-from the Conclusions section of Chapter 2: Modes of Analysis
From Jewish Prophet to Gentile God
by Maurice Casey
Hardcover: 176 pages
Publisher: Ingram Publisher Services; First Edition (January 1, 2001)
ISBN-10: 0227679202
ISBN-13: 978-0227679203
Casey's book is based on a series of lectures he delivered at the University of Birmingham, England in 1985-86 and it seeks to trace the development of the christology of Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth, who Casey believes was originally a Jewish apocalyptic prophet, through various stages, arriving at being regarded as equal with God. To do this, Casey analyzes the available Biblical texts based on several key factors including:
- Identity
- Ethnicity
- Religion and Social Function
- Orthodoxy
Casey sees the development of christology as having proceeded through three stages.
The first stage occurred during the lifetime of Jesus and within 15 or 20 years afterward before significant Gentile involvement in "the Jesus movement". This is the stage where devotion to Jesus as a prophet and most likely as Messiah (though Casey argues that the concept of "Messiahship" was seen differently in the 1st Century than we regard it today) was an entirely Jewish expression, and was identified by wholly Jewish identity markers (keeping Torah, dietary laws, Shabbat, and so on). Jesus was regarded in this stage, as an extremely holy person due high honors above others, due to his righteousness and Messiahship. However, he was not regarded as being equal to God, though certainly as Messiah, was elevated above all other human beings.
The second stage occurred as Paul and others were actively seeking to convert Gentile pagans to faith in Jesus and was marked by Paul, who kept the Law of Moses, specifically teaching that the Law was not required for salvation but rather faith in the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. At this stage, Gentiles had a significant representation in synagogues worshiping with Jews and may have marginally kept some portions of the Law (Shabbat rest, dietary laws) in order to have table fellowship with "Christian Jews". Casey sees Paul, though continuing to keep the Law, as "assimilating" into a more Gentile interpretation of Jesus and he may not have seen even Jews keeping the Law as an absolute requirement for faith. At this stage, there were likely different interpretations of Christianity due to the influence of Paul's letters and other documents being available (many not canonized in our modern Bibles), and the distances involved in transmitting consistent information regarding revelations of Jesus to the different churches in the near east and Europe.
The third stage occurred when Gentiles became the largest group in the Christian movement, establishing their own churches and producing their own documents and theologies. This would have happened in the latter part of the 1st century and beyond. While stage two would not have allowed (according to Casey) any widespread worship of Jesus as God, due to a specific Jewish monotheistic understanding, in stage three, and based partially on the Greek precedent that men (in mythology) can also be gods, Jesus was worshiped as equal with God. Casey doesn't require that the Gentile Christian belief among Gentile churches, be established in the 4th Century by way of the Nicaean Council, but the Council would have been the final arbiter of a united faith in the deity of Jesus across the larger Christian church. Prior to the council, there would have been inconsistency in the belief that Jesus was (or was not) God among different church groups.
Casey's analysis between Chapters 3 and 9 is quite involved regarding which documents can be considered reliably written by Jewish authors in the Aramaic speaking church, and which were created later by Gentile Christians (under the names of Jewish apostles), so I can only give this material brief coverage in my review. Casey believes that only the Gospel of John and some minority of the Epistles specifically make any claim to Jesus as God and that the Gentile Johannine community's adherence to this belief resulted in their removal from the "Jewish/Christian" synagogue and the acceleration of the development in Gentile-only churches in the late 1st Century and later. In other words, he believes that the deity issue was established largely (though not exclusively) by Gentile believers, probably after the lifetime of Paul, and that Jesus would not have been worshiped as God by his Jewish disciples and later Jewish followers.
