From One Stone to the Next
Messiahship and Temple in N.T. Wright’s Jesus and the Victory of God
In: Journal for the Study of the Historical JesusSearch for other papers by Nicholas Perrin in
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Some twenty years after the publication of N.T. Wright’s Jesus and the Victory of God, this article seeks to engage that volume’s treatment of the Temple in relationship to Jesus’ messiahship. While the present author finds Wright’s overall account to be persuasive, questions are raised regarding the link posited between Jesus’ messianic claims and the destruction of the Temple. Here, in dialogue with Jesus and the Victory of God, it is argued that Jesus asserted his messiahship not on the basis of some general authority over the Temple (involving among other things its future destruction), but on the more specific claim that he would be the one to rebuild the Temple. Such a claim is not only historically defensible in the Sitz im Leben Jesu, but also does better justice to the Second Temple Jewish and early Christian belief.
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5
Ibid., p. 160.
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6
Ibid., pp. 160–61.
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7
Ibid., p. 132.
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8
Ibid., pp. 129–30.
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10
Ibid., p. 334.
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11
Ibid., pp. 129–30; cf. pp. 205, 271.
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12
Ibid., p. 128; cf. p. 335. On exile, see Wright, The New Testament and the People of God (Christian Origins and the Question of God, 1; London: spck; Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992), pp. 268–71.
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15
Ibid., p. 407.
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16
Ibid., pp. 407–11.
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17
Ibid., p. 411.
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19
Ibid., p. 205.
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21
Wright, Victory of God, p. 415 (the text mistakenly refers the reader to chapter 14). Wright further explains this as follows: ‘The proclamation of yhwh’s kingdom, in both its major themes, thus focused attention on the Temple. If it was, in some sense, to be rebuilt; if yhwh was to return in judgment as well as in mercy; then the present Temple, which in Jesus’ day meant Herod’s Temple, was under judgment’ (Ibid.).
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22
Ibid., p. 417.
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23
Ibid., p. 420. Here Wright follows the lead of Marcus Borg (Conflict, Holiness and Politics in the Teachings of Jesus [New York: Mellen Press, 1984], pp. 163–70).
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24
Ibid., pp. 336–68. Sanders (Jesus and Judaism, pp. 23, 124) has argued that the messianic tribulation is a late invention, an assertion that has been effectively refuted by Brant Pitre (Jesus, the Tribulation, and the End of the Exile: Restoration Eschatology and the Origin of the Atonement [wunt, 2.204; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck; Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005], pp. 41–130).
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27
Ibid., pp. 343, 362, 511, etc.
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30
Ibid., p. 490. Similarly Meyer (Aims of Jesus, pp. 199–200): ‘In so far as the cleansing of the Temple was a harsh and dramatic critique, its messianic aspect was an implicit presentation of credentials. But in the deeper sense … the messianic aspect was the ultimate rationale of the event.’
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31
Ibid., Wright, Victory of God, pp. 492–93.
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32
Ibid., p. 493. Mk 14.57, 15.29 and par.
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33
Ibid., p. 494.
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34
Ibid., pp. 494–95.
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35
Ibid., pp. 496–97.
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36
Ibid., pp. 497–501.
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37
Ibid., pp. 502–09.
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38
Ibid., p. 510.
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39
Ibid., p. 511.
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40
Ibid., p. 515, italics original.
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41
Ibid., p. 516.
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42
Ibid., pp. 528–37.
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43
Ibid., p. 538.
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From One Stone to the Next
Messiahship and Temple in N.T. Wright’s Jesus and the Victory of God
In: Journal for the Study of the Historical JesusSearch for other papers by Nicholas Perrin in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Some twenty years after the publication of N.T. Wright’s Jesus and the Victory of God, this article seeks to engage that volume’s treatment of the Temple in relationship to Jesus’ messiahship. While the present author finds Wright’s overall account to be persuasive, questions are raised regarding the link posited between Jesus’ messianic claims and the destruction of the Temple. Here, in dialogue with Jesus and the Victory of God, it is argued that Jesus asserted his messiahship not on the basis of some general authority over the Temple (involving among other things its future destruction), but on the more specific claim that he would be the one to rebuild the Temple. Such a claim is not only historically defensible in the Sitz im Leben Jesu, but also does better justice to the Second Temple Jewish and early Christian belief.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 303 | 83 | 8 |
| Full Text Views | 216 | 4 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 441 | 302 | 0 |
