Missionary ideas of the old testament: paradigmatic aspect

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Missionary ideas of the old testament: paradigmatic aspect

Kolisnyk Maxym Ivanovych,

Postgraduate student of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies,

Bohdan Khmelnytsky National University of Cherkasy

Abstract

missionary paradigm old testament

Introduction. The article deals with ideas of the Old Testament that form its missionary paradigm. The purpose of our work is to revise different thoughts of the researchers about missionary phenomenon in the old Bible canon and the Bible as a key document in the understanding of mission. To get a needed scientific result we use methods of logical and comparative analysis, hermeneutical method, and the synthetic one. On the basis of these sources and methods, we will produce a balanced and logical conception of the Old Testament missionary paradigm and study out the difference between Old and New Testament missionary ideas. There are not any studies of the Old Testament missionary work in Ukraine. Some researchers deal with the evangelization in Christian confessions but they do not transcend confessional limits. It can be connected with religion studies tradition to separate two texts of the Bible claiming that New Testament is more acceptable for studying a Christian phenomenon such as missionary. In our work, we assert that Old Testament as a part of Christian Bible and Christian phenomena can be researched through it. Consequently, in this article we try to include this aspect of Old Testament into the dialectic of Ukrainian religion studies. Conclusion. After revision of the OT missionary ideas we can claim that it is difficult to figure out a strict missionary paradigm of the Old Bible canon but there are a lot of principles which gave a strong potential for Christianity to spread around the world such as mercy for enemies, witnessing about God among the Gentiles and worldwide character of God's mission.

Key words: mission, missionary, Old Testament, New Testament, Bible, prophet, prophecy, centrifugal, centripetal, paradigm.

КОЛІСНИК Максим Іванович,

аспірант кафедри філософії та релігієзнавства Черкаського національного університету імені Богдана Хмельницького,

ІДЕЇ МЕСІОНЕРСТВА В СТАРОМУ ЗАПОВІТІ: ПАРАДИГМАЛЬНИЙ АСПЕКТ

Анотація. У статті розглядаються ідеї Старого Заповіту, які формують його місіонерську парадигму. Тут розглянуті різноманітні думки науковців про феномен місіонерства у старому біблійному каноні і сама Біблія як ключовий документ для розуміння місії. На основі цих джерел ми прагнемо сформувати збалансовану та логічну концепцію місіонерської парадигми Старого Заповіту.

Ключові слова: місія, місіонерство, Старий Заповіт, Новий Заповіт, Біблія, пророк, пророцтво, відцентровий, доцентровий, парадигма.

Formulation of the problem

Nowadays, there is a lot of scientific interest to the problem of the missionary work in the Old Testament (OT). This subject is widely researched among western scientists and, of course, among Jewish historians and representatives of Judaism. It is connected with the tendencies of the Christian religion development which lie in the making the dialog with representatives of the other religions. It is not a secret that relationships between Christianity and Judaism were full of recriminatory antagonism. Especially, representatives of Israel religion were angry about Christians who considered them to be the abjurers of the true religion. Nowadays, in the world full of violence and discrimination there is a strong necessity of the dialog that is why scientists and religion activists from the both sides were focused on missionary of the Old Testament and Judaism as a linking point between two different religions which allows making an equal dialog and find reconciliation.

Analysis of the recent research and publications. There are a lot of articles and fundamental researches devoted to this problem. Tony Bayfield has written small but a rather informative article “Mission - A Jewish Perspective”; Martin Cohen was involved into discussion about mission and has written about “Mission of Israel after Auschwitz”; Roger Hedlund is interested in the research of “Mission paradigms in the Old Testament”; Indian researcher Jiri Moskala discusses about God's Commission: “God's great commission truly began in the Garden of Eden”; Walter Kaiser Jr is an author of a fundamental research: “Mission in the Old Testament: Israel as a Light to the Nations”. Chris Wright made a big contribution to OT missionary studies with his work: “The Old Testament and Christian missions”. All these scientists represent different views on the phenomenon of the missionary in the religion of Israel and let us make a balanced opinion about this subject.

Of course preparing this article we used obligatory sources such as Bible because it's difficult to verify thoughts of the others without knowledge of the first source for all the scientists who deal with missionary and missions.