While Casey's overall writing style is very scholarly and rather dry, he "opens up" in Chapter 10: History, Culture and Truth, to describe a deliberate set of acts by non-Jewish Christians to marginalize Jewish believers, discount obedience to the Law of Moses, and to establish and maintain worship of Jesus as God, directly in violation of a strict Jewish monotheism. Casey almost seems angry in Chapter 10 as he relates Gentile Christian activity aimed at removing Jews from worship of the Jewish Prophet and Messiah. Casey is definite that Jesus was a very religious Jewish prophet who was preaching a soon-to-come apocalyptic message (within the lifetime of many of his disciples) and who may have believed in his own Messiahship.
In spite of the rather scholarly approach of Casey in this book, it is still very readable and uses a large body of source material available via footnote pages. This book isn't quite a "page turner", but I found it compelling in it's acknowledgment of the significance of Old Testament authority, respect to Judaism of the 1st Century (and beyond) in particular, and willingness to challenge the classic Christian understanding that Jesus must be God. If Casey were your only source of information regarding christological development in the 1st Century, you would likely feel convinced that Jesus did not believe himself to be God, or at least have your personal assumptions of his deity questioned.
If you are a strict Trinitarian and your faith is based on the deity of Jesus, you will likely find this book dismaying and (hopefully) illuminating. I recommend it for anyone who is interested in NT scholarship as well as people such as me, who want to dig deeper into understanding the Bible that we have today.
19 comments:
"If Casey were your only source of information regarding christological development in the 1st Century, you would likely feel convinced that Jesus did not believe himself to be God, or at least have your personal assumptions of his deity questioned."
BINGO. There is also a wealth of scholarship that does not support his perceived development, which traces much of the earliest developments back within Judaism. Boyarin for example, sees a struggle over who would claim the right to define some of these issues - with the eventual result being that two communities over time emerged to become what we know today as Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity, respectively.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting. :-)
Boyarin for example, sees a struggle over who would claim the right to define some of these issues - with the eventual result being that two communities over time emerged to become what we know today as Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity, respectively.
There seems to be more of a struggle over the "deity issue" than I previously realized. Of course, traditional Judaism denies the Messiahship, let alone the deity of Yeshua, but within Christian scholastic circles, it seems the matter is hotly debated.
It's going to be really interesting to read "Putting Jesus in His Place", which is an evangelical Christian argument for the deity of Jesus, after having just finished Casey's book. Talk about polar opposites.
"The second stage occurred as Paul and others were actively seeking to convert Gentile pagans to faith in Jesus and was marked by Paul, who kept the Law of Moses, specifically teaching that the Law was not required for salvation but rather faith in the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ."
You'll have to keep us posted on what Casey's idea of the "Messiah" is. Salvation isn't attainable through simply keeping the law (we fail anyways), thus the WHOLE point of a Messiah figure. To say that Paul only taught that we needed to have faith in Yeshua is like writing a sentence for someone's biography, Paul wrote entire letters that dealt with how to properly obey the law.
I'm only going to write one review benicho, so you'll have to buy the book or see if it's at your local library, to find out more. ;-)
I think Casey represents the traditional Christian understanding of salvation adequately. Paul's writings emphasize that belief and faith in Jesus is what is essential for salvation. From both Christianity's and Casey's understanding of Paul's letters, he does not advocate keeping the law as a means to salvation for Gentile Christians. Jews, according to Casey, even believers in Yeshua, *did* keep the Law *and* have faith in Yeshua, but Casey says that may not have been Paul's perspective going forward and Casey depicts Paul as gradually assimilating into a more exclusively Christian framework.
While Kinzer's Bilateral Ecclesiology viewpoint emphasizes Paul teaching obedience to the Torah for Jews but not for Gentiles on an ongoing basis, I think Casey believes that, going forward from the 1st Century, that issues over obedience to Torah vs. salvation based only on faith in Jesus is part of what drove the Jewish and Gentile believers apart. The key to the wedge though, was the monotheism issue. Once the belief in the deity of Jesus took off, Judaism exited from any association with Gentile Christianity, though there is evidence that some Jews may have continued to believe Yeshua was Messiah (but not literally as God) for some time afterwards.
