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Barnes in Commonthe magazine of Churches Together in BarnesWinter2011
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A Rough Guide to the Old Testament ‘Lord, you have been our refuge in all generations’ - Psalm 90 To cover the Old Testament in seven sessions is a daunting task which can but scratch the surface. Revd Richard Sewell’s weekly lectures at St. Mary’s on the ‘Rough Guide to the Old Testament’ have, however, given depth and breadth to this complex subject and the 29 or so who have attended were unanimous that this was a valuable insight into hitherto unknown aspects of these ancient texts. Richard gave us a whistle-stop tour of 1100 years of history and summaries of theological concepts, and above all shared his passion and enthusiasm for the Old Testament. His approach was scholarly with regular reference to maps and timelines and spiced with illustrations from old masters paintings and the music of Bob Marley’s ‘Exodus’ and lyrics from Bono’s ‘Yahweh’. While often no longer considered central to contemporary Christianity and rarely read in some churches we were convinced by Richard that the Old Testament was fundamental to our understanding of the foundation of Christian belief and should not be overlooked. Centuries of history and religious experience are encapsulated in the Old Testament but it does not provide a linear progression and most scholars agree that a number of the best known stories such as those of Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph were probably a reflection of a series of independent folk tales. Moses himself may have been a composite character portraying an ideal leader figure. The history of the Old Testament provides a very critical history of Israel with David portrayed as the ideal of a brilliant military leader and political genius who establishes Jerusalem as a focus of unity. But his flaws are never minimised. The dates of origins of specific books are difficult to ascertain. It is easier to determine when they were accepted as scripture which entails going back to authors and sources. For example, the likely source of the term Yahweh or Jehovah has been identified as coming from the 10th century BC. To emphasise the relevance to our contemporary world, Richard gave titles to each lecture, such as ‘Exodus and Politics’, ‘Sabbath and Economics‘, ‘Prophets and Justice’. In these sessions he would reveal links to present day concerns which were similar to those of these ancient societies. The first five books of the Hebrew bible - the Torah - contain the Law, instruction, guidance and the covenant, the Ten Commandments, and many other laws. In Exodus the stark contrast is between Pharaoh’s despotic rule and Yahweh’s just and loving rule. The Ten Commandments give two types of law - humanity’s relationship to God and how to establish a viable social life and the importance of God’s call to ‘keep the Sabbath’. Debt cancellation was also introduced to limit power and wealth from falling into the hands of the few. There must be a message for contemporary life here. I wondered if we started again from scratch with laws for humanity we would come up with anything better! For many the prophets are difficult to understand, and seem to speak of ‘fire and brimstone’ offering conflicting opinions. Some prophets such as Nehemiah and Ezra emphasise the importance of racial purity whereas Isaiah speaks with more humanity about the social inclusion of outsiders in society and foreigners – very relevant to our 21st century preoccupations. A prophet was not a predictor but one who read the signs of the times and perceived implications. They were not establishment figures and told uncomfortable truths. In the book of Isaiah, however, there is great compassion and poetry. Here we read of the rise of Babylon and defeat of Jerusalem taking the ruling elite into exile for 20 years until Cyrus came to power in Persia. During this time the priestly source was probably compiled to record historical circumstances and chart the course for the nation’s future. After the defeat of Babylon a return to the ‘Promised Land’ slowly began. The course was demanding and required our concentration but we were kept ‘on track’ with readings and encouraged to read in more depth ourselves. When I asked members of the group individually about expectations of the course they ranged from ‘searching for enlightenment’ to ‘an attempt to put the historical aspect into perspective’ and impressions as the course progressed were that it achieved these results putting the historical aspect into context and giving a panoramic view. Most rated it very highly although there was the occasional comment that it was ‘rather academic’ and ‘above their head’. For me the wisdom behind the ancient stories is timeless and it still offers a principle of good living in the 21st century. Fiona Smith
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