Biblical Theology Bulletin: Journal of Bible and Culture

This article is concerned with the image of Yahweh as portrayed in Amos 4:13, 5:8-9 and 9:5-6. It argues that Yahweh is portrayed as Creator, Lord of creation, all-powerful, all-knowing, transcendent, and immanent and emphasizes his unique creative skills in bringing into being all natural existence in complete independence. It also demonstrates Yahweh's sovereign freedom in controlling the cosmos and indicates that all in the universe is dependent upon him and is subject to his authority. For not only has he created all that there is, he continues to renew and sustain the entire creation. For the author, then, Yahweh owns the cosmos and has the power to rule all creation by summoning, sustaining, governing, and using the forces of nature for his purposes. This sets him over the nations and creation as Lord and gives him the right to claim the worship of all people, as he confers on all creation his own protection. This also becomes an appropriate foundation for understanding the message of divine judgment against the nations in Amos 1:3–2:16.

Biblical theology should be grounded in a broad perspective, an Überblick, on the character of God as the main actor in biblical history. Without such a perspective, we will lose sight of what kind of agent motivates the main story-line of the Bible. If our perspective is inadequate, we will fail to recognize how God works in history, including biblical history. Biblical interpreters typically have neglected a key feature of the biblical God: God as righteous agitator for redemptive good in human lives, individually and socially. In doing so, they have failed to give an adequate portrayal of what God is doing or trying to do in history. This article corrects that neglect by acknowledging the biblical God as agitating in history for righteousness among humans as a reflection of God’s unique moral character. It explains how such agitating distinguishes God from the gods of deism and determinism, while enabling the redemptive work of this God to be seen not only in biblical history but also in everyday human life. The article relates divine agitation to the crisis of Jesus in Gethsemane in relation to the kingdom of God and to the apostle Paul on dying-and-rising with Christ.

Is God perfect? The recent volume entitled The Question of God’s Perfection stages a conversation on that topic between mostly Jewish philosophers, theologians, and scholars of rabbinic literature. Although it is neither a work of biblical theology nor a contribution to the theological interpretation of scripture, The Question of God’s Perfection yields stimulating results for these other, intersecting projects. After briefly describing the volume’s central question and contents, the present essay situates the volume’s offerings within the state of the biblical-theological and theological-interpretive fields. In its next section, it considers—and compares—The Question of God’s Perfection with one twentieth-century theological antecedent, the Dutch theologian K.H. Miskotte. In closing, it poses questions for ongoing discussion.

The Question of God’s Perfection: Jewish and Christian Essays on the God of the Bible and Talmud, edited by Yoram Hazony & Dru Johnson. Philosophy of Religion – World Religions 8. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2019. ISBN 9789004387959

Jephthah (Judges 11–12) is the eighth of the twelve charismatic/military leaders in the book of Judges. Prior to a crucial battle he vows that if he is successful and returns safely “then the one who comes out of the doors of my house to meet me … shall be offered up by me as a burnt offering to yhwh” (Judg 11:31). It is difficult to know what Jephthah means by these words. The Hebrew verb used (ha-yotzey) in this context could mean equally “the one that comes out,” “whatever comes out,” or “whoever comes out.” In the event it is his only child, a daughter who greets him. Jephthah feels unable to revoke his vow and so appears actually to sacrifice her. This article considers how three sources address this narrative: ancient Rewritten Bibles; early as well as medieval and 18th/19th century Rabbinic commentary; and Contemporary scholarship.