Purpose. The main goal of our research work is to give balanced and objective view on the problem of the missionary in the OT, show that basic missionary ideas which we can see in the New Testament appeared in the old Bible canon.

Presenting the main material. The main precondition of our work is that OT is Christian document. As for us, it wouldn't be completely right to claim that OT as a part of Christian Bible is the same as Hebrew Bible. Claiming that an old Bible canon is a Christian text we can research it as a source of the Christian missionary.

Starting research we have to pay attention to the modern concept of the missionary in Catholicism: “Her (Church) mission is that of proclaiming and communicating the salvation wrought in Jesus Christ, which he calls “the Kingdom of God”, that is, communion with God and among men. The goal of salvation, the Kingdom of God embraces all people and is fully realized beyond history, in God. The Church has received “the mission of proclaiming and establishing among all peoples the Kingdom of Christ and of God, and she is, on earth, the seed and the beginning of that Kingdom” [1, p. 45].

We can see a few key concepts in the definition above proclaiming, Eucharist, and God's Kingdom. So it is possible to make a conclusion that Christian church sets the goal of the mission to spread its faith beyond the limit of its own community. Church will complete its mission only when all the world will become a big Church which will unite everybody on the Earth on the base of God's commandments.

Many researchers claim that OT in its inner sense is a missionary document the others tell that we can't find there direct call for the mission in its Christian understanding. Both opinions have a pretty strong basis and both of them are right to some extent. The first group claims that if we look at the Bible as a united text we can conclude that gospel of the New Testament becomes possible due to ideas of the Old one. The second group affirms that there isn't enough information in the OT to make the conclusion about its missionary nature. We think that it isn't necessary to find an evident call for the mission in the OT to make the conclusion about its nature. It's enough to read both parts of the Bible and see that there are very much in common between them to conclude that an Old canon is missionary book.

According to Jiri Moskala's opinion mission in the Bible should be understood not from the Great Commission but from human creation: “Our mission starts with being human, not Christian” [2, p. 2]. Chris Wright follows him: “Humanity has been given a purpose, a mission, under God. Our mission begins with being human, not just being Christian” [3, p. 38]. Human existence by itself requires a certain goal. With the creation of a man and woman love becomes a fundamental principle of human's being and original sin makes people feel imperfection of the world and improve it. So, love and original sin make people do their mission on Earth.

In the OT we can find a lot of fragments which can be understood as those which proclaim God's mission not only among Israelites but among all the people. Description of the world flood proves that mission of OT was worldwide because the flood was worldwide. Thus God tried to save all Earth from the sin, destroying not only people but animals and plants too except those which were saved by Noah.

Description of Noah sons is one more proof worldwide mission in the OT. Shem, Ham and Japheth became fathers of all people on the planet. So, through three Noah's sons salvation came for all the people.

However, passages which were written above don't tell about mission so evidently as the fragment about Abraham tells it: “and in you, all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Gen. 12:3). Of course, we can't see a Great Commission here but it is clearly seen that OT proclaims worldwide blessing for everybody with the help of Abraham people. Apostle Paul confirmed the importance of these words when mentioned them in Rom. 4:16 and called Abraham a source of blessing and salvation for everybody. We can say that book 12 is one of the most important linking points between different parts of the Bible. It points us that there are very much in common between NT and OT understanding of mission.

There is a concept of “Missio Dei” which means that “God Himself does missionary work” [4, p. 26]. Biblical story about Joseph shows it. He was one of Jacob's sons who was betrayed by his brothers and sold to Egyptians as a slave. His life in slavery was described like a mission among pagans. From the beginning his mission was unconscious: “And the Lord was with him, and he was a man who prospered in everything that he did. And he lived in the house of his lord, who knew very well that the Lord was with him” (Gen. 12:42). He became a witness of God's existence for his master involuntarily. So, he witnessed about God but he hadn't known it yet. Other Joseph's words prove that then he realized who protected him in slavery. When pharaoh asked him to explain him his dream he answered: “Apart from me, God will respond favorably to Pharaoh” (Gen. 12:44). These words show that he realized his role in God's mission and began to play it consciously.

