Eerdmans Publishing Company is pleased to present the highly anticipated expanded edition of Richard Bauckhams God Crucified. Surprising and provocative in its debut - though always historically and theologically responsible - this book helped to redirect the debate on early Christology. Praise for the first edition: Richard Bauckham writes clearly and argues his case carefully. . . . He presents an original, immensely exciting, and promising account of NT Christology. . . . His presentation reflects some of the very best recent work in theology. - Pro Ecclesia Bauckham proposes a clearly superior way of reading the evidence about the relationship between the New Testaments claims about Jesus identity and the identity of God as understood within the context of Second Temple Judaism. - Books & Culture God Crucified displays the craft of both a careful exegete and a deft theologian as Bauckham explores the riddle of how the radically monotheistic Jews who composed the earliest church could have come to call Jesus Lord. . . . Bauckhams Christology of divine identity offers a proper way to understand the New Testament within its Jewish monotheistic context by including Jesus, cross and all, within the unique identity of Israels God. - Theology Today
Jesus and the God of Israel
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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Bauckham argues that Second Temple Judaism was "strict", and that the high Christology of Paul could only be conceived within the context of Jewish monotheism. Both the Shema and the Decalogue make clear statements of monotheism, and in Second Temple era "there is evidence...the passage recited included not only the Shema itself but also the Decalogue. Observant Jews, therefore, were daily aware of their allegiance to the one God alone" (p 5).
In direct contrast to the hierarchy of gods pervasive among the pagans, Jews viewed God as the sole ruler of everything. It is nothing short of amazing that in this culture the highest Christology was present among early Christians "before any of the New Testament writings were written" (p 19).
Bauckham finds that "In the earliest Christian community, Jesus was already understood to be risen and exalted to God's right hand in heaven" (p 128). The Aramaic 'Maranatha' likely dates to the first years after the death of Christ and is an example of this. Doxologies and hymns offer more evidence, found in Paul's epistles, of worship that dates to the first years after the crucifixion.
Earliest Christianity was a mutation, as Hurtado has noted, of Judaism. And what is very strange about that mutation is that the Christians insisted they were still worshiping the one, sole God, while they worshiped Christ.
These are complex essays, rich and rewarding.
In direct contrast to the hierarchy of gods pervasive among the pagans, Jews viewed God as the sole ruler of everything. It is nothing short of amazing that in this culture the highest Christology was present among early Christians "before any of the New Testament writings were written" (p 19).
Bauckham finds that "In the earliest Christian community, Jesus was already understood to be risen and exalted to God's right hand in heaven" (p 128). The Aramaic 'Maranatha' likely dates to the first years after the death of Christ and is an example of this. Doxologies and hymns offer more evidence, found in Paul's epistles, of worship that dates to the first years after the crucifixion.
Earliest Christianity was a mutation, as Hurtado has noted, of Judaism. And what is very strange about that mutation is that the Christians insisted they were still worshiping the one, sole God, while they worshiped Christ.
These are complex essays, rich and rewarding.
33 of 38 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
God Crucified, Jesus Worshipped, Spirit Filled - Early Christians & Thought
February 4, 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a superb primary essay (revised from its stand alone book GOD CRUCIFIED earlier)with remarkable supporting essays and further argument about the inherent claims of Christians regarding Jesus and his relation to the monotheistic Jewish worship of one God. The initial book/essay gives the argument in broad strokes while the supporting essays fill in specific substance to the broader strokes. I have learned much from this series of studies and highly recommend it to those interested in the continuity of the claims in regard to Jesus' Divinity arising in the New Testament Church and continuing to this day. In addition to the NT evidence, Bauckham does an outstanding survey of Second Temple monotheism and its interactions with the surrounding Greco-Roman cultural religious mileu. He then demonstrates the ability of the Christians to identify Jesus with God within the monotheistic structure of extant Judaism by dealing with the IDENTITY of God. An excellent discussion of the difference between the conceptualization of identity with God rather than the ontological (nature of) being God opens one's mind to the modes of conceptualization that were available to Jesus, his disciples, and the Church as it understood more and more clearly what it practiced from its earliest days (indeed, from the Resurrection Day!)- the worship of Jesus.
