Law in Religious Communities in the Roman Period: The Debate over Torah and Nomos in Post-Biblical Judaism and Early Christianity (Studies in Christianity and Judaism)

Studies in Christianity and Judaism / Études sur le christianisme et le judaïsme: 4

S t u d i e s i n Christianity a n d J u d a i s m / É t u d e s s u r le c h r i s t i a n i s m e et le j u d a ï s m e

S t u d i e s i n C h r i s t i a n i t y a n d J u d a i s m / É t u d e s s u r le christ i a n i s m e e t le j u d a ï s m e p u b l i s h e s m o n o g r a p h s o n C h r i s t i a n i t y a n d J u d a i s m i n t h e p e r i o d 2 0 0 B.C.E. t o 4 0 0 C.E. w i t h a s p e c i a l i n t e r e s t i n s t u d i e s of t h e i r i n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p o r t h e cultural a n d social context in w h i c h they developed.

GENERAL EDITOR*:

Peter Richardson

EDITORIAL BOARD:

John Gager

U n i v e r s i t y of Toronto

Princeton University Olivette Genest Université de Montréal Paul-Hubert Poirier U n i v e r s i t é Laval Adele Reinhartz McMaster University S t e p h e n G. Wilson Carleton U n i v e r s i t y P a u l a Fredriksen Boston University John K l o p p e n b o r g C a n a d i a n S o c i e t y of e x officio] Biblical Studios

* Peter Richardson was named General Editor of the monograph series after the work on this volume was completed and had been submitted.

STUDIES IN CHRISTIANITY AND JUDAISM

LAW IN RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES IN THE ROMAN PERIOD THE DEBATE OVER TORAH AND NOMOS IN POST-BIBLICAL JUDAISM AND EARLY CHRISTIANITY

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Richardson, Peter, 1935Law in religious communities in the Roman period (Studies in Christianity and Judaism, ISSN 0711-5903 ; 4) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-88920-201-X 1. Religion and law - History. 2. Religious communities - Rome - History. 3. Jewish law History. 4. Christianity and Law - History. 5. Christianity and other religions - Judaism History. 6. Judaism Relations - Christianity History. I. Westerholm, Stephen, 1949" III. Title.

IV. Series.

BL65.L33R52 1991

291.8 4

C91-093547-5

© © 1991 Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion / Corporation C a n a d i e n n e des Sciences Religieuses C o v e r d e s i g n b y M i c h a e l B a l d w i n , M si AD

A l l rights r e s e r v e d . N o part of t h i s w o r k c o v e r e d b y the c o p y r i g h t s h e r e o n m a y b e r e p r o d u c e d or u s e d i n a n y f o r m or b y a n y m e a n s — g r a p h i c , e l e c t r o n i c or m e c h a n i c a l — w i t h o u t t h e prior w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n of t h e p u b l i s h e r . A n y r e q u e s t for p h o t o c o p y i n g , r e c o r d i n g , t a p i n g or r e p r o d u c i n g in i n f o r m a t i o n storage a n d retrieval s y s t e m s of a n y part of t h i s b o o k s h a l l b e d i r e c t e d i n w r i t i n g to t h e C a n a d i a n R e p r o g r a p h y C o l l e c t i v e , 3 7 9 A d e l a i d e Street West, S u i t e M l , Toronto, O n t a r i o M 5 V 1 S 5 .

Order from: W i l f r i d Laurier U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s W i l f r i d Laurier U n i v e r s i t y Waterloo, Ontario, C a n a d a N 2 L 3 C 5

Printed in Canada

(JOÏX t e n t s

Contributors

vii

Introduction Peter Richardson

ix

1. Law and Religion: Origins and Present State Peter Richardson Turning Points: Sanders and Neusner Studies in Religion and Law Ethnology and Jurisprudence Conclusion Notes

1 1 3 7 13 14

2. Whence "The Torah" of Second Temple Judaism 19 Stephen Westerholm Law in Early Judaism and Christianity: Introductory Comments ... 19 Julius Wellhausen 22 Sigmund Mowinckel and Albrecht Alt 27 Martin Noth 29 Gerhard von Rad 33 Walther Zimmerli 36 Notes 41 3. Torah, Nomos and Law

45

Solomon Schechter C. H. Dodd H.-J. Schoeps Samuel Sandmel W. D. Davies Notes 4.

.

Law, Grace and the "Soteriology" of Judaism Stephen Westerholm Martin Luther Rudolf Bultmann v

45 46 49 52 54 55 57 58 60

vi

Law in Religious Communities in the Roman Period E. P. Sanders Heikki Räisänen and Other Responses Notes

63 66 72

5. Law and Christian Ethics Stephen Westerholm C. H. Dodd David Daube W. D. Davies Conclusion Notes

75

6.

93

Torah and Early Christian G r o u p s Michael Pettem F. C. Baur Albrecht Ritsehl H.-J. Schoeps Jean Daniélou R. E. Brown Conclusion Notes

75 78 80 85 89

. .

93 95 98 99 102 105 106

7. Rivkin and Neusner on t h e Pharisees Albert I. Baumgarten Ellis Rivkin Jacob Neusner and Morton Smith Jacob Neusner Conclusion Notes

109

8.

127

9.

Sadducees and Halakah Cecilia Wassén Background Lauterbach, Finkelstein and Zeitlin Daube and Lightstone Le Moyne and Saldarini Conclusion Notes Torah and Nomos in Post-Biblical J u d a i s m and Early Christianity Peter Richardson Background Semantic Considerations Community Considerations Further Work Notes

110 114 118 121 121

127 129 134 137 140 142 147 147 149 150 153 155

I n d e x of Authors

157

I n d e x of References

161

Contributors

ALBERT I. BAUMGARTEN is Associate Professor of Jewish history at Bar Han University in Israel; he was previously associated with McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, where h e was codirector of the "Normative Self-Definition" project, co-editing Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, Volume 2: Aspects of Judaism in the Greco-Roman Period. MICHAEL PETTEM has recently d e f e n d e d his dissertation on "Matthew; Jewish Christian or Gentile Christian?" at McGill University's Faculty of Religious Studies in Montréal. H e has been chargé de cours for several years at the Université de Montréal, a n d has also taught at Carleton University in Ottawa and at McGill University. PETER RICHARDSON is Professor of Religious Studies in the University of Toronto. His books include Israel in the Apostolic Church, Paul's Ethic of Freedom, From Jesus to Paul (editor, with J o h n I lurd), and Anti-Judaism in Early Christianity, Volume 1 (editor). CECILIA WASSÉN (a graduate of the University of Uppsala) is a doctoral student at McMaster University in Hamilton; the present contribution is part of her Master's Thesis at McMaster. STEPHEN WESTERHOLM is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at McMaster University. H e has published Jesus and Scribal Authority and Israel's Law and the Church's Faith.

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Introduction

Law in post-Biblical Judaism and early Christianity continues to be a matter of prime importance. As the present volume shows, the history of scholarship on the place of torah and nomos, and of their relationship, is very rich. A seminar of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies worked on these issues from 1983 to 1988, and collectively its members became convinced that, despite the recent flurry of interest in the place of law, the question has not yet been p u t in a sufficiently broad context. Indeed, no one scholar can tackle the range of problems connected with law: its textualizing in the postexilic period, the development of an oral alongside a written torah, the shaping of various Jewish groups by discretely different attitudes to torah, the complex attitudes to "law" —to nomos and to nomoi — 'm the classical world, the views of Jesus and earliest Christianity on Judaism's law, the influence of classical law on Christianity and Judaism, the place of different attitudes to nomos in th