_awakening

Community of God.

Recently I had a conversation with Jamie about the need to find something to keep me more connected to the academic world... and then this. I was asked to help TA a course at the Haggard Graduate School of Theology at Azusa Pacific by my thesis advisor, Karen Winslow. We had had the conversation a ways back about the possibility of me sitting in one of her classes as a TA and the timing couldn't be better. So starting next week, I'll be helping with GBBL 631 - Community of God.

This class in particular was one that played an important roll in my academic journey. It was because of this class that I was exposed in a much deeper way to the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Qumran community. Here's the class description for GBBL 631:

When Jews returned from exile in Babylon, they constructed a Jewish identity around the Torah, other ancient traditions, and the rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem, During the period of our study, 537—AD 70, they lived under the control of Persians, Greeks, and Romans, except for the century of Hasmonean rule. The ancient resources for our study include Ezra, Nehemiah, 1-2 Chronicles, certain prophets, the Elephantine papyri, Jubilees, the Qumran library, the Targums, Josephus, and Philo. This study of diverse Jewish communities of the “Second Temple period” forms a context for understanding the early Jesus movement, as well as for Rabbinic Judaism, which emerged after the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE.

The class is pretty comprehensive as students are exposed to a wide variety of texts and current scholarship on the time period. The required reading looks like this:

An Introduction to Early Judaism - James C. VanderKam

The Dead Sea Scrolls Today - James C. VanderKam

Rebecca's Children: Judaism and Christianity in the Roman World - Alan F. Segal

Early Judaism: Religious Worlds of the First Judaic Millennium - Martin S. Jaffee

Beyond the Essene Hypothesis: The Parting of the Ways between Qumran and Enochic Judaism - Gabriele Boccaccini

I'm totally looking forward to the class. It should be quite the experience. I'll post more later from the goings on of class as I can.

The Road to Nicaea.

April DeConick recently started a new series of posts entitled Jesus on the Road to Nicaea. The series explores the issues, both theological and sociological, that influenced Nicaea. While definitely a quick overview, she provides some food for thought. You can read her posts here:

Jesus on the Road to Nicaea 1: The Controversies

Jesus on the Road to Nicaea 2: The Lay of the Land

Jesus on the Road to Nicaea 3: Anti-Semitism

Thesis Abstract.

So today I spent the better part of the day working on my thesis paper. [With it being so blasted hot, this worked out really nicely.] Anyway, if you're interested, here's the abstract in working form. Enjoy.

The interaction between God and his people is one of covenantal journey, one marked by faith and a deep hope. Perhaps nowhere is this ideal more captured than in the textual writings of the Second Temple Period, especially within those texts often demarcated as “apocalyptic” writings. These texts, formulated by various communities within the Second Temple Period, display a yearning and a strong belief that God is not absent, but quite present in their midst. Trusting in his past faithfulness and promises, these communities believed that God was about to act significantly in their present context, bringing about the expectant hope of complete restoration.

To more deeply appreciate these texts and the communities that developed them, we must initially explore the development of apocalyptic literature as a genre and a vehicle for this expression of faith and hope. How did this genre develop and why was it chosen as a central vehicle of the Second Temple Period? Secondarily, we must explore the texts themselves and their relationship to received texts and traditions. How did these authors and redactors see their texts? Were they “scripture” on equal footing as the received texts of their day? How did they use the vehicle of apocalyptic literature to portray their dreams, desires, and understanding of God and his activity in the world? On a broader scale, what can we learn about the category of “scripture” from the texts collected and produced in the Second Temple Period?

The aim of this paper is to explore selected writings of the Second Temple Period in order to gain a vision of how various expressions of Judaism understood their relationship with God and their world. By specifically exploring the nature of their writings, both of content and category, we hope to gain a clearer vision of their self-understanding, along with their vision of God and his activity in the present world. Central to our discussion will be how these communities utilized the writings that had been handed down to them in the development of their own textual traditions. It is in this interaction with received texts that we have an insightful vantage point into their self-understanding and their view of their own particular texts.

