Jeffrey Niehaus: Ancient Near Eastern Themes in Biblical Theology
Jeffrey J. Niehaus, Ancient Near Eastern Themes in Biblical Theology (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2008), 203 pages, ISBN 9780825433603.
Jeffrey J. Niehaus (PhD, Harvard University) is professor of Old Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. His previous publications include God at Sinai: Covenant and Theophany in the Bible and Ancient Near East (Zondervan, 1995) as well as commentaries on Amos and Obadiah (Baker, 1992-93) and numerous journal articles. In the text now under discussion, Ancient Near Eastern Themes in Biblical Theology, Niehaus draws on research into ancient Near Eastern contexts to compare numerous parallels in (especially) the Old Testament (OT) and the Bible as a whole. Carefully researched and yet written in quite readable language, it is well organized and has a short but good bibliography and Scripture and subject indexes. This work should be an excellent resource for students, teachers, pastors, and Bible readers interested in understanding more deeply the cultural and spiritual background of the Holy Scriptures.
The Preface and first chapter identify Niehaus’ guiding principles. He writes reverently. He is convinced of God’s sovereignty over history and human cultures, and therefore contends that God has “allowed a variety of parallels to arise between theological concepts and practices in the ancient Near East and their counterparts in the Bible.” However, he thinks “there is not only a parallelism between certain themes in the Bible and its world, but there is also a structure of thought that is common to them both and that forms the theological backbone of the Bible.” Niehaus defends a strong doctrine of truth rooted in the biblical revelation. Yet he also defends the idea that ancient myths can contain elements of truth more plainly manifested in the Bible itself. Some try to account for this strange fact by positing some universal aspect of human nature and others simply see the Bible as dependant on pagan literature; but Niehaus looks at pagan literature through the lens of the Bible rather than the converse. In a word, Niehaus parts company with much of contemporary ancient Near Eastern and OT scholarship. He plainly does not see the Bible as dependant on pagan literature. Rather, he thinks the biblical revelation draws on preexisting and widespread cultural thought constructs to communicate divinely revealed eternal truth.
Niehaus argues, first, that the OT preserves true and accurate accounts of major events (e.g., Creation, the Flood), but that extra biblical sources may also “preserve the memory of such events”, albeit in distorted forms. Second, he argues that the OT uses literary and legal forms current in surrounding cultures as vehicles of special revelation. Third, he argues that the parallels between these appear “because God allowed concepts that are true of him and his ways to appear in the realm of common grace.” Accordingly, the Old and New Testaments complete and fulfill “the shared theological structure of ideas” that already existed in the ancient Near East. He goes farther, however, insisting that this shared theological structure provides “the theological backbone of the whole Bible.” He readily admits that in the ancient Near East the shared structure eventually became “blurred” and that in modern western cultures it has been “abandoned”; it is only “kept alive” in the Church, “God’s people, who continue to be his temple and to advance his kingdom, until he returns to establish it once and for all, for all time, and for all who believe in him.”
In the next several chapters, Niehaus compares and contrasts specific parallels between the pagan literature of the ancient Near East and the Bible. Chapter Two is on “God and the Royal Shepherd,” three on “Covenant and Conquest,” four, “City, Temple, Image,” five, “City and Temple: Abandoned and Restored,” six, “The Covenantal Household: Destruction and Salvation,” and finally, seven, “The Restoration of All Things.” In each of these chapters, Niehaus surveys an abundance of ancient Near Eastern pagan literature, Sumerian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Hittite, etc., but especially, Egyptian, on the specified topic and then carefully draws correspondences with the biblical material. In each case, he aims to show both that the biblical revelation drew on prevalent, and to an extent, true, themes in surrounding cultures and also that the biblical revelation is itself uniquely complete and true. In the process, Niehaus manages to open up incredible insights into the breadth and depth of Sacred Writ.
In the final chapter, “Conclusion: A Symphony of Parallels,” Ancient Near Eastern Themes in Biblical Theology suggests that demonic influence and activity was responsible for parallels between ancient Near Eastern pagan literature and the Old Testament and whole Bible. Yet it also suggests the parallels are “rooted in truth: revealed truth in the Old Testament and the Bible, and distorted truth in the ancient Near East.” Denying that the parallels may have been coincidental, Niehaus argues that the nature of false religions inevitably leads to the conclusion that demonic powers must have been behind them. However, he also argues that God in his providence used the parallels in ancient Near Eastern thought to prepare people for truth, albeit in “darkened and polytheistic forms.” Such truth could have no saving power but God could still use it to bring saving truth to light. Niehaus concludes that in this way God was glorified even in pagan religions “for even in their darkness the pagans had retained or obtained common grace reflections of his truth.” Of course, it is the fuller revelation of this truth in Christ that now makes salvation possible, and all Christian theology as well.