If Casey doesn't understand what the Messiah is supposed to be and do then his book will be somewhat...useless? I hate to say it's useless because you can always find useful things out of these types of books, but if he doesn't understand the Messiah character and his book is about the Messiah then it may be missing the point entirely.
"I think Casey represents the traditional Christian understanding of salvation adequately. Paul's writings emphasize that belief and faith in Jesus is what is essential for salvation. From both Christianity's and Casey's understanding of Paul's letters, he does not advocate keeping the law as a means to salvation for Gentile Christians."
Yup, heard this theology most of my life.
I probably need to be clearer on this point. Casey is saying that there is the concept of more than one Messianic figure, particularly in ancient Judaism.
For instance, both Joseph and Isaac are considered to be Messianic figures. So is David. Yet, these are all different individuals who acts as "Messiahs" during their own lifetimes and in response to specific issues in their days.
Casey is saying that the concept of a single, all-saving Messiah, while not unknown in ancient times, did not receive the emphasis we understand he has today until after the destruction of the 2nd temple and the dispersion of the Jewish people from Israel by the Romans in the 2nd century.
During Yeshua's lifetime, Casey points out that he may have been seen as *a* Messiah rather than *the* Messiah. Even when Peter declares "You are the Messiah, the son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16), he *may* have meant that Yeshua was the saving Messiah for their age and the title "Son of God" did not have to be literal. Casey points out that titles like "Son of God" could be given to a Jewish person of extreme holiness, such as a prophet, and he cites Biblical examples (none of which I have at my fingertips).
I believe Yeshua is *the* Messiah, in part, because of the profound effect he's had on the world. Of all the would-be Messiahs who have come and gone throughout the ages, he is the only one who has inspired such an amazing following of disciples over a 20 century span.
Keep in mind, I'm not saying that I believe Casey is 100% in all of his beliefs, but he does present an interesting case for the development of Christology that I think is worth reviewing.
"I believe Yeshua is *the* Messiah, in part, because of the profound effect he's had on the world. Of all the would-be Messiahs who have come and gone throughout the ages, he is the only one who has inspired such an amazing following of disciples over a 20 century span."
Do you believe the testimonies? Prophecy aside, who else could live perfectly and resurrect?
Gaining such a following is simply the result of all this.
I believe this:
Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” -Acts 5:38-39
Nice review. I also enjoyed his last chapter.
You quoted: "For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God."
Asides from the question of the role and nature of providence in history... would you apply this historically to Jews that resisted conversion by fighting back (spiritually or physically)? Or in many cases, who gave up their lives? They were indeed not able to stop those men, but were they fighting against God?
Asides from the question of the role and nature of providence in history... would you apply this historically to Jews that resisted conversion by fighting back (spiritually or physically)? Or in many cases, who gave up their lives? They were indeed not able to stop those men, but were they fighting against God?
I can always count on you to challenge my thinking, Daniel. :-)
How many Jews have died, tortured and sometimes burned to death, while singing the Shema, rather than allow themselves to be forcibly converted to Christianity, which they would see as the worship of a false and idolatrous god? Were they fighting against men or against the One true God of Israel?
Clearly, these men were devoted to God and would rather surrender their lives than betray Hashem and become, in their eyes, pagan. Yet were the people who tortured and murdered these Jews truly "Christians" and disciples of (the Jewish) Jesus? Would Christ have condoned violence and murder to win converts? I think not. Resisting evil is not against God and anyone who would torture and murder in the name of the Prince of Peace is evil.
The puzzle of Christ's deity and the theology of the Trinity are both concepts that would be rejected by Jews out of hand in any century, due to their overriding faith in One God (Shema Yisrael, Adonai Elohanu, Anonai Echad).
I worship the One God and acknowledge the divine and special nature of the Messiah as unique among all beings in the universe, but is Christ literally God? Did the Jewish Messiah expect the chosen people of Israel to accept man as God and God as God?