We will be examining three main texts produced from three different communities, which exhibit varied nuances of “Judaisms” within the larger Jewish community of the Second Temple Period – 1 Enoch, the book of Daniel, and the Habakkuk pesharim from the community at Qumran. All three texts evidence an unfolding theological trajectory rooted in an apocalyptic worldview. They all display a reliance upon received texts and traditions, which are integrated into new forms and endowed with new meanings, resulting in a wholly new textual creation.

Nooma 024 Whirlwind.

The latest Nooma offer, Whirlwind, has been posted by the good people at Flannel on their website to watch in its entirety. It beautifully explores suffer and Job. If you have ever gone thorugh difficult times, this is a much watch. Don't know how much longer it will be up, so swing by and enjoy.

[HT: Mike Todd]

Reviews and More Reviews.

A sampling of the latest from Review of Biblical Literature. Enjoy.

H. Ausloos, F. García Martínez, M. Vervenne, J. Cook, and B. Lemmelijn, eds.
Translating a Translation: The LXX and Its Modern Translations in the Context of Early Judaism
Reviewed by Tuukka Kauhanen

Craig A. Evans and Emanuel Tov, eds.
Exploring the Origins of the Bible: Canon Formation in Historical, Literary, and Theological Perspective
Reviewed by Everett Ferguson

Weston W. Fields
The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Short History
Reviewed by Eric F. Mason

Harry Alan Hahne
The Corruption and Redemption of Creation: Nature in Romans 8.19-22 and Jewish Apocalyptic Literature
Reviewed by Ron Fay

Jacob Neusner and Alan J. Avery-Peck, eds.
Encyclopedia of Religious and Philosophical Writings in Late Antiquity: Pagan, Judaic, Christian
Reviewed by Mark D. Nanos

Karel van der Toorn
Scribal Culture and the Making of the Hebrew Bible
Reviewed by Frank Polak

Biblical Tensions.

I've been reading Peter Enn's book, Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament, of late. The book a a whole seems to be directed toward a decidedly evangelical audience, dealing with the issues surrounding the nature of what the Scriptures are and what kind of historical context they derive from. While it is nothing too revolutionary in nature, I can see how this book caused quite a stir at Westminster Theological Seminary. I think Enns deals honestly with the problems that arise from a critical study of the Hebrew Scriptures, examining them from a more decidedly evangelical view [although I think in the end Enns feels somewhat uncomfortable with the label].

In any event, I came across this nugget which struck a chord with me. Looking at the difference between Jewish interpretive and "evangelical" interpretive ventures, Enns notes:

A look at the major Jewish texts that engage in biblical interpretation (Mishnah, Talmud, midrashic literature) reveals an approach to biblical interpretation that, among other things, expends tremendous energy in engaging [biblical] tensions and ambiguities. In fact, these ancient interpreters seem to revel in the chance to do so; the Bible itself, precisely because of its inherent ambiguities and tensions, is believed to invite problem solving. And if one were to look closely at some of these Jewish interpretive texts, one would see that these biblical tensions and ambiguities are solved in multiple - even contradictory - ways, and these solutions are allowed to remain side by side in these authoritative canons of Jewish traditions. The stress seems to be not on solving the problems once and for all but on a community upholding a conversation with Scripture with creative energy...

As quite distinct from Jewish interpretation, the history of modern evangelical interpretation exhibits a strong degree of discomfort with the tensions and ambiguities of Scripture. The assumptions often made are that Scripture should have no tensions and that any such tensions are not real but introduced from the outside, namely, by scholarship hostile to evangelical Christianity. Whatever tensions remain are addressed either by posing some direct solution (however ingenious) or by moving the problem to the side ("We know it has to fit somehow; we just aren't sure how.")

I think Enns hit the issues succinctly. Whereas Jewish interpreters felt at home with textual tensions and ambiguities, evangelical interpreters often go through mental contortions in order to harmonize everything into unified whole. This is where the problem lies. The biblical texts we have are not a unified, monolithic whole. They include "diversity," as Enns puts it. Tensions and ambiguities are a part of the very fabric of the texts. To deny such is disingenuous to the texts themselves.