If you were to read only one book of religious study this year, this should be the one. It is thrillingly enlightening and challenging! This is a text which will richly repay multiple readings and from which one may find many references worthy of further consultation. Don't miss it!
If you were to read only one book of religious study this year, this should be the one. It is thrillingly enlightening and challenging! This is a text which will richly repay multiple readings and from which one may find many references worthy of further consultation. Don't miss it!
42 of 53 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Richard Bauckham's book Jesus and the God of Israel: God Crucified and Other Studies on the New Testament's Christology of Divine Identity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008) appeared after my own recent book on monotheism and Christology, The Only True God: Early Christian Monotheism in Its Jewish Context, had been completed. I thus welcome the opportunity to write this review and continue the conversation between Bauckham and myself on this topic of mutual interest.
Jesus and the God of Israel is not the "big book" on this subject which he is apparently still working on, but rather includes a revised version of his earlier book God Crucified : Monotheism and Christology in the New Testament as well as several other studies, both previously published and forthcoming, several of which those of us who are interested in this topic will have heard him read as conference papers. As Bauckham acknowledges, a thorough and in-depth study of the texts and issues highlighted in this book is still needed, and he does not claim that the present work accomplishes this (pp.x-xi). Nevertheless, it contributes in interesting and exciting ways to the ongoing scholarly exploration of this area. While I am persuaded that Bauckham is wrong about certain key points, I would add that even when he is wrong he is asking excellent questions, and providing interesting and creative answers that will, even when not ultimately persuasive, nevertheless serve to move our thinking forward and open up new and fruitful avenues of inquiry.
Bauckham groups previous approaches to the topic of monotheism and Christology into two main categories (pp.2-3):
1) Those who claim that Jewish monotheism was "strict" in New Testament times, and thus either deny that there is any sort of "divine Christology" in the New Testament, or attribute such a Christology if present to a radical break with Judaism;
2) Those who claim that Jewish monotheism was less "strict" and that its mediator figures and exalted partiarchs provided a precedent for the divinization of Jesus.
Bauckham then goes on to emphasize his differences from both these approaches, being persuaded on the one hand that Jewish monotheism in this period was indeed "strict", while also believing that high Christology was possible in that context (p.3).
The subtitle of Bauckham's book contains the key terminology he has introduced into the scholarly discussion of monotheism and Christology, namely "divine identity". In contrast with previous scholarship that has focused on "function" and/or "ontology", Bauckham seeks rather to focus attention on the question of who God is rather than either what divinity is in the abstract, or what God does (although in fact Bauckham focuses a lot of attention on the latter as intrinsic to his understanding of "divine identity"). If there is one key weakness to Bauckham's work, it is his failure to take the time to clarify in detail what exactly "divine identity" means. At times, it becomes clear that Bauckham's usage of this terminology is far from self-explanatory, and that the phrase does not seem to use "identity" in the way it usually is in English. One common place to encounter it nowadays is of course in referring to identity theft. Bauckham's references to more than one person sharing the "divine identity", and even to an identity that the Son shares with the Father, seems at times to be at odds with the terminology itself (see e.g. pp.3-4, 236, 263, 265). This does not necessarily mean that Bauckham should use other terminology, but it does suggest that more attention needs to be paid to clarifying the meaning of "identity" as he uses it, before we can hope to have this terminology clarify texts from ancient Judaism and Christianity (see p.154 for a helpful discussion of the concept, one which is nevertheless much too brief to justify the concept as the foundation for all that precedes and follows in the book).
