Description
The place of the Law and its relationship to religious observance and faith is a contested topic in the study of both the Old and New Testament. In Law and Religion, members of the Erhardt Seminar group provide an insight into the debate, probing key topics and offering new contributions to the subject. Their essays are grouped into three sections, focussing in turn on the Law’s place in Israelite religion, in the Jesus tradition, and in Paul and the Apostolic tradition.
Thus, the foundation of the connection between law and religion in ancient Israel is explored, along with the decisive influence of the Deuteronomic reform and the radical new understanding now emerging of the later development in Judaism of the New Testament Period. So, also, the contemporary challenge to the conventional picture of Jesus and the Law is addressed, the attitude of Paul is shown in new light, and post-Pauline developments are examined. Readers will find in this symposium a refreshing breadth of opinion on a debate that spans the gamut of disciplines within Biblical studies.
About the Author
Barnabas Lindars SSF (1923-1991) was a New Testament scholar, Anglican priest and Franciscan friar. He taught at the University of Cambridge, and was later Rylands Professor of Biblica Criticism and Exegesis at the University of Manchester. His publications include The Theology of the Letter to the Hebrews and Behind the Fourth Gospel.
Contributors: Philip S. Alexander, Arnold A. Anderson, Richard Bauckham, George Brooke, F.F. Bruce, Adrian Curtis, Gerald Downing, Martin Kitchen, Barnabas Lindars, Roger Tomes, Christopher Tuckett
Contents
Abbreviations
Introduction
Part I. The law in Israelite religion
1. God as ‘judge’ in Ugaritic and Hebrew thought – Adrian Curtis, Lecturer in Old Testament Studies
2. Law in Old Israel: Laws Concerning Adultery – Arnold A. Anderson, Senior Lecturer in Old Testament Studies
3. ‘A Perpetual Statute Throughout Your Generations’ – Roger Tomes, Lecturer in Old Testament Studies at Northern College
4. The Temple Scroll: A Law Unto Itself? – George J. Brooke, Lecturer in Intertestamental Literature
5. Jewish Law in the Time of Jesus: Towards a Clarification of the Problem – Philip S. Alexander, Nathan Laski Senior Lecturer in Post- Biblical Jewish Studies
Part II The law in the Jesus tradition
6. All Foods Clean: Thoughts on Jesus and the Law – Barnabas Lindars SSF, Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis
7. Jesus’ Demonstration in the Temple – Richard Bauckham, Reader in the History of Christian Thought
8. Q, the Law and Judaism – Christopher Tuckett, Lecturer in New Testament Studies
9. Christ and the Law in John 7-10 – George J. Brooke
Part III The law in Paul and the apostolic tradition
10. Paul and the Law in Recent Research – F.F. Bruce, Emeritus Professor in the University of Manchester
11. Paul and the Law in Romans 5-8; an Actantial Analysis – Barnabas Lindars SSF
12. The Status of Law in the Letter to the Ephesians – Martin Kitchen, Chaplain to the Manchester Polytechnic
13. Law and Custom: Luke-Acts and Late Hellenism – F. Gerald Downing, Vice-Principal of the Northern Ordination Course
Notes
Index of References
Index of Modern Authors
Endorsements and Reviews
This is a most important collection which will be significant for biblical ethics as well as for the narrower questions of law, and deserves to be widely known Expository Times
These essays… touch on three areas which are in the centre of scholarly debate at present, and together make a useful contribution to all three. Morna D. Hooker, in Epworth Review
It can be said that none of these thirteen papers is second rate, many are lively and original, and all are highly informative. P.S. Cameron, in Scottish Journal of Theology
New light is shed especially on the Jewish context of Jesus’ ministry, but there is valuable work on the Old Testament, Qumran, John, Paul and Luke-Acts. A theme common to most of the book is the varied ways in which law might be understood, and the need to suspect simple interpretations. Of interest to graduate students and specialists, but also useful to ministers, undergraduates and intelligent college students. Walter Houston, in Theological Book Review