Perhaps this is an issue of faith. Here's a question. Who has a more faith-filled expression of embracing the texts? Would it be interpreters who accept the text as is and wrestle with the implications, allowing the tensions to remain in focus or would it be those who feel the need to "protect" the text by doing mental gymnastics to eliminate all hint of tensions and diversity?

I especially liked Enns' statement, "The stress seems to be not on solving the problems once and for all but on a community upholding a conversation with Scripture with creative energy." I think this is the posture we need to engage the text with - an open-handed wrestling with the text.

Enns has not spent much time on it yet in the book, but I think the metaphor of incarnation is an apt one. The text is a beautifully mysterious mixture of the human and the divine, one that is not fully explainable. As we embrace in the divinty of the incarnated Son, so we must embrace the text. I think there is something here to explore further...

International Septuagint Day.

Apparently, today, February 8th, has been deemed International Septuagint Day [not to mention it being my oldest daughter Megan's birthday!] For those of you saying, "The Sept-tu-a-what?" - perhaps a little background might be in order. The Septuagint is a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible which was believed to created somewhere between the third century BCE [the Pentateuch portions] and late second century/beginning of the first century BCE for the rest of the Hebrew Bible. The term "Septuagint" comes from the Latin Septuaginta, which means "seventy" [thus the shorthand LXX], which refers to the popularized legend that the text was produced by seventy elders.

So in honor of International Septuagint Day, Tyler Williams has offered some resources, as well as some of the top reasons to study the Septuagint. [I especially liked the last reason...]

• The Septuagint preserves a number of Jewish-Greek writings from the pre-Christian era not contained in the Hebrew Bible (known in Christian circles as the Apocrypha or the Deuterocanonical works)
• As such, study of the LXX can provide a glimpse into the thought and theology of diaspora Jews before the common era.
• For the majority of the books of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, the LXX provides us the earliest witness to the biblical text (earlier than most of Hebrew witnesses found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, for example) and is indispensable for textual criticism.
• The LXX provides a unique glimpse into the literary and textual development for some books of the Old Testament (e.g., Jeremiah, Esther, Daniel), as well as the sometimes fuzzy border between literary development and textual transmission.
• Insofar that all translations are interpretations, the LXX provides one of the earliest commentaries on the Hebrew Bible.
• The LXX gives us a glimpse of the shape of the OT canon before the common era (at least for Greek-speaking Judaism in the diaspora, perhaps not for Palestinian Jews).
• The LXX functioned as the Bible of most of the early Greek-speaking Christians (and continues to function as such for the Greek Orthodox Church).
• In connection with the previous point, the LXX often served as a theological lexicon for the writers of the NT, and as such it provides a fruitful avenue of research into the background of many of the theological terms and concepts in the NT.
• The LXX was the preferred Scriptures for many of the early church fathers and is essential for understanding early theological discussions.
• It’s a great conversation starter at parties (Attractive Woman/Man: “Read any good books lately?” Budding LXX student: “Why yes, I was just reading the Septuagint today!” Attractive Woman/Man: “The Sept-tu-a-what?” Budding LXX student: “Let me buy your a drink and tell you more…”)

So there you have it. Let me be perhaps the first to wish you and yours and very happy International Septuagint Day.

I know, your day is now complete...

Ancient Israel and the Afterlife.

Stephen L. Cook, professor of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament at Virginia Theological University, posted an essay on his blog, entitled Funerary Practices and Afterlife Expectations in Ancient Israel. It was an article that first appeared in the online journal Religion Compass last year.

As the title implies, it is an exploration of the funeral practices of the Ancient Israelites and what kind of light they shed on the concept and expectations they held about the afterlife. Here is the abstract from the essay:

Ancient Israel was thoroughly familiar with existence beyond death. Individual personalities survived the death of the body, most Israelites believed, albeit in a considerably weakened and vulnerable state. The ensnaring tentacles of Sheol constantly threatened the living-dead, but the fortunate among them were able to use the power of kinship bonds to keep Sheol’s threats at bay. The traditional ties of lineage and kin-bonding, according to biblical Yahwism, were an actual way for the living-dead to pull themselves back from death’s devouring suction. Ancient Israel’s funerary practices and afterlife expectations are greatly illumined by recent archaeological studies and by a new comparative model that draws on data gleaned from African ethnography.

