BIBLICAL Horizons, No. 51
July, 1993
Copyright 1993, Biblical Horizons
E. John Hamlin, At Risk in the Promised Land: A Commentary on the Book of Judges
International Theological Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990.
Reviewed by Peter J. Leithart
For anyone who has developed a taste for the rich biblical theology of Meredith Kline, James B. Jordan, Vern Poythress, and others, it is difficult to find satisfying commentaries. Most evangelical commentaries include helpful guidance on historical, grammatical, and lexical questions, but precious little theological reflection. One exception to this generalization is the International Theological Commentary (ITC) series, published by Eerdmans. Many of the authors are from Third World countries, which perhaps gives them a sensitivity to ancient symbols and patterns that are lost on rationalistic Westerners. In particular, the volumes on Joshua and Judges, both written by E. John Hamlin, professor emeritus of theology at Payap University in Thailand, contain much useful material.
Hamlin’s commentaries are not without problems. His commentary on Judges is heaped with an overgenerous dose of anti-Western Third Worldism. He compares the Danite conquest of Laish to the Spanish conquest of Latin America, and favorably quotes Jose Miguez Bonino’s complained that the conquistadors were guilty of "spiritual `genocide’" (p. 158). He gives far too much credence to the uncertain findings of archaeology and to the biased conclusions of critical scholarship. In this connection, he gives exilic datings to both Joshua and Judges.
Moreover, Hamlin simply misconstrues a number of events in Judges. He suggests that Gideon’s vengeance against the leaders of Succoth was a headstrong overreaction to a minor violation. He believes that Jephthah killed his daughter, and thinks it is a sign of Israel’s patriarchalism that Jephthah, not his daughter, was later hailed as a hero. He takes the usual moralistic approach to the ministry of Samson. In short, Hamlin’s commentaries must be read critically. (One irritating feature of the ITC series is that it does not use footnotes; all references are included parenthetically in the text, which makes reading unnecessarily difficult.)
Still, Hamlin’s commentaries display a fine sensitivity to literary allusions and structures. He notes, for example, that the issue of kingship is introduced in the one of the early episodes of the book, when Adoni-bezek is captured and disarmed (almost literally). Throughout the book, the spectre of "canaanized kingship" hangs over Israel. Hamlin also points out several "bookends" that frame Judges as a whole. The book begins with a story of Achsah, who lights from her donkey to request springs of water. Near the end of the book, another woman on a donkey appears: the Levite’s concubine, who died after a night of abuse from the men of Gibeah. The book is also framed by instances of herem warfare: Judah and Simeon turned Zephthah into Hormah (1:17), and toward the end Jabesh-Gilead is utterly destroyed (21:11).
Hamlin gives hints of the structure of smaller units of the text, though too infrequently. Still, what he does say is often intriguing. Ehud’s assassination of Eglon, for instance, is framed by references to "sculptured stones." Ehud "turns back" from the stones to carry out his mission (3:19), and after killing the Moabite king he "passes beyond" the stones (3:26). Hamlin sees in these references an image of Ehud’s turning from idols and his determination to cleanse the Yahweh’s land of false worship.
Hamlin is a good deal bolder than many contemporary commentators in suggesting connections and interpretations that are not explicitly spelled out in the text. He connects the removal of Adoni-bezek’s thumbs and big toes to the rite of priestly ordination (Ex. 29:20), and concludes that Adoni-bezek was a Canaanite priest-king vanquished before the true priestly kingdom of Israel. Judges 5:30 suggests to him that Jabin and his general Sisera were particularly noted for afflicting Israelite women. This would add an additional layer of ironic meaning to Sisera’s eventual death at the hands of Jael.
Hamlin develops an interesting symbolic interpretation of Gideon’s warfare against the Midianites: while the trumpets sound the beginning of the year of release, the empty jars (worthless Canaanites) are broken and the light of salvation shines in the world. Like James Jordan, he interprets the lion that Samson killed as an image of the Philistines, and the lion’s honey as a sign of a "future period of peace after the destruction of the oppressing power when God would restore to his people the `land flowing with milk and honey’" (p. 135).
Hamlin’s commentary also makes some insightful theological observations. In his discussion of the cycle of decline described in Judges 2:6-23, he speaks of "God’s constructive anger," which disciplined Israel and returned her to her proper mission. He points out that the Canaanites represented a political-cultic complex "way of death" that God righteously has determined to exterminate. For all the trendy correctness of his political observations, some of his points are telling, and he must at least be commended for attempting to apply the Scriptures in the real world.
