According to the Scriptures: The Origins of the Gospel and of the Church's Old TestamentWm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1998 - 147 pages This book calls for a reevaluation of the Old Testament and its role in the Church. It is written out of the conviction that the church needs to claim the Old Testament as its own but also to grant the legitimacy of the Jewish claim on Israel's sacred Scriptures. The author is concerned to debunk several ideas, including the popular notions that Paul was the real inventor of Christianity; that a great gulf exists between the Old Testament and the New Testament; that the early Christians used the Old Testament to prove their already established belief in Jesus; and that Christianity is less credible or valuable if it is seen to depend on Jewish traditions. Van Buren's starting point is an exploration of the meaning and origin of the early Christian confession, "Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures"-particularly the last part of the confession. Van Buren argues that the wording of this early, pre-Pauline gospel confession was the result of a creative application of early Jewish interpretations of scripture, especially of the Binding of Isaac story in Genesis 22. Christians need to affirm the legitimacy of their understanding Christ in light of the Old Testament, argues van Buren, but they also need to grant the legitimacy of the Jewish reading of scripture. The interpretive traditions of both religious communities-Judaism and Christianity-need to be respected. Clearly and elegantly written, this book represents a sensitive ecumenical effort at fostering Jewish-Christian dialogue: a book that both Jews and Christians can read with profit. |
Contents
Introduction | 3 |
The Gospel before Paul | 10 |
The Context | 23 |
According to the Scriptures | 30 |
From the Depths of the Scriptures | 38 |
The Gospel and Paul | 51 |
The Gospel and the Gospels | 60 |
THE SCRIPTURES OF THE GOSPEL | 69 |
The Old Testament not Tanak or Hebrew Bible | 83 |
On the Art of Reading the Old Testament | 94 |
Who Then Is the Beloved Son and Whose? | 105 |
The Gospel in a Dual Reading of Scripture | 118 |
Our Irreplaceable Old Testament | 129 |
136 | |
142 | |
144 | |
Common terms and phrases
Abraham anti-Judaic aqedah beloved Bible biblical binding of Isaac blessing Book Burton L called century chapter Charlesworth Child Sacrifice Christian church christological communities Corinthians covenant crucified Messiah David death and resurrection disciples discovery divine Donald Juel dual reading early gospel Easter empty tomb Esau Eucharist evidence exaltation exegesis exegetical Exodus faith father follow formulation Fortress Galatians Genesis Gentiles God's gospel according gospel that Paul Hebrew Hebrew Bible historical human interpretation of Israel's Isaiah Ishmael Israel Israel's scriptures Israel's story Jacob Jesus Christ Jesus of Nazareth Jews Jews and Christians Joseph King Levenson LORD Luke Marcion Messiah Messianic Exegesis Moses N. T. Wright Old Testament original Paul's Philadelphia Philippians postbiblical Jewish pre-Pauline gospel promises prophets Psalm 89 Pseudepigrapha Pseudo-Philo Rabbi reading of Israel's revealed Romans sacrifice Sarah Septuagint speak story of Jesus tell Temple Theology tion Torah translation typological University Press words