Abstract
The Sinai narrative (Ex. 19–24) is of paramount importance within Judaism and, of course, has significance within Christianity as well. Curiously, many Jewish and Christian philosophers and theologians affirm the importance of the Sinai narrative at the same time as denying its historicity. How is this stance intellectually coherent? This is the question which Bartholomew seeks to answer.
Following an introduction, the Book is structured in two parts. In the first, Bartholomew provides a survey of varying attitudes to the possibility of divine action, drawing upon voices from the medieval to the modern: Benjamin Sommer (1964–), Moses Maimonedes (c. 1138–1204), Judah Halevi (1075–1141), Michael Wyschogrod (1928–2015), Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Benedict Spinoza (1632-1677), Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), and Colin Gunton (1941–2003). The criterion for the selection of these scholars in particular is unclear. In the second part, Bartholomew changes gear and explores the major recognised models of divine action, concluding that ‘divine action finds its place against the backdrop of God’s providence, firmly rooted in the doctrine of creation and as an expression of a particular view of God as the living God’ (p. 187). Bartholomew then (finally) undertakes a study of Ex. 19–24 across three ‘dimensions’: literary, historical/referential, and kerygmatic/theological (p. 192), followed by a final philosophical reflection (p. 227).
The book does provide an answer to Bartholomew’s question, and his ability to engage with such a range of philosophical, theological, and biblical scholarship is impressive. Yet, I am left unclear regarding Bartholomew’s own views on whether the Sinai event happened and whether such ultimately matters for Jewish and Christian theology. It is clear that Bartholomew thinks the Sinai event is central to the HB/OT (p. 15), and he is critical of those who wish to affirm its importance whilst denying its historicity. Furthermore, he wishes to ground a view of divine action in a theology of providence (p. 187) which assumes that divine action is possible. He is also optimistic that Ex. 19–24 can be read as deriving from a genuine historical event. Beyond this, however, Bartholomew’s views are unclear.
The Book is not an investigation into the historicity of the Sinai narrative, though Bartholomew does consider such very briefly in chapter 9. Thus, the exciting question on the book’s blurb (‘Did the decisive event in the history of Israel even happen?’) is misleading. Rather, the book is an ad-hoc survey of several philosophical/theological theories of divine action topped with reflections on how these theories might be used to understand the significance of the Sinai narrative for Jewish and Christian theology. As a biblical scholar, what I found most interesting is the question that the book raises about the relationship between Philosophy and Biblical Studies. Bartholomew’s view is that the two are closely related; he regularly insists that biblical scholarship is always constructed upon a philosophical framework and critiques those biblical scholars who fail to recognise this and claim neutrality (pp. xiv, 32, 113, 138–139, 141, 190, 191). This is ultimately the main argument of the Book.