Righteousness Archives - Bob on Books

Cover image for "Hunger for Righteousness" by Phoebe Farag Mikhail

Hunger for Righteousness, Phoebe Faraq Mikhail. Paraclete Press (ISBN: 9781640609341) 2025.

Summary: Drawing upon Coptic and other church tradition, explores how Lent may be personally and communally transforming.

I grew up in a Protestant tradition that did not observe Lent. But I lived in a Catholic neighborhood where the conversation before Ash Wednesday was a discussion of “what are you giving up for Lent?” For most, it was something like candy, or perhaps more narrowly, chocolate. I was never quite clear why God needed people to give up chocolate, or other things during this time. For many of us as adults, that is the extent of our knowledge of Lent. Phoebe Farag Mikhail, who has been shaped by the Coptic Orthodox tradition, fasting, and what one fasted from wasn’t a choice. But what her community abstained from reflected a deeper longing, a corporate hunger for righteousness. She writes of this in her introduction.

If we pay closer attention to the earliest Christian Lenten traditions, we’ll discover how Lent was a period during which individuals who wanted to become Christian prepared themselves not for personal transformation, but to join the body of believers, the communion of saints, through baptism. By examining our liturgical prayers and Scripture readings developed over centuries, we’ll discover the ways Lent has always been a time for individual repentance, yes, but first for giving and forgiving, for mending relationships and building new ones, for fighting injustice, and for growing in intimacy with God communally, not just individually (pp. 13-14).

This book is designed to be read and meditated upon and applied during the weeks before and during Lent. One chapter covers each week, as well as a final chapter on Easter. The first week “trains us for the climb” in preparation for Lent by considering Jonah and the Ninevites through practice of the three day Jonah fast. Subsequent chapters consider:

Abraham, reckoned righteous by God, who negotiated with God for Sodom.
St. Abraam of Fayoom, a nineteenth century ascetic who gave generously to the poor.
The faith that moves mountains, including the mountain of forgiveness.
Abba Serapion and the challenge to grow as repentant readers of Scripture.
St. Paesia, a trafficked woman, her turning from despair, and the ways we wrongly judge others.
The righteousness of Tamar, more determined to perpetuate her husband’s family than Judah.
The righteous faith of Abraham again, in the sacrifice of Isaac.

We conclude on the note of Resurrection. Mikhail considers the pilgrimage accounts of Egeria enroute to Jerusalem during Roman times. Egeria walks the way of Jesus passion, and we read of her joy in God and rest in the risen Christ.

Each chapter offers questions for reflection and application. Two appendices offer further resources including the Great Lent Lectionary of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.

Mikhail helps us see the fast of Lent as a hunger for righteousness, glimpsed in the lives of biblical figures and saints we may not have heard of before. Whether we adopt the practices of Coptic Christians or not, her reflections help us deepen our own practice of Lent. She helps us move beyond the “give up” to the promise for those who hunger for righteousness. They shall be filled.

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

Cover image of "Righteousness: Volume 1: History of Interpretation" by Jeffrey J. Niehaus

Righteousness: Volume 1: History of Interpretation, Jeffrey J. Niehaus. Pickwick Publications (ISBN: 9781666738018), 2023.

Summary: The first of three volumes, beginning with a history of defining biblical righteousness, considering the leading interpreters in the light of the author’s own definition.

Definition and Approach

If I asked you to define what the Bible means in talking about “righteousness,” how would you answer? I guess there would be a number of different answers. And this is what Jeffrey J. Niehaus found as he studied biblical scholars who have written on this word. Niehaus undertakes, in three volumes, to study this crucial concept, running through both Testaments. The author proposes a definition against which he will consider the relevant biblical and extra-biblical material. Very simply, his definition is “that righteousness is conformity to God’s Being and doing.” He also makes an important distinction, observed throughout the work that the masculine form of the Hebrew denotes the idea itself; the feminine, the idea in action.

Niehaus defends this working definition as rooted in the lexical definition of the words used as “conformity to a standard/norm.” He proposes a deductive approach, not of reading into passages the definition but determining if the definition validly applies to usage in scripture. Niehaus defends this against the seemingly more open approach of induction by observing that every interpreter using the inductive approach arrives at different conclusions. He believes his approach actually better guards against the subjectivity of the interpreter.

The plan of Niehaus project is to first survey the leading interpreters and evaluate their ideas in light of his own proposed definition. Then, in volumes two and three, he will consider righteousness in the Old and New Testaments respectively. He will thus test how well his definition explains and holds up against this material. But first, he considers the interpreters who have already tackled the subject.

The Interpreters

The first three chapters consider the pioneering scholarship of three men, beginning with Ludwig Diestel. Diestel argued that righteousness consists of that which conforms to or proceeds from God’s purpose. Albrecht Ritschl, strongly influenced by Diestel, considers the divine purpose, which is righteousness, has to do with God’s saving grace. Hermann Cremer differed in advancing the idea that righteousness has to do with the relationship of God with humans, a relationship that entails salvation. With each, Niehaus reviews the biblical evidence for each of the views, the strengths and weaknesses of the arguments on their own merit and in light of his proposal.

Chapters 4 and 5 consider German and Anglo-American scholars in the “righteousness as covenant faithfulness school.” In addition to discussing the three German scholars already considered, he briefly sketches the views of Gerhard Von Rad and Walter Eichrodt as touching on righteousness in light of God’s covenants. Then he turns to Anglo-American scholars, briefly reviewing the work of J.I. Packer, Elizabeth Achtemeier, James D.G. Dunn and N.T. Wright. who is discussed at greater length, particularly his ideas of forensics, the covenant lawsuit. He notes the differences between Wright and John Piper, highlighting Piper’s understanding of righteousness as God’s zeal for his glory.

Chapters 6 and 7 turn to two more individual interpreters. First, Niehaus considers H.H. Schmid and his idea of righteousness as conformity to the created order. Second, he turns to C.L. Irons and iustitia distributiva, or distributive justice, an idea of fairness or equal justice for all, which has an advantage of both biblical and pagan philosophical support. Niehaus would not disagree but roots his thinking in the underlying idea of conformity to God’s Being and doing.

Evaluation

Essentially, this volume is prolegomena and literature survey. Niehaus clearly sets out his thesis and method and warrants for these. Following this, he situates his thesis in the scholarly discussion, offering an appreciative discussion while noting places where his thesis differs. Perhaps most notable is his disagreement with the covenant faithfulness school, which dominates contemporary discussion. In addition to the literature of modern scholarship, he offers an appendix surveying the idea of righteousness from antiquity through the Reformation, In all of this, he evidences scholarship both thorough and catholic. Of course, we await the demonstration of his thesis in volumes two and three (published). But he has laid good foundations.

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