My Review of James Tabor's book:

Restoring Abrahamic Faith

Reprinted from The Journal: News of the Churches of God, September-December 2008. Subscribe for $28 for one year or $49 for two years by writing P.O. Box 1020, Big Sandy, Texas 75755. (Outside the United States, the price is $30 per year or $51 for two years in U.S. funds.)

Front page: Reviewer loves new book but doesn't entirely agree

James Tabor calls for 'a return to the true faith of Scripture'

The writer is pastor of the Virtual Church and director of the Association for Christian Development (www.godward.org and 2303 W. Commodore Way, Suite 206, Seattle, Wash. 98199, U.S.A.).

By Kenneth Westby

SEATTLE, Wash. -- James D. Tabor's latest book, Restoring Abrahamic Faith (180 pages, Genesis 2000 Press) is the story of God's great plan, His divine project for the salvation of mankind. The story begins in earnest with the calling of Abraham. Yahweh began by choosing a man to pioneer the path toward eternal fellowship with Him.

Abraham's journey Godward was to become the example for all seeking to know God. Through Abraham's progeny, Yahweh would bring forth a nation. God would commission that nation, Israel, to pioneer the way for other nations to walk and so live under the divine blessings of their Creator.

Abraham answered God's call and became the Father of the Faithful. But the nation of Israel stumbled and left its commission unfulfilled.

Not an Israelite, not Jewish

Abraham was neither an Israelite nor a Jew, though he was father of both. His grandson Jacob (God changed Jacob's name to Israel) had 12 sons, each of whom in time became a large tribe within the nation of Israel that would eventually become nations in their own right. One of those was Judah, from whom the word Jew is properly associated.

Abraham's walk with God was long and rich. He believed in the one true Creator God. He rejected the near-universal polytheism of his world. He became a prophet and evangelist for what we know as biblical monotheism. His faith, quietly held and handed down in his family until its formulation under Moses and its description by the prophets, is what Dr. Tabor's book recounts.

Without intermediaries

The sovereign God chose Abraham, inviting him to forsake paganism, leave his homeland and move to a land God would show him. He came to experience God as the Supreme Being who can be known and who explains His purposes, even if over a time span that stretched Abraham's patience.

Abraham approached God without intermediaries, worshiped Him, talked with Him and benefited from God's deliverance from his troubles more than once. Abraham's faith was informed, not blind. God called him with a promise and showed His faithfulness to him and his descendants. Abraham obeyed that call, walked in God's way and experienced His faithfulness. He was called a friend of God.

What is Abrahamic faith? Let Dr. Tabor lead you on a path of discovery toward answering that question for yourself.

The bosom of Abraham

Jesus, in His famous rich-man-and-Lazarus parable, used the term Abraham's bosom (Abraham's side) to represent people resurrected to eternal life in God's Kingdom (paradise). Paul said, "If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:29). The example of Abraham's faith anchors the faith chapter (chapter 11) in the book of Hebrews.

Much of what you read in Restoring Abrahamic Faith will ring immediately true and familiar, particularly if you are a seasoned student of Scripture. But I suspect you will also find concepts new and challenging, requiring reflection and mental debate.

Dr. Tabor is calling for a "restoration" to the true faith of Scripture, a faith largely lost in traditional Christianity. This is a radical idea and a bold critique of mainstream Protestant and Catholic Christianity for which he will be roundly attacked.

Some objections

While I can heartily recommend Dr. Tabor's book, I do have my disagreements with him.

I don't quibble with his prime thesis because I think it is solidly scriptural. It is his take on the apostle Paul, his lack of trust in the New Testament documents and his Christological confusion that I find questionable. I think he misreads Paul as being opposed to Torah. But it seems to me that Paul and Jesus were alike in their respect for Torah.

Regarding the reliability of the NT, I acknowledge that the Old Testament documents are older and cover a much broader scope than the NT books. The OT clearly was the Bible of Jesus, the apostles and Paul. The NT does not replace the OT, and the NT cannot be properly understood without the OT, which provides its context. The NT should be understood in light of the OT. The opposite approach is common in traditional Christianity.

That said, the NT provides us with the Christ story and the mightiest of God's great works: The revelation of Jesus, Yahweh's Son; Jesus' ministry and message; His death; His resurrection; and His exaltation to Yahweh's heavenly throne -- these provide the crowning action of God to bring mankind into His image.

Torah-Christ story

My friend and colleague the late Dr. Charles V. Dorothy liked to summarize the content of Genesis to Revelation as "Torah-Christ story." I see the NT, consistently and with inspiration, proclaiming the same gospel begun in Genesis.

Regarding Dr. Tabor's comments on the "Messiahs," there is much agreement. However, I see Jesus as partly fulfilling both the role of the Davidic Messiah and the Priestly Messiah already -- and completely at His return. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews likens Jesus' priesthood to that of Melchizedek, to whom Abraham paid tithes. Melchizedek was both a priest and king -- the King of Salem, meaning King of Peace, a shortened form of "Jerusalem" (see Hebrews 6:19-7:17).

Who was this mysterious figure of Melchizedek? Hebrew oral tradition is clear about his identity: He was Noah's eldest son, Shem (who was quite elderly at this point, having lived 465 years of his 500-year lifetime). After the Flood, Noah was king of the earth, and upon his death Shem rightfully held that title.

When you read Dr. Tabor's book you may have your own disagreements and may disagree with my disagreements.

Devotional guide

I love the book and use it as a devotional guide, meditating and praying along with the many important scriptures he has artistically assembled. I have been using it as a guide to devotion because it presents the core of biblical faith with such clarity and assembles the weightiest passages of Scripture for study and meditation.

Its chapters include "Knowing God," "The Way," "The Plan," "The Messiahs" and "Turning to God," and it features a listing of the "Principles of Abrahamic Faith."

Restoring Abrahamic Faith, a 180-page trade paperback, is available for $15 from Genesis 2000 Press, 2124 Crown Centre Dr., Suite 200, Charlotte, N.C. 28227, U.S.A. Visit genesis2000.org for more information.