Books

Though John Howard Yoder is most known for arguing in The Politics of Jesus that a sound reading of the New Testament demonstrates the abiding relevance of Jesus to social ethics, it is seldom acknowledged that he has essentially done the same with the Old Testament. In over twenty writings, Yoder offers a provocative interpretation of the Old Testament that culminates in the way of Jesus and establishes the ethical, ecclesiological, and historiographical continuity of the entire biblical canon. The Politics of Yahweh, which serves as something of a prequel to The Politics of Jesus, makes Yoder's complete Old Testament narration accessible in one place for the first time.

Yet Yoder's interpretation is not without flaws. So I move beyond summary to offer honest critique and substantial revision. My constructive proposal, which stands in fundamental continuity with the work of Yoder, is intended to provoke dialogue. Even at points where readers will disagree with some of Yoder's interpretations and mine, they will be challenged to explore new perspectives and rethink common assumptions concerning issues like:

* how prelapsarian society reflected Christ the creator,

* whether Edenic life was originally matriarchal,

* how God's love is manifest in the ancient flood and slaughter of the Canaanites,

* where the concept of "the state" first enters the biblical narrative,

* why God would ask Abraham to sacrifice his son,

* how the scatterings of Babel and the Babylonian exile might be considered divine blessings,

* how Christians should interpret the atrocities of Judges and mixed legacy of Kings,

* whether Ezra and Nehemiah were divine servants or politicking elders,

* how the servant songs of Isaiah prepared Israel for the mission of Jesus, and

* what role Palestine and Jerusalem should play in Christians thought today.