Bauckham himself focuses (somewhat ironically, in view of his attempt to get away from earlier categories such as "function") on characteristics of divine identity that are often specifically about what God did and does. Being persuaded (and asserting on numerous occasions throughout the book) that there was a clear line of division between God and all else in Judaism in this period, Bauckham emphasizes, in particular, God's creation of all things and rule over all things as defining the "divine identity" and distinguishing God from all else. The divine name is mentioned as well, as name and identity are obviously closely related. Yet Bauckham spends relatively little time on this most unique facet of the divine identity (no one but YHWH is YHWH, after all!), perhaps because in texts from ancient Judaism (as well as the Samaritans), God's name was something that he seems to have been willing to share with others. The angel Yahoel in Apocalypse of Abraham is the classic example, but if one explores beyond the New Testament period, then the figure of Metatron (referred to in Rabbinic texts as "the little YHWH") also requires consideration, as does the Samaritan notion of Moses' investiture with the divine name. If God is willing to share this arguably most unique facet of the divine identity, what does this suggest about Bauckham's assumption that anyone who is at any point included in the divine identity must, by implication, have eternally been part of that identity? In fact, that line of argument seems to be little more than a restatement of the classic argument that "function implies essence", and seems to provide no better evidence of its truthfulness.
If "identity" is moved beyond the level of the individual to the corporate level, as in the case of family identity, then we can see how such a notion might well fit some of the relevant textual evidence. Family identity can be shared - through marriage or adoption, a new person can be incorporated into a family. Yet, presumably because of a desire to avoid "adoptionism", this manner in which identity might be shared with someone who did not previously possess it remains largely unexplored.
Bauckham rightly emphasizes the role of worship as making the distinction for Jews in practice between the one true God and all others. Exclusive worship gives expression to Jewish belief in God's uniqueness, rather than the divine uniqueness itself being defined in terms of monolatry (pp.5-6, 11-13). Bauckham's assertion on numerous occasions that there was no "gradation" of divinity from God on the top down through an uninterrupted hierarchy is never justified, and once again the irony is that the question of whether there was an absolute difference in essence separating God from all other existing things seems to be an ontological one. If ontology and function are eschewed, and worship is not what distinguishes God from all else but merely a recognition of the distinction, then what does God's distinctiveness consist of? In addition to Philo's definition of the relationship of the Word to both God and creation in a way that suggests there was indeed the sort of ambiguity Bauckham denies (Who is Heir of Divine Things? chapter 42 § 206), later Jewish mystical works illustrate well how emanationism continued to exist in a Jewish context, in conjunction with affirmations of "monotheism", i.e. exclusive devotion to one God. At any rate, Bauckham repeatedly asserts the existence of a clear dividing line, but does not provide the sort of evidence necessary to corroborate the assertions. Although I believe he is correct to identify God's ultimate role as creator and sovereign as key facets of the "unique divine identity", Bauckham's attempts to deny that God shares these prerogatives with others fails to do justice to the evidence.
Bauckham seems to be right to claim that there is a distinctiveness about early Christianity's exalted portrayal of Jesus (p.231). But he is unwilling to entertain seriously the possibility that it is a difference of degree rather than kind. Believing that Jesus is not merely the Anointed One but the one through whom God will reconcile all things to himself, and believing that their salvation had been accomplished during their own time, it is not surprising that the earliest Christians depicted Jesus as God's superlative agent, claiming that Jesus does everything that any divine agent has ever done and more. But ultimately, if we are talking about New Testament times, monotheism is preserved not by including Jesus fully within God's identity (although eventually Christianity would indeed do just that), but by ultimately subordinating Jesus as God's agent to God (and to God alone). Thus in the Gospel of John, Jesus is the Word of God made flesh, the one who has been given the divine name before the creation of the world; but he still does only what he sees his Father do, and calls his Father "the only true God". In Paul, Jesus is exalted to the highest possible rank and given the name above all names; but this is still done "to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:6-11), and in the end God is said to not be among the "all things" subjected to the Son, who in the end hands over the kingdom to the Father, so that "God may be all in all" (1 Corinthians 15).
