2005 Spring Convocation

April 4-6, 2005

Scholar Terence Fretheim: His convocation remarks
bring Old Testament laws to life

Terence Fretheim: His remarks brought Old Testament laws to life.

PHILADELPHIA, PA (April 5, 2005) - The Old Testament laws of the Pentateuch "are a gift of God, who is concerned with our lives, a God that is concerned that humanity flourishes, a God concerned for our well-being."

Yet, Terence Fretheim told a Spring Convocation audience today, "The law texts of the Old Testament are seldom used in preaching and teaching of the church." Fretheim, the Elva B. Lovell Professor of Old Testament at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN, explained that there are "many reasons why the law texts are ignored. They have a narrow range of coverage in terms of overall life experience. Some view the passages as obsolete. They understand the Old Testament in static terms." The result of not studying the texts with a broader perspective is that "we flail around and don't see them as helpful in finding our way into the future." Fretheim was the first keynote presenter for the Convocation, which took on the theme, "Christian Convictions and Ethical Challenges."

The Old Testament scholar told his audience that a further complication for Lutherans regarding Old Testament laws is that some take into account "outlandish claims" by Reformer Martin Luther concerning law texts. Fretheim referred to Luther's having written at one point that "Moses is dead and of no further service…" But there was a caveat: Luther also said, "unless he agrees with New Testament natural law."

Fretheim said it is critical for modern believers to bear in mind "how the concerns that drove the (creation of) laws applied to their development." And he made the strong point that those concerns often continue to be relevant today. "We cannot escape those concerns," he said. An example is the modern as well as the Old Testament concern for the plight of the poor and needy.

Another area is the concern in Old Testament laws for "clean and unclean food…These laws were concerned about the preservation of life and health" in the Old Testament, he said. "The laws of the Food and Drug Administration are a direct descendant of those laws," he said. Fretheim added that even if one studying the Pentateuch concludes that an Old Testament law is "no longer relevant," the concerns that drove that law into existence should continue to be considered and "animate our reflections and discussions. These laws as a response to real concerns and needs of humanity "are a gracious gift of God intended for the service of our lives, and they deserve close attention."

Fretheim also said the laws are not "timeless and immutable…Their roots are in God's creation rather than redemption, given for the sake of the good life and to keep us in tune with creation." Laws are thus given to preserve God's creative work and social and natural order. "Humans are not free from creational demands," Fretheim said. "They are charged with developing God's creation and subduing the earth, which has not been presented originally as a finished product. Rather, it is a work in progress. And if creation is not a finished product than the law is not a finished product."

Fretheim, right, converses with Pastor Margaret Herz-Lane of Camden, NJ, and LTSP Professor Timothy Wengert. Wengert and Herz-Lane are both alums of Luther Seminary.

The Bible scholar said the reality is borne out of experience. The command to "bring forth and multiply" might be adapted today to say, "don't be so fruitful" because of the population explosion. "New occasions teach new duties," he said. He said creation is "not a machine. It is highly complex and both regular and unexpected" in nature, and that complex reality of creation makes it appropriate that laws are seen as "a dynamic reality" rather than being static.

The nature of God, he said, involves both constancy and change. "God's relationship with us is faithful and genuine," he said. "But God must change in view of what creation is becoming." So that the laws revealed in the Old Testament, he said, are not intended to necessarily be in a "once and for all form," but rather they need to reflect an ongoing relationship between God and God's people and the needs of those people. "God's actions correlate with people's needs. The law takes into account what human needs are." Laws, he said, move into life and lives and all the particulars of those lives. The changing nature of the laws has very much to do "with what God is doing in people's lives right now," he said. And God gives good reason to obey those laws because such "intelligent obedience" enables humans to experience a fullness of life in relationship with God.

He said an example of how laws may be adapted over time might be found in wording of the Commandments as found in Exodus and later in Deuteronomy. Finally, he noted that we may not think of laws developed by humans as God's laws, but in some cases they could be considered as such because they may stand up well over and against their biblical predecessors. In reviewing the appropriateness of laws, Fretheim advised his listeners to ask: "How does this law continue to serve the life, health and well-being of people?"

In a question and answer session, alum Pastor Leah Schade reflected on her congregational experience. "It is good news to youth that God can change," she said. "But that is not good news for their parents. It takes away their whole paradigm of how God is presented. How can I deal with that?"

Fretheim said it might be helpful to discuss that God both changes and doesn't change. "God's core character can be thought of as the same - a loving faithful God. But because God loves us so God can change with regard to particular matters. I would tell both audiences that this character of God is part of the nature of a genuine relationship between God and God's people."

About 100 LTSP alums attended the presentation.

Afternoon workshops dealt with the topics of Preaching and Ethics, Faith Diversity and Homosexuality.