CHRISTIAN ORIGINS AND THE QUESTION OF GOD

Volume One

THE
NEW TESTAMENT
AND THE PEOPLE OF GOD

N T Wright

FORTRESS PRESS MINNEAPOLIS

Copyrighted materia
 CONTENTS

Preface xiii

PARTI Introduction l

1 Christian Origins and the New Testament 3

1 Introduction
.
3
2 The Task
.
6
(i) What to Do with the Wicked Tenants 6
(ii) The Questions 11
(iii) The History of Early Christianity 14
(iv) 'New Testament Theology' 18
(v) Literary Criticism 25
(vi) The Task Restated 26
PARI II Tools for the Task 29

2 Knowledge: Problems and Varieties 31

1 Introduction
. 31
2 Towards Critical Realism
.
32
3 . Stories, Worldviews and Knowledge 38
4 . Conclusion 44

3 Literature, Story and the Articulation of Worldviews 47

1 .
Introduction 47
2 .
On Reading 50
(i) Introduction 50
(ii) 'Is There Anybody There?' 54
(iii) Reading and Critical Realism 61
3 On Literature
.
65
4 .
The Nature of Stories 69
(i) The Analysis of Stories: Narrative Structure 69
(ii) The Analysis of Stories: The Wicked Tenants 74
(iii) Jesus, Paul and the Jewish Stories 77

4 History and the First Century 81

1 Introduction
.
81
2 .
The ImpossibiUty of'Mere History" 82
3 This Does Not Mean 'No Facts'
.
88
(i) Critical Realism and the Threat of the Disappearing Object 88
(ii) The Causes of the Misconception 92
(iii) Wanted: New Categories 96
4 . Historical Method: Hypothesis and Verification 98
(i) Introduction 98
(ii) The Requirements of a Good Hypothesis 99
(iii) Problems in Verification 104
5 . From Event to Meaning 109
(i) Event and Intention 109
(ii) History and Narrative 113
(iii) History and Meaning 115
(iv) Conclusion 118
viii Contents

6. Historical Study of First-Century Religious Movements 118

(i) Introduction 118
(ii) Judaism in the First Century 118
(iii) Christianity in the First Century 119

5 Theology, Authority and the New Testament 121

1 . Introduction: From Literature and History to Theology 121
2 . Worldview and Theology 122
(i) On Worldviews 122
(ii) On Theology 126
(iii) On Christian Theology 131
(iv) Worldviews, Theology and Biblical Studies 137
3 .
Theology, Narrative and Authority 139
4 Conclusion
.
143

PART m First-Century Judaism within the Greco-Roman World 145

6 The Setting and the Story 147

1 Introduction
.
147
(i) The Aim 147
(ii) The Sources 151
2 . The Greco-Roman World as the Context of Early Judaism 152
3 . The Story of Israel, 587 BC-AD 70 157
(i) From Babylon to Rome (587-63 BC) 157
(ii) Jews under Roman Rule (63 BC-AD 70) 159
(iii) Judaism Reconstructed (AD 70-135) 161
(iv) Conclusion 166

7 The Developing Diversity 167

1 .
The Social Setting 167
2 Movements of Revolt
.
170
3 The Pharisees
.
181
(i) The Sources 181
(ii) The Identity of the Pharisees 184
(iii) The Agenda and Influence of the Pharisees 185
4 .
The Essenes: Spotlight on a Sect 203
5 . Priests, Aristocrats, and Sadducees 209
6 'Ordinary
.
Jews :
'
Introduction 213

8 Story, Symbol, Praxis: Elements of Israel's Worldview 215

1 Introduction
.
215
2 Stories
.
215
(i) Introduction 215
(ii) The Basic Story 216
(iii) The Smaller Stories 219
(iv) Conclusion 221
3 . Symbols 224
(i) Introduction 224
(ii) Temple 224
(iii) Land 226
(iv) Torah 227
(v) Racial Identity 230
(vi) Conclusion 232
4 Praxis
.
233
(i) Introduction 233
 Contents ix

(ii) Worship and Festivals 233

(iii) Study and Learning 235
(hr) Torah in Practice 237
5 . According to the Scriptures; The Anchor of the Worldvicw 241
6 Conclusion: Israel's Worldview
.
243

9 The Beliefs of Israel 244

1 Introduction
.
244
2 . First-Century Jewish Monotheism 248
(i) Creational Monotheism 248
(ii) Providential Monotheism 250
(iii) Covenantal Monotheism 251
(iv) Types of DuaBty 252
(v) Monotheism and its Modifications 256
3 Election and Covenant
.
259
(i) Introduction 259
(ii) Covenant 260
(iii) Israel, Adam and the World 262
(a) Pentateuch 262
(b) Prophets 264
(c) Wisdom Literature 264
(d) Qumran 265
(e) Other Second-Temple Literature 266
(f) Israel and the Nations 267
4 . Covenant and Eschatology 268
5 . Covenant, Redemption and Forgiveness 272
6 Beliefs: Conclusion
.
279

10 The Hope of Israel 280

1 'Apocalyptic
.
'
280
(i) Introduction 280
(ii) A literary Form and a Linguistic Convention 280
(iii) The Contexts of Apocalyptic 286
(iv) On 'Representation' 289
(v) Daniel 7 and the Son of Man 291
(vi) Apocalyptic, History and 'Dualities' 297
2. The End of Exile, the Age to Come and the New Covenant 299
3 . No King but God 302
4 . The King that would Come 307
5 The Renewal of the World, of Israel, and of Humans
.
320
6 Salvation and Justification
.
334
7 Conclusion: First-Century Judaism
. 338