The same we can tell about Moses. He was a missionary among his own people who forgot their God after long years in Egyptian slavery. He was sent mostly to them. At the same time, 10 punishments were a kind of God's missionary act to make Egyptians believe that there weren't any force on Earth which could be more powerful than Israel's God.

On our opinion, the Book of Psalms is a very important source in research about the missionary work in the Old Testament. It contains 150 verses. It strongly differs from the other books of Bible due to its style peculiarities. The poetical style allows not only to tell some information but to give an emotional message to the reader, that's why their missionary role cannot be overestimated.

St. Gregory of Nyssa claimed that: “everything useful the Bible has is in the Book of Psalms” [6, p. 781]. One of the modern Russian Bible interpreter V. Lopukhin told that Psalms' texts appeal not only to certain people and historical events but to moral problems which are about the same for everybody (the same statement is in Geneva Educational Bible). That's why their influence is worldwide and they are one of the best known Bible texts in the world.

On our work, we focused on David's Psalms. David as their author is not only historical person but missionary too. We can prove this when we look at his texts. David is the first who tells people of Israel “The Only Truth”. Only this can start mission throughout the world. Psalms call the people of Israel to announce to all the people of the world about God all along, telling not only about the saver but about the judge of the world too who will judge all the people, not only one nation.

We have to stress the role of prophecies. Almost in all of them, we can find words which deal with the concept of evangelization and its global realization. However, there are certain books which interest researchers most of all. These are prophecies of Isaiah and Jonah.

You, who evangelize Zion, climb a high mountain! You, who evangelize Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength! Lift it up! Do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah: “Behold, your God!” (Isa 40: 9). This fragment is only from the texts of the prophet which starts the mission from the story about real God told to his own people because the message for the others is impossible without it.

The other fragments of Isaiah contain calls for the worldwide missionary work and also about its necessity and moreover its inevitability for the salvation of the mankind. “Pay attention, you islands, and listen closely, you far away peoples. The Lord has called me” (Isa. 49:1). This fragment proves that Isaiah, as well as Moses, wasn't just a tool in the hands of God but understood his destination or mission to retell about God to the others. There is the quintessence of missionary role of the Old Testament in the phrase “light for the Gentiles”. It means not only the message about God through the righteous life of chosen nation but gets some features of activism: “I, the Lord, have called you in justice, and I have taken your hand and preserved you. And I have presented you as a covenant of the people, as a light to the Gentiles, so that you may open the eyes of the blind, and lead out the prisoner from confinement and those sitting in darkness from the house of incarceration” (Isa. 42: 6). So, the mission of Israel according to this text is not only to be the light for the others but save them from disbelief and ignorance of God too.

There are a lot of calls to the inhabitants of the islands and all they have missionary direction. “Let the islands be silent before me, and let the nations take new strength” (Isa 41:1). Let the desert and its cities be lifted up. Kedar will dwell in houses. O inhabitants of the rock, give praise! They will cry out from the top of the mountains. They will give glory to the Lord, and they will announce his praise to the islands (Isa. 42:11-12).

Making the conclusion about the words told above it is possible to tell that Isaiah's Prophecy is one of the most missionary ones. Here can be seen not only hidden calls for mission and obvious intention to spread the faith not only with the help of a righteous example but with own activity too. Understanding of mission there was maximally close to the New Testament and Great Commission.

The Prophecy of Jonah is recognized as one of the most important in the understanding of the OT mission. Only there we can find a direct commission: “Stand up and go to Nineveh, great city and preach for them because I saw their evil” (Jon. 1:2). He was called to tell a message from Jahweh to the worst enemies of Israel - Assyrians in their capital Nineveh.

Commission of God to Jonah to go to the other people with the mission and his visit to Nineveh, the capital of Assyrian empire which was the worst enemy of Israel to save them looks more like a principle: “bless your enemies” than the law of the talion. Thus, the ideas of this prophecy are crucial for Christian missionary work development.

