Introduction to the Old Testament

Introduction to the Old Testament
by Anthony R . Ceresko
Orbis Books, 1992
ISBN 0-225-66689-8

Let the reader beware: this is no ordinary "Introduction to the Old Testament." A Catholic priest and biblical scholar, Anthony Ceresko has given us an eye-opening account of Israel's origins and development, and of the complex scriptures that shaped that development. Perhaps even more valuably, he has brought to that account an interpretative framework that makes sense of the "gaps and silences and inner contradictions" of this very human set of documents.

Ceresko grounds his approach in Norman Gottwald's revolutionary thesis on Israel's origins. Arguing against reading the early historical books as straightforward history, Gottwald (and in his turn Ceresko) show how these texts emerged as the self-defining narrative of a loose confederation of marginalized Canaanite hill tribes and refugees. The function of these texts, in other words, was to bind the tribes and create the ideological basis for the continued existence of this special confederacy.

Yet to this sociological model Ceresko brings his own Bible-based "liberation perspective": Israel's God is a God of justice and mercy who demands the same of His people. More pointedly, this God institutes specific measures to maintain the egalitarian ideals of the confederation and especially to protect the vulnerable. Ceresko's treatment of this theme is particularly compelling, as when he reveals the egalitarian impulse in the commandment not to covet one's neighbor's house. With the inevitable movement in the 11th century B.C.E. toward a statist monarchy like that of its neighbors, Israel's distinctive early ideals became badly strained. This breakdown of the mutual aid model and the increasing stratification of Israelite society gave rise to the anguished outpourings of the prophets, to whom Ceresko predictably gives extensive coverage.

Ceresko's treatment of the Hebrew Scriptures is thus rooted in a successful synthesis of sociological perspective and liberation theology. Indeed, rootedness is at the very heart of his work: ancient Israel's rootedness in the cultural and geo-political Near Eastern context, the scriptures' rootedness in the evolving socio-economic realities of the people writing them, and our own rootedness in a world of systemic injustice and oppression that cries out for a re-appropriation of the Bible's original liberating message of "glad tidings to the lowly" (Isaiah 61:1). As Ceresko puts it, the story of Israel's coming to terms with its God is the story of "their sense of God's involvement in their common struggle to create a just and peaceful community, a community free from domination and oppression by the powerful."

It is the genius of the author that he is able to communicate this compelling model entirely without preachiness or polemic. His approach is scholarly and measured, firm in its guiding vision but always supported by hard evidence. Ceresko's text provides all the basics needed in an intro course: thorough historical and political background, a brief history of biblical scholarship, the four-source theory, and plenty of charts and tables. Yet woven into the standard "what's in the Bible" material is his insistent refrain about how we read the Bible: as the scripture of a people self-consciously marginal and oppressed, the Bible is read most accurately and fruitfully "from the bottom," that is, through a lens sympathetic to the struggle of the poor everywhere to achieve justice and full human dignity. For the teacher who understands his or her vocation as helping students cultivate a critical yet constructive hermeneutical stance toward an unjust world, this book is a model of engaged scholarship.

Given Ceresko's focus on the liberating God of the Hebrew Scriptures, it is perhaps inevitable that there should be gaps in his account. His very sketchy treatment of the foundational mythic material in Genesis will force the teacher to bring in supplementary material. More problematic is his neglect of the darker biblical motifs, namely the recurring images of a vengeful and violent God, and the aggressive, nationalistic model of territorial conquest at the expense of whatever indigenous tribes happen to be living in "the Promised Land." The harmful effects of these harsh God-images resound through Western history, and can anyone deny, given the conquest model so demonstrably at work in modern-day Israel's treatment of the indigenous Palestinians, that this countervailing imperative is not also at the "heart" of the Hebrew Scriptures?

That said, I can recommend Ceresko's book wholeheartedly. It is very user-friendly, with introduction, conclusion, and review questions to each chapter. It would be most appropriate for an intro-level college course, but could also be used effectively (if selectively) in an upper-level high school elective. Introduction to the Old Testament: A Liberation Perspective is a liberating text itself, freeing us from both the sanctimonious and the pedantic, leading us to a new understanding informed by the biblical virtues of celebration, lamentation, and clear-eyed compassion.

Ramsay Harik
Academy of the Sacred Heart
New Orleans

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