Review of the Conference "Der eine Gott und die Völker"

The conference at Ebernburg on the one God and the nations was a very pleasant time with a number of interesting papers and engaging discussions. The following attempts to summarize the papers, as best I can. The papers should appear in about a year's time in the biblisch-theologische Studien series.

Two papers concerned themselves with the relationship between Israel and the nations in the Old Testament: Deuteronomy (Rüterswörden) and Chronicles (Grätz). Rüterswörden’s paper differentiated helpfully between different foreign nations – the current inhabitants of the land and the surrounding nations, in relation to the latter the nokri and ger were discussed. Provocatively Rüterswörden suggested that Deut 4.5-8 was a Hellenistic addition, comparing the claim about Yhwh’s closeness to Israel through prayer to the Letter of Aristeas. Grätz observed that the book of Chronicle’s view of other nations was more positive than in other Old Testament texts, such as Ezra or Nehemiah. The foreign ancestresses of the Israelite tribes are mentioned unapologetically (more). Through selective citation of the psalms and Deutero-Isaiah the temple is given a programmatic role vis-à-vis the whole earth as a place for the worship of all nations.

Two papers discussed non-biblical materials: Pseudo-Philo (Vogel) and Dionysius of Halilkarnassos (Pausch). Vogel examined Israel in Pseudo-Philo’s Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum. Pseudo-Philo creates a history that contains both Israel’s past and the eschatological future. Within it Israel is representative of the nations. Pausch’s paper examined the historiographical work of Dionysius of Halikarnassos and his attempt to identify the Romans as an example of Greek culture. Pausch examined how and why Dionysius constructed such an argument and asked whether his readers would have been convinced. Though an interesting and engaging paper, it was not easy to see how the paper contributed to the conference theme.

Finally, two papers discussed the New Testament: Luke-Acts (Jeska) and the Pauline Writings (Wilk). Jeska argued that Luke utilized the ideas of the Greco-Roman hero cult as part of his strategy to convince pagans. Despite their wonder-working the apostles were not apotheosized. Jesus is not metamorphized, nor does he have a grave. He is seen by Stephen exalted to the right hand of God. Luke’s Christology is subordinate for Jesus is not pre-existent, receives no cultic worship and does nothing without God’s initative. Thus in his attempt to convince Jews and Greeks, Luke mediates between heathen and Jewish ideas of deity. Wilk offered a comprehensive view of Paul’s perception of historical events with a particular focus on Romans 9-11. History is the stage on which the one true God shows his divinity through his deeds. With the Scriptures to hand Paul can make sense of the successes and failures of the Gospel as well as his own suffering.

The next and final conference in this series is to be held in March 2011 with the theme monotheism and the future of the world.