Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Chris Kugler on "Monotheism" in Second Temple Judaism and the "Elect One" in 1 Enoch

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 รก 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)