There are the other books which can strengthen our argumentation in favour of missionary character of OT. For example in the Prophecy of Jeremiah we can see the problem of a free will in doing mission: Then I said: I will not call him to mind, nor will I speak any longer in his name. And my heart became like a raging fire, enclosed within my bones. And I became weary of continuing to bear it (Jer. 20:9). New Testament mission is founded on love, but in Jeremy doesn't describe his feelings as love. He tells about “raging fire” that makes him tell about God. As well as Isaiah and Moses he is conscious about his mission but he can't refuse of it. He is free in his own mind but his actions are under complete God's control. We can't see an inner struggle in the NT because the mission is not only a hard duty there but own wish of missionary based on his love to Jesus: “My Father, if this chalice cannot pass away, unless I drink it, let your will be done” (Jer. 26:42).

Reading the Prophecy of Jeremiah we can find controversial thoughts in the context of the Christian mission character. There are permanent discussions if the OT mission was centrifugal (directed onto the other nation) or centripetal (referred onto the Israel nation) [11, p. 5]. There are statements in the Bible that support both positions: “At that time, Jerusalem will be called: `The Throne of the Lord.' And all the nations will be gathered to it, in the name of the Lord, in

Jerusalem” (Jer. 3:17). “For in truth, the Lord sent me to you, so as to speak all these words in your hearing” (Jer. 26:15).

Centrifugal character of missionary work reveals in the role of the Babylon king Nebuchadnezzar: I will send for and take all the associates of the north, says the Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will lead them to this land, and over its inhabitants, and over all the nations that are around it [Jer. 25:9). His was unique because he wasn't from Israel but at the same time, he was a “God's slave” and acts according to His will and His commission. This example is one more proof of the over ethnical character of the OT mission.

The Prophecy of Ezekiel does not contain so controversial thoughts. First of all, it expresses centrifugal character of mission, moreover, it adds a lot of new ideas to the sense of Israel mission: “If, when I say to the impious man, `You shall certainly die,' you do not announce it to him, and you do not speak so that he may turn aside from his impious way and live, then the same impious man will die in his iniquity. But I will attribute his blood to your hand” (Ezek. 3:18). There we face with a completely different understanding of mission. It is not only testimony about God with a righteous life of Israel. Prophet is called to decrease injustice and spreading of justice around the Israel and throughout the world among pagans. It is not a privilege here but a sacred duty.

At the same time we read: For you will be sent, not to a people of profound words or of an unknown language, but to the house of Israel, and not to many peoples of profound words or of an unknown language, whose words you would not be able to understand. But if you were sent to them, they would listen to you (Ezek. 3:5-6). And I will set my glory among the Gentiles. And all the nations shall see my judgment, which I have accomplished, and my hand, which I have laid upon them. And the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord, their God, from that day and thereafter (Ezek. 39:21).

Old Testament certainly has missionary ideas which were applied in Christian missions later. It is difficult to write about united paradigm of OT because different texts contain variable statements that sometimes can be controversial. The ideas that can be called missionary ones are not systematized. At the same time, OT contains ideas which give potential for Christian missionary. According to it, God is almighty and has a power over all the world, it means that spreading potential of his power is limited only with borders of the whole world. God created man and woman. So, love is one of the main principles of human being it gives the emotional and spiritual potential for the missionary. Creation of Adam and Eva means that all the people are equal that is why we don't see a call to evangelize a certain nation in Bible. Equality of all the people is one more condition of endless evangelization potential.

Conclusion

Concluding about missionary paradigm of the old Bible canon we can claim that actually, God is a source of the OT mission and he does it. God chooses prophets and gives them the power to witness about him, meanwhile New Testament apostles started to witness about God only after the Holy Spirit gave them a power, so we can tell that source of mission for prophets is about the same. This is one more linking point between OT and NT evangelization. There is no church in the OT, so the people of Israel play its role. However, we cannot claim that OT mission is exactly the same as a Christian one because it firstly requires converting of chosen nation and then - the other ones. Logic is clear because those who don't know about God cannot pass this knowledge to the others. Absolute knowledge internally requires expansion among all the nations. Israel people are missionaries by themselves they point the others the way to salvation and confirm the existence of one God with their righteous life.

All written above, lets us characterize paradigm of OT mission as national but not for one nation. The only source for it is God who chose this nation to be the light for the others.

References (in language original)

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References

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