Abstract
This relatively short little book represents the distillation of a number of talks and lectures given on the general theme of what authority we can ascribe to the New Testament in our present age. Can we still call scripture ‘holy’ in the light of modern critical scholarship? Anthony Harvey is a master of his craft. He is a NT specialist, but also a master communicator. These essays are all written in a highly accessible form for non-specialists, but also with a wealth of knowledge and deep thought behind them about the issues discussed.
An initial chapter sets up the theme of the book as a whole, taking as a cue Bonhoeffer’s talk of the need for Christianity to ‘come of age’. If then Christianity has ‘come of age’, what is the status of the NT’s authority and/or ‘holiness’? The chapters that follow deal with the history described in the NT, the difficulties posed by John’s gospel, the possible use of the NT in discussions of morality, the quest for who Jesus might have been, Paul, and a final chapter (on ‘supplying “as if”’) which discusses the way in which biblical language might be taken as ‘metaphorical’ (‘as if’) rather than literal. Each chapter represents a mini-gem in itself. The general thrust of the argument as a whole might appear to be fairly ‘conservative’, claiming that even in the light of modern critical study, the NT can retain the right to be regarded as ‘scripture’ and ‘holy’. But there are gentle nudges for the reader. John’s witness is not too different from the synoptics (and hence can be taken as historically valuable); but the Christology implied in some of Johannine sayings is quietly but firmly realigned away from what others might take as ‘obvious’ (e.g. ‘I and the Father are one’ is not taken as a statement about the ontological divinity of Jesus.) Jesus’ self-identity as ‘messiah’ is discussed, but helpfully put into a wider context for today where ‘messiahship’ as such is perhaps not the most important (or even meaningful) category for many. Particularly valuable is the discussion of morality, where Harvey distinguishes between older discussions in antiquity where morality was about the ultimate goal of human life, and more modern debates where morality becomes a set of specific rules about individual actions. It is then, he says, a crying shame when many take most of the NT’s ethical teaching as exhortations inspiring us to ever higher moral standards and not as a compendium of rules to be observed, but then make the opposite judgement in relation to questions of divorce and homosexuality!
For those who want to retain for the NT a special status (as ‘holy scripture’), even in the era of modern critical analysis, there is much comfort in this book. But there is also a radical, searching and refreshing honesty that refuses to run away from critical questions, is prepared to face them squarely, and seeks to provide a constructive response. The book is very easy to read at one level and thoroughly accessible to those who are not necessarily NT specialists. There is though food for thought for anyone who takes seriously both critical scholarship and a genuinely ‘theological’ interest in these texts.