It would be impossible even to attempt to address every detail of Bauckham's argument here (and I hope to spend some time in the near future working on the Scriptural echoes in key Christological passages and Bauckham's interpretation of them). But a key example should be highlighted, one that remains at the level of assertion. Bauckham says more than once that in 1 Corinthians 8:1-6, "Paul is not adding to the Shema` a 'Lord' the Shema` does not mention. He is identifying Jesus as the 'Lord' whom the Shema` affirms to be one" (p.101; repeated nearly verbatim along with much other material on p.213). Read more ›
Jesus and the God of Israel is not the "big book" on this subject which he is apparently still working on, but rather includes a revised version of his earlier book God Crucified : Monotheism and Christology in the New Testament as well as several other studies, both previously published and forthcoming, several of which those of us who are interested in this topic will have heard him read as conference papers. As Bauckham acknowledges, a thorough and in-depth study of the texts and issues highlighted in this book is still needed, and he does not claim that the present work accomplishes this (pp.x-xi). Nevertheless, it contributes in interesting and exciting ways to the ongoing scholarly exploration of this area. While I am persuaded that Bauckham is wrong about certain key points, I would add that even when he is wrong he is asking excellent questions, and providing interesting and creative answers that will, even when not ultimately persuasive, nevertheless serve to move our thinking forward and open up new and fruitful avenues of inquiry.
Bauckham groups previous approaches to the topic of monotheism and Christology into two main categories (pp.2-3):
1) Those who claim that Jewish monotheism was "strict" in New Testament times, and thus either deny that there is any sort of "divine Christology" in the New Testament, or attribute such a Christology if present to a radical break with Judaism;
2) Those who claim that Jewish monotheism was less "strict" and that its mediator figures and exalted partiarchs provided a precedent for the divinization of Jesus.
Bauckham then goes on to emphasize his differences from both these approaches, being persuaded on the one hand that Jewish monotheism in this period was indeed "strict", while also believing that high Christology was possible in that context (p.3).
The subtitle of Bauckham's book contains the key terminology he has introduced into the scholarly discussion of monotheism and Christology, namely "divine identity". In contrast with previous scholarship that has focused on "function" and/or "ontology", Bauckham seeks rather to focus attention on the question of who God is rather than either what divinity is in the abstract, or what God does (although in fact Bauckham focuses a lot of attention on the latter as intrinsic to his understanding of "divine identity"). If there is one key weakness to Bauckham's work, it is his failure to take the time to clarify in detail what exactly "divine identity" means. At times, it becomes clear that Bauckham's usage of this terminology is far from self-explanatory, and that the phrase does not seem to use "identity" in the way it usually is in English. One common place to encounter it nowadays is of course in referring to identity theft. Bauckham's references to more than one person sharing the "divine identity", and even to an identity that the Son shares with the Father, seems at times to be at odds with the terminology itself (see e.g. pp.3-4, 236, 263, 265). This does not necessarily mean that Bauckham should use other terminology, but it does suggest that more attention needs to be paid to clarifying the meaning of "identity" as he uses it, before we can hope to have this terminology clarify texts from ancient Judaism and Christianity (see p.154 for a helpful discussion of the concept, one which is nevertheless much too brief to justify the concept as the foundation for all that precedes and follows in the book).
Bauckham himself focuses (somewhat ironically, in view of his attempt to get away from earlier categories such as "function") on characteristics of divine identity that are often specifically about what God did and does. Being persuaded (and asserting on numerous occasions throughout the book) that there was a clear line of division between God and all else in Judaism in this period, Bauckham emphasizes, in particular, God's creation of all things and rule over all things as defining the "divine identity" and distinguishing God from all else. The divine name is mentioned as well, as name and identity are obviously closely related. Yet Bauckham spends relatively little time on this most unique facet of the divine identity (no one but YHWH is YHWH, after all!), perhaps because in texts from ancient Judaism (as well as the Samaritans), God's name was something that he seems to have been willing to share with others. The angel Yahoel in Apocalypse of Abraham is the classic example, but if one explores beyond the New Testament period, then the figure of Metatron (referred to in Rabbinic texts as "the little YHWH") also requires consideration, as does the Samaritan notion of Moses' investiture with the divine name. If God is willing to share this arguably most unique facet of the divine identity, what does this suggest about Bauckham's assumption that anyone who is at any point included in the divine identity must, by implication, have eternally been part of that identity? In fact, that line of argument seems to be little more than a restatement of the classic argument that "function implies essence", and seems to provide no better evidence of its truthfulness.
