I do not share this perspective, but neither do I want this project to get overly burdened with this discussion. Thus, I am consistently referring to the biblical theme of life, rather than the biblical theology of life. For my purposes, it is sufficient to note that the life theme is quite important in the Bible and to attempt to discern the evangelistic implications of a strong emphasis on that theme. For more reading regarding biblical theology, I recommend James Barr’s book, The Concept of Biblical Theology, and Brevard S. Child’s book, Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments.
74. Whitelam, Just King, 36.
75. Lambert, “Kingship in Ancient Mesopotamia,” 55.
76. Rooke, “Kingship as Priesthood,” 94.
77. Whitelam, Just King, 36.
78. Baines, “Ancient Egyptian Kingship,” 46.
79. McConville, “King and Messiah in Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomistic History,” 281.
80. Joyce, “King and Messiah in Ezekiel,” 337.
81. Deut 30:19.
82. Gen 9:7.
83. Gen 12:2–3.
84. I am grateful to Joseph Dongell for helping me more fully grasp the distinction between instrumentality and goal (personal conversation, February 2, 2010).
85. Jurgen Moltmann in The Source of Life (30) disagrees with this perspective. He argues that we should not conceive of God’s intention to be that of a restoration back to the original situation that existed in creation. Because the resurrection of Jesus is “something completely new in history,” we should visualize God’s intention to involve something that has yet to be created, rather than visualizing a return to the old Eden. I applaud this mindset and see no problem with envisioning a full life that goes even beyond God’s original intention in creation. However, because this “new thing” that will be created in God’s resurrection future does not yet exist, we find ourselves limited to the biblical portrayals of what was created by God in the beginning. It might be possible to develop a theology of life based on portrayals of the new heaven and the new earth in the book of Revelation, but I would not want to do this at the expense of leaving out references to God’s original intentions in creation. The creation narratives and various references to creation throughout the Bible are essential ingredients to a biblically based theology of full life in Jesus.
3
Old Testament Exploration of the Life Theme
The premise of this book is that the biblical theme of life is one of the primary themes of the Bible, and as such, provides a helpful foundation for the theory and practice of evangelism. It is essential, therefore, to explore the life theme from the perspective of biblical studies, which I will do in chapters 3 and 4. Because it is impossible to engage in a comprehensive survey of all the resources available in the field of biblical studies, I will emphasize selected Old Testament scholars in this chapter and selected Johannine scholars in the next.
Klein: Life Is the Goal
Earlier I referred to the 1991 article by Charles Scobie that mentions a 1983 article by Hans Klein in which life (Old Testament) and new life (New Testament) are proposed together as offering a centralizing theme for biblical study. Klein does not view life/new life “as the centre (Mitte) of the Old Testament and New Testament respectively but rather as the goal (Zielpunkt) which they envisage.”86 This supports my earlier claim concerning the relationship between life and the kingdom of God, in which life may be considered to be the ultimate goal for human beings and creation, with the kingdom viewed as either one of the instruments God chooses to bring that goal to fruition, or as the arena in which God’s full-life intentions take place.
In assessing Klein’s proposal, Scobie applauds Klein’s attempt to use life as the leading idea of the Bible because it acknowledges the strong differences between the Old and New Testaments, while at the same time highlights that “all areas of life belong to life under God.”87 One may appreciate Scobie’s recognition (through Klein) concerning all of life belonging to God. This is one of the reasons that a strong emphasis on the biblical theme of life provides a significant foundation for evangelism. Even for persons who prefer not to view life as the principle theme of the Bible, a strong emphasis on that theme reminds us that evangelism begins with God’s intention to create, bear, and nurture life. Evangelism is intrinsically connected not only to God’s creation, but also to God’s creative intent. This is a point that merits serious consideration in evangelistic theory and practice.
It Starts with the Living God, and We Are Included
Otto Baab emphasizes that “perhaps the most typical word for identifying the God of the Old Testament is the word ‘living.’”88 As the living God, God acts in history, displays power, and delivers. Of special importance is how the Old Testament characterizes all other gods (idols) in comparison to the living God. Other gods are lifeless, dead, weak, and inadequate.89 Only the living God, Yahweh, could help, save, and deliver, and only Yahweh had helped, saved, and delivered. Based on their personal experience with the living God, therefore, the Old Testament writers conceived of God as being active in history and active in their personal and corporate lives. Baab writes that “since God is a living God, he is unavoidably involved in all of the complexities and uncertainties of life. His life interacts with that of his people.”90
Edmond Jacob also places a strong emphasis on the theme of God as a living God. Previously we noted Jacob’s contention that “the idea of eternity is secondary to that of life. God is not living because he is eternal, but he is eternal because he is living.”91 Jacob expands on this idea by stating that “life is what differentiates Yahweh from other gods.”92 Moreover, he shares Baab’s perspective that there is a strong link between God’s “living-ness” and God’s interactions with humanity. “Just as life is a mysterious reality which can only be recognized, so God is a power which imposes itself on man [sic] and comes to meet him [sic] without his being always prepared for it.”93
Even more significant is Jacob’s further contention that not only does God meet us in an imposing way, but the nature of this meeting also includes an invitation to choose life for ourselves, as highlighted by Deuteronomy 30:19. It is only by virtue of making this choice “that man [sic] truly becomes what he is.”94 This concept is helpful because it not only stresses the importance of the theme of life for those who relate with Yahweh, but it also speaks to the nature of what humanity is invited to. We are invited to life, and the one who issues that invitation is the living God who created life, sustains life, and redeems life. We should give this invitation to life a valuable place in evangelistic theory and practice.
The Living God Interacts with Us Relationally
Also germane to this project is the perspective that Jacob and Baab share concerning the relational nature of God’s interactions with humanity. Based on a study of God’s interactions with Moses at the burning bush, Jacob suggests that one of the important concepts regarding the name of God is that when the Israelites said the name of God, it was God’s presence that was emphasized, not God’s eternity. Thus, “God is he who is with someone.”95