This fascinating essay is a good introduction to the scholarly debate surrounding the ideology of the resurrection and the afterlife in Ancient Israel. Well worth the time to read and digest...

Speaking of the Canon...

Here's a useful interactive "Canon Comparison Chart" from Vincent Setterholm of Logos [click on image]. It's an easy way of seeing what is and is not in each of the major canonizations of the scriptures. Included are the canons of the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Hebrew Bible, Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Syriac, Ethiopian, and Protestant. One major learning here is that even when you are talking about the scriptures, not everyone is following the same canon.

[HT: Biblical Studies and Technological Tools]

The Wilderness.

This year has been a year of wilderness. In fact, when I look back it feels like we've been in the wilderness for much longer. I don't know when it really began - all I know is that this season has been marked by a deep and abiding wilderness experience. As I look back over this past year, I'm not really where I thought I'd be, nor really where I want to be. At times I feel resigned that I am where God has me, other times I feel so very far away.

As a part of my advent reading for this season, few passages have spoken to me as deeply as Isaiah 40.3-5:

A voice cries out:
"In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD,
     make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
     and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
     and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed.
     and all the people shall see it together,
     for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

While most translations begin this text with "A voice cries out in the wilderness," what I love about the NRSV is that they render the voice as not coming from the wilderness, but as a proclamation about the nature of what is about to occur in the wilderness. I think this is more faithful to the entirety of the Hebrew scriptures, as the wilderness was a place of separation from Jerusalem, a desolate place of exile. What the NRSV captures is the liberating nature of the text.

Isaiah 40.3-5 is as announcement of return for those in the wilderness. It is not a voice in the wilderness coming with a new message as much as it is a voice calling to those in the wilderness, in this case the nation of Israel, calling them home. Even more, it is a proclamation that God will himself pave the way for their return. It is a message of hope for those who are without hope. It is a message for those who think that things will never change, that the wilderness is the way things will be now, reminding them that God has not forgotten you. He has seen where you are in the wilderness and now is the time of your return. Now is the time of restoration. God has seen. God is making a way home.

As I've been reflecting on this passage and our own time in the wilderness, here are a few ideas that keep coming back to me over and over:

The wilderness brings about awareness. It seems like only in the wilderness, when things are stripped away, does one truly begin to see what is real. The wilderness forces you to be still and to listen. It forces you to take an honest, and sometimes painful look at yourself. The wilderness exposes. Nothing can truly hide when you are in the wilderness.

The wilderness brings about a yearning for restoration. When you live in the wilderness, one of the inevitable questions that comes is this - How long? How long, God, will I be here. How long will this be the place that I live in? Living in the wilderness births a hunger to be restored - to be refreshed again, to return to places of healing and wholeness. This is what I think is at the heart of Isaiah 40.3-5. To truly hear the impact of the proclamation that God is making a way, I think one needs to live in the wilderness, haunted by the question, "Is this just the way it is going to be from now on?" To hear the proclamation with joy, I think one needs to be in a place of yearning for restoration, much like the nation of Israel was.

The wilderness brings about patience. Wilderness yearning can lead to discouragement, but it can also lead to faith. The nation of Israel, while in the midst of discouragement, cried out to God. I think this is the ethos of the Psalms and the Prophets. "God, where are you? Why have you abandoned us? Why are we in this wilderness?" Yet in the midst of their crying out to God, there was this sense that they trusted God would someday act. That the God of old, who stepped into their situation in Egypt and acted on their behalf, would do it once again. When you believe that God is the God who acts, and that someday he will act once again, patient faith begins to be rekindled.

And so we sit... waiting in the wilderness for the voice of the LORD. We do not know how or when things will change, but this we do know. God sees those who live in the wilderness. He knows where they are, and someday a voice will cry out: "Make way, for the God who acts has acted and he is bringing his people back."