Mark Kinzer: Searching Her Own Mystery
Secondly, Chapter Five suggests that the mystery of the Church’s identity in the Jewish people requires redefining the significance of the sacrament of baptism, especially for Jewish disciples of Jesus. Substituting an Adam-Christology for Israel-Christology, Kinzer interprets Matthew’s account of Jesus’ baptism as signifying that Jesus is first and foremost representative of and eschatologically in solidarity with Jewish people before being the Savior of the world. Therefore, this chapter’s conclusion seems to inject Kinzer’s idea of ‘unrecognized mediation’ into the theological mix. As a result of Jesus’ proposed solidarity with the Jewish people and as Israel’s corporate representative through baptism unto death, all faithful Jews who anticipate the redemption of Israel are asserted to live in anticipation of the Messiah Jesus even though not yet confessing Jesus as Messiah (104).
There is plainly antagonism towards evangelicals for having a “naïve biblicism that denigrates all practices and perspectives which lack explicit scriptural sanction.”
For Kinzer, genealogic-Israel and the Ecclesia (of uncircumcision) continue in an “intense struggle” over superiority issues rather than seeking peaceful unity (176). However, his proposed ‘covenant of peace’ will likely not be embraced by evangelicals while he also espouses “Jews do not receive salvation in Christ in the same way as gentiles” (180), or that the Church needs to recognize there is a “difference between the baptism of a Jew and the baptism of a gentile” (181). Further, in promoting the distinctiveness of religious practices among Jewish followers of Jesus, Gentile believers are mildly denigrated for “transgressing a boundary” that supposedly separates them from Jewish believers (178). Expressing boundary language such as this will only serve as a catalyst for evangelical counter arguments that a wall of separation is being re-erected.
Kinzer interprets Matthew’s account of Jesus’ baptism as signifying that Jesus is first and foremost representative of and eschatologically in solidarity with Jewish people before being the Savior of the world.
In consideration of The Pneuma Review being the recipient of this review, as a journal of ministry resources and theology for Pentecostal and Charismatic ministries and leaders, it is critical to keep in mind that the purpose has been to assess how well SHOM may or may not be received by a generally evangelical audience.
Reviewed by Brian Brewer
Preview Searching Her Own Mystery: https://books.google.com/books?id=xjj6CQAAQBAJ