RBL 08/2008

Heine, Ronald E.
Reading the Old Testament with the Ancient Church:
Exploring the Formation of Early Christian Thought
Evangelical Ressourcement
Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007. Pp. 204. Paper. $18.99. ISBN
0801027772.

Martin C. Albl
Presentation College
Aberdeen, South Dakota
Heines book is fourth in the Evangelical Ressourcement series, a series meant to address
the ways in which Christians may draw upon the thought and life of the early church to
respond to the challenges facing todays church. Heine is especially concerned to correct
his own evangelical Christian traditions neglect of both the Old Testament itself and the
rich patristic tradition of Old Testament interpretation.
Heine writes in a clear and accessible manner, presupposing little theological or historical
background. An accomplished translator and commentator on the Fathers (especially of
Origens exegetical works), Heine displays a rich knowledge of both Latin and Greek
patristic exegetical traditions, together with a command of the secondary literature.
In his introduction (1529), Heine shows that the early Reformers still valued the Old
Testament, as did Barth. He traces current Protestant and evangelical neglect to
developments in the Enlightenment (the Old Testament was often critiqued as
unreasonable) and in the conviction of some German scholars (e.g., Gunkel, Harnack)
that the Old Testament was irrelevant for modern Christianity.
Chapter 1, Christian Scripture before the New Testament (3146) shows how, prior to
the canonization of the New Testament, the first Christian scripture was the Old
This review was published by RBL 2008 by the Society of Biblical Literature. For more information on obtaining a
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Testament. Heine surveys the translations available to early Christians and contemporary
Jews: the Septuagint and other Greek versions, Latin translations, the Peshitta, and the
Targumim.
In chapter 2, The Struggle concerning the Law in the Second Century (4774), Heine
describes orthodox Christian efforts to justify their understanding of the Old Testament
against three groups: Jews, gnostics, and followers of Marcion. Against Jews, Christians
had to establish why they used the scriptures while ignoring the demands of the law.
Surveying Justin, Barnabas, Melito, and Origen, Heine finds two basic claims: the Torah
had a temporary validity in the time before the Messiah, and the Torah foreshadowed
later Christian beliefs or practices.
Heine then shows the connection between Old Testament interpretation and the
Christian understanding of God. The gnostic Ptolemaeus taught that Old Testament
laws were both human and divine, yet even the divine laws were given by a lesser God.
Marcion simply rejected both the Old Testament and the God of the Old Testament.
Irenaeus and other orthodox Christians, however, insisted on the identity of the God of
the Old Testament with the God of the New Testament: the Torah was Gods temporary
covenant with the Jews. The orthodox vindication of the value of the Old Testament thus
profoundly influenced subsequent Christian understanding of God.
Chapter 3, Reimagining the Exodus (7595), presents three representative examples of
how early Christians read the exodus narratives: John 6; Origens Homilies on Exodus;
and Gregory of Nyssas Life of Moses. Heine shows how John interweaves the narrative in
John 6 with the Hebrews experience in the wilderness. In considering the approach of
Origen and Gregory, Heine wishes to rehabilitate the value of allegorical interpretation.
In allegorizing the exodus narrative as the souls journey to God, Origen follows Pauls
model in 1 Cor 10:14. Origens method is not arbitrary: particular symbols (e.g., Pharaoh
representing the devil) were worked out through study of relevant passages, and the
symbol was then applied consistently (8586). Nor were Gregorys methods simply nave:
presenting Moses as a spiritual role model for contemporary Christians, he is also
explicitly aware that Moses lived in a different time and culture. All three authors assume
the historicity of the exodus events but believe that historical events also symbolize events
in the life of Christ or the Christian spiritual life (94). Critiquing modern tendencies to
read the Old Testament primarily for historical purposes, Heine calls for Christians to
recover this fuller sense of the scriptures.
Chapter 4, The Gospel in the Prophets (97141) studies the early christological proof
from prophecy. Building on the work of earlier scholars, Heine sketches out a common
set of scriptural prooftexts and exegetical traditions used in the early church to support

