Inclusive Voices in Post - Exilic Judah xxxxxx
Anna L.Grant-Henderson
The Liturgical Press
Collegeville, Minnesota, 2002
Available Open Book: $39.95
Extracts from the book:
Abstract
The book demonstrates that there are inclusive voices in the Hebrew Scriptures. These voices became lost as the strong exclusive voices of Ezra/Nehemiah and Ezekiel became dominant. It wasn't until the advent of Christ that inclusive voices again had a part to play, but even then the inclusivity was limited; for example, women and slaves were not accepted into the worshipping communities with equal rights. We need to hear again what the Hebrew Scriptures say to us and be challenged to reflect and act in cases in which we are excluding people by virtue of old prejudices or inappropriate laws.
Inclusivity has responsibilities as well as privileges which the churches need to acknowledge openly and not claim an unreserved inclusivity. Every community sets some boundaries. On the other hand, those who want to be included need to realise there are obligations when one is accepted into a community and it is not freedom without responsibility.
Because the writings were not able to claim the authority of the Torah they had to be written claiming a different authority which in the case of the Hebrew Scriptures was the "righteousness" of God. Not only did they claim this, but their writings were constructed with extraodinary literary skill to confront the authorities of the day. We need to base any assertion for inclusivity on the righteoussness of God as well as use literary and communication skills to confront those who still exclude people on the basis of gender, race, physical or mental differences.
The book demonstrates that many texts which in the past have been named as "universalistic" are nationalisitic (Isa 40-55) and indeed fail to make clear the the status of the people to whom the proclamation is addressed. The monograph affirms the universalism of God, however, the response to that unversalism of God is limited by humans
Paragraph from Chaper 1
Isaiah 56:1-8 played a crucial role in discovering the insights to form the basis of this monograph. In these verses the foreigner and the eunuch are acceptable in the house of the Lord despite the explicit laws of exclusion in the Torah. Therefore, they have to make a claim for inclusion based on the ethical principal of righteousness and justice. The particular Hebrew word ?hebrew? used for "foreigner" makes connections to other parts of the Hebrew Scriptures and challenges the reader to consider how this word is used to confront the Israelite community. In order to make these claims we shall deal with the exegetical issues in detail. Furthermore, we propose that these verses are the prologue to the remaining eleven chapters, Isaiah 56:9-66:24 and indeed, we argue that Isaiah 56-66 is created as a unity with the express purpose of advocating the inclusion of foreigners over and against the proclamations of Ezra/Nehemiah and Ezekiel. However, Isaiah 56:1-8 makes it clear that inclusion brings with it responsibilities as well as privileges.
End paragraphs from the conclusion of the Book
We believe that the Bible goes beyond legal sanctions and is based on God's concern of an all embracing ethic in which life is sacred and God wants the best for all creatures. God is a relational being and wants people to be in covenant relationship with people. To live by righteous principles demands much more than if one lives by law. It is harder to determine in many instances what is the right action. We know the stories of Jesus in which he broke the Law because it was right to heal or to satisfy hunger on a Sabbath.
In the early Church Matthew struggled to gain authority for the inclusion of foreigners and their acceptance within the Christian community. How could he make this claim when he could not call on the Hebrew Scriptures to support his position? Indeed, the Hebrew Scriptures explicitly denied the inclusion of Gentiles.
Matthew draws on stories that people within the Jewish Christian community would know and uses them to give an alternative understanding. For example, four women from the Hebrew Scriptures are included in Matthew's genealogy of Christ-Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. Foreign women (some of whom were betrayed as sinners) are now perceived as acceptable because of their role in Jewish history, enabling the community to accept the idea that foreigners were included in the kingdom and proclamation of Jesus Christ. The stories give authority because they are present in the Hebrew Scriptures. However, we must note that Matthew's proclamation cannot be underpinned with the "authority" of any legal code. This was also the case for the writer of Isaiah 56-66.
Arising from this exploration of inclusive voices, the contemporary Church is faced with a number of challenges. How do we use Scripture to support new possibilities of inclusivity in the Church? Matthew was able to use his traditions to enable the new Jewish Christians to accept that Gentiles were welcome in their community. He called on an ethical base for giving authority to his proclamation by using stories from the Hebrew Scriptures rather than the Mosaic Law. The general lack of knowledge about the Bible today is a disadvantage in adopting Matthew's method. Trito-Isaiah used an "oxymoron" literary principle, based on righteousness and justice, to challenge those who wanted to exclude foreigners from the community. We face the challenge in the same way as Trito-Isaiah, who had to fight against those who quoted the Law as a basis for their position. However, we have to contend not only with Law in the Hebrew Scriptures as a basis for rejection but also the use of the words of Jesus to exclude certain people. This study of "inclusive voices" suggests that the alternative to such legalism is to turn to an ethic based on righteousness, justice and love, which calls on stories and parables rather than the law.
In conclusion, we stand in a long line with those who have struggled with diverse voices in Scripture and how to proclaim a new message in opposition to the orthodox position. We can learn from the past how other writers have been inspired to proclaim their message, but we have to hear God's word for us in our time and trust that God wants to be in relationship with all people.
Excerpts from speech at the launch of the Book by Rev Dr Charles Biggs
How do nations and communities, even church congregations, deal with people who come to them from different places and backgrounds? - in ways to include them or exclude them? How do those who want to be inclusive overcome the beliefs that support exclusion, especially those that have traditional support from the scriptures? If the newcomers are to be accepted into the community, on what grounds is this to be done? Are there any conditions?
These are questions that are current for us today and they lie behind issues that faced the people of post-exilic Israel/Judah, as Anna Grant-Henderson has found in her investigation of Isaiah chaps 55-66 and other material from that period. This period is often characterized as a time of exclusiveness, when the Israelite community adopted, as a protective measure, procedures aimed at preserving their identity as the people of God and maintaining their religion. This meant that people who were different; that is, who expressed their faith differently or were not recognized as authentic Israelites (later, Jews) were excluded from the worshipping community and the privileges of the community. Anna finds there is much support for this position in the scriptures, but there are voices that support the other side as well, particularly in Isaiah 55-66.
The discussion offered by Anna helps us understand the post-exilic society of Israel/Judah and the tensions that existed in it, highlights issues in the interpretation of scripture, particularly when we want to make parts of it prescriptive, draws attention to the important difference between ethics and law in such interpretation, and suggests that we should be alert for different voices as we seek to discern God's word for us. It also makes good reading at this time when we are faced with a community that is divided on the way we should react to any person who is different from us who wants to find a place among the people of God and/or, in our wider community.
