Finding value in the Pentateuch

Friday, Mar. 06, 2015

I have just plowed through the Bible’s first five books, known to most Christians as the Pentateuch or, in the Jewish tradition, the Torah.

I’d like to say I read word for word, but I didn’t even make it through Genesis before I started skimming. As a 21st-century Christian, I just couldn’t find spiritual value in the genealogies, the mind-numbing details of how to construct the ark and fashion the priestly vestments, or the antiquated laws and the minutia about the proper way to sacrifice cattle and sheep and birds. By the time I got to Leviticus, my thought was that it’s too bad Jesus didn’t abolish the law. (I realize I stepped into a theological quagmire here, which I don’t intend to sink into. My point is simply that I wondered how the Pentateuch could possibly be relevant in today’s world.)

God answered my question in an unusually direct way. The Sunday before Ash Wednesday, the first reading was from a section of Leviticus I had read only days before, detailing the treatment of lepers. In the Gospel reading, from Mark, Jesus healed a leper. The homilist connected the two readings: By Jewish law – outlined in Leviticus – a leper was essentially banished from the community, and when Jesus healed the afflicted man he in effect restored him to life. Not incidentally, Jesus broke that same law merely by touching the leper.

OK, so the Old Testament puts Christ’s world into context, but can’t we Catholics just have the CliffsNotes version?

I posed that question to Dominican Father Peter Hannah, parochial vicar of Saint Catherine of Siena Newman Center. I mentioned that, as a study guide, I’m using an audio series by Father Michael D. Guinan, O.F.M, PhD (through Now You Know Media) that explains many aspects of Biblical culture, and brings in concepts I hadn’t thought of. I’m learning a lot – for example, I never knew that Jesus’ reply to Satan, “not by bread alone does man live …,” is from Deuteronomy – I just think I’m missing the spiritual aspect of the Pentateuch.

Fr. Hannah responded with two helpful points. First, the Pentateuch contains Judaism’s foundational stories, and therefore Christianity’s as well. Implicit in his comment is that to understand our faith one must know these stories, and the best way to learn them is to read them in their complete form.

Along this train of thought, last night I tried to imagine how relevant Jesus would have been outside the culture of ancient Israel. If Jewish law hadn’t existed, he wouldn’t have been crucified for the things he said and did. His criticism was against the religious leaders of his time – those for whom the Torah was law – not the political regime. (It’s interesting that his followers today more often come up against the politics of our time, at least in the Western world, but that’s another issue entirely.)

The second point Fr. Hannah made is that Fr. Guinan has a Catholic Scripture scholar’s factual point of view, while other commentators provide more spiritual angles. He recommended a couple of authors, both of whom are Jewish and approach the Pentateuch from their culture’s perspective. 

I think they would be fascinating to read. Unfortunately, that would mean I’d also have to re-read pertinent parts of the Pentateuch as they’re being discussed, and right now I’m just not up for Leviticus again, especially when I’ve got 68 books left in my first go-around at the entire Bible. 

I think at this point I’ll continue on through Revelation, gleaning what I can with the various study aids I’ve already got. Then I’ll start again; I’m curious to see how different the same ground will look under the direction of other guides.