Biblical Covenant Research Articles

Tthe covenant in Ulrich Huber’s enlightened theology, jurisprudence and political theory

In this article the 17th century Dutch theorist, Ulrich Huber’s contribution to the concept of the covenant is unveiled. This takes place against the background of the more prominent insights regarding the covenant in 16th and 17th century Western political thought, namely the idea of the Biblical covenant (with the emphasis on the conditional nature of God’s law), and the secular social contract theories stemming from the early Enlightenment. This investigation gains value as a result of its emphasis on the prominence of the covenant in the inextricably linked disciplines of theology, jurisprudenceand political theory; as well as its revitalisation of the complicated natureof the covenant. What also comes to the fore is the role of pre-liberalism in the evolution of the classic law of nature and social contractarianism in the early classical development of political theory.

Differing and changing attitudes in the Jewish exegetical tradition to the fulfilment of the biblical land covenant

AbstractIt is commonly supposed that religions treat their sacred texts with a degree of rigidity and literality. The fact is that every and any text can be read and understood differently. This essay, written from a Jewish perspective, examines the biblical statements about the Promised Land and looks at how the promises to the early “fathers” have been understood at different times. Together with the Divine commitments came a reciprocal human obligation. It was the perceived abrogation by the Children of Israel of their side of the bargain that was seen as the reason for Exile after the First Destruction. By the time of the Second Destruction Christianity made new claims about the nature of the Holy Land and declared itself the New Israel and the successors of the Chosen People. In response to this and to the depredations of Exile, Judaism once again reinterpreted and adapted the original texts and the first wave of interpretation to meet different circumstances.The aim of the essay is to describe the different theological approaches to the texts in the context of historical events. Simplistic assumptions and reading do not do justice to the complexity and variety of religious reactions to identical sources even within the same tradition.

From Chrysostom to Luther: The roots of magisterial office in Martyr Vermigli’s political theology

Peter Martyr Vermigli played a key role in developing and formulating the Reformational version of the political covenant for legitimating the political order. Three important perspectives shaped Vermigli’s covenantal views: first, St. John Chrysostom’s idea of political office; second, Luther’s work on the divine origin of magisterial government and third, Heinrich Bullinger’s commentaries on the Biblical covenant. These perspectives were integrated by Vermigli into an influential paradigm of covenantal politics. The impact of the ideas emanating from Vermigli’s theologico-political federalism was not limited to the 16th-century Reformation, but also exerted considerable influence on the development of political contractarianism in 17th - and 18th-century liberalism. In this contribution the emphasis is on Chrysostom’s and Luther’s contributions to Vermigli’s political theology.

Heinrich Bullinger, political covenantalism and Vermigli’s commentary on Judges

The Zurich political federalists under the leadership of Heinrich Bullinger had a number of important views in common: firstly, they subscribed to the ideal of the covenanted nation under God; secondly, they maintained the view that magistrates and their subjects have a covenantal calling to live according to God’s law; thirdly, the binding together (consolidation) of the covenanted Christian polity by means of the oath; fourthly, the right to resistance when the conditions of the covenant are broken; fifthly, the offices of magistrates and pastors are mutually to assist one another in maintaining and furthering the conditions and requirements of the Biblical covenant in the consolidated Christian community. Vermigli used these principles, together with the Chrysostomian and Lutheran views on magisterial office, to develop an influential theory of theologico-political federalism in the Reformational tradition.

The Obedient Bride: Patriarchy and Jewish Religious Fundamentalism

The biblical Covenant retains a powerful hold on believers around the world. I take Jewish religious fundamentalism to be the consequence of an ardent relationship of subjugation and submission between the God of Israel and his faithful congregation, or Covenant partner, or Bride. Given the Middle East context, I try to arrive at the Bride's own perspective of this unique bond and its political implications. That requires telling the story, as sympathetically as a non-believer can, of what outsiders, both Jewish and gentile, may see as a bewildered casualty of history; a victim who has, directly or through secular proxies, grown powerful enough to violate the rights of those she categorises as sinners, traitors, enemies, or inferiors.

Wrongly Dividing the Word of Truth: The Uncertain Soteriology of the Scofield Reference Bible

Despite formulating an alternative reading of redemptive history, the Scofield Reference Bible was unable to finally repudiate the theology of biblical covenants which had previously dominated Reformed thought. Scofield’s manipulation of the covenants stood in tension with his theology of dispensations, and accounts for many of the most important innovations in the system of his thought. This article seeks to balance the neglect of Scofield’s covenant theology.

Biblical Covenants, Learning Covenants and Theological Education

Learning covenants and contracts have been used effectively by religious and secular educators since the 1970s. Internships in theological education have sought ways to bring the student, theological college and parish into a partnership for learning. The learning covenant provides a biblical base for such partnerships while bringing to the situation all the benefits of the self-directed learning experience.

Ancient Near Eastern Royal Grants and the Davidic Covenant: A Parallel?

This essay reviews and challenges the widely accepted thesis of Moshe Weinfeld that the Davidic promises are patterned after ancient Near Eastern land grants. Examination of proposed parallels between Davidic promises and royal grants under three rubrics-structure, language, and unconditionality-reveals that Davidic promises and royal grants are not analogous. Regarding the first issue, the problematic and changing structure of land grants precludes any attempt to posit a formal parallel between Davidic covenant passages and royal grants. Similarly, the main passages describing the Davidic promises neither exhibit a common structure nor contain many of the features that are said to characterize royal grants. As to language, too much has been made of linguistic affinities between land grants and the Davidic promises. Correspondence in general formulaic phrases not unique to the land grant genre is inadequate to demonstrate that the Davidic promises and royal grants belong to the same genre. Finally, close study of the historical and literary setting of royal grants indicates that most are actually conditional. In depicting YHWH's promises to David, biblical authors draw upon a variety of genres-legal, diplomatic, and mythological. Given the complexity of the evidence, this essay advocates a broadly bilateral understanding of covenant that seeks to do justice to both ancient Near Eastern treaties and a variety of biblical covenants.

Is God ’n Verbondsgod?

In an article "Covenant Overload in Reformed Theology" John Stek (1994) reasons that in Reformed theology the concept covenant has been abstracted and separated from the narrative (and historical) specificity of the biblical covenants and has become a theological "concept" utilized to "construe" the “nature" of the God-humanity relationship. This article ties in with Stek showing that God is neither called Covenant God nor described as such in the Old Testament. The unique character of the covenant(s) of God is also pointed out and it is concluded that the being of God neither solely implies God's covenant with his people nor the expansion of his kingdom.

Reverence for Life and Environmental Ethics in Biblical Law and Covenant

The Bible is generally recognized as the foundation and point of departure for later Jewish and Christian religious and moral understandings. Nevertheless, both conservative and liberal schools within these traditions have tended to assume that biblical religion has to do only with humankind. Much of Western secular philosophy likewise has been pre-occupied exclusively with the human situation. In recent years, many theologians and ethicists have begun to trace the roots of emerging environmental concerns back to biblical sources. Several excellent studies have resulted from this movement. None, however, has focused on biblical laws and covenants.Commonly, biblical laws are thought to refer solely to Israel's relation with God (or Yahweh) and the structuring of relationships within the Israelite community. The term “covenant” generally refers to those reported occasions in biblical times when God designated Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants, as his particular people, and laid upon them certain obligations, typically in the form of laws. Yet a great many biblical laws refer to treatment of animals, the land, trees, and vegetation. And two major biblical covenants embrace not only the people of Israel, but all human beings and all living creatures.