In his Paul and the Image of God, Chris Kugler provides the following background to the nature of “monotheism” in Second Temple Judaism, as well as a critique of an important element of Bauckham’s “divine identity” thesis:
(1) In the central
cult of the Jerusalem temple, “worship,” particularly in terms of sacrifice,
was exclusively reserved for Israel’s God, YHWH. Nor was this cultic veneration
an arbitrary marker. Sacrifices were the specific means by which one was “recognized”
or “acknowledged” the existence and power of a deity. Not to offer any other “god”
sacrifices effectively communicated that any other suprahuman being and/or
force in the kosmos was not on the same level as the “God” to whom one
was in fact offering sacrifices. (2) Upon close examination, the view of, and
devotional actions toward, Jesus of Nazareth—as both are reflected in many
early Christian sources—provide our only evidence from this period of
Jews both firmly maintaining the characteristically exclusive monotheism
of the Jewish tradition and ascribing divinity to a separate
distinguishable figure. The closest the Jewish tradition comes to anything like
this—and this is not very close—is the sophia/logos speculation of Philo
and the Wisdom of Solomon . . . Nevertheless, it is certainly the case that
many second-temple texts reflect a fascination with a whole host of exalted “figures,”
some of whom are quite closely associated with YHWH and his activity. In
this connection, Hurtado helpfully distinguishes between three types of what he
calls “divine agency” speculation: “personified divine attributes” (e.g., sophia,
logos, Glory); (Hurtado, One God, One Lord, 41-42); “exalted
patriarchs” (e.g., Enoch and Moses) (Ibid., 53-72); and “principal angels” (Ibid.,
73-98) . . . In characterizing the “unique divine identity,” however, Bauckham
made one crucial mistake. While the conception of YHWH’s high and exalted
throne certainly functions in some texts as an indication of his total sovereignty
(so esp. Isa. 6.1; 1 En. 14.18-22; and 2 En. 20.3), this conception is not
a reliable criterion by which to judge a figure’s “divinity” (or otherwise)
in Jewish texts. But supposing this to be the case, Bauckham was forced to
conclude, on the basis that the Elect One of the Similitudes appears to sit
upon the throne of God in several texts (cf. 1 En. 45.4; 51.3; 55.4; 61.8;
62.2-5 and 69.27), that this figure is indeed—even if the only such
figure in second-temple Jewish thought—portrayed as divine. Further buttressing
his case that a figure sitting upon God’s throne is necessarily divine,
Bauckham argues that this is precisely the logic because of which the Elect One
receives the worship befitting the one God of Israel (so 1 En. 46.5; 48.5;
62.6, 9). One wonders, however, if Bauckham’s decisive criterion of “enthronement”
is so much derived from an inductive study of Jewish texts as necessarily
inferred from his reconstruction of christological origins, in which Jesus’s
enthrone á la an interpretation of Psalm 110.1 is the decisive
factor. (Chris Kugler, Paul and the Image of God [London: Lexington
Books/Fortress Academic, 2020], 33, 39, emphasis in bold added)
With respect to the “Elect One” in 1
Enoch, here are the quotations from 1 Enoch (taken from the translation
provided by E. Isaac in James H. Charlesworth, ed., The Old Testament
Pseudepigrapha, Volume 1: Apocalyptic Literature and Testaments [New York:
Yale University Press, 1983])
Elect One sitting on the Throne of God
On that day, I shall
cause my Elect One to dwell among them,
I shall transform
heaven and make it a blessing of light forever. (1 Enoch 45:4)
In those days, (the
Elect One) shall sit on my throne, and form the conscience of his mouth shall
come out all the secrets of wisdom, for the Lord of the Spirits has given them
to him and glorified him. (1 Enoch 51:3)
"Kings,
potentates, dwellers upon the earth: You would have to see my Elect ONe, how he
sits in the throne of glory and judges Azaz'el and all his company, and his
army, in the name of the Lord of the Spirits!" (1 Enoch 55:4)
He placed the Elect
One on the throne of glory; and he shall judge all the works of the holy ones
in heaven above, weighing in the balance their deeds. (1 Enoch 61:8)
The Lord of the
Spirits has sat down on the throne of his glory, and the spirit of
righteousness has been poured out upon him. The word of his mouth will do the
sinners in; and all the oppressors shall be eliminated from before his face. On
the day of judgment, all the kings, the governors, the high officials, and the
landlords shall see and recognize him—how he sits on the throne of his glory,
and righteousness is judged before him, and that no nonsensical talk shall be
uttered in his presence. Then pain shall come upon them as on a woman in
travail with birth pangs—when she is giving birth (the child) enters the mouth
of the womb and she suffers from childbearing. One half portion of them shall
glance at the other half; they shall be terrified and dejected; and pain shall
seize them when they see that Son of Man sitting on the throne of his glory. (1
Enoch 62:2-5)
(Then) there came to
them a great joy. And they blessed, glorified, and extolled (the Lord) on
account of the fact that the name of that (Son of) Man was revealed to
them. He shall never pass away or perish
from before the face of the earth. (1 Enoch 69:27)
Elect One receiving worship
He shall depose the
kings from their thrones and kingdoms. For they do not extol and glorify him,
and neither do they obey him, the source of their kingship. (1 Enoch 46:5)
All those who dwell
upon the earth shall fall and worship before him; they shall glorify, bless,
and sing the name of the Lord of the Spirits. (1 Enoch 48:5)
(These) kings,
governors, and all the landlords shall (try to) bless, glorify, extol him who
rules over everything, him who has been concealed . . . On that day, all the
kings, the governors, the high officials, and those who rule the earth shall
fall down before him on their facts, and worship and raise their hopes in that
Son of Man; they shall beg and plead for mercy at his feet. (1 Enoch 62:6, 9)
