THE QUEST to SAVE the OLD TESTAMENT
Mathematics, Hieroglyphics, and Providence in Enlightenment England
DAVID NEY
studies in historical and systematic theology
The Quest to Save the Old Testament: Mathematics, Hieroglyphics, and Providence in Englightenment England
Studies in Historical and Systematic Theology
Copyright 2022 David Ney
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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are the from the Authorized (King James) Version. The Authorized Version of the Bible (‘the KJV’), the rights in which are vested in the Crown in the United Kingdom, is reproduced here by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.
Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The image on page 114 is “The Christian Covenant in Hieroglyphics” by Hubert-François Gravelot. c. 1730s. Public domain.
Print ISBN 9781683596264
Digital ISBN 9781683596271
Library of Congress Control Number 2022933803
Lexham Editorial: Todd Hains, Elizabeth Vince, Allie Boman, Mandi Newell, Abigail Stocker
Cover Design: Brittany Schrock
Foreword by Wesley Hill
1. A Catalogue of Numbers: Isaac Newton’s Old Testament
2. Left for Dead: Samuel Clarke’s Old Testament
3. A Storehouse of Hieroglyphs: John Hutchinson’s Old Testament
4. An Equal Witness: George Watson’s Old Testament
5. A Monument of the Divine Order: George Horne’s Old Testament
6. The Voice of Providence: William Jones of Nayland’s Old Testament
Epilogue: The End of Hutchinsonian Scriptural Emblematicism
Afterword by Ephraim Radner
In St. Paul’s letter to the churches in Galatia, we witness a fascinating and, to us moderns, counterintuitive phenomenon. Portraying the Galatians’ dire crisis of standing on the precipice of apostasy, Paul “reads” the Galatian Christians as the post-exodus generation of Israelites wandering in the wilderness on their way to Canaan.
The Lord of Israel had said to Moses in Deuteronomy that the people of Israel, freshly delivered from their slavery in Egypt, “have been quick to turn from the way that I commanded them” (9:12 NRSV; the Septuagint’s word for “quick” is ταχύ). Borrowing this language, Paul writes to his Galatians converts, who have lately been “set … free from the present evil age” (1:4): “I am astonished that you are so quickly [ταχέως] deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel” (1:6). What underlies Paul’s rhetorical move here?
Pastor and New Testament scholar Todd Wilson has argued that Paul here ...
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About The Quest to Save the Old Testament: Mathematics, Hieroglyphics, and Providence in Enlightenment EnglandPastors and scholars today lament the Old Testament’s neglect in the West. But this is nothing new. In the eighteenth century, natural philosopher John Hutchinson witnessed the Old Testament becoming devalued as Scripture. And in his mind, the blame lay with Isaac Newton. In The Quest to Save the Old Testament, David Ney traces the battle over Scripture during the Enlightenment period. For Hutchinson, critical scholarship’s enchantment with the naturalism of Newton undermined the study of the Old Testament. As cultural forces reshaped biblical interpretation, Hutchinson spawned a movement that sought, above all, to reclaim the Old Testament as Christian Scripture. Hutchinson’s followers sought to be shaped by Scripture, not culture. Rejecting the Newtonian degradation of history, they offered a compelling figural defense of the Old Testament’s doctrinal and moral significance. The Old Testament is the voice of Providence. It is the means of discerning God’s hand at work both in nature and in history. The Quest to Save the Old Testament is a timely retelling of fateful and faithful attempts to “save” the Old Testament. |
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