God and World in the Old Testament: A Relational Theology of Creation by Fretheim Terence E

Author:Fretheim, Terence E.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: The importance of creation has often been underestimated by church and academy.
Publisher: United Methodist Publishing House
Published: 2011-07-22T16:00:00+00:00

Creation, Redemption, and Salvation

The relationship of these three themes—creation, redemption, and salvation—has occasioned considerable scholarly reflection.86 In the words of P. B. Harner: "How is the belief that Yahweh is the Creator of all the ends of the earth related to the conviction that he is the Redeemer" who has acted in the past on Israel's behalf and is about to act anew for the deliverance of his people?87 His discussion of this question engages the seminal essay of Gerhard von Rad (and those following in his train), who concluded that "at no point in the whole of Deutero-Isaiah does the doctrine of creation appear in its own right . . . it performs only an ancillary function. . . . It is but a magnificent foil for the message of salvation, which thus appears the more powerful and the more worthy of confidence."88 Creation is entirely incorporated into the dynamic of the prophet's salvation faith.89 But Harner and others show correctly that creation faith is not simply absorbed into the structure of salvation faith in Isaiah 40–55.90 Indeed, it is now common to say that "faith in God the Creator was perceived and experienced as the all-embracing framework, as the fundamental, all-underlying premise for any talk about God, the world, Israel, and the individual."91 Thomas W. Mann lifts up Isa 40:12-31 as key for interpretation of this matter in Second Isaiah; this introduction "suggests that whatever actions in history may be attributed to Yahweh, they are grounded in a theology of Yahweh as 'creator of the ends of the earth.' In this sense, a theology of creation is prior to and foundational for a theology of history."92

Our discussion to this point has shown that von Rad's perspective regarding the role of creation in Isaiah 40–55 is much too narrow. We here continue our own response by noting that Isaiah 40–55 appeals to God's cosmic creation, both in the sense of originating creation—"I am the LORD, who made all things" (44:24; see 45:12, 18; 48:13; 51:13, 16)— and continuing creation (40:22, 26, 28; 42:5; 48:13; 50:2). Many of these texts weave originating creation and continuing creation together into a single fabric: "the LORD,"

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.