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The topic of the election of Israel is one of the most controversial and difficult subjects in the entire Bible. Modern readers wonder why God would favor one specific people and why Israel in particular was chosen. One of the most important and theologically incisive voices on this topic has been that of Jon D. Levenson. His careful, wide-ranging scholarship on the Hebrew Bible and its theological reuse in later Judaic and Christian sources has influenced a generation of Jewish and Christian thinkers.
This focused volume seeks to bring to a wide audience the ongoing rich theological dialogue on the election of Israel. Writing from a variety of disciplines and perspectives, the authors—Jews, Catholics, and Protestants—contribute thought-provoking essays spanning fields including the Hebrew Bible, apocryphal and pseudepigraphic literature, New Testament, rabbinics, the history of Christian exegesis, and modern theology. The resulting book not only engages the lifelong work of Jon D. Levenson but also sheds new light on a topic of great import to Judaism and Christianity and to the ongoing dialogue between these faith traditions.
“. . . This volume is an excellent and satisfying tribute to its honoree [Professor Jon D. Levenson] and his research. With scholarship, clarity and interreligious sensitivity that equal Levenson’s, co-editor Kaminsky asks, ‘Can Election Be Forfeited?’” —Biblical Interpretation
Joel S. Kaminsky is a professor of religion at Smith College.
List of Abbreviations
Introduction by Gary A. Anderson and Joel S. Kaminsky
Part 1: The Hebrew Bible
1. Election in Genesis 1 by Richard J. Clifford, S.J.
2. Abraham's Election in Faith by W. Randall Garr
3. Can Election Be Forfeited? by Joel S. Kaminsky
4. Election and the Transformation of Ḥērem by R. W. L. Moberly
5. Job as Prototype of Dying and Rising Israel by Kathryn Schifferdecker
Part 2: Reception of The Hebrew Bible
6. Does Tobit Fear God for Nought? by Gary A. Anderson
7. Divine Sovereignty and the Election of Israel in the Wisdom of Ben Sira by Greg Schmidt Goering
8. The Chosenness of Israel in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha by Matthias Henze
9. “A House of Prayer for All Peoples” (Isaiah 56:7) in Rabbinic Thought by Marc Hirshman
10. The Descent of the Wicked Angels and the Persistence of Evil by James Kugel
11. The Election of Israel Imperilled: Early Christian Views of the “Sacrifice of Isaac” by Kevin Madigan
12. The Salvation of Israel in Romans 9–11 by Mark Reasoner
13. Populus Dei: Luther on Jacob and the Election of Israel (Genesis 25) by Brooks Schramm
Part 3: Theological Essays
14. Election and Affection: On God’s Sovereignty and Human Action by Leora Batnitzky
15. Christ and Israel: An Unsolved Problem in Catholic Theology by Bruce D. Marshall
Publications by Jon D. Levenson
Doctoral Dissertations Supervised by Jon D. Levenson
List of Contributors
Index of Sources
Index of Modern Authors