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

6. The Loss and Recovery of Creation in Old Testament Theology

The฀Loss฀and฀Recovery฀ of฀Creation฀in฀Old฀Testament฀ Theology There฀is฀no฀doubt฀that฀Old฀Testament฀theology,฀like฀every฀critical฀ discipline,฀is฀organized฀around฀major,฀shaping฀models฀of฀interpretation .1 ฀And฀there฀is฀no฀doubt฀that฀such฀major,฀shaping฀models฀arise฀out฀of฀ and฀in฀response฀to฀the฀social-political-cultural฀context฀in฀which฀scholarship ฀is฀undertaken.฀In฀the฀present฀essay,฀I฀will฀explore฀the฀way฀in฀which฀a฀ dominant฀paradigm฀has฀dictated฀the฀terms฀of฀Old฀Testament฀theology฀in฀ the฀twentieth฀century,฀and฀the฀ways฀in฀which฀Old฀Testament฀theology฀is฀ undergoing฀a฀major฀transformation฀at฀the฀end฀of฀the฀twentieth฀century. The฀Marginalization฀of฀Creation฀in฀Theology It฀is฀widely฀recognized฀that฀Karl฀Barth’s฀commentary฀on฀Romans,฀published ฀in฀Germany฀in฀1919,฀constituted฀a฀decisive฀challenge฀to฀the฀theological ฀liberalism฀of฀the฀nineteenth฀century.฀In฀his฀early฀writing,฀Barth฀posited฀ a฀radical฀discontinuity฀and฀contradiction฀between฀“faith,”฀as฀it฀is฀articulated฀ in฀the฀gospel฀of฀Jesus฀Christ,฀and฀all฀forms฀of฀“religion”฀that฀are฀rooted฀in฀ cultural฀assumptions฀and฀practices.฀There฀can฀be฀no฀doubt฀that฀Barth’s฀ program฀sought฀to฀provide,฀and฀in฀fact฀did฀provide,฀standing฀ground฀for฀ the฀church฀in฀Germany,฀as฀it฀distinguished฀itself฀from฀the฀“Blood฀and฀Soil”฀ religion฀of฀National฀Socialism.฀Practically,฀that฀conflict฀pitted฀the฀Confessing ฀Church฀against฀the฀“German฀Christians.”฀This฀conflict฀was฀especially฀ dramatized฀in฀the฀life฀and฀work฀of฀Dietrich฀Bonhoeffer,฀whose฀program฀ of฀“religionless฀Christianity”฀surely฀reflects฀in฀a฀practical฀way฀the฀governing ฀antithesis฀of฀Barth.฀Barth’s฀opposition฀to฀cultural฀religion฀came฀to฀be฀ expressed฀as฀resistance฀to฀natural฀religion,฀that฀is,฀the฀claim฀that฀in฀the฀ 83 chapter฀ six BookThatBreathes.finalinterior.indd 83 10/5/04 5:23:01 PM 84฀฀฀The฀Book฀That฀Breathes฀New฀Life natural฀processes฀of฀life,฀there฀is฀disclosure฀of฀God,฀God’s฀will,฀and฀God’s฀ nature. What฀interests฀us฀in฀that฀development฀of฀theology,฀is฀that฀the฀enduring฀ paradigm฀of฀theology฀articulated฀by฀Barth฀arose฀out฀of฀and฀in฀response฀to฀ the฀social-political-cultural฀context฀of฀crisis฀in฀which฀Barth฀did฀his฀early฀ work.฀The฀Barthian฀formulation฀of฀faith฀constitutes฀the฀beginning฀point฀ and฀shaping฀influence฀for฀Old฀Testament฀theology฀in฀the฀twentieth฀century ,฀with฀its฀antagonism฀between฀faith฀and฀religion,฀which฀is฀to฀be฀understood ฀practically฀and฀concretely฀in฀terms฀of฀the฀expressions฀of฀the฀church฀ struggle฀in฀Germany. That฀model฀of฀antagonism,฀articulated฀sharply฀in฀the฀Barmen฀Declaration ,฀became฀a฀rallying฀point฀in฀1934.฀Two฀years฀later,฀Gerhard฀von฀Rad฀ gave฀the฀continuing฀expression฀to฀the฀Barthian฀program,฀as฀it฀pertains฀to฀ Old฀Testament฀theology,฀in฀his฀essay฀“The฀Theological฀Problem฀of฀the฀Old฀ Testament฀Doctrine฀of฀Creation.”2 ฀It฀was฀in฀this฀article฀(which฀adumbrated฀ aspects฀of฀his฀epoch-making฀1938฀article฀“The฀Form-Critical฀Problem฀of฀ The฀Hexateuch”)3 ฀that฀von฀Rad฀asserted฀that฀“the฀doctrine฀of฀creation”฀was฀ peripheral฀to฀the฀Old฀Testament,฀and฀that฀the฀Old฀Testament฀was฀not,฀at฀ least฀until฀very฀late,฀at฀all฀interested฀in฀creation฀per฀se.฀There฀is฀no฀doubt฀ that฀von฀Rad’s฀reflection฀upon฀“creation”฀is฀to฀be฀understood฀within฀the฀ context฀of฀the฀German฀church฀struggle. Von฀Rad’s฀framing฀of฀the฀problem฀transposed฀the฀opposition฀of฀Baal฀ versus฀Yahweh,฀Israelite฀faith฀versus฀Canaanite฀religion,฀into฀the฀church฀ struggle฀in฀which฀the฀opposing฀religion฀came฀to฀be฀regarded฀as฀natural฀ religion.4 ฀This฀transposition฀alerts฀us฀to฀the฀likelihood฀that฀from฀the฀outset ,฀von฀Rad’s฀understanding฀of฀creation฀in฀the฀Old฀Testament฀was฀shaped฀ by฀the฀German฀church฀struggle.฀Von฀Rad’s฀cultural฀context฀caused฀him฀ to฀pose฀the฀question฀as฀he฀did,฀because฀Canaanite฀Baal฀religion฀with฀its฀ accent฀on฀fertility฀was฀easily฀paralleled฀with฀“Blood฀and฀Soil”฀religion฀in฀ Germany.฀In฀so฀doing,฀he฀made฀creation฀a฀quite฀marginal฀matter฀in฀Old฀ Testament฀theology,฀and฀his฀decision฀had฀far-reaching฀consequences. In฀the฀United฀States,฀this฀same฀contrast฀between฀Canaanite฀religion฀and฀ Israelite฀faith฀was฀championed฀by฀G.฀Ernest฀Wright,฀surely฀the฀most฀influential ฀theological฀interpreter฀of฀the฀Old฀Testament฀in฀the฀U.S.A.฀in฀this฀ period.฀In฀three฀books,฀Wright฀articulated฀what฀came฀to฀be฀the฀standard฀ categories฀for฀Old฀Testament฀theology฀“as฀recital.”5 ฀While฀Wright฀did฀not฀ make฀the฀connection฀explicit,฀there฀is฀little฀doubt฀that฀he฀was฀pursuing฀the฀ line฀of฀faith฀versus฀religion,฀as฀we฀know฀it฀in฀the฀program฀of฀Barth.฀Wright฀ BookThatBreathes.finalinterior.indd 84 10/5/04 5:23:02 PM [3.145...