I recently read several books for a seminary class on Islam. I will post these reviews here.
subject: Notes on reading for CIU course ICS/MIS 6073, “Islam
in the 21st century”
with Dr. Nabeel Jabbour
date: Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Burge, Gary. Jesus
and the Land:
The New Testament Challenge to Holy Land
Theology. Baker Academic, 2010. ISBN 879-0-8010-3898-3
BOOK Abstract
Mr. Burge, a professor at Wheaton
College, seeks to present a biblical study on the meaning of the Holy Land and
to challenge some teachings that retain a territorial facet which then support
ongoing problems in practical relations in the volatile Mideast. Chronologically working through the Bible he
discusses the understandings concerning the land by the prophets, the Jews of
the Diaspora, Jesus himself, and careful studies of key passages in the rest of
the NT, especially Paul’s teachings. He
teaches that all the Old Testament symbols have undergone a profound shift away
from a literal item, including the land and the temple, and need to be
reinterpreted by Jesus’ work and death on the cross.
BOOK Comment
- Evaluate the book. How do you agree and disagree with the author?
“Early
Christians … would have been astonished if they came upon men and woman who
promoted a Christian version of Jewish territorialism” (Burge, 71). The author is amazed, too, that such thinking
continues to this day, and I’m glad he has made the effort to study and teach
on this key concept of the Bible. He
began with a quote from W Brueggemann “that the land might be the central theme of biblical faith.” (Burge, 1) I wouldn't go that far; is not the revelation
of God and the work of Jesus’ atonement for mankind really the central
theme? He also claimed on the first page
that Ezekiel saw Israel “as the center of the earth” (Burge, 1). None of the versions, however, that I
consulted in several languages translate the Hebrew word thus. At first I was hesitant to listen, but he
grew on me, and I much appreciate the main arguments and especially the concept
that Jesus fulfilled or reinterpreted many of the symbols of the NT in himself
and in his own work of the cross, including especially the
land/Jerusalem/temple set of powerful images..
- How did this book challenge your prejudices and your assumptions?
I don’t think I’d realized until
now how pervasive is the “holy land” theology of the Zionist, both Jew and
Christian, and how much it has seriously influenced politics concerning the
Mideast. In pioneering evangelism to
Muslims in West Africa we have often put teaching on the return of Christ on a
back burner as it is so complicated and so seemingly unnecessary for the new
believer. This book and its related CIU
course have helped me understand the implications of mistakes in this crucial
area, and have also helped me see the value again of these studies.
- What lessons can be learned from this book?
Quite a few times in the book the
concept, variously called fulfillment,
reinterpretation, redefinition, reconfiguration, relocating,
overturning, etc., has been
advanced. This doctrine is much beyond
simply saying the prophets wonderfully spoke of Christ’s coming and death over
and over. I met this concept recently in
another book by Wells and Zaspel concerning the issues of the law being
reinterpreted in Christ in the NT.[1] I think it would be good for the many
Christian tourists in the Mideast to learn, for
example, that, “Hebrews writes the heavenly Jerusalem is the destination
of people of faith. … This holy geography was accessible from any
province or city. Therefore by relocating the true Jerusalem, Hebrews
undercuts any need for literal pilgrimage to Judea. … In
other words, in order to join the heavenly Jerusalem, something must be left behind—the old Jerusalem must be exited—in order to join
Jesus who himself had no part in the city itself in his death” (Burge, 98-99). AMEN.
- How did this book impact your thinking, your convictions, and your life?
Fallacies
in interpretation of the Bible can easily lead to wrong thinking about many
issues. Burge would be better to say
that misunderstanding land is a
central fallacy of many Christians, and that this mistake contributes to
serious social and political errors concerning Israel by all parties! I would like to help Christians avoid this
fallacy and the resulting errors and rather help them see the complete freeing
beauty of what Jesus Christ has done for mankind in the gospel.
END
The teacher requested these two statements, if true:
I have read the whole book from cover to cover. I did not read any of the book reviews on the internet. My response and book review is based only on my reading of the book.
I have read the whole book from cover to cover. I did not read any of the book reviews on the internet. My response and book review is based only on my reading of the book.
[1] Wells, Tom & Fred Zaspel. New
Covenant Theology: Description, Definition, Defense (Frederick, MD: New
Covenant Media, 2002).
