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200
Paul D.
Hanson, ThePeople
Called: The Growth
of Community
in the Bible,
Francisco:
Harper
and
Row, Publishers, 1986),
560 + pp.,
(San
$31.95,
ISBN 0-06-063700-5.
Reviewed
by
Richard D. Israel*
The
People
Called,
by Harvard
Old Testament Professor Paul D. Hanson,
constitutes a substantive contribution to Old Testament
on the other.
Theology
on the one hand, and to Biblical
Theology
Old Testament
Theology
has been
struggling
since the dissolution
of von Rad’s traditio-historical
synthesis
to find a means of
expressing
itself in a manner
worthy
of the term
“theology”
as
contrasted with
“theologies. “The fragmentation
of biblical studies
into New and Old Testament, due in
part
to the sheer volume of
work
generated
in the last
century,
has also had its effect on
“biblical”
theology.
Hanson makes a
courageous
and innovative
contribution to both issues
by discerning
a theological triad in the
Old Testament and
tracing
it into the New Testament
(including
a
theological
treatment of the intertestamental
materials).
As though
this were not amibtious
enough,
he also has his
eye
on hermeneu-
tical issues for the
present “people
called.”
Hanson
approaches
the
quest
from a historical
vantage point,
rather than the canonical order of the texts. The Patriarchal
period
and the Exodus are treated as “the birth” of the Yahwistic notion of
community,
and the Sinai covenant,
conquest
and
early
settlement
of the land constitute “the
growth”
of the notion. That notion came
about in
“Response
to God’s
initiating saving activity,” (69)
has
“devotion to the one true God as the
unifying
heart of community,”
(69)
and is defined
by a
triad of
characteristics; righteousness,
compassion
and
worship
of the one true God. As
may
be expected
from his use of the term
“triad,”
the three
aspects
of
community
constitute a whole which are
interdependent
and
necessary
for a
valid
expression
of community.
Ensuing periods
of history are
analyzed
from the
perspective
of
how
they
measured
up
to the vision of community set forth in the
period
of its birth and
growth.
The
early
united
monarchy
is treated
as a
period
of
testing
and refinement in the
relationship
of the
monarchy
to prophecy
(Ch. 4). The divided monarchy
is covered in
two
sections,
one on the northern
monarchy,
characterized as
“growth through adversity,” (Ch. 5)
and one on the southern
monarchy, including kings, prophets
and
sages,
all of which
constitute a “variegated
portrait” exile,
the return and .
(Ch. 6). The
the
period
of Ezra-Nehemiah-Chronicler all receive individual
treatment
(Chs. 7-9). Chapter
10 treats
Joel,
Ruth and Jonah as
“witnesses to an alternative vision.”
Chapters
11 and 12 treat the
1
201
intertestamental
period
from Ezra to the Maccabees and the last two centruies B.C.E.
respectively.
The New Testament is treated in two
chapters,
one on the
teaching
of Jesus and one on
community in the
early
church
(Chs.
13 and
14).
Among
the book’s
many strengths
is its
methodological clarity and
openness.
From the
preface
on
pp. x-xi,
to
Chapter
1 on the nature of the
study,
to the
appendix
on
“Underlying presuppo- sitions and method”
(519-546),
Hanson is at
great pains
to reveal how he is
going
about his task. This is an
open
invitation to dialogue
and
participate
in the
theologizing
of the book.
Hanson is interested
throughout
his
study
in
implications
for modern believers. At the end of some sections he will insert
thoughts
on
these, (cf. 78ff., 372ff.)
and he devotes the
entirety
of Chapter
15 to the issue as well as segments from his
appendix.
His study
leads him to a
strong
stand for social involvement in the interest of righteousness and
compassion
as the
necessary response of the
community
which
worships
the one true God. “In consider- ing
the biblical notion of righteousness, we thus must conclude that an asocial
private piety
is
simply
unbiblical”
(510).
“Even as the members
of the faith
community give thanks to God
for the new life they
have
received,
so too
they
look to God’s
Spirit
for
guidance
in living
true to their commitment to God’s order of shalom.
They
are thus characterized
by
an openness to the
Spirit’s leading,
and live in expectation
of continued transformation and
growth … ” (p 514).
This leads to an
appreciation
of the book’s
significance
for Pentecostal/
Charismatic scholars. For
Hanson,
” … belief in
the
Holy Spirit
as the
presence
of the risen Lord in the
community kept
alive the
dynamic
inferential
process
at the heart of
early Yahwism and the
prophetic
faith
according
to which the
quality
of life of the
community
was clarified and renewed
by each generation through
the
ongoing
encounter with the
living
God in life’s experiences” (437).
We who have
organized
around the
significance of the
experience
of the
Holy Spirit
would do well to consider how that
experience
informs our
ecclesiology
and ethics.
Whatever the fate of Hanson’s work
upon analysis
and
critique by
the
scholarly community,
it provides an
inspiring
vision and an evocative statement of biblical
ecclesiology.
One will not
go wrong investing
the time and
money
to
acquire
and assimilate this book.
*Richard D. Israel, a licensed minister with the Assemblies of God,
is a candidate for the Ph.D. in Old Testament at the Claremont Graduate School. He is currently
serving
as Assistant Professor of
Religion
at
Bethany
Bible
College
in Santa
Cruz, California.
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