If "identity" is moved beyond the level of the individual to the corporate level, as in the case of family identity, then we can see how such a notion might well fit some of the relevant textual evidence. Family identity can be shared - through marriage or adoption, a new person can be incorporated into a family. Yet, presumably because of a desire to avoid "adoptionism", this manner in which identity might be shared with someone who did not previously possess it remains largely unexplored.
Bauckham rightly emphasizes the role of worship as making the distinction for Jews in practice between the one true God and all others. Exclusive worship gives expression to Jewish belief in God's uniqueness, rather than the divine uniqueness itself being defined in terms of monolatry (pp.5-6, 11-13). Bauckham's assertion on numerous occasions that there was no "gradation" of divinity from God on the top down through an uninterrupted hierarchy is never justified, and once again the irony is that the question of whether there was an absolute difference in essence separating God from all other existing things seems to be an ontological one. If ontology and function are eschewed, and worship is not what distinguishes God from all else but merely a recognition of the distinction, then what does God's distinctiveness consist of? In addition to Philo's definition of the relationship of the Word to both God and creation in a way that suggests there was indeed the sort of ambiguity Bauckham denies (Who is Heir of Divine Things? chapter 42 § 206), later Jewish mystical works illustrate well how emanationism continued to exist in a Jewish context, in conjunction with affirmations of "monotheism", i.e. exclusive devotion to one God. At any rate, Bauckham repeatedly asserts the existence of a clear dividing line, but does not provide the sort of evidence necessary to corroborate the assertions. Although I believe he is correct to identify God's ultimate role as creator and sovereign as key facets of the "unique divine identity", Bauckham's attempts to deny that God shares these prerogatives with others fails to do justice to the evidence.
Bauckham seems to be right to claim that there is a distinctiveness about early Christianity's exalted portrayal of Jesus (p.231). But he is unwilling to entertain seriously the possibility that it is a difference of degree rather than kind. Believing that Jesus is not merely the Anointed One but the one through whom God will reconcile all things to himself, and believing that their salvation had been accomplished during their own time, it is not surprising that the earliest Christians depicted Jesus as God's superlative agent, claiming that Jesus does everything that any divine agent has ever done and more. But ultimately, if we are talking about New Testament times, monotheism is preserved not by including Jesus fully within God's identity (although eventually Christianity would indeed do just that), but by ultimately subordinating Jesus as God's agent to God (and to God alone). Thus in the Gospel of John, Jesus is the Word of God made flesh, the one who has been given the divine name before the creation of the world; but he still does only what he sees his Father do, and calls his Father "the only true God". In Paul, Jesus is exalted to the highest possible rank and given the name above all names; but this is still done "to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:6-11), and in the end God is said to not be among the "all things" subjected to the Son, who in the end hands over the kingdom to the Father, so that "God may be all in all" (1 Corinthians 15).
It would be impossible even to attempt to address every detail of Bauckham's argument here (and I hope to spend some time in the near future working on the Scriptural echoes in key Christological passages and Bauckham's interpretation of them). But a key example should be highlighted, one that remains at the level of assertion. Bauckham says more than once that in 1 Corinthians 8:1-6, "Paul is not adding to the Shema` a 'Lord' the Shema` does not mention. He is identifying Jesus as the 'Lord' whom the Shema` affirms to be one" (p.101; repeated nearly verbatim along with much other material on p.213). Read more ›
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