The Book That Breathes New Life: Scriptural Authority and Biblical Theology

5. Biblical Faith as Narrative, Recital, Confession: An Introduction to von Rad’s Old Testament Theology

Biblical฀Faith฀as฀Narrative,฀ Recital,฀Confession An฀Introduction฀to฀von฀Rad’s฀Old฀Testament฀Theology The฀reissue฀of฀Gerhard฀von฀Rad’s฀Old฀Testament฀Theology฀is฀a฀most฀ welcome฀event,฀as฀welcome฀as฀it฀is฀important฀to฀us.฀It฀is฀clear฀that฀von฀ Rad฀(1901–1971),฀long-time฀professor฀in฀the฀University฀of฀Heidelberg,฀is฀ the฀defining฀and฀preeminent฀interpreter฀of฀the฀Christian฀Old฀Testament฀ in฀the฀twentieth฀century,฀and฀that฀this฀two-volume฀work฀is฀the฀definitive฀ publication฀of฀his฀long,฀prolific฀scholarly฀career.฀Von฀Rad’s฀work฀occupies฀ such฀a฀dominant฀place฀in฀twentieth-century฀theological฀exposition฀that฀it฀ is฀possible฀and฀useful฀to฀trace฀theological฀interpretation฀in฀the฀twentieth฀ century฀in฀terms฀of฀periods฀“pre-von฀Rad,฀von฀Rad,฀and฀post-von฀Rad.”฀ While฀that฀sequence฀has฀already฀become฀“history”฀for฀us฀at฀the฀outset฀of฀ the฀twenty-first฀century,฀it฀is฀clear฀that฀the฀turn฀von฀Rad฀has฀wrought฀in฀ expository฀method฀and฀horizon฀continues฀to฀inform฀our฀work฀in฀decisive฀ ways฀and฀will฀continue฀to฀do฀so฀for฀years฀to฀come. I No฀scholar,฀not฀even฀one฀as฀brilliant฀as฀von฀Rad,฀operates฀in฀a฀vacuum฀ or฀contributes฀to฀our฀learning฀de฀novo.฀Even฀the฀most฀innovative฀scholar฀ stands฀in฀the฀midst฀of฀an฀interpretive฀tradition฀and฀works฀with฀the฀shape฀ of฀questions฀and฀the฀horizon฀of฀possibilities฀that฀are฀already฀extant,฀even฀ determinative,฀in฀prior฀work,฀before฀new฀work฀can฀begin.1 ฀Thus฀it฀is฀important ฀to฀situate฀von฀Rad฀in฀his฀field฀of฀study฀and฀to฀discern,฀as฀best฀we฀can,฀ the฀working฀assumptions฀and฀questions฀to฀which฀he฀was฀an฀heir.฀We฀may฀ consider฀in฀turn฀the฀critical฀and฀the฀kerygmatic฀legacies฀to฀which฀von฀Rad฀ was฀a฀worthy฀and฀imaginative฀heir. 60 chapter฀ five BookThatBreathes.finalinterior.indd 60 10/5/04 5:22:52 PM Biblical฀Faith฀as฀Narrative,฀Recital,฀Confession฀฀฀61 Von฀Rad฀was฀of฀course฀well฀educated฀in฀the฀best฀historical-critical฀traditions ฀of฀nineteenth-century฀Germany.฀This฀refers฀to฀the฀entire฀sequence฀ of฀“assured฀results”฀that฀culminated฀in฀the฀great฀synthesis฀of฀Julius฀Wellhausen ,฀whose฀book฀is฀commonly฀regarded฀as฀the฀great฀crowning฀achievement ฀of฀the฀scholarship฀of฀two฀centuries.2 ฀It฀is฀common฀to฀judge฀that฀ the฀trajectory฀culminating฀in฀Wellhausen฀received฀its฀clear฀manifesto฀in฀ a฀lecture฀by฀Philip฀Gabler฀in฀1787;฀Gabler฀asserted฀that฀the฀proper฀task฀of฀ Old฀Testament฀scholarship฀is฀historical฀and฀not฀theological.3 ฀The฀negation ฀that฀Gabler฀sought฀to฀establish฀was฀that฀scholarship฀should฀no฀longer฀ operate฀within฀the฀categories฀of฀ecclesial฀church฀tradition฀or฀be฀subject฀to฀ its฀theological฀requirements.฀That฀is,฀Gabler฀articulated฀the฀emancipation฀ of฀critical฀scholarship฀from฀the฀dogmatic฀requirements฀that฀had฀emerged฀ in฀the฀seventeenth฀century.฀Positively,฀Gabler’s฀categories฀legitimated฀for฀ scholarship฀the฀task฀of฀historical฀recovery฀of฀“what฀happened,”฀a฀task฀that฀ necessitated฀reading฀texts฀in฀their฀presumed฀contexts฀of฀origin. Because฀the฀Old฀Testament฀is฀so฀complex฀and฀multilayered,฀the฀historical ฀question฀turned฀out฀to฀be฀no฀simple฀one.฀It฀required฀great฀attention฀to฀ the฀delineation฀of฀literary฀sources฀out฀of฀which฀“history”฀could฀be฀read;฀the฀ delineation฀of฀sources฀led฀in฀turn฀to฀the฀identification฀of฀different฀“religious ”฀pictures฀and฀assumptions฀reflective฀of฀different฀sources฀produced฀in฀ different฀times฀and฀circumstances฀and฀from฀different฀perspectives.฀Out฀of฀ such฀long-term฀scholarly฀problems฀concerning฀the฀historical฀and฀therefore฀ the฀religious฀complexity฀of฀the฀Old฀Testament,฀there฀emerged฀a฀powerful ฀and฀eventually฀dominant฀hypothesis฀of฀“developmentalism”฀that฀was฀ profoundly฀different฀from฀any฀interpretation฀given฀according฀to฀ecclesial฀ categories.฀The฀thesis฀of฀religious฀developmentalism—from฀simple฀to฀ complex,฀from฀polytheism฀to฀monotheism,฀from฀cult฀and฀magic฀to฀ethics —was฀matched฀by฀a฀literary฀hypothesis฀that฀came฀to฀be฀termed฀“the฀ Documentary฀Hypothesis.” By฀the฀end฀of฀the฀nineteenth฀century,฀and฀fully฀dominant฀by฀the฀time฀of฀ von฀Rad,฀there฀was฀scholarly฀agreement฀about฀the฀sequence฀of฀sources฀to฀ be฀found฀in฀the฀literature฀(JEDP).฀There฀was,฀moreover,฀agreement฀about฀ the฀developmental฀course฀of฀Israelite฀religion฀as฀it฀culminated฀in฀the฀twin฀ trajectories฀of฀Deuteronomic-prophetic฀ethics฀(regarded฀by฀German฀Protestant ฀scholars฀as฀the฀highest฀development)฀and฀the฀Priestly฀tradition฀that฀ eventuated฀in฀aspects฀of฀Judaism฀most฀disdained฀by฀the฀typical฀rational฀ German฀scholar฀who฀had฀little฀appreciation฀for฀the฀function฀or฀intention฀ of฀these฀materials. BookThatBreathes.finalinterior.indd 61 10/5/04 5:22:53 PM 62฀฀฀The฀Book฀That฀Breathes฀New฀Life The฀interpretive฀outcome฀of฀such...