At Risk in the Promised Land is not as complete or as reliable a commentary as one would wish. But, if read with care, and especially if studied in conjunction with Jordan’s Judges: God’s War Against Humanism, it is a profitable book.
BIBLICAL Horizons, No. 51
July, 1993
Copyright 1993, Biblical Horizons
Paul’s passing comment about the rock that followed the Israelites in the wilderness has often been treated as a bit of Jewish tradition that crept into Paul’s epistle. This comment from The New Jerome Biblical Commentary is typical: "There is no hint of movement of the rock in the OT, but a legend developed on the basis of a Jewish interpretation of Num 21:17." Numbers 21:17 tells us that when Israel came to Beer ("well"), where Moses assembled the people to receive water, "Then Israel sang this song, `Spring up, O well! Sing to it!’" Jewish tradition apparently said that the water on this occasion came from the same rock that Moses had struck in Exodus 17, and which thus had travelled with the people to this new location.
It is true that the mobile rock was part of Jewish tradition, and it is plausible to suggest that Paul was referring to that tradition in 1 Corinthians 10:4. At the same time, I think it is also plausible that Paul was simply reflecting on the records of the Old Testament. Or, perhaps, the Jewish tradition itself grew out of meditation on Scripture.
This conclusion is suggested by the following considerations. First, "Rock" was one of Moses’ common designations for the Lord. The ways of the Rock are perfect and just (Dt 32:4). It was the Rock that brought salvation to Israel (Dt 32:15) and begot her (Dt 32:18). The rocks of the nations are not like "our Rock" (Dt 32:31, 37). Because of Israel’s sin, the Rock sold her and gave her up to defeat; if the Rock had not turned from Israel, she would have been invincible (Dt 32:30). In many of these instances, Moses’ use of "Rock" goes beyond metaphor and approaches personification.
Similar expressions are found outside the Pentateuch. The Rock spoke to David and cut a covenant with him (2 Sam 23:3-7; cf. 2 Sam 7). Numerous Psalms borrow this imagery as well (e.g., Ps 18:2, 31, 46; 62:2, 6; 89:26; 92:15; etc.). According to Isaiah, the everlasting Rock is trustworthy (26:4). Idols may be graven of rock, but in reality there is no other Rock (44:6-10).
More specifically, the "Lord our Rock" was present when Moses struck the rock in the wilderness. When the people complained, the Lord instructed Moses, "Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink" (Ex 17:6). That the Lord appeared in visible form on the rock of Horeb is evident from the fact that He "stood before" Moses (Ex 17:6). In what visible form did the Lord appear? In the context of Exodus, the only reasonable answer to this question is that the glory-cloud stood before Moses on the rock (Ex 13:21-22; 14:19, 24). According to James Jordan’s exposition of this passage, the glory-cloud stood before Moses and when Moses struck the rock, his rod passed through the cloud. The Lord thereby submitted to the rod of judgment, taking the punishment the people deserved for their insolence, and out of His vicarious suffering provided life-giving water. In short, when Moses struck the rock, he was also striking the Rock–and it was the latter that really provided water for the people.
This verbal play on the two senses of "rock" is also employed in Psalm 78. When Israel complained against the Lord, Moses struck the rock and water gushed out (v. 20). Later, the Lord sent meat that became poison to Israel (vv. 21-33). But "when He killed them, then they sought Him, and returned and searched diligently for God; and they remembered that God was their Rock, and the Most High God their Redeemer" (vv. 34-35). Other passages likewise suggest that the Rock is associated with the glory-cloud. Isaiah 30:27-33 undoubtedly refers to the Lord’s appearance in the storm cloud; the "name of the Lord" (v. 27) comes to the "mountain of the Lord" (v. 29) in burning and smoke (v. 27), flame, cloudburst, downpour, and hailstones (v. 30). In the midst of this description is an invitation to meet in festive assembly with the "Rock of Israel" (v. 29). Thus, the empirical reality that Paul calls the "Rock" may well have been the fire-and-cloud theophany that led Israel from Egypt.
The Rock of Israel, moreover, definitely followed, as well as led the Israelites through the wilderness. He was not only their guide, but their rear guard (Ex 14:19). In the context of describing the return from exile as a new Exodus (Is 52:4; cf. 48:20-21), Isaiah says that the Lord would go before and follow Israel (Is 52:12; 58:8). Paul’s emphasis on the fact that the Lord followed Israel is striking, however.