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Christian beliefs. Heine identifies the following themes; I include some representative
prooftexts: (1) the deity and preexistence of Christ (Ps 72:17; Zech 6:12; Ps 110:1); (2) the
incarnation of Christ (including his birth) (Gen 49:10; Num 24:17: Isa 11:1); (3) the
healing ministry of Christ (Isa 35:56; 61:12); (4) the suffering and death of Christ (Ps
22; Isa 53); (5) the resurrection and glorification of Christ (Pss 16:10; 110:1; 24:710); (6)
the calling of the Gentiles (Ps 2:78; Isa 42:6-7). Heines discussion in this chapter is
detailed and well informed, demonstrating how widespread these exegetical traditions
were. Many passages are set in the context of a debate between Christians and Jews. At
times (as in the messianic interpretation of Gen 49:10; Num 24:17; Isa 11:1) it is clear that
Christians took over pre-Christian Jewish exegetical traditions.
In chapter 5, Praying the Psalms (14374), Heine presents patristic ways of interpreting
and praying the Psalms; he includes some personal reflections on how he came to
appreciate the range of emotions found in the Psalms. Surveying reflections of
Athanasius, Diodore of Tarsus, Chrysostom, John Cassian, Origen, Jerome, and
Augustine, Heine shows how praying the Psalms was an essential feature of Christian
monastic and lay life. A major exegetical concern was to identify the speaker in the psalm.
Diodore thus sought first to identify the particular historical context for each psalm.
Jerome teaches that the same psalm can have both a historical and a prophetic meaning.
In general, however, the Fathers believed that the Psalms refer to Christ. Thus Origen
tried to determine whether a particular phrase applies to a literal event in Christs life or is
meant spiritually, or whether it applies to members of Christs body. Augustine refers to a
therapeutic benefit of reading the Psalms: they allow the reader to express her grieving
and complaints and then to be healed through this very process. Heine ends with some
reflections on how the practices and methods of the Fathers might still be used by
Christians today.
In chapter 6, Living in the Text (17591), Heine argues that the Fathers were interested
not so much in the history, but in the Old Testament story. They lived in the text,
meaning that they fit their own personal circumstances into the biblical story. Deeply
familiar with the characters of the biblical narrative, they described their own experiences
in the language and concepts of scripture. Origen and Gregory of Nyssa write of the close
connection between developing ones virtues, putting on the mind of Christ, and
growing in ones understanding of the text. The intellectual and the practical pursuits
were closely connected.
In a brief epilogue (19394), Heine again calls for a recovery of a christological
understanding of the Old Testament that was central to the New Testament, the early
church, and the Reformers.

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Heines well-informed work will benefit a broad range of readers: pastors, interested
laypersons, students, as well as scholars and teachers in biblical and patristic studies. Its
most valuable feature is its detailed presentations of patristic interpretations.
Still, I offer a few suggestions to improve a fine work. Heines discussion on the scriptural
testimony tradition could have benefited from further interaction with C. H. Dodds
classic According to the Scriptures: The Sub-structure of New Testament Theology, as well
as with more recent studies in this area by E. Norelli, A. Falcetta, and this reviewer.
While Heine acknowledges the Christian-Jewish debate over the meaning of Old Testament
passages, he tends to ignore the strongly anti-Jewish nature of much of the Christian
exegetical tradition, especially the paradigmatic concept that God had renounced the old
covenant with the Jews and established a new covenant with the Gentiles (Christians).
Heines discussion of the ancient sources of scripture would have benefited from a study
of Christian accusations that Jew were deleting passages from scripture (e.g.. Justin, Dial.
7273); the accusation suggests that Christians were using their own scriptural testimony
collections.
Heine demonstrates well the continuing value of the Fathers attention to spiritual
dimensions of these texts for Christians today. Heine might have asked a few critical
questions, however. Can a modern Christian, for example, seriously apply Origens
principle that every detail of the text, including the names of the camping places of the
Israelites in the wilderness, be considered spiritually useful (88)?
Heine rightly draws out the patristic conviction that historical events also have a deeper
symbolic meaning. But when Gregory of Nyssa avoids the ethical problem of the killing of
the firstborn Egyptians by reading it a typology for rooting out evil thoughts from ones
soul (91), isnt this an abuse of the method?
Finally, in what specific sense can a modern, historically conscious Christian agree that
the Psalms are prophecies of Christ?
Heines work ends with a helpfully annotated list of English translation series of the
Fathers (including online sources) and references to two ongoing series of biblical
commentaries drawn from the Fathers, both published by traditionally evangelical
presses: the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (InterVarsity Press) and The
Churchs Bible (Eerdmans).

This review was published by RBL 2008 by the Society of Biblical Literature. For more information on obtaining a
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Heines work is a valuable addition to the continuing evangelical interest in recovering a

sense of church history, and thus recovering common ground with the Orthodox and
Catholic traditions.

This review was published by RBL 2008 by the Society of Biblical Literature. For more information on obtaining a
subscription to RBL, please visit http://www.bookreviews.org/subscribe.asp.