V. Justification And Faith In Judaism
IV. THE PLACE OF FAITH
Since we can scarcely think of the New Testament doctrine of justification without adding ‘by faith’, it is worth our while to inquire whether this has roots in the Old Testament, or whether it was a completely new thought in New Testament times. Certainly Paul did not think he was enunciating an entirely novel doctrine, for he speaks of Abraham as being justified in the same way as Christians of his own day, namely by faith. Indeed, he uses the example of that patriarch as a means of showing to the men of his day that God has always worked on the principle that men are justified by faith.
There is no formal statement of the doctrine in the Old Testament, and if we look for a complete enunciation of this truth we shall be disappointed. For that we must wait until New Testament days. But the essence of the doctrine is there nevertheless. If we understand justification by faith to include this at least, that man is accepted in the sight of God, not on the grounds of what he himself has accomplished, but on account of the divine mercy shown in forgiving love, there are many passages which may be cited. So, too, if we are seeking an indication that the proper attitude on the part of man is trust in God and not in his own deeds we shall not have far to look.
Thus, as regards acceptance on the grounds of the divine mercy, God’s gift is completely unearned: ‘Ho every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat ; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price’ (Is. 55 : 1). The ground on which men are accepted is clearly God’s mercy and not their own deeds: ‘Seek ye the Lord while he may be found: call ye upon him while he is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon’ (Is. 55 : 6f.). Again, Micah can say: ‘Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea’ (Mi. 7 : 18f.), while his next verse, ‘Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old’, takes us back to the patriarchal age quite in the manner of St. Paul. It is as though he would say: ‘God deals with men in mercy and has always dealt with them so.’
These are great passages and express great thoughts. We might continue for long without exhausting the supply, for the mercy of God is one of the leading conceptions of the Old Testament. It is integral to Israel’s faith that the Lord is a God of mercy - ‘his compassions fail not; they are new every morning’ (La. 3: 22f.). Accordingly, wherever men have a profound sense of sin God is recognized as man’s only hope: ‘If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee ... I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope’ (Ps. 130: 3-5). So in the prayer of Daniel 9 the sin of the people is stressed (verses 5ff.), but there is nevertheless an atmosphere of hope, for ‘to the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses’ (verse 9), and ‘we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies’ (verse 18).
This conception almost carries with it the other point that man’s right attitude to God is one of trust, for if acceptance is due to God’s mercy then man obviously cannot rely on what he himself does. He must rest his faith elsewhere. It is this which underlies Habakkuk 2: 4, ‘the just shall live by his faith’. The Hebrew word’ emûnâh, as E. H. Gifford notes,484 usually conveys the thought of fidelity rather than trust, of ‘the faith which may be relied on, rather than the faith which relies’. But, for a Hebrew, faithfulness under difficult circumstances could arise only from reliance on Jehovah, so that the two thoughts are not really so far apart. We may well feel that the Greek versions are justified when they render the word by πίστ
ς, and the English versions when they translate ‘faith’. But, however we translate, the thought of the verse is that the righteous will live by his constant reliance on God.
ς, and the English versions when they translate ‘faith’. But, however we translate, the thought of the verse is that the righteous will live by his constant reliance on God.Be that as it may, there is no lack of passages indicating the importance of trust in the Lord. Thus the psalmist sings: ‘I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation’ (Ps. 13 : 5), while nothing could more fully express the attitude of humble dependence upon God than the words of another psalm: ‘Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in him; because we have trusted in his holy name. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee’ (Ps. 33: 20-22). There are many similar passages in the Psalms, but the conception is by no means confined to them. Thus Nehemiah thinks of Abraham’s acceptance with God and says: ‘Thou ... foundest his heart faithful before thee’ (Ne. 9 : 8), while the prophet expresses his confidence in the words: ‘Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation’ (Is. 12 : 2). Again we find passages like, ‘Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength’ (Is. 26: 3f.). This too is a list which might be continued almost indefinitely, for trust in the Lord is evident throughout the Old Testament. But enough has been said to indicate the position, and we close this section by drawing attention to the fact that this attitude of trust is connected now and then with one or other of the words from the tsdq group, as in Psalm 64 : 10 : ‘The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and shall trust in him,’ or Psalm 31 : 1 : ‘In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.’