Finally, Paul calls the Rock that followed Israel "Christ." This, too, might be inferred from a careful study of connections between the glory of God, the Rock, and the Messiah in the Old Testament. The Rock is, after all, the Rock who brings salvation, and the Messiah is the agent of redemption. Moreover, the glory is a manifestation not only of the Spirit but also of the Son. (For evidence, I will simply refer the reader to Meredith Kline’s discussion in Images of the Spirit, especially pages 23-25). Thus, the event recorded in Exodus 17 points to Jesus, the image of the glory of God and Rock of offence, who was struck and from whom flows living water.
BIBLICAL Horizons, No. 51
July, 1993
Copyright 1993, Biblical Horizons
Several months ago, my brief article entitled "Elijah’s Exodus" was published in Biblical Horizons . Since that time, further study has made it evident that Elijah’s exodus in 1 Kings 17 is part of a larger pattern in which Elijah’s ministry closely parallels Moses’. The following parallels are evident:
1. Elijah first appeared bearing a message of covenant curse for Ahab: a drought would aflict the land (1 Ki 17:1). This message apparently met with opposition, for the Lord told him to "hide" east of the Jordan (17:3). In my earlier article, I saw Elijah’s flight as parallel to the wilderness wanderings of Israel, and there are certainly analogies between the events (miraculous provision of bread and water, e.g.). In context, however, it seems to have more direct reference to Moses’ flight from Egypt to Midian (Ex 2:11-15).
2. In the course of flight, both Elijah and Moses encountered women (1 Ki 17:8-16; Ex 2:16-22). Significantly, in both cases, the women are associated with water. Moses met the daughters of Reuel at a well, and Elijah asked the widow of Zarephath for water.
3. Moses married Zipporah, who bore his son in a strange land (Ex 2:23). Elijah restored the widow’s son to life (1 Ki 17:17-24).
4. After 40 years in Midian, Moses was called to return to Egypt to confront Pharaoh and lead Israel out of bondage (Ex 3:1-4:17). Similarly, "after many days" the Lord sent Elijah to confront the Pharaoh-like king of Israel (1 Ki 18:1).
5. Before his first meeting with Pharaoh, Moses spoke to Aaron and the assembled elders of Israel (Ex 4:27-31). So also, Elijah did not immediately meet with Ahab, but with Obadiah, an ally of Elijah’s (1 Ki 18:7-16).
6. Elijah’s confrontation with the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel conflates a number of events from the life of Moses, and the chronologically parallel sequence evident in the earlier events breaks down somewhat.
On the one hand, the events at Carmel reflect the plagues and Passover of Exodus. At Carmel, the gods of Ahab were mocked and humiliated, which recalls the Lord’s defeat of the gods of Egypt (1 Ki 18:27; cf. Ex 12:12). As James Jordan suggested in Through New Eyes, the destruction of the 12-stone altar of Elijah substituted for the destruction of the 12 tribes of Israel (p. 236). This parallels the substitution of the Passover lamb for the firstborn of Israel.
On the other hand, Carmel is a mountain like Sinai. The whole event at Carmel takes the form of a renewal of the covenant. After the Lord’s display of power, the people acknowledged Him as the sole God, renewing their pledge of exclusive allegiance to the Lord that had been sealed at Sinai. The slaughter of the prophets of Baal may have a twofold referent. It may recall the destruction of the firstborn of Egypt, and it certainly parallels the destruction of the worshipers of the golden calf (1 Ki 18:40; Ex 32:27).
7. After Israel’s fall into idolatry, Moses asked the Lord to remove his name from the book of life (Ex 32:31-32). After Carmel, Elijah fled again into the wilderness, and asked that the Lord take his life (1 Ki 19:4).
8. Refreshed with food from an angel, Elijah travelled for 40 days and nights to Horeb, where he stayed in "the cave" (1 Ki 19:8-9). There, the Lord’s glory appeared to Him (vv. 11-14). This was precisely the place where Moses was allowed to see the passing glory of the Lord (Ex 33:17-34:9). The number "40" provides further confirmation of the similarity of the two theophanies.
9. Skipping past a good deal of material, the ascension of Elijah resembled the death of Moses. Both Elijah and Moses were outside the land to the east when their lives ended. No one knew where Moses was buried (Dt 34:6), and a party looking for Elijah searched unsuccessfully for three days (2 Ki 2:15-18).
