Review: Jerusalem Crucified, Jerusalem Risen (Kinzer)
This was a fascinating book. The author's thesis is fairly simple: the Gospel is intimately connected to the redemption of Jerusalem and the Jewish people, in particular in light of Jesus's federal representation and enactment of Israel's mission to the world. The author's treatment of the land in chapter 1 and the nature of Israel's redemption in chapter 3 are especially well-done. In a book of this length, it would be impossible to detail every relevant Scriptural passages. Nevertheless, it would have been interesting if the author had interacted more with Matt. 24 and other prophecies concerning Jerusalem's destruction, since he acknowledges that AD 70 was an act of divine judgment on the city. His treatment of Revelation is also unfortunately sparse.
It is in chapters 2 and 4 where the author proposes some considerably more controversial ideas. Chapter 2 is concerned with the temple, and Kinzer argues that Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection did not supersede the earthly temple, but that it did give acces to the heavenly temple through the atonement and made the eschatological temple possible. Nevertheless, there is still a role both for the earthly temple and even for temple sacrifices as efficacious methods of covenantal faithfulness on earth. Chapter 4 argues for a bilateral ecclesiology in which the Jewish church keeps Torah as a witness to the Gentiles; in particular he argues for the abiding validity of the sabbath, circumcision, and food laws. The author's exegesis is novel (to this reader) and deserves engagement, even though I think his treatment of temple theology is arguably inadequate. In particular, I think his treatment of the temple themes in Revelation is extremely underdeveloped. With regard to chapter 4, I can potentially see a role for continued Torah-practice among Jews--it seems clear that Paul does in fact allow for something like it. What is much more of a problem is the idea of, in essence, two churches, where Jewish congregations are separate from Gentile congregations. I do not believe this is at all what we see in the New Testament; Gal. 2, among other passages, strongly militates against such an idea.
The last chapters are also interesting because the author gives attention to the role of divine action in post-Biblical history in arguing for God's continued dealing with the Jewish race. This is a topic that is very rarely discussed and the author is to be commended for thinking through it. His contention that the Jewish people's continuity through history and their suffering (particularly in the modern world) was proleptically foreshadowed by Jesus in his own person is bound to be contested, but it is certainly thought-provoking.
one other flaw in Kinzer's approach is that he construes Judaism primarily in racial terms. This is a problem, because (while for some Jews race emphatically did play a part in their conception of themselves) the Old Testament portrays the covenant people as primarily marked out by practices rather than blood. Gentile procelites could enter the covenant via circumcision; many Egyptians became Jews during the Exodus; and there are examples, exceptional though they are, of Gentiles joining the covenant people. Thus, though the author's argument that for Israel to ultimately be restored the Jewish race must continue until the eschaton has merit, the author gives insufficient attention to the requirements of covenant membership and what they indicated about the status of Gentiles in the Old and New Testaments.
This book is difficult to rate, because the author's thesis and exegesis are in many respects fascinating, even though I remain unconvinced of some of the central ideas. This is, neverteheless, a very able defense of a Messianic Jewish perspective on the redemption of Israel, and I would highly recommend it to those interested in this topic.
The author graciously provided me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
It is in chapters 2 and 4 where the author proposes some considerably more controversial ideas. Chapter 2 is concerned with the temple, and Kinzer argues that Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection did not supersede the earthly temple, but that it did give acces to the heavenly temple through the atonement and made the eschatological temple possible. Nevertheless, there is still a role both for the earthly temple and even for temple sacrifices as efficacious methods of covenantal faithfulness on earth. Chapter 4 argues for a bilateral ecclesiology in which the Jewish church keeps Torah as a witness to the Gentiles; in particular he argues for the abiding validity of the sabbath, circumcision, and food laws. The author's exegesis is novel (to this reader) and deserves engagement, even though I think his treatment of temple theology is arguably inadequate. In particular, I think his treatment of the temple themes in Revelation is extremely underdeveloped. With regard to chapter 4, I can potentially see a role for continued Torah-practice among Jews--it seems clear that Paul does in fact allow for something like it. What is much more of a problem is the idea of, in essence, two churches, where Jewish congregations are separate from Gentile congregations. I do not believe this is at all what we see in the New Testament; Gal. 2, among other passages, strongly militates against such an idea.
The last chapters are also interesting because the author gives attention to the role of divine action in post-Biblical history in arguing for God's continued dealing with the Jewish race. This is a topic that is very rarely discussed and the author is to be commended for thinking through it. His contention that the Jewish people's continuity through history and their suffering (particularly in the modern world) was proleptically foreshadowed by Jesus in his own person is bound to be contested, but it is certainly thought-provoking.
one other flaw in Kinzer's approach is that he construes Judaism primarily in racial terms. This is a problem, because (while for some Jews race emphatically did play a part in their conception of themselves) the Old Testament portrays the covenant people as primarily marked out by practices rather than blood. Gentile procelites could enter the covenant via circumcision; many Egyptians became Jews during the Exodus; and there are examples, exceptional though they are, of Gentiles joining the covenant people. Thus, though the author's argument that for Israel to ultimately be restored the Jewish race must continue until the eschaton has merit, the author gives insufficient attention to the requirements of covenant membership and what they indicated about the status of Gentiles in the Old and New Testaments.
This book is difficult to rate, because the author's thesis and exegesis are in many respects fascinating, even though I remain unconvinced of some of the central ideas. This is, neverteheless, a very able defense of a Messianic Jewish perspective on the redemption of Israel, and I would highly recommend it to those interested in this topic.
The author graciously provided me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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