The Church
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 61, No. 1 – Fall 2018
Editor: W. Madison Grace II
By Roy E. Gane. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2017. 448 pages. Softcover, $32.99
With the publication of Old Testament Law for Christians, Roy Gane has provided a substantial resource for students and scholars regarding the role of the Old Testament laws in the modern Christian’s life. Building on the premise that Old Testament laws are “a neglected source of wisdom regarding values” (xiii), Gane writes to help Christians understand “how Old Testament laws reveal wise and enduring values and principles,” which “reflect the divine character of love” (xiv).
Gane divides his work into four major sections. The first two sections cover standard introductory matters such as the cultural background, literary context, purpose, functions, types, and roles of the Old Testament laws in ancient Israel and the Old Testament. Within this section, Gane explains how the Old Testament laws reflect divine principles and values (22–25). Although Gane admits that divine values and divine principles “in a sense … can be viewed as interchangeable,” he argues that the term “‘values’ also conveys the idea of things assessed as carrying high priority on a scale of relative worth or importance” (23). In other words, “divine values are God’s priorities” (23) and are commonly “expressed by ‘principles’” (24) in Old Testament
laws. The third and fourth sections of Gane’s book focus on the application of Old Testament laws to modern Christians. After reviewing the common Christian approaches to Old Testament laws under the categories of “Radical Continuity” (163–68), “Radical Discontinuity” (168–73), and “Both Continuity and Discontinuity” (173–95), Gane outlines his approach to applying the Old Testament laws: “ProgressiveMoralWisdom”(PMW)(197–18).Gane provides a thorough five-step (based on 16 questions) process for Christians to apply the Old Testament laws responsibly (202–03). Perhaps the most distinct aspects of Gane’s model are in the fourth step of his process. The goal of this step is to “analyze the law within the process of redemption” by relating the law to “creation and new-creation ideals” and searching for “moral growth beyond the stage represented by the law” in the Old Testament and New Testament (208–09). Gane concludes his third section of the book with a case study of the PMW model applied to Exodus 23:4 (219–35). In the work’s final section, Gane focuses on various values reflected in the Old Testament laws and their application to modern Christians. The concluding chapter consists of Gane’s rebuttal of “five common misconceptions” about Christians and Old Testament laws (400–01).
Gane’s work has many commendable features. First, Gane’s emphasis on the Old Testament laws’ continued relevance reflects his desire to take the continuity between the Old Testament and New Testament seriously. More specifically, his emphasis on love as the “paramount value and virtue” (148) from which sub-principles can be derived underscores the similar ethical ideals of both testaments. Second, Gane’s attention to the creation and new creation ideals within his PMW model provides a helpful lens for readers to identify God’s priorities. Third, Gane does an admirable job of explaining the historical-cultural background for the Old Testament laws. His explanations of the historical context behind certain laws enhance his chapter entitled “Old Testament Law and Theodicy.” In particular, he shows why some of the accommodations Yahweh made for the Israelites’ sinfulness make sense in light of their ANE context. For example, he demonstrates how the law of servant concubinage in Exodus 21:7–11, although not ideal, ultimately protected the concubine (312–314).
In spite of the strengths I have noted, Gane’s work has several issues. Instead of interacting with many particular points, I will deal with a couple of Gane’s foundational views on the law. First, Gane uses 2 Timothy 3:16 as the rationale for his PMW model. In his interpretation of this passage, Gane argues that Paul’s “‘All Scripture’ includes all Old Testament laws, including those that directly apply to us and those that do not so apply” (142). However, this interpretation of 2 Timothy 3:16 is too much. To be sure, we can and should apply Old Testament laws to our lives, but 2 Timothy 3:16 does not require an application of all the Old Testament laws just as we would not apply all the instructions for Noah’s ark to our lives. Furthermore, Gane’s claim that some laws directly apply to us appears to be another way of saying that Christians are still “under” some of the laws, including the Sabbath (156–61), dietary restrictions (350–58), laws related to breeding cattle (344), and the prohibition of sexual intercourse during menstruation (358). Gane needs to clarify how direct application differs from being “under the law,” especially in light of Paul’s assertion that Christians are not under the law (e.g. Gal 5:18). Moreover, conspicuously absent from Gane’s PMW model is an emphasis on the cross. (He does mention Christ’s sacrifice at several points in his book, but he does not include it in his PMW model.) In his five-step process, Gane connects the laws to creation, the fall, and restoration, but he does not highlight the central figure of our redemption and the point in the redemptive process where Paul locates a significant shift in the law’s role (cf. Eph 2:11–21; Col 2:11–15).
Second, Gane criticizes another scholar for dismissing the Sabbath for reasons other than Scripture, reasons “such as consensus and tradition regarding practice” (193). However, Gane himself gives significant evidence of being “shaped by factors other than Scripture” (193), in particular, his theological tradition. For example, Gane––in his arguments for Christian obedience to the dietary laws––argues for a novel translation of Colossians 2:16–17 with his only support being an unpublished paper. Furthermore, he promotes the Christian observance of the Sabbath day, but he does not deal with Romans 14, a passage that certainly challenges his view. Throughout the book, his theological presuppositions influence many of his specific conclusions (e.g. ch. 15).
In conclusion, Gane’s work is a good introduction to a Seventh-day Adventist’s approach to the law. The primary strength of this work is Gane’s explanation of the laws in their ancient context and the interplay between the various pentateuchal laws; however, when it comes to applying the laws to modern Christians, Gane’s work does little to move the discussion in a helpful direction. Gane seems to operate on the assumption that Christians are directly under the authority of every Old Testament law except those that relate to “situations that do not occur in our lives” (139), “social and legal institutions in which we in the modern West are not involved,” “the ancient Israelite theocracy,” and practices that the New Testament “has terminated” (140). Like other approaches that assume Christians are under some Old Testament laws, Gane’s approach leads to inconsistencies and often looks like a pick-and-choose approach based on the interpreter’s tradition and/or wishes.
