Hebrew Scripture Theology

Kate asked very broad-ranging questions of an array of characteristics of the God of the Bible. The link between the “central” passage, Exodus 34:6-7, was neatly linked to Jonah, but did not stop there. Jonah joins with a number of other passages from the Minor Prophets in particular which explicitly echo the key Exodus text (as seen on the handout provided).

Kate’s presentation further juxtaposed these divine characteristics, embedded in narrative, with the “philosophical” perfections we grouped under the heading of “abstracts, omnies, and negations” (cf. Gunton). Our discussion didn't probe this (uneasy?) relationship as effectively as it might have, and if you are returning to these issues, this is one point to consider further, especially in relationship to Gunton’s work on the one hand, and the Noll article from Biblical Interpretation on the other.

The other presentation chose to focus on a single “attribute” (holiness), and a single text (Psalm 99). That just began to scratch the surface, and my own sense is that many more matters were left hanging than were satisfactorily addressed. It is often so in seminars! Still, I hope the main contribution came across: that if dogmatic theology has tended to handle “holiness” in a way which distances the deity from creation, then the psalmist of Psalm 99 sees rather that the holiness of God is expressed by way of his sovereign rule.

Much more remains to be said about this particular relationship, as well as the wider questions raised, but I hope we are beginning to gain together a sense of how we can put questions of systematic theology together with responses from the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament.

DjR