PARTIV The First Christian Century 339

11 The Quest for the Kerygmatic Church 341

1 Introduction
.
341
2 Tasks and Methods
.
345
3 . Fixed Points: History and Geography 346
4. Filling in the Gaps: literature in Search of Setting 357

12 Praxis, Symbol and Questions: Inside Early Christian Worldviews 359

1 Introduction
.
359
2 Praxis
.
359
3 .
Symbols 365
r

x Contents

4 . Questions 369

13 Stories in Early Christianity (1) 371

1 Introduction
.
371
2 Luke and his Stories
.
373
(i) A Strange Comparison? 373
(ii) The Form of Luke's Story 378
3 . The Scribe and the Plot: Matthew's Story 384
4 'Let the Reader Understand : The Story of Mark 390
'
.

5 . Synoptic Gospels: Conclusion 396

6 Paul: From Adam to Christ
.
403
7 The Narrative World of the Letter to the Hebrews
.
409
8 The Story of John
. 410

14 Stories in Early Christianity (2) 418

1 Introduction: Form Criticism
.
418
2 Towards a Revised Form Criticism
.
427
(i) Introduction 427
(ii) Prophetic Acts 429
(iii) Controversies 431
(iv) Parables 433
(v) Longer Units 434
(vi) Conclusion 435
3 . Stories but no Story? Q and Thomas 435

15 The Early Christians: A Preliminary Sketch 444

1 Introduction
.
444
2 Aims
.
444
3 . Community and Definition 447
4 .
Development and Variety 452
5 . Theology 456
6 . Hope 459
7 Conclusion
.
464

PARTY Conclusion 465

16 The New Testament and the Ouestion of God 467

1.Introduction 467
2 Jesus
. 468
3 The New Testament
. 469
4 The Question of God
. 471

Appendix: Chronological Chart of Second-Temple Jewish History

and of Early Christianity 477

Bibliography 481

Abbreviations 481
A Primary Sources 482
B Secondary Sources 485

Indexes 511
 Contents xi

A Index of Ancient Sources 511

1 Old Testament
.
511
2. Apocrypha 514
3. Pseudepigrapha 515
4. Qumran 516
5 Josephus
. 517
6 Philo
.
518
7 Rabbinic Works
.
518
8 New Testament
.
519
9 Other Early Christian
. Works 522
10. Gnostic Sources 523
11. Pagan Sources 523

B Index of Modem Authors 525

C Index of Selected Topics 530

142 Pan II: Took for the Task

I ( urinihi.ms 15, parts of the Apocalypse) of how the play is supposed to end.
The fact of Act 4 being what it is shows what sort of a conclusion the drama
should have, without making clear all the intervening steps. The church would
then live under the authority of the extant story, being required to offer an
' '

improvisatory performance of the final act as it leads up to and anticipates the

intended conclusion. The church is designed, according to this model, as a
'

stage in the completion of the creator s work of art: as Paul says in Ephesians
2 10. auum gar esmen poiema, we are his artwork.
.

If we apply this to the problem of 'New Testament theology' as normally

conceived, and as discussed in chapter 1, such immersing of oneself in the
exta-t material will require a differentiation between different levels of
material. As scholars and others have become aware of a necessary distinction
between the Testaments, especially when one is addressing the church or the
world, so we may discover other differences. Though Bultmann was wrong in
thinking he could effectively truncate Act 4, and, for that matter, a good deal
of Acts 1-3 as well, he was right in discerning a difference between Act 4
(Jesus) and the beginning of Act 5 (the New Testament)-even though his
drawing of the distinction actually distorted both. It matters that the story of
Jesus, i.e. the story of Act 4, was written by the early church as part of its
appropriate task in Act 5.31
Indeed, it might appear that the retelling of the story of the previous acts, as
part of the required improvisation, is a necessary part of the task all through.
The Israelites retold the story of creation and fall. Jesus retold, in parable and
symbol, the story of Israel. The evangelists retold, in complex and multi-
faceted ways, the story of Jesus. This may suggest, from a new angle, that the
task of history, including historical theology and theological history, is itself
mandated upon the followers of Jesus from within the biblical story itself.
In addition, the notion that the writers of the New Testament were in some
senses instituting a historical movement in which subsequent Christian gener-
ations may follow32 gives to the task of hermeneutics an angle and emphasis
quite different from any of the regular options which we described earlier. We
are not searching, against the grain of the material, for timeless truths. We are
looking, as the material is looking, for and at a vocation to be the people of
God in the fifth act of the drama of creation. The church inherits, at the end of
the story, the task of restoring to the owner the fruits of the vineyard. If Act 3
is essentially tragic, the total play is to be the kind of comedy that triumphs
over tragedy.
One or two objections might well be lodged at this point. Can we be sure
that anyone would ever understand Acts 1-4, or indeed the beginning of Act 5 ,

well enough to make all the required moves in the later parts of Act 5? The
answer must surely be no. Certainty on such matters is precisely what we do

31 That the early Christians saw history in something like this differentiated way (distinguish-
ing between the time of Jesus and their own time) is asserted from very different standpoints,
,

by Nineham 1976,188f., and Lemcio 1991 passim. See Part IV below.

,

32 The question, whether the NT writers imagined that there would be any subsequent gener-
ations, Christian or otherwise, will be addressed in Part IV below.