In both cases, moreover, continuity of leadership was an important consideration. Before Moses died, Joshua was designated as his successor (Nu 27:15-23). By laying hands on Joshua, Moses conferred some of his "glory" (v. 20; Heb., hod). In Deuteronomy 34:9, Joshua is said to have received the "spirit of wisdom" through the laying on of Moses’ hands. Joshua was thereby equipped to continue and complete the ministry of Moses. Similarly, Elisha was anointed as Elijah’s successor, receiving a double portion of Elijah’s spirit, performing the same miracles that Elijah performed, and literally following the path of Elijah back to Samaria (2 Ki 2:9-14, 23-25; cf. vv. 1-6).
(It is worth noting the adoption theme in the story of Elijah’s succession. Elisha’s request for a "double portion" of Elijah’s spirit was a request for the inheritance of a firstborn [2 Ki 2:9; cf. Dt 21:15-17]. As Elijah was carried away in the whirlwind, Elisha fittingly cried out to his departing "father" [2 Ki 2:12]. This passage has evident typological connotations: Those who witnessed the ascension of Jesus received the inheritance of the Spirit, were clothed in the mantle of Christ’s authority, and continued His ministry as His sons, co-heirs, and successors. Calvin said that the ascension of Christ and the pouring out of the Spirit were "antithetical," two sides of one event; likewise, Elijah’s ascension was Elisha’s Pentecost.)
The parallels of Elijah and Moses are significant because they reinforce the fact that their ministries were similar. Moses was the prototypical prophet, who established, under the Lord’s instructions, the tabernacle and sacrificial system. Elijah was a new Moses, whose mission it was to call Israel to covenant renewal, to purity of worship and life. The ministry of the prophet was to build or rebuild the spiritual, liturgical, and moral foundations of Israel.
OPEN BOOK
No. 16 Copyright (c) 1993 James B. Jordan July, 1993
On the Making of Books
(Part 2)
by James B. Jordan
(Continued from Open Book 15).
How Most Christian Publishing Works
What we think of as publishing is a relatively recent phenomenon. Naturally, it came into being only after the invention of the printing press, but there are other factors as well. Modern publishing came into being because bookstores needed books to sell. The market for books created the publishing industry. The publishing industry then created the modern hack writer. I mean no o_ense by the term "hack writer," and I have been a hack writer in my time. It is part of apprenticeship.
How does it work? At the semi-annual planning session of Swell Christian Books, the editors sit around and try to imagine what kinds of books will be swell sellers this year. The latest thing in evangelical Christian circles is the 12-Step life-rehabilitation procedure used by Alcoholics Anonymous. (Caution: Don’t read this as my dismissing the 12-Step approach in toto. I cannot wholly embrace all its features, but it is not all bad either.) At any rate, the editors decide that Swell Christian Books needs to get into the 12-Step market. There is money to be made there. So they map out a set of 12 books dealing with 12 kinds of psychological addiction (booze, drugs, anorexia nervosa, pornography, homosexuality, co-dependency, the Democratic Party [opps!], dumpster-dwelling, etc.).
Now they need Big Names to "write" these books. They do a little research and _nd that the Association of Evangelical Shrinks is made up entirely of practicing counsellors with Ph.Ds. The mice who work for Swell Christian Books _nd out who might "author" which book, and sign on 12 "authors."
The next step is to get the hack writers to actually write the books. The hack writer listens to tapes of lectures given by the 12 Big Names. Perhaps some of the Big Names actually provide a draft of a book. The hack writer writes up the book, introducing each of the (12) chapters in the book with a gripping and tear-jerking yet hope-_lled story.
These books will be published in hardcover, but the pages will be glued so that the books will never lie _at on the table (as opposed to being sewn in signatures—the little bunches of pages you see when you look at the book from the bottom or top). Sharp "1990s-Focus" cover designs are commissioned. The books will be marketed at the Christian Booksellers Convention. They will make the required splash. In two-three years, they will be forgotten.
Now folks, that is how most pro_t-making publishers put out books. Of course there are exceptions. Charles Swindoll, I am told, writes his own books, and they are published because he has acquired a reputation. But you know that if an unknown person submitted a manuscript of equal quality, it would probably not be published.
Let me make my position plain: This is not evil. Such books perform a real service, and they have their place. But we need to understand that this is why most popular Christian publishers don’t publish any really serious books.