V. JUSTIFICATION AND FAITH IN JUDAISM
The forensic meaning which we have seen to lie at the basis of justification in the Old Testament is, if anything, intensified in the Rabbinic writings. There is a lively interest in the whole subject, and it is everywhere assumed that being righteous means being accepted with God because acquitted by His judgment.
The judgment of God is thought of in several ways. There is the conception of a judgment being worked out now, and thus ‘At four times in the year is the world judged’.485 The thought is quite common that every year on New Year’s Day God weighs the merits and demerits of men, assigning rewards and punishments, but that He then gives them until the Day of Atonement to repent of their misdoings before His decree becomes unalterable.486 But upon them who do not repent He visits His wrath, and thus we get the conception of temporal punishments.
But the judgment in the world to come is more important, and there are many references to it. 1 Enoch 1-5 is taken up with a description of this judgment, and there is a well-known passage in Wisdom which describes how the righteous only ‘seemed to have died ... For even if in the sight of men they be punished, their hope is full of immortality ; and having borne a little chastening, they shall receive great good.... But the ungodly shall be requited,’ etc. (Wisdom 3 : 2-10, RV), and again: ‘They shall come, when their sins are reckoned up, with coward fear’ (4 : 20, RV). This final judgment will be with complete justice: ‘Thou hast judged well, Thou hast condenmed well, and well provided Gehenna for the wicked and Paradise for the righteous.‘487
The very nature of this judgment presupposes that man is able to acquire merit in the sight of God by his own efforts, and we find this assumed throughout the Rabbinic literature. If we may take a typical statement: ‘When R. Eliezer fell ill, his disciples went in to visit him. They said to him: Master, teach us the paths of life so that we may through them win the life of the future world. He said to them: Be solicitous for the honour of your colleagues, and keep your children from meditation, and set them between the knees of scholars, and when you pray know before whom you are standing and in this way you will win the future world.‘488
As R. Eliezer is dated c. AD 90 we have a statement of the Jewish view not far removed from New Testament times, and it shows us clearly that the Judaism of that time took it as an axiom that man is able to acquire merit in God’s eyes, the only question being how it was to be done. Many answers are given to this question, and in general we may say that good deeds rest on some law of God, merit being acquired by keeping His commandments. The study of the Torah and the doing of almsdeeds are mentioned especially often.
Every good deed was thought to have a certain quantum of merit attached to its performance, while similarly every evil deed incurred a corresponding portion of demerit. The final judgment represented a weighing up of the merits and demerits acquired by a man during the course of his lifetime, and this is often represented as a weighing in the scales. If the good deeds outweighed the bad, then the man was adjudged righteous, and entered into blessedness, whereas, if the bad deeds predominated, Gehenna was his portion. This is very important for our study, because the writers of the various books of the New Testament were for the most part pious Jews, and we should be clear that first-century Judaism thought of the righteous not so much as those possessed of certain moral qualities, as of those who obtained the verdict at the tribunal of God. ’Righteous’ was a forensic term.489 Of course it is possible that the Christian writers repudiated this as they did much of the Jewish system, but we shall require evidence for this. We cannot merely assume it.
Certain consequences follow from the Jewish system. One of them is that there is no place for assurance. No matter how well a man may have lived, it is always possible for him to slip into some bad sin which will outweigh all his merits. Hence the dictum of Hillel : ‘trust not in thyself until the day of thy death.‘490 Also man does not know the precise amount of merit attached to each good deed, and so cannot know where he stands. Berakhoth 28b gives us a moving picture of an aged Rabbi who, although a good man, was facing death with alarm, not knowing whether he was bound for Paradise or Gehenna. Such uncertainty seems inevitable if the Rabbinic presuppositions are taken seriously, and it forms a striking contrast with the Christian’s assurance of salvation.
Also it leaves little place for the mercy of God. It is true that the Rabbinic writings delight to dwell on the mercy of the Lord, but in practice they leave little room for this mercy to operate. It has some scope, as for example when a man’s merits and demerits are equal. Then God presses down the merit side of the scales. But in general man ultimately decides his own eternal destiny by his own deeds, and the function of God is that of a just Judge.
Finally we must mention briefly that Judaism attached importance to faith. But the faith meant was rather a species of intellectual belief than what Christianity knows as faith. It was regarded as itself one of the many meritorious works, so that he who exercised it acquired merit before God. There is nothing in Judaism to match the enthusiastic allegiance to, and committal of oneself to, a person, which means so much for the Christian idea of faith.