Authority

Review: The Authority of the Septuagint

/ rtrube54 / Leave a comment
Cover image of "The Authority of the Septuagint," Gregory R. Lanier and William A. Ross, eds.

The Authority of the Septuagint

The Authority of the Septuagint, Gregory R. Lanier and William A. Ross, eds. IVP Academic (ISBN: 9781514009727) 2025.

Summary: A multi-perspectival approach to the question of the authority of the Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint.

Alexander the Great ruled between 335 and 323 BC. During this time he brought the eastern Mediterranean, the Near East, Egypt and former Persian territories all the way to India. Greece supplanted Persia as the great power. After his death, several rulers divided this kingdom. However, the lingua franca of this empire was Greek. Alexandrian Jews, responding to this reality, translated into Greek the Hebrews scriptures, beginning with the Pentateuch, and eventually the rest of what we would call the Old Testament. Legend has it that a team of seventy (or seventy-two) were responsible for this translation, hence its name, Septuagint.

Today, biblical translations of the Old Testament are based, on the Hebrew Masoretic text, a tradition that traces back to Jerome. Yet, the question remains of the authority of the Greek Old Testament. Why so? First of all, the New Testament writers, who wrote in Greek, often but not always quote from the Septuagint. This, along with the growing collection of documents that would form the New Testament, were the scriptures of Greek-speaking churches. Likewise, the early church fathers often quoted these scriptures. They functioned as a source of authority for early churches. And for the Eastern Orthodox churches, they still do.

One of the problems that arise is that there are differences between some of the Greek texts used in the New Testament and the Hebrew text. Contemporary translators often note in footnotes these differences and other places where alternate readings of the Septuagint may shed light on the meaning of a text. Finally, the authority of this translation raises questions about the authority of all our translations. As we quote those translations, in what sense may we say, “thus saith the Lord”?

This volume brings together the contributions of a variety of scholars in different fields to address the contemporary relevance and authority of the Septuagint in both academy and church. To begin, Greg Lanier addresses the question of canon, arguing that the Septuagint originally did not include apocryphal books but only the three current divisions of Hebrew scripture: the law, prophets, and writings. Then William A. Ross traces the somewhat complex history of Jewish scriptures, how they were passed down and translated.

Thomas Keane studies the citations of scripture in the New Testament and the variations and concludes that the sources they had available, and their rhetorical purposes shaped their usage. While not furnishing a conclusive basis for the authority of the Septuagint, it revealed that they considered the Hebrew scriptures in whatever form they had access to them as authoritative in practice. Following this, patristic scholar Edmon L. Gallagher surveys the debates about the status of the Septuagint between Augustine, Origen, and Jerome. He the gist of this discussion was that the Septuagint provided a generally reliable though imperfect rendering of the Hebrew, reflecting the conviction that God communicates through translations.

The discussion then turns to how Reformation and post-Reformation scholars treated the Septuagint. Early on, the Septuagint was set aside for the supremacy of the Masoretic Text. Subsequent scholars recognized that there were places where the Septuagint might correct the Hebrew text. A couple of excurses explore the importance of an Old Testament “kept pure in all ages” as a confessional position.

Then Daniel J. Trier and Joshua McQuaid take a systematic theology approach. They begin by acknowledging the lack of attention by systematic theologians to the authority of the Septuagint. They note that divine authority typically involves creaturely mediation. In addition, they note how our finitude and fallenness helps explain our lack of direct access to original autographs of the text. Finally, they explore how textual traditions and Spirit illuminated interpretations minister the magisterial authority of scripture through translations. James Prothro considers a Catholic perspective through history, noting the significant common ground that exists.

Myrto Theocharous’ concluding chapter offers a synthesis of the book. He notes a general consensus (though not shared by the Eastern Church) that the Septuagint has a derivative authority, along with other translation efforts. However, in its origins as a Greek translation by Jews, it is useful in textual criticism, and may occasionally offer superior renderings to the Masoretic Text. Some scholars offer alternate wording, describing the authority as ministerial or functional.