The best such publishers ever issue are mid-range serious books (such as my own Through New Eyes). Books like these don’t sell very well, however, and when a publisher puts one out (only a couple per year), it is usually a labor of love. One of the largest Christian publishers in America, and one of the best, told me that they put out a lot of schlock (decent schlock, but still schlock) in order to make the money necessary to do a few really good books per year, which they call their "mission books."
Another problem with pro_t-making Christian publishers is this: They aren’t professional churchmen and don’t know much theology. The result is that year by year we see the publication of books that are appalling in their theology, but which are marketed as conservative evangelical books. A few years ago, for instance, Crossway Books published a book on child-rearing that will _lled with grossly Pelagian (heretical) ideas gleaned from a 19th century unitarian educator. The authoress of this book was a daughter of Francis Schae_er, and so the publishers probably thought she knew what she was writing about.
Another example is the stream of books coming from the "Mary Pride" school of thought. A continuing refrain in these books is the sinfulness of using any kind of family planning technique ("birth control"). One of the arguments routinely trotted out is that birth control "interferes with the sovereignty of God," and is therefore wrong. Now, it does not take much knowledge of theology to realize that it is impossible to interfere with the sovereignty of God, by de_nition and in fact. Whatever you think of birth control, this argument is silly. Of course, this point does not occur to most people until it is pointed out to them, which is why they are not theologians. A theologian, however, spots the error instantly. These publishers should make use of the use of theologically trained editors before putting such books on the market.
Well, there is money to be made from quackodox books on family life, fruitcake books on "Bible prophecy," and sensationalistic books on the "new age." Christian publishers are in the business of making money by catering to an audience addicted to sensationalism. While such publishers are, of course, concerned also with truth and accuracy, such concerns do not usually occupy the driver’s seat.
The best we _nd from such publishers—and they do publish some good books—are books dealing with current family issues and social issues. Seldom do we see a book dealing with more fundamental theological and philosophical matters.
That’s just how it is in the world of the free market. There is no point in complaining about it. But it leaves a serious gap in the world of Christian publication.
How Serious Books Are Published
How, then, do serious books get into print? Through sponsorship. For instance, Crossway Books published the Turning Point series a couple of years back. These books dealt with a variety of subjects at a mid-range serious level. They were well-researched and characterized by good information and re_ection. They were not, on the whole, theologically penetrating and acute, though some were better than others. And they were by and large typically American in that they dealt with social issues from a kind of generally Christian perspective without taking into consideration the dynamic center of the Christian faith: the Church. But even so, they were far too serious to be major sellers for the company. So how did they get into print? They were underwritten by a non-pro_t foundation.
Most serious books come from non-pro_t publishers. In the secular world, these are usually university presses. The non-Protestant churches have church-controlled presses, or publishing houses that are denominational in character, such as the St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, Notre Dame University Press, and the remarkable Ignatius Press. Liberal Protestants also have such publishing houses, such as Westminster Press, John Knox, Fortress, and the like. Now, a lot of what all of these publishers put out is denominational schlock, but they also put out serious theological works as well.
By serious theological works I mean books that deal with the deep "philosophical" issues of life in a way that shows sustained re_ection and careful thought. Books like this are virtually non-existent in conservative Protestantism today, and you may never have seen one. Calvin’s Institutes is a good example. Now, the Institutes is a very large book, but not all serious theological works are so large. Van Til’s, for instance, are smaller. (Some are larger, like Barth’s Church Dogmatics.) Ignatius Press, for instance, puts out English translations of the works of Louis Bouyer, Hans Urs von Balthazar, and Henri Cardinal de Lubac. These are works of sustained argument. There is no "_u_" in them. I cannot imagine Ignatius Press’s editors telling these men that they need to write in a more "popular" vein. Can you imagine Calvin’s being told that? Now, I myself write in a more popular style, but my point here is this: Virtually nobody writes this way in conservative Protestantism today, because there is nobody to publish such material. And even if you as a "layman" cannot read such stu_, it is very important for you that such foundation-building and well-digging work be done, and that people read it, so that the insights can "trickle down" through more popular writers to you.
But where are the theological publishers of conservative Protestant books? A few trickle out from the Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company. For a while, the Institute for Christian Economics published books on a few issues relating to its interests, but they are now cutting back. Every now and then a "mission book" comes from Baker Book House. Kregel reprints serious books from the last century. Can you think of any more? The serious books from Eerdmans are usually liberal.
