Ancient Judaism and Christian Origins

by Nickelsburg, George W. E.

ISBN13: 9780800636128

ISBN10: 0800636120

Format: Paperback

Pub. Date: 2003-09-01

Publisher(s): Fortress Pr

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Summary

Readers: Scholars of Judaism and early Christianity; college, university, and seminary students; clergy

Author Biography

George W. E. Nickelsburg is Emeritus Professor of Religion at the University of Iowa.

Preface	p. xv
Abbreviations	p. xvii
Introduction	p. 1
The Renewed Study of Early Judaism	p. 1
Implications for the Study of Christian Origins	p. 3
Historical	p. 4
Theological	p. 4
Methodological	p. 5
The Task and Scope of This Book	p. 6
Scripture and Tradition	p. 9
The Situation in Early Judaism	p. 9
The Extent of the Authoritative Corpus	p. 9
Manuscripts from the Caves of the Judean Desert	p. 9
The Components of the Canon	p. 10
The Developing Text of the Hebrew Bible	p. 11
Scripture in Its Interpretive Context	p. 12
The "Rewritten Bible": The Rise of Haggadah	p. 12
Interpretation of the Prophetic Texts	p. 15
The Servant of the Lord: A Multivalent Symbol	p. 17
Summary	p. 20
Scripture in the Early Church	p. 21
The Biblical Canon of the Early Church	p. 22
The Text of Scripture	p. 23
Biblical Interpretation in the Early Church	p. 24
The Church Read Scripture within Its Traditional Interpretations	p. 24
The Use of Rabbinic Traditions in New Testament Exegesis	p. 25
Jewish Precedents for the Rise and Development of the Jesus Tradition	p. 26
The Creation of Narrative Haggadah about Jesus	p. 26
The Development of the Synoptic Tradition	p. 27
Disagreements over the Bible and Its Interpretation: A Cause for "Unbelief"	p. 28
Torah and the Righteous Life	p. 29
A Theological Problem for the Church	p. 29
Torah in the Hebrew Scriptures	p. 31
The Covenantal Context of Torah	p. 32
Torah as Instruction Rather Than Simply Law	p. 33
The Prevalence of Torah and Covenant in the Hebrew Scriptures	p. 34
The Wisdom Literature: A Special Case	p. 34
Divine Justice and Grace	p. 35
Torah and the Righteous Life in Early Judaism	p. 36
The Role of Torah during the Antiochan Persecution	p. 36
Faith and Obedient Action in the Jewish Texts	p. 38
Torah and the Wisdom Tradition	p. 39
Wisdom apart from the Mosaic Torah	p. 41
Who Are "the Righteous" and "the Sinners"?	p. 42
Summary: What the Texts Indicate and Do Not Indicate	p. 44
The Development of Halakah and the Rise of Sectarianism	p. 44
A Note on Rabbinic Halakic Texts	p. 44
The Heritage of Deuteronomic Theology: The Dynamics of Lawmaking and Legal Interpretation in the Book of Jubilees	p. 45
Enochic Law	p. 46
The Sectarian Torah of Qumran	p. 47
Sect and Revealed Torah	p. 48
Halakah as the Updating of Torah	p. 49
Summary: The Responsibility to Act Righteously	p. 49
Torah and Grace in Judaism	p. 50
Torah and the Righteous Life in Early Christianity	p. 51
Divine Judgment on the Basis of Human Deeds	p. 51
Justification and the Righteous Life in Paul	p. 53
A Spectrum of Early Christian Attitudes about the Torah	p. 54
Paul's Christian Predecessors and Contemporaries	p. 54
Torah and Halakah in the Synoptic Jesus Tradition	p. 55
Wisdom Instruction and the Righteous Life	p. 57
Hellenistic Models for New Testament Ethical Instruction	p. 57
The Synoptics and Paul: Christological Models and Ethical Teaching	p. 58
Summary	p. 58
God's Activity in Behalf of Humanity	p. 61
Models in Jewish Texts	p. 61
Deliverance Is a Pervasive Motif	p. 61
Two Major Developments	p. 62
The Cosmic Character of Evil	p. 62
Locating Decisive Deliverance in the Eschaton	p. 64
Salvation from Sin and Its Consequences	p. 64
The Sacrificial System	p. 65
Exilic Alternatives to the Sacrificial System	p. 65
Continuations of These Developments	p. 66
Suffering as Scourging, Discipline, or Chastisement	p. 66
Martyrdom as Expiation and Propitiation	p. 66
Righteous Deeds as a Means of Atonement	p. 67
Prayers of Confession	p. 68
Eschatological Cleansing and a Heavenly High Priest	p. 69
Salvation from One's Enemies	p. 69
Eschatological Judgment and Deliverance	p. 70
Salvation within History	p. 70
A Tension between Ideologies and Ambiguity about the Eschaton	p. 71
Healing and Rescue from Death	p. 72
Salvation as Revelation	p. 73
The Scope of Divine Blessing and Salvation	p. 75
A Spectrum of Biblical Attitudes	p. 75
Salvation for the Nations	p. 76
Israel versus the Nations	p. 77
Interpretations of Idols and Idolatry	p. 78
Sectarian Judaism	p. 78
God's Interaction with Humanity according to Early Christianity	p. 79
Salvation from Sin	p. 79
Jesus' Death for Others	p. 79
Attitudes about the Temple	p. 80
Salvation through Repentance	p. 80
The Humanity of the Son of God and the Transcendence of His Spirit: A Solution for the Anthropological Problem of Sin	p. 81
Rescue from One's Enemies	p. 82
