Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Bruce Gardner <b.gardner AT abdn.ac.uk>]

Just writing to support Jonathan Safen on his history of messianic
writing. It seems to me laity's exaltation. The concept of the (Son of)
Man reflects an exalted (Greek-influenced) position on human ingenuity
grafted onto an ancient and (post-Zerubbabel) usually safely-defunct
kingship.

Philosophical spiralling outwards from the sad royal facts can go one of
either two ways: it can be taken literally, bringing repeated, wearisome,
painful disappointment - as it did, many times before ill-fated Bar
Kochva; OR, it can be taken for a representation of an evolving
'people'.

It seems to me Rabbinical caution about 'planting saplings' reflects the
wisdom of the former and Christianity's history reflects a slightly
convoluted version of the latter, in which the King-Man is divine but
humans aspire through an assisted 'redeemed' humanity to 'Messiah's
side'.

None of this is meant to denigrate the objective truth, in spiritual
terms, of Christian reference. but perhaps we may find common ground in
the dignity of humanity issue. In any case, I think what Jonathan says is
true of redaction in the Pentateuch - it went through 'corrective
updates' which were intended not to reflect literal, historic Past but a
clarifying eternal Plan for believers.

That way, you can ally redactional history to progressive
revelation, if you like, and get away from Greek-annalistic notions
that things written in the Bible must be historically 
'true'.

Bruce Gardner.

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Bruce Gardner

b.gardner AT abdn.ac.uk