the study of Old Testament theology; he claims that only in light of New Testament fulfillment can a true unity be found (cf. the discussion of von Rad, below).

One approach is to organize the subject under some combination of the doctrines of God, man, and salvation. The older work of L. Koehler, Old Testament Theology (Westminster, translation, 1957), which stresses the concept of God as Lord, contains useful word studies but is marked by the curious description of the cult of Israel as “man’s expedient for his own redemption.” Organized similarly to Koehler, and highly rated for comprehensiveness and clarity, is E. Jacob’s Theology of the Old Testament (Harper, translation, 1958). This volume stresses God’s mastery of history and is, among the theologies organized in the traditional form, perhaps the most useful textbook for students. Although all the theologies noted here are “Christian” in overall point of view, An Outline of Old Testament Theology by Th. C. Vriezen (Westminster, translation, 1958) and A Christian Theology of the Old Testament by G. A. F. Knight (Westminster, 1959) are distinguished by a more definite commitment to a specifically Christian understanding of the Old Testament message. Although it has weaknesses, the latter is characterized by new ways of looking at old subjects and will prove especially useful to the audience for which it was written (i.e., the intelligent churchman). The many paragraphs devoted to Old Testament imagery will be found homiletically useful.

Only two major American works are available representing the traditionally evangelical point of view. In 1948 G. Vos’s useful Biblical Theology (Eerdmans) was published; this was followed in 1962 by J. B. Payne’s Theology of the Older Testament (Zondervan). The former book is rather dated; it fails to consider certain areas of Israel’s thought (e.g. the Wisdom movement) and does not refer to recent theological research. Vos attempts to trace the subject historically, but his subordination of historical matter to categories of traditional covenant theology make the entire work sound more than faintly like another systematic theology. Payne’s work, though significantly different from that of Vos, has been criticized for the same reason. The book is organized on the principle of “testament” or “will” rather than simply “covenant” behind the Hebrew word b’rith (based on Hebrews 9:15 as a starting point!) and constructs its theology on the various relationships involved in this testament. Although each subject is analyzed according to its development throughout ten historical periods, there is little indication of any meaningful distinction between various periods or groups within Israelite history. A European-origin alternative to the two books just mentioned, representing a modified form of dispensationalism, is E. Sauer’s The Dawn of World Redemption (Eerdmans, translation, 1951). Sauer follows a traditional historical outline and can be counted on for a scriptural and sometimes extremely fresh approach to his subject.

Without a doubt the two most influential works in the field are those of the German scholars Walther Eichrodt and Gerhard von Rad. Eichrodt’s Theology of the Old Testament (two volumes, Westminster, translation, 1961, 1967) uses the Covenant concept as the unifying principle and will appeal to those who see theology as firmly rooted in the historical response of the people of God. Especially useful for comparative consideration is Eichrodt’s “Excursus” at the end of the first volume, in which he deals briefly but trenchantly with his competitor von Rad. In his Old Testament Theology (two volumes, Harper & Row, translation, 1962, 1965), von Rad, like Eichrodt, rejects traditional categories of dogmatic theology (although Eichrodt seems to return partially to them in Volume II) and speaks instead of a saving history in the proclamation of God’s mighty works in the context of Israelite worship. Just what relation exists between this proclamation and the actual history of Israel (which is in fact often less than redemptive) is, to von Rad, unimportant; this point is sharply criticized by Eichrodt and modified by some of von Rad’s own students (e.g. R. Rendtorff). The only real point of unity in an Old Testament theology is, for von Rad, the typological exegesis of which he has long been an advocate. Thus we are presented with various “theologies” instead of an Old Testament “theology,” a point that the theological conservative will find difficult to accept.

Three major works from Roman Catholic scholars merit mention. Intended primarily as a students’ handbook is the very useful treatment by P. Heinisch, Theology of the Old Testament (Liturgical Press, translation, 1955). Its approach is systematic (under the headings God, Creation, Human Acts, Life After Death, and Redemption), and only the spelling of the names (following the Douay-Rheims system) and frequent references to papal encyclicals concerning the study of the Bible betray its Catholic heritage. A more ambitious work, P. van Imschoot’s Theology of the Old Testament (Desclee, translation, 1965), again follows dogmatic categories. Especially useful to the specialist are the extensive bibliographies heading each section, which include lesser-known French works along with the standard German and English materials. For the American reader, however, a much more palatable work than either of these is the volume by J. L. McKenzie, The Two-Edged Sword: An Interpretation of the Old Testament (Bruce, 1956). McKenzie’s categories are closer to those of the American biblical-theology movement, and the student wishing to evaluate current Catholic biblical thought might well begin here.

Several additional books will prove very useful for understanding the theology of the Old Testament. H. H. Rowley, the late dean of British Old Testament scholars, has left us two short volumes stressing the unity of the Old Testament and the uniqueness of its theological concepts, though without denying its evident diversity. In The Unity of the Bible (Westminster, 1955) Rowley offers a corrective to tendencies he observed in both church and missionary situations toward an almost complete neglect of the Old Testament. He felt the point of focus had to be the unity of the two testaments, and this forms the burden of his earlier work; by contrast, The Faith of Israel (SCM, 1956) provides a sketch of Old Testament theology. Although no major work on the subject has been written from a conservative evangelical point of view, Rowley’s short study, stressing both revelation through history and revelation through persons, gives some indication of the direction such a book might take.

