It's always funny when you have assumed something for a while and then actually investigate it and find out it is based on pretty flimsy evidence. Such it is with the so called "refusal tradition" of Jewish apocalyptic. Richard Bauckham's 1981 article in NTS, "The Worship of Jesus in Apocalyptic Christianity" seems to be the real fountainhead of this idea in recent years.
The idea is that the Jewish apocalyptic tradition put a strong emphasis on angels refusing worship from those to whom they appear. In the book of Revelation, for example, the angel of chapter 19 refuses the worship of John. The idea makes enough sense, since Jews believed in "one God," surely angels would refuse worship.
But when you look into Bauckham's "best shot," the texts that have angels refusing worship, the actual results are very scanty. There is a tradition of angels appearing to people and of people being afraid, and of the angels allaying fear. But there are very few instances of angels telling the people to whom they appear not to worship them.
So Bauckham really only has the Ascension of Isaiah and Revelation to point to in all Jewish literature through the first century AD--and these are both Christian texts! Sure, Tobit and the Apocalypse of Zephaniah have angel incidences where fear is allayed, but no refusal of worship.
The conclusion I am coming to the more I look at the work of Bauckham and Hurtado, in dialog with the sources, is that they draw somewhat artifical lines around the sources. The result is a partial truth, but a somewhat skewed one as well... in my opinion.
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8 comments:
Although it is not explicit, one might see the angelic refusal in Daniel 8:17-19. The falling on one's face might be an act of worship and the command to understand and stand up the response of refusal.
For Charles,
Maybe. But being lifted up after falling off one's face is actually very standard in prophetic and apocalyptic literature. One always must humble oneself in order to be lifted up and receive the revelation.
For Ken,
Are you writing something on monotheism and angel veneration? Since you have been discussing these issues for a while now...
We really seem to be on the same wavelength here. In The Only True God (now available for pre-order on amazon, so get your library to get it while it has that nice pre-order discount!) I also note that in Revelation there is the interesting mention of worship of Christians, which doesn't seem to support the view that worship is being used to make a subtle Christological point...
James,
Is that reference in the opening letters to the seven churches?
Revelation 3:9.
Ah, the Philadelphians. Although proskunesousin is commonly used in worship language, I might have to be convinced that "bowing down" before necessarily means "worship of" instead of merely demonstrating a superior position. I guess I need to see your argument.
It is a fair point that bowing before another figure doesn't tell us much. But that is the basic meaning of the word for "worship" about which Bauckham in particular makes so much. If this sort of "worship" is not restricted to God, then what sort is? That's a key question I address in the book...
What about Jesus refusal of worship, saying that there is only one God...I forget the context...Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jesus is and angel....don't they?
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