Abstract
The question of the identity of God has been a driving force behind some of Richard Bauckham’s most influential publications over the last number of decades. Who is God? distils many of those hard-won insights into a short, accessible work of biblical theology that is sure to be of good use to both the academy and the church.
The book is divided into four chapters, three of which are based on a series of lectures delivered first in Ethiopia and then in Canada, with the first chapter being written specifically for this book. All four of the chapters are concerned with the Bible’s characterisation of God. In particular, they each concentrate on what Bauckham calls ‘key moments of revelation’ (p. 2). The key moment of revelation examined in chapter 1 is Jacob’s dream at Bethel (Gen. 28:10–22). This chapter concentrates on the theme of the divine presence. The God revealed in this event, Bauckham explains to us, is the God who is ‘with’ God’s people, and with God’s people in such a way that God is for them (pp. 9–12). After discussing the relationship between presence and temple, Bauckham highlights various allusions to Jacob’s dream in the Gospel texts, before concluding with a brief glance at how the Book of Revelation brings the theme of the divine presence to a climax.
Chapter 2 reflects on the revelation of the divine name to Moses at the burning bush (Ex. 3). Bauckham is careful to show that while this revelation does not permit God to be controlled, it does permit God to be addressed (p. 44). The chapter concludes with an exploration of the significance of God’s bestowing of the divine name on Jesus (Phil. 2). According to Bauckham, this act means that ‘Jesus belongs to God’s unique divine identity’ (p. 58). In chapter 3, Bauckham explores God’s self-revelation to Moses on Mount Sinai (Ex. 33:17–34:8). This chapters develops an answer to the question: what is God like? Bauckham shows how the revelation of the graciousness and loving kindness of God to Moses is ‘interpreted and developed’ (p. 79) across the Old Testament as well as the New.
As noted above, New Testament considerations are not absent from any of the first three chapters. The final chapter, however, focuses on three moments of revelation in the Gospel of Mark: the baptism of Jesus (1:9–11), the transfiguration (9:2–8) and the centurion’s confession (15:37–39). The moments, Bauckham argues, reveal a God who is Trinity, a God who is ‘present to us, with us, and in us in distinguishable ways’ (p. 110).
Who is God? contain very few footnotes, but Bauckham helpfully concludes each chapter with bibliographical notes that point readers to the pertinent secondary literature. Furthermore, each chapter is filled with exegetical insights, while Bauckham’s gift for connecting various biblical texts is also on display. There is no little theological substance to Who is God? either. Bauckham insists in the introduction that Bible is ‘most centrally about the identity of God’ (p. 1). This short book does much to aid our understanding of Scripture’s witness to that identity.