Making Wise the Simple : The Torah in Christian Faith and Practice

by Van Wijk-Bos, Johanna W. H.

• ISBN13: 9780802809902
• ISBN10: 0802809901
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-10-15
• Publisher: Eerdmans Pub Co

Summary

"Making Wise the Simple" addresses the need for a Christian appropriation of the first five books of the Bible, the Torah, as crucial for its perception of God and self, and for its life with the neighbor, especially the Jewish neighbor.

Author Biography

Johanna W. H. van Wijk-Bos is Dora Pierce Professor of Bible and Professor of Old Testament at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xiii
Introduction	xv
Abbreviations	xxiv
PART I The Torah in Bible and Tradition
Introduction: Torah in a Covenant Context	1	(2)
The Torah in Judaism and Christianity	3	(12)
What Is the Torah?	3	(2)
``God Made Flesh'' --- Jewish Views of the Torah	5	(2)
A Lack of Intimacy --- Christian Understandings of the Torah	7	(8)
The Bible and the Torah	15	(10)
A Treasure above All Peoples (Exodus 19:3-6)	15	(4)
God's Own People (1 Peter 2:9-10)	19	(3)
A Conversation between Texts	22	(3)
A Way into Torah: The ``Stranger in Your Gates''	25	(15)
The Identity of the Stranger	25	(4)
To Know the Heart of the Stranger (Exodus 23:9)	29	(4)
Conclusion: Torah in a Covenant Context	33	(2)
PART II The World of the Torah
Introduction: The People of the Tale	35	(5)
The World of the Tale	40	(18)
Family, Field, and Town	40	(8)
Piety, Practices, and Prescriptions	48	(8)
Worship of the One	48	(1)
Places of Worship	49	(1)
Sacrifice	50	(1)
Prayer	51	(1)
Holy Days and Festivals	52	(4)
Worlds Apart	56	(2)
The Tale in Historical Context	58	(13)
The Writers of the Tale	58	(4)
The Truth of the Tale	62	(4)
The Boundaries of Truth	66	(3)
A Conversation between the Testaments	69	(2)
A Tale of One City (Genesis 11:1-9)	71	(10)
``Its Name Is Called Babel''	71	(3)
For the Benefit of the Earth	74	(4)
Conclusion: The Tale and Its World	78	(1)
PART III The Story of the Torah: The Making of a World (Genesis 1:1-11:32)
Introduction: A Prelude to a Theme	79	(2)
Motifs of the Theme	81	(28)
The Making of the World	81	(2)
The Marring of the World	83	(1)
World's Mending	84	(1)
Instructions	85	(1)
A Penchant for What Is Weak	86	(4)
Approaches to God	90	(5)
Sacrifice	90	(2)
Prayer	92	(2)
Sabbath	94	(1)
The Families of the World	95	(14)
Adam's Descendants (Genesis 4:17--5:32)	96	(6)
From Noah to Joktan (Genesis 10:1-32)	102	(3)
From Shem to Abram (Genesis 11:10-32)	105	(4)
A Tale of a Garden (Genesis 2:4b--3:24)	109	(24)
Of Field, Stream, and Human (Genesis 2:4b-14)	109	(1)
A Fit Counterpart (Genesis 2:15-25)	110	(3)
The Snake and the Tree (Genesis 3:1-5)	113	(1)
With Both Eyes Open (Genesis 3:6-13)	114	(1)
Now, Look What You've Done (Genesis 3:14-24)	115	(2)
What the Story Is All About	117	(2)
Type and Countertype (Romans 5:18-19)	119	(2)
In Full Submission (1 Timothy 2:11-15)	121	(1)
Ways of Reading	122	(4)
Conclusion: The Prelude and the Bible	126	(3)
PART IV The Story of the Torah: The Making of a People (Genesis 12:1--Deuteronomy 34:12)
Introduction: A People of God's Pasture	129	(4)
Wandering Arameans My Ancestors (Genesis 12:1--50:26)	133	(16)
A Family of Strangers	133	(3)
The Presence of the Other (Genesis 16 and 38)	136	(9)
Genesis 16	136	(6)
Genesis 38	142	(3)
Whose Memories Are These?	145	(4)
And, There, Became a People (Exodus 1:1-24:18)	149	(20)
Getting Out and Getting On (Exodus 1:1-18:27)	149	(4)
The Exodus in History	153	(1)
Covenant (Exodus 19-24)	154	(15)
The Announcement of the Covenant (Exodus 19:3-6)	155	(2)
The Ten Words of the Covenant (Exodus 20:1-17)	157	(7)
The Execution of the Covenant (Exodus 24:3-8)	164	(3)
Historical Context of the Covenant Texts	167	(2)
``And Brought Us to This Place'' (Numbers 11:1-15; Deuteronomy 34:5-6)	169	(10)
In the Wilderness	169	(2)
The Cucumbers and Melons of Egypt (Numbers 11:1-15)	171	(5)
The End of the Story (Deuteronomy 34:5-6)	176	(3)
Instructions for the Covenant Life	179	(24)
The Book of the Covenant: Organization and Content of Exodus 20:22-23:19	180	(12)
The Ones Who Cry to God (Exodus 22:21-27)	185	(3)
The Heart of the Stranger (Exodus 23:1-9)	188	(4)
The Life of Holiness (Leviticus 19)	192	(5)
The Surplus of the Harvest	193	(1)
Love for the Neighbor	194	(1)
Love for the Stranger	195	(2)
Priestly Regulation in Historical Context	197	(1)
The Company of Strangers: Deuteronomy	198	(3)
The Identity of the Stranger	201	(2)
Instructions for Life with God	203	(30)
A Place of Meeting (Exodus 25:1--31:11; 35:1--40:38)	204	(3)
This Is Your God, O Israel (Exodus 32--34)	207	(6)
A Way of Meeting (Leviticus)	213	(17)
The Acceptable Sacrifice	215	(3)
Purity and Impurity	218	(1)
Foods	218	(1)
Reprehensible Fluidity: Menstruation	219	(4)
Intimate Relations	223	(4)
Holy Days: Atonement	227	(3)
Conclusion: A Holy Nation	230	(1)
PART V Living with the Torah
Introduction: God and People in Covenant	231	(2)
God in the Torah	233	(30)
A God Who Regrets	234	(8)
A God Who Appears	242	(4)
A God Who Accompanies	246	(5)
A God Who Is Prejudiced	251	(2)
A God Who Is Passionate	253	(9)
Conclusion	262	(1)
Christ and Torah	263	(33)
Jesus and the Torah	264	(11)
Assumptions	264	(3)
The Teachings of Jesus	267	(1)
The Good Samaritan	268	(1)
The Frame	268	(2)
The Story	270	(2)
How Do We Read?	272	(3)
Paul and the Torah	275	(17)
Torah and Nomos	276	(2)
Context	278	(3)
The Teachings of Paul	281	(1)
The Law of Love (Romans 12:9-13; 13:8-10; Galatians 5:1, 13-14)	282	(2)
Gender Relations (1 Corinthians 7:17; 11:1-16; 14:33-36; Romans 1:26-27)	284	(6)
Post-Pauline Codification of Gender Relations	290	(2)
The Gospel of God	292	(4)
How Then Shall We Live?	296	(10)
Galatians 3:26-29	296	(4)
Conclusion: How Do We Read?	300	(6)
Bibliography	306	(10)
Index of Names and Subjects	316	(5)
Index of Biblical References	321