Walking in the Ways of the Lord: The Ethical Authority of the Old Testament

by Christopher J.H. Wright

Christians engaged with their contemporary world have renewed their interest in the ethical authority of the Old Testament. In the midst of various and sometimes conflicting approaches to Old Testament ethics, many have found sure footing and satisfying insight in the paradigmatic perspective developed by Christopher Wright's first book, An Eye for an The Place of Old Testament Ethics Today.
Walking in the Ways of the Lord advances that perspective in several ways. Wright first investigates the perennial issues in approaching Scripture's ethical authority. He then considers the various ways in which the church has understood and lived under the ethical authority of the Old Testament, including a survey of contemporary approaches. Related to this are the question of how ethical decisions are made in the Old Testament and the ethical relevance of Israel as a society. Finally, in a series of insightful studies he employs his method by exploring the specific issues of land, jubilee, the state, human rights, and the struggle against corruption, dishonesty and injustice.

Genres: Old Testament, Theology

319 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1995

About the author

Christopher J.H. Wright, (born 1947) is a Anglican clergyman and an Old Testament scholar. He is currently the director of Langham Partnership International. He was the principal of All Nations Christian College. He is an honorary member of the All Souls Church, Langham Place in London, UK.

Reviews

[Drew Norwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wright fleshes out, and defends, his paradigmatic approach as a means of reclaiming the authority of the Old Testament while avoiding the two dangers of over-application (e.g., theonomy) and under-application (e.g., dispensationalism or any type of "unhitching"). This paradigmatic approach is based on the following assumptions:

(1) "The authority and relevance of the Old Testament for Christians." -- 1 Timothy 3:15-17. "The question, therefore, is not whether the Old Testament law has authority and relevance for us as Christians, but how that given authority is to be earthed and that relevance applied."

(2) "The unity of Scripture." -- "it is my belief that the organic unity and continuity of God's work of revelation and redemption in history, from the call of Abraham to the return of Christ, constitute a greater reality than, and exercise hermeneutical priority over, the historical discontinuities, covenantal articulations and changing cultural contexts at each stage of its outworking."

(3) "The priority of grace." -- "The foundation of biblical faith and ethics in both testaments is God's grace and redemptive initiative."

(4) "The mission and purpose of Israel." -- "God created and called Israel to fulfill his purpose of blessing the nations. . . There was a universal goal to the very existence of Israel. God's covenant commitment to Israel served God's commitment to humanity as a whole, and therefore what God did in, for and through Israel was ultimately for the benefit of the nations."

(5) "The function of the law in relation to the mission of Israel." -- Exodus 19:1-6; Deut 4:5-8. "If we ask, then, whether the law was given specifically to Israel with particular relevance to them, or was meant to apply to the nations, the answer is 'Both,' but this needs qualification. . . The law was given to Israel as a model to the nations, a light to the nations."

(6) "Israel and its law as paradigmatic." -- Israel's "overall social shape, with its legal and institutional structures, ethical a norms and values and theological undergirding, thus become the model or paradigm intended to have a relevance and application beyond the geographical, historical, and cultural borders of Israel itself."

A paradigmatic approach, Wright argues, saves us from common but deficient views of the Old Testament that relegate it to historical status only, with no ethical authority for our times. "The paradigm approach saves us from limiting the relevance of the OT to the Christian church, and saying that it has no valid application to the unregenerate world of fallen human society. . . Though we cannot address secular society in the terms God addressed Israel, or presuppose a covenant relationship, it is nevertheless valid to argue that what God required of Israel as a fully human society is morally consistent with what God requires of all human societies. . . It could be argued that such an assumption was made by Israel's prophets, in their day, in their indictment of other nations."

Wright ends the book with a fruitful bundle of applications: to the relationship between the people of God and the state, to understanding human rights, and to addressing injustice.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Ethical" in the title refers to "social/political ethics," not "personal morality." Good observations about the social and political structure of ancient Israel. However, I'd say the author assumes more continuity between Israel and the church than is warranted by the text.