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Sin in the New Testament by Jeffrey Siker

2021; Catholic Biblical Association; Volume: 83; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/cbq.2021.0110

2163-2529

Greg Carey,

Biblical Studies and Interpretation

Reviewed by: Sin in the New Testament by Jeffrey Siker Greg Carey jeffrey siker, Sin in the New Testament (Essentials of Biblical Studies; New York: Oxford University Press, 2019). Pp. xiii + 224. Paper $24.95. Writing for the Essentials of Biblical Studies series, Jeffrey S. Siker surveys nearly all the NT documents, advancing independent insights on occasion. S. inspects each document’s vocabulary and assumptions concerning sin, the remedies they set forth for sin as a human problem, and the ethical implications of these understandings. As scholars are wont to do, S. emphasizes what is distinctive to each text, though the book’s conclusion offers some theological integration. In chap. 1, S. describes sin as “a dynamic umbrella term that has morphed and shifted” in response to broader cultural developments (p. 4) and previews the book. S. then addresses Hellenistic Judaism as a context for understanding sin in the NT, attending to Jewish and Greco-Roman conceptions of sin and their influence on the NT. In Judaism, S. defines sin as “a violation or transgression of a normative standard prescribed by God in thought, word, or action (or inaction)” (p. 20). He considers the work of Gary A. Anderson (e.g., Sin: A History [New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009]) and Joseph Lam (e.g., Patterns of Sin [End Page 523] in the Hebrew Bible: Metaphor, Culture, and the Making of a Religious Concept [New York: Oxford University Press, 2016]) concerning various metaphors that shaped Jewish understandings of sin, particularly a shift in primary metaphors from weight or burden to debt, and he explains the logic of Yom Kippur, personal sin offerings, and confession of sin in biblical literature. Although the Greeks and Romans also offered sacrifices, these had “virtually nothing to do” with sin (p. 29). Greco-Roman literature largely views sin as a matter of ignorance, a reality addressed in Acts and Romans among other locations. Early Christians translated Jewish conceptions of sin into Greco-Roman terminology, advancing Jesus as the agent of both forgiveness and judgment. Siker addresses every cluster of the NT writings. He treats the Gospels as independent witnesses rather than as sources for the historical Jesus. In Mark, John the Baptist proclaims forgiveness apart from the sacrificial cult; Jesus offers forgiveness prior to people’s repentance. Interpreting Jesus’s death as a “ransom” (10:45), Mark’s Jesus gives his life as an expiation for human sin. Matthew’s birth story hints that Jesus’s death brings forgiveness (1:21), but only when read in conjunction with the rest of Matthew’s story (26:28). S. advances the idea that early Christians came to this understanding only in retrospect: in the light of Jesus’s resurrection, his death must have accomplished forgiveness. John’s reluctance to baptize Jesus reflects the developing notion of Jesus’s sinlessness, which is articulated in multiple NT locations. By referring to sin as “debts,” Matthew reflects a prevailing movement within Judaism. Luke foregrounds Jesus’s embrace of sinners, which provokes love and reconciliation. Acts proclaims forgiveness exclusively through Jesus’s name. John distinctively blends Passover and Yom Kippur imagery in identifying Jesus as a “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (1:29). Paul employs a rich vocabulary for sin, but he contributes the notion of sin as an objective power that is overcome through Jesus’s death and resurrection. Through the agency of the Holy Spirit, believers may participate in Jesus’s victory over sin in the here and now. Space prohibits a full rehearsal of S.’s findings, though his treatment of Hebrews deserves special mention. Although the NT provides diverse understandings of sin and its remedy, S. maintains that early Christianity’s prevailing contribution involved interpreting Jesus’s death as the problem of and the solution for sin. A book that covers so much material will naturally invite objections on points of detail. Not everyone agrees that early Christian atonement theories combine elements of Passover with Yom Kippur, that Romans 7 reflects Paul’s own experience or his analysis of the universal human condition, or that 1 Peter speaks to a Jewish Christian rather than a gentile context. But these positions are...