The task attempted in this paper is to discuss and evaluate various approaches proposed for the use of Old Testament law for Christian ethics. An investigation will be made into the relevance of the Old Testament including the Mosaic Law, in order to make it clear, if we may use it for moral guidance containing important living examples of how to resolve current theological and ethical difficulties, or if we should perceive it rather as an artefact, antique, obsolete?
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Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology
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Interpreting the Old Testament Theologically: Essays in Honor of WIllem A. VanGemeren
Looks at the significance of ethics in the Old Testament theologies of Brevard S. Childs, H. H. Scobie, John Goldingay, Walter Brueggemann, and Pablo R. Andiñach
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Touro law review
Sam Levine gave me a particular insight—one that is central to this conference—that has helped in my work on Christianity and law. Sam suggested that American Law might view Jewish Law in the way comparative law scholars view the law of other countries or the way a state judge might view the law of another state. Not imposing religious law on those who do not share the Jewish faith but drawing in its insights where they might fit. As I will note later in this essay, that is the way I have come to believe Jesus looked at the Mosaic Law and its implications for positive law. It may give us insight as to what our law should be. I have also come to view Christian insights into law this way. Secular law should use them when they are helpful. Chaim Saiman of Villanova Law School pushed me to think about what Jesus said about the law and how that might relate to our understanding of law today. I have concluded that much of what Jesus said about the Mosaic Law gives us insight into what Jes.
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Ethics in the Hbrew Bible
This essay will deal mainly with aspects of human behavior, yet will also touch on aspects of ethics related to God's attitude toward humans. The essay will present various Scriptural data as well as evaluate them. The essay overall will not deal with the question of the contemporary relevance of Scriptural morals, mainly because we adhere to the cultural relativistic approach (see relativism, moral), which emphasizes the gaps between various cultures in general, and the differing ethical standards between the ancient world and the modern world. At the same time, in the list of references, we refer to several important studies that discuss the question of relevance.
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This paper will examine recent scholarship on the topic of biblical law in order to demonstrate that biblical law is best understood as a common-law tradition. After outlining long-standing questions in regard to the nature of law in the Hebrew Bible, I will argue for a complementarian rather than supersessionist view of law, following the work of Berman. The complementarian perspective entails a common-law account of the nature of the law tradition as opposed to the ubiquitous and presupposed statutory view. I will then further develop Berman’s argument by appealing to Jackson’s semiotic hermeneutic for interpreting biblical law. As supporting evidence, I will examine several biblical texts where scholars have demonstrated the explanatory power of non-statutory interpretation. To flesh out the implications of the common law approach, I will discuss the pivotal role of judges using distinctions described by Reaume. Finally, I will provide evidence for the claim that this common-law view is applicable not only to the Hebrew Bible but also to the New Testament. These texts and scholarly viewpoints together provide compelling evidence that the biblical law tradition is a common-law tradition that operates not by the force of codified legislation but rather through the agency of judges shaped by the values of the tradition that is maintained in both major corpora of biblical texts.
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