You have to turn a lot of scriptural and theological somersaults to make that work. Nevertheless, I'm not a genius, so I'll continue to read books that support and refute the deity of Yeshua in search of an answer. Yet, I don't believe those Jews died in vain, for they truly loved God and died waiting for the Messiah to come (my next blog post).
and muslims?
Don't get me started. Like my wife, I'm a Zionist.
and muslims?
OK, to be fair, I did have my attitude about Muslims adjusted by reading and reviewing Yossi Halevi's At the Entrance to the Garden of Eden, so I can't be so two-dimensional on this issue.
actually from reading Muslim prophetic writings and their religion a bit (I have a good Egyptian friend I talk to often on the subject) and comparing to what we know about our own prophecy, I have good reason to believe that Muslims and Christians are in the same boat doctrinally. What I mean by this is that both of them are looking for the Messiah but really don't know what to look for. The Muslims are waiting for an Imam to come along and tell them who the Messiah will be (scary thought) and the Christians will know the Messiah because they believe they'll be raptured away (obviously not all Christians take this stance). Mainstream Christianity will have a hard time knowing who the true Messiah is, as will the Muslims, but both are looking for the Messiah. It seems that many will be led astray, I'm not sure of all the implications of being led astray, though. I believe the laws of Gd will set aside his people from the rest of the world, and we know how well the church has been set up to go against the laws, for fear of being "under the law", etc.
When you start digging into the nitty gritty things get a little more sticky. At least to me.
Looks like a good book, I'll have to look into it, thanks :)
When you start digging into the nitty gritty things get a little more sticky. At least to me.
LOL. Welcome to the story of my life.
I just wrote a blog post about the coming of the Messiah based on what I'm teaching at my congregation on Shabbat. Maybe in some sense, we can see the Messiah when we look in the mirror.
Looks like a good book, I'll have to look into it, thanks
Halevi set out to challenge his own assumptions about Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land when he wrote this book. I think it should be required reading for the rest of us.
James,
Regarding your comment, "There seems to be more of a struggle over the "deity issue" than I previously realized."
This is very true. This is one of the primary thrusts of Boayarin's book, Borderlines. He lays a very articulate Jewish argument for the concept of the Logos pre-Yeshua, and how over time, the concept came to be defined as solely "Christian."
I actually did a review of Borderlines that will be coming out in the forthcoming issue of Kesher, but if you're interested I can email it to you.
Please email it to me. I'd love to read it. Thanks.
im sorry that you cannot see the power struggle in the midst. being with keeping roman kingdom alive and still is today in the vatican. he said pray to god and never said pray to him. so praying to him is silly. he did say repentance, which was getting people toward the right path. paul and his friends killed most of jesus' original followers so how can you go simply off of that mans word. catholics pray to a jewish woman and yet do not learn all of the laws directly. like christians pray to a jewish man and dont learn to teach the other laws. they have long standing benefits. look at increases in defects brought on by this miracle drugs, synthetic hormones in greater quantities of food. scientology worshiping the fallen ones. people even burning the symolizom for life. parables are easy in life. you actaully see some prophecy in movies but have become blind by only allowing yourselves to enjoy the movie instead of analyze it for the underlying content. one thing that doesnt make me laugh but amuses me that i seem to be the only one speaking on this in real public and not just on the internet is that the tribes of isreal(meaning children of god) were not just in isreal but spead out all over the world. sheba actually came from the area known today as india. other places in the world left monotheism much sooner as well as worshiping their great kings like god instead of adding them as a great king and not god. i.e. quetzalcotl. everyone seemed to run when haleys comet passed by in the late 300's a.d. and is when this little convention of heretics took place. i wouldnt say much of anyone is doing that well anyway when you havent begun teaching the complete laws, meditation practises merkaba and instead fight when isreali get brainwashed with darkness in schools. trying to become different adding hats, burial, gowns. nothing very godly trying to act special and inturn bringing others to look down at you like they do with all of the other organized relgions. need to clean up your acts. the whole lot of you.
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