Ask yourself this: Who would publish the massive theological tomes of the Reformation era today? I’m thinking not only of Calvin’s Institutes but the large proto-systematic theologies by Peter Martyr, Martin Bucer, and others. And how about Calvin’s and Bucer’s commentaries on the Bible? Nobody would publish them today, because such men would spend virtually no time interacting with liberalism and instead would expound the text. Moreover, they were not afraid to engage in theological re_ection on the text of the Bible, something that is very rare in conservative commentaries today. (Such re_ection is regarded as the duty of preachers, not of commentators, and the result is that nobody does it at all.)
Well, then, how did such books get published at the time of the Reformation? Answer: Rich people put up the money to publish them. Serious scholarship has always been sponsored by "princes" with vision.
Trans_guration Press
We have started up Trans_guration Press as a publishing arm of Biblical Horizons , which is a non-pro_t organization. Our reason is simple: There is virtually nobody who can or will publish the kind of material we write. What we write, and what Trans_guration Press will publish, does not _t any of the publishers presently in operation in America.
First of all, we are orthodox Protestants of the Reformed faith. That eliminates most publishers.
Second, we are committed to the Church and to a revival of Biblical worship as the center of the Kingdom. That eliminates most "issues-oriented" publishers, who don’t want anything about infant baptism, the Lord’s Supper, psalmody, liturgy, etc. mixed in with discussions of abortion and pornography. American evangelicalism wants to believe it can address social issues apart from theology, ecclesiology, and liturgics.
Third, we do a lot of Bible exposition that is theological in character. Modern conservative Bible commentaries do two things well: they prove liberals wrong, and they deal with the nuts and bolts of grammar and vocabulary. What they don’t provide is theological re_ection. That is what we do, but that kind of Bible commentary, though common a century ago, has largely disappeared from view today. Evangelicals are on the defensive, and when they comment on the Bible they provide the bare minimum of re_ection on the text. We, on the other hand, seek to milk the Word for all we can get out of it. We are just not in tune with the modern spirit at this point. (Don’t get me wrong. There are some very good modern commentaries, but there are not many.)
Fourth, we sometimes write on matters that are obscure because they have been overlooked in the modern Americanized evangelical world. Things like symbolism and ritual. We believe that the perspectives that such overlooked matters provide can help shake modern Christianity out of its "dogmatic slumber." Right now, however, such discussions are too far out on the "cutting edge" to be published by the usual publishers. They don’t see the mind-transforming power of a study of the Tabernacle or of the dietary laws, probably because most studies of these things are rather mind-numbing.
I guess the bottom line is that we are interested in true scholarship. True scholarship is not the preserve of rari_ed academics. It is a conversation that it open to anyone. But not everyone is a creative scholar. Jewish theologian Jacob Neusner has described the creative scholar this way in a newpaper article:
What is the di_erence between learned people, which high school teachers [for instance] are, and scholars, which they are not? The mind of the scholar is marked by four traits:
– The desire to rethink important propositions and to ask how they work and how we have been persuaded to accept them.
– The capacity to take important intellectual initiatives, to ask questions in addition to accepting answers, to want to know not only more about what is known but also about something others have never asked.
– Complete engagement with the work, entire devotion to the task of learning, to the exclusion of all else.
– Love for the work, _nding the full meaning of life in critical learning, including telling others what the scholar has found out ("teaching") and also sharing with peers what one thinks is so ("published research").
Now, in a Christian way I think these things are true of the circle of writers and thinkers loosely associated with Biblical Horizons . They way Neusner sets it out, his _rst two points sound like the autonomous mind in action, and as Christians we are seeking to rethink matters and ask questions from a rigorously Biblical perspective. Neusner’s last two points smack of idolatry, as if the scholar is so committed to his work that he sees all of life in terms of it. As Christians, we take ourselves less seriously. But what Neusner is getting at in the way of how certain people think is very true. Some people are creative as regards intellectual matters. Biblical Horizons is on the creative cutting edge and that is one reason why our work is not easy to categorize and why it does not _t into the slots that exist in the current publishing world.
We live in an age that is ending, in a civilization that is falling apart because its mixed foundations have cracked apart. For that reason, it is most important that serious Christians do the kinds of rethinking and take the kinds of intellectual initiatives Neusner refers to.
We at Biblical Horizons are not the only people engaged in this kind of Biblically-grounded rethinking, of course, but we must do the best we can with our resources. That is why we have started Trans_guration Press.
