The Pentateuch

Abstract

The Pentateuch Christopher T. Begg, Fred W. Guyette, Brian J. Meldrum, Matthew C. Genung, and Eric J. Wagner Christopher T. Begg Catholic University of America Fred W. Guyette Erskine College and Seminary Brian J. Meldrum Catholic University of America Matthew C. Genung Chestnut Hill MA Eric J. Wagner CR, The Josephinum 1727. [Samaritan Text of Genesis] Stefan Schorch (ed., in collaboration with Evelyn Burkhardt, Ulrike Hirschfelder, Irina Wandrey, and József Zsengellér), The Samaritan Pentateuch: A Critical Edito Maior. Vol. 1: Genesis (Berlin/Boston: de Gruyter, 2021). Pp. lxiv + 451. €137.99. ISBN 978-3-11-070950-6. This volume is the second entry to appear in a five-volume series that will provide a critical edition of the Samaritan Pentateuch (SP) with a full critical apparatus that draws on the manuscripts that have been discovered since the publication of A. von Gall's "eclectic edition" of 1914–1918. The (unvocalized) text of Genesis reproduced in the present volume runs to a total of 451 pages. The critical apparatus to the base text provides information about various types of variants to the base text found in other SP manuscripts. The preface and introduction to the volume are given in both German and English. The introduction treats such topics as previous editions of the SP, the currently available SP manuscripts and the layout of the current edition. For the Leviticus volume in the series published in 2018, see OTA 42 (2019) #757.—C.T.B. Google Scholar 1728. [Genesis 1–3; Adam] William Lane Craig, In Quest of the Historical Adam: A Biblical and Scientific Exploration (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2021). Pp. xvii + 421. $38. ISBN 9780802879110. Was Adam a real historical person? Among the Church Fathers, Origen thought it likely that Adam was a figural character. Moreover, no creed or church council has ever decreed that belief in a historical Adam is necessary for salvation. And for most people today, the theory of human evolution carries more weight than the account of human origins found in the first three chapters of Genesis. On the other hand, why would Paul speak in 1 Corinthians 15 of our radical need for salvation, if there had never been a "fall" that took place in some particular moment of history? And Jesus assumes the truth of the Genesis account when he says, "God created them male and female" (Matt 19:4-6). So that brings us back to the question with a renewed sense of urgency: Was Adam a real historical person? If so, who was he and when did he live? C. sets out to answer these questions through a biblical and scientific investigation. He begins with an inquiry into the genre of Genesis 1–11, determining that it can most plausibly be classified as mytho-history—a narrative with both literary and historical content. He then moves into the NT, where he examines references to Adam in the words of Jesus and the writings of Paul, ultimately concluding that the entire Bible considers Adam the historical progenitor of the human race—a position that must therefore be accepted as a premise for Christians who take seriously the inspired truth of Scripture. On this basis, C. embarks on an interdisciplinary survey of scientific evidence to determine where Adam might be most plausibly located in the evolutionary history of humankind, ultimately determining that Adam lived between 750,000 and 1,000,000 years ago as a member of the archaic human species Homo heidelbergensis. He concludes by reflecting theologically on his findings and asking what all this might mean for us as human beings created in the image of God, literally descended from a common ancestor—albeit one who lived in the remote past. Closely related arguments to those made by C. here can be found in The Lost World of Adam and Eve: Genesis 2–3 and the Human Origins Debate (2015) by John H. Walton; Adam and the Genome: Reading Scripture after Genetic Science (2017) by Dennis R. Venema and Scot McKnight; and The Genealogical Adam and Eve: The Surprising [End Page 629] Science of Universal Ancestry (2019) by S...