Overall Ancient Near Eastern Themes in Biblical Theology by Jeffrey J. Niehaus is great work. The undergirding argument that neither pagan literature nor biblical revelation is dependant on the other but that both are the results of God’s providence and power, albeit in vastly differing ways, is consistently and cogently presented. Thus, Niehaus commendably and remarkably unravels threads of theological meaning latent in the structures of the background of biblical culture. Yet his reverence for the unique inspiration and authority of the Holy Bible is everywhere evident. Therefore, the result of reading Ancient Near Eastern Themes in Biblical Theology is a deeper, fuller, richer appreciation and understanding of the Scriptures and their central themes. As such it is a highly recommended read.
However, Niehaus somewhat clumsily tries to combine the theological category of “common grace” in the revelatory process with a doctrine of total demonic inspiration of non-Christian religions. In other words, frequently he explains parallels between the ancient Near East and the Bible by appealing in the same breath to God’s gracious activity and to demonic activity. It ought to be one or the other or even here the one and there the other; but it ought not to be both together indiscriminately. At the very least, one should carefully explicate the distinctions. Unfortunately, Niehaus argues simultaneously for preparation through divine inspiration and distortion through demonic inspiration. Of course, Scripture does teach that pagan sacrifices were demonically inspired (e.g., 1 Co 10:20-21). And the universality of God’s grace is certainly biblical (Titus 2:11). However, the two are certainly not synonymous. Integrating the two indiscriminately is ill advised. As for the former, Paul does not seem to be referring to the kind of topics that Niehaus labels “parallels” – e.g., covenant or restoration – but to the horror of idolatry itself as demonic. It does not necessarily follow that recognizable truth from a Christian perspective found in pagan religions is demonically inspired as well. As for the latter, it is inappropriate to identify, even ever so indirectly, God’s gracious providence with the demonic. The repulsiveness of this approach shows when Niehaus (inadvertently?) makes God and demons collaborative partners in preparing people for divine truth and scriptural salvation.
Admittedly, part of the problem appears to be Niehaus’ a priori commitment to the categorical construct of common grace. Common grace, at its best, recognizes God’s goodness in creation and kindness toward all humanity. At its worst, it denies any genuine epistemological or soteriological implications of God’s gracious presence and influence, even arguing it only intensifies damnable inevitability, which is, of course, quite contrary to the biblical (e.g., Rom 2:4) and theological understanding of the “grace that goes before” conversion, or “prevenient grace.” Accordingly, confusion about the divine and the demonic in “extra-biblical revelation,” as Niehaus terms it, becomes common place. Much more clear is that demonic distortions in false religions must be discerned or distinguished (cf. 1 Co 12:10) from the divine light graciously given to all human beings (John 1:9). Of course, there are both divine and demonic elements in many non-Christian religions. The key is for us to learn to discern the difference. Amos Yong has taught us that much in Discerning of the Spirit(s): A Pentecostal-Charismatic Contribution to the Christian Theology of Religions (Sheffield Academic, 2000).
Fortunately, the preceding remarks do not detract from the otherwise excellent features of Ancient Near Eastern Themes in Biblical Theology. Mostly, it is probably indicative of a sincere struggle when the parallels of pagan and Christian truth confronts one so squarely, not only in today’s pluralistic society, but even within the inspired pages of the Bible itself. Also, it suggests the unexpected complications that may arise from attempting to superimpose certain theological presuppositions on biblical interpretation. For the most part, especially as far as concerns sound biblical theology, Niehaus admirably analyzes the important parallels of the ancient Near East and the biblical revelation while stoutly maintaining the utter distinctiveness of the biblical testimony. In any case, his study is certainly a commendable contribution to a greater understanding of the world of the Bible and its reality for today.
Reviewed by Reviewed by Tony Richie
Preview Ancient Near Eastern Themes in Biblical Theology: books.google.com/books?id=i3zfD8qOq5oC