Salvation as Healing	p. 83
Salvation as Revelation	p. 83
The Scope of Salvation	p. 85
Sectarianism in the Context of Universalism	p. 87
Summary	p. 87
Agents of God's Activity	p. 89
God's Agents in Early Judaism	p. 90
When God Acts Alone	p. 90
Human Agents	p. 91
The King	p. 91
The High Priest and Cult	p. 93
Prophets and Revealer Figures	p. 96
Transcendent Agents	p. 97
The Holy Watchers: Attendants and Agents of the Heavenly King	p. 98
The Four or Seven Holy Watchers	p. 99
Witnesses, Scribes, Intercessors	p. 99
Executors of God's Judgment	p. 100
General of the Army	p. 100
God's High Priest	p. 100
Melchizedek	p. 101
Raphael: God's Healer	p. 101
Messengers and Interpreters	p. 101
Facilitators of Righteousness	p. 102
Guardians and Governors of the Cosmos	p. 102
God's Vice-Regent: "One Like a Son of Man"	p. 103
Two Major Transcendent Figures	p. 103
Wisdom	p. 103
The Enochic Son of Man/Chosen One/Righteous One	p. 104
The Lord's Persecuted and Exalted Spokesman: A Synthesis and Transition	p. 106
Summary	p. 108
Early Christian Speculation about Jesus	p. 108
Jesus as God's Unique Agent	p. 108
New Testament Models of the Messiah	p. 109
Davidic King	p. 109
Anointed Priest	p. 109
Son of Man	p. 110
The Righteous One and Servant of the Lord	p. 111
God's Spokesman, the Mouthpiece of Wisdom	p. 112
The Incarnation of Preexistent Wisdom and Logos	p. 113
Philippians 2:6-11: A Problematic Text	p. 113
The Gospel according to Mark: Son of Man and Son of God	p. 114
Jesus as Healer	p. 115
The Exaltation of Jesus: The Foundation of Christology	p. 115
Jewish "Unbelief"	p. 115
Jesus' "Messianic Consciousness"	p. 116
Summary	p. 116
Eschatology	p. 119
The Bible's Developing Eschatological Tendency	p. 120
Jeremiah and Ezekiel	p. 120
Second and Third Isaiah	p. 121
The Legacy of Prophecy	p. 122
Jewish Writings of the Greco-Roman Period	p. 123
The Apocalypses in 1 Enoch and Daniel	p. 123
Teleology and the Fulfillment of Prophecy	p. 124
Pseudepigraphic Apocalypses and the Fulfillment of Prophecy	p. 125
Qumran: An Eclectic, Eschatologically Oriented Community	p. 126
The Eschatology of Some Heavily Hellenized Jewish Texts	p. 128
Eschatology: A Common Horizon Seen from Many Points of View	p. 129
Variations on a Common Theme	p. 130
Messianism	p. 130
The Kingdom of God	p. 130
Resurrection, Immorality, and Eternal Life	p. 131
The locus of the New Age	p. 131
The Distinction between Eschatology and Apocalypticism	p. 132
Eschatological Timetables	p. 133
Realized Eschatology	p. 133
The Lack of Explicit Eschatology	p. 134
Summary	p. 134
The Eschatological Orientation of Early Christianity	p. 135
John the Baptist--Herald of the End Time	p. 135
When the End Is Not Yet the End	p. 136
The Tension between Present and Future in the Early Jesus Tradition	p. 136
Fulfillment and Expectation in the Epistles of Paul	p. 137
The Presence of Eschatological Realities in the Post-Pauline Tradition	p. 139
Fulfillment and Postponement in Luke	p. 139
The Presence of Judgment and Eternal Life in the Fourth Gospel	p. 140
Resurrection, Immortality, and Eternal Life	p. 141
The Resurrection and Exaltation of Jesus	p. 141
Modes of Resurrection and Eternal Life	p. 142
The Locus of Final Salvation	p. 144
Jewish Responses to the Gospel: A Noneschatological Horizon	p. 144
Summary	p. 145
Contexts and Settings	p. 147
Ancient Texts as Historical Artifacts	p. 147
Responses to Troubled Times	p. 149
Geographic Location	p. 150
Judaism and Hellenism	p. 150
Temple, Cult, and Priesthood	p. 153
The Synagogue	p. 154
Religious Groups	p. 160
Sources	p. 160
Methodology	p. 161
The Pharisees	p. 162
The Sadducees	p. 166
The Essenes and the Qumran Community	p. 167
The Hasidim	p. 176
Other Groups, Communities, and Sects	p. 178
Summary	p. 181
Variety among Jewish Groups and Sects	p. 181
Early Christianity and Its Relationship to Sectarian Judaism	p. 182
Conclusions and Implications	p. 185
Diversity within Early Judaism and Early Christianity: A Comparison	p. 185
Scripture and Tradition	p. 185
Torah and the Righteous Life	p. 186
God's Activity in Behalf of Humanity	p. 187
Agents of God's Activity	p. 189
Eschatology	p. 190
Contexts and Settings	p. 191
Judaism and Early Christianity: Where They Differed and Why They Parted	p. 193
The Consequences of These Events	p. 195
The Curious Irony of Gentile Christian Exclusivism	p. 195
The Triumph of Christianity without the Torah	p. 195
A Denigrating Comparison of Judaism and Christianity	p. 196
The Backwash of Christian Apocalyptic Eschatology	p. 196
Looking to the Future: Some Possibilities	p. 197
Three Axioms for Exegetical and Historical Study	p. 198
Exegetical and Historical Possibilities	p. 198
Theological and Practical Consequences	p. 199
Notes	p. 201
Index of Passages Cited	p. 245
Index of Authors	p. 259
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