Equally important in any discussion of Old Testament theology are the works of the American archaeologist and biblical theologian G. E. Wright. Two important monographs, both in the “Studies in Biblical Theology” series (Allenson), are The Old Testament Against Its Environment (1950) and God Who Acts (1952). In the former volume, Wright, like Rowley, is concerned to show the uniqueness of the world of the Bible, a thesis that is introductory to his work in biblical theology. In the second book he portrays Old Testament (and New Testament) theology as a recital of the great acts of God as developed in the salvation history of the testaments. This work has been fundamental in the subsequent development of the biblical-theology movement in North America and should be read by anyone who wants to understand this important trend. A third book by the same author, The Old Testament and Theology (Harper & Row, 1969), is a mature study of the socio-political content of Old Testament thinking about God and a corrective to much current existential emphasis.

Another work stressing the unique contribution of Old Testament theology is the brief treatise of N. H. Snaith, The Distinctive Ideas of the Old Testament (Shocken, 1964). It is Snaith’s conviction that a distinctive concept of God is at the root of the distinctiveness of the Old Testament, and so the book becomes a study of Hebrew ideas of God: his holiness, his righteousness, his covenant-love, his election-love, and his Spirit as a life-giving power.

The aforementioned provide just a sampling of the kind of works available from which one interested in biblical theology may choose. Important bibliographies have been provided at several points in the more general surveys, and for specific subjects the bibliographies in the better Bible dictionaries should be consulted.

Old Testament Interpretation

Closely related to Old Testament theology, both as a preliminary study and as beneficiary of the results of that discipline, is the category of Old Testament interpretation. Essays on the subject are numerous, but two particularly useful collections may be found in C. Westermann, editor, Essays on Old Testament Interpretation (John Knox, translation, 1963), and B. W. Anderson, editor, The Old Testament and Christian Faith (Harper & Row, 1963). Both books represent more of a German than American or British contribution, but leading thinkers in the area are included. Among the current literature significant articles have been contributed through the medium of two new Festschriften. Essays by G. E. Wright (“Historical Knowledge and Revelation”) and R. L. Hicks (“Form and Content: A Hermeneutical Application”) are contained in Translating and Understanding the Old Testament, in honor of H. G. May (Abingdon, 1970), edited by H. T. Frank and W. L. Reed. Another important article, “The Limits of Old Testament Interpretation” by the Edinburgh scholar N. W. Porteous, is found in Proclamation and Presence, in honor of G. H. Davies (John Knox, 1970), edited by J. I. Durham and J. R. Porter.

Two books may be mentioned that deal specifically with the relation between the testaments. C. Westermann’s The Old Testament and Jesus Christ (Augsburg, 1970) is a translation of a brief but important German work and pleads for a fresh realization that Christ is relevant to the main sections of the Old Testament and not simply to certain proof-texts. A much more difficult book, but one vital to a study of the relation between the testaments, is J. Barr’s Old and New in Interpretation (SCM, 1966). Here Barr continues arguments begun in his Semantics of Biblical Language (Oxford, 1961) and closes with an extremely critical analysis of propositional revelation in modern fundamentalism.

Two recent volumes concerned with applying biblical theology to the hermeneutical crisis in the Church are The Authority of the Old Testament (Abingdon, 1967) by J. Bright and Biblical Theology in Crisis (Westminster, 1970) by B. Childs. Bright advocates an American brand of biblical theology as the answer to the embarrassment and confusion the preacher often feels toward his Old Testament; Childs appeals for a reassessment of the biblical-theology movement in view of its current collapse. Significantly, both authors conclude with extended chapters showing how the interpreter might use the principles advocated in approaching certain passages or problems. Childs calls for a return to the Christian canon as the authoritative Scripture with which the theologian is to be concerned vis à vis recent attempts at theologizing from “some form of positivity behind the text, such as Heilsgeschichte, language phenomenology, or in a mode of consciousness illustrated by the text, such as authentic existence or the like.” Coupled with this appeal is another for a recovery of classical exegetical methodology (but not in a pre-critical sense), with its ability to view the Scripture as a whole and to discover therein the “bread of life.”

Significantly, not only Childs but Wright and others have recently taken a new look at the great classical exegetes, particularly Luther and Calvin, whose exegetical work has often been overshadowed by their systematic formulations. We are fortunate today in having access to several works that will help in this recovery. 1969 saw the publication both of J. S. Preus’s From Shadow to Promise: Old Testament Interpretation from Augustine to the Young Luther (Belknap) and of an English translation of H. Bornkamm’s important Luther and the Old Testament (Fortress). Major work on Calvin’s exegetical method is still wanting, but for a preliminary bibliography Wright’s article in Translating and Understanding the Old Testament (p. 284) may be consulted.

A corollary to the new interest in classical Christian interpretation is a renewed focus on early rabbinic exegesis. The literature on the subject, particularly from Jewish writers, is voluminous, but pride of place belongs to The Targums and Rabbinic Literature (Cambridge, 1970) by J. Bowker. Through use of selected portions of Genesis as reflected in the Targum (an interpretive Aramaic translation from the Hebrew Bible) of Pseudo-Jonathan, Bowker has written an introduction to Jewish interpretation that will be of exceptional value both to the specialist and to every student concerned with Jewish Scriptures or Christian origins.

Finally, in the field of homiletical interpretation, anyone concerned with preaching the Old (or New) Testament will want to be familiar with the small work of E. P. Clowney, Preaching and Biblical Theology (Eerdmans, 1961). Clowney represents a combination of abilities as exegete, theologian, and preacher, and calls for a return to great exegetical proclamation through the help of a covenant-oriented biblical theology.

Carl E. Armerding teaches Old Testament at Regent College in Vancouver. He received the B.D. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and the Ph.D. from Brandeis. He spent a year in Israel doing post-doctoral study.

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