I thought the book a thorough exploration of a question I’d not previously considered. Essentially, the argument seemed to be that the authority of the Septuagint is on a par with our modern translations. The Trier and McQuaid essay reminded me of God’s gracious providence. He ministers his saving gospel through translations. Even though we lack original autographs, God works through the critical editions of the Hebrew and Greek text we have. God spoke through whatever sources New Testament writers had available. God ministered to countless numbers through the Septuagint. And it continues to be a gift for Old Testament scholars.

_______________________

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Strong and Weak

/ rtrube54 / 3 Comments

strong and weak

Strong and Weak, Andy Crouch. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2016.

Summary: Explores two qualities that we often think opposed to one another and argues that strength and weakness are paradoxically related and that human beings flourish to the extent that they can appropriately exercise strength (authority) and weakness (vulnerability) together.

We often tend to think of strength and weakness, authority and vulnerability as mutually exclusive qualities or at opposite ends of a continuum. Yet the apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10:

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Andy Crouch, building on this idea argues that strength and weakness are paradoxically related and that excellence in leadership and human flourishing occur when both are present in one’s life together. Rather than being at opposite ends of a continuum, he sees them as the x and y axes of a 2 by 2 grid:

2 by 2

Excerpted from press kit for this book

Crouch defines authority as “the capacity for meaningful action” and vulnerability as “exposure to meaningful risk.” He would contend that when we oscillate between quadrants II and IV, between strength and weakness, we are making a false choice. True flourishing occurs in quadrant I where we embrace both the capacity for meaningful action and exposure to meaningful risk. This leads to flourishing not only of the individuals who act in this way but of those around, as he describes in the instance of his sister’s daughter Angela, who has lived eleven years so far with Trisomy 13, a genetic disorder where a person has three copies of chromosome 13, which has meant that parents and other caregivers have exercised both capacity for meaningful action and been exposed to meaningful risk for Angela, who cannot care for herself.

In successive chapters, Crouch explores life in each quadrant. Those in the quadrant of suffering have exposure to meaningful risk without the capacity for meaningful action. Illness and poverty are places where this is experienced, yet even here, when the gospel is embraced, hope and dignity is restored and there is a kind of strength in weakness allowing persons to move to quadrant I. Conversely, those in quadrant IV exercise authority without vulnerability, where the protection of oneself and one’s position means the exploiting of others.

Quadrant III is the quadrant of withdrawal. It is the safety of one’s parents’ basement–no meaningful action in a world of video games, and no risk in the provision of food and shelter, sequestered away from the world. Crouch invites those who have withdrawn to take two steps–into the natural world of creation, and into the relational world of doing real things with real people!

Perhaps the most interesting chapter was one where he explored the challenge many leaders face of living with overt authority and hidden vulnerability. There is the President of the United States, who has such significant authority, that he receives a unique briefing of the dangers facing the U.S., a briefing he can discuss with few or any of those he meets in the remainder of the day. Similarly, many business leaders cannot speak of the vulnerabilities of their companies, but must take meaningful action to address them for their communities to flourish.

His concluding chapters talk about choosing of vulnerability, to literally be willing to put one’s life on the line in the pursuit of meaningful action with exposure to meaningful risk. This is transformative leadership, where one both experiences being truly alive, and where others are helped to flourish as they see our strength in weakness.

This is a much shorter work than either Culture Making or Playing God. It builds on the latter, which explores the use of the gift of power redemptively, but the length is appropriate to elaborating this single critical paradox of strength and weakness. One question the book raised for me is what is the hope for those in quadrant IV, the exploiters? Crouch warns of the judgment and the fall of those who choose this path. And perhaps those who are strong without being vulnerable are a version of the rich young man, for whom entry into the kingdom is so hard, yet not impossible (we have the counter-example of Zaccheus).

Since most of us will exercise some form of authority in some dimension of life, as parents, coaches, managers, leaders, committee chairs or in other forms of leadership that draw upon our capacities for meaningful action and expose us to meaningful risks, this is an important book for both our flourishing in such roles but for the flourishing of the broader communities we serve. It may be simpler to embrace one or neither of these two elements of the paradox, but this would be to sacrifice flourishing for a much smaller life for oneself and for those whose lives we touch. Living in the paradox seems more challenging, but somehow much richer. Clearly, Crouch has given us much to chew upon.