INTRODUCTION

One of the most famous books of our century is Alex Haley's ROOTS. It has been translated into many languages and even made into a film. In the book a black American searches for his origins, finishing up in a remote village on the African continent. Such genealogical research can help us both to understand our own disposition and heritage, and to appreciate the achievements of previous generations; it can even help towards understanding ourselves.

The Christian church ought also to study its own roots, manifest in the Old and New Testaments. Both of these, however, have their origins in distant lands with topography and language quite foreign to us today.

The basic message of the Bible is perfectly clear. It tells us itself to "seek out the book of the LORD, and read!"
 

    "This is what the LORD says: Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls." 1
The way found by previous generations to be good tends to be forgotten. The Arabs say that, "The road is wiser than the man". The fundamentals of the Christian faith have often been violently assaulted. The simple message of the Bible is sufficient as it stands, without necessarily requiring all the expositors it has. But precisely this fact, that we have become increasingly alienated from the roots of our faith, gives us good reason to embark on our own spiritual genealogical search.

Although the Bible as it stands speaks of life's simple realities, some of its truths can be seen only with the eyesof faith. In speaking of these the New Testament uses the Greek word mysterion, 'mystery' -- the 'mystery of the kingdom of heaven', 'the mystery of the gospel','the mystery of God', and even 'the mystery of faith'. The most frequently mentioned of these is 'the mystery of Christ'. This Messiah-mystery is closely bound up with the Old Testament prophecies, of whose nature and background we are often ignorant. There, if anywhere, we find the words of Peter relevant, when he says that,
 

    "No prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation... but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit". 2
Just like the writer Alex Haley, in attempting to explore the mystery of Christ we will be obliged to cross the wide ocean of history and to travel far back in time. It will be necessary for us to handle ancient documents whose concepts, mode of presentation, and thought patterns are different from our own. These earliest roots of our faith reach back to Jesus' own time, however, and they exemplify a way of interpretation obtained at the time the Christian faith was born. It is this challenge that we face, together.

This ROOTS study is based upon two books of mine, originally written in Hebrew, "Christ in the Old Testament" and "Christ in the New Testament -- In the light of the Rabbinic Literature". They are the result of a special interest of over 35 years, born amidst practical work while in contact with Jewish scholars. This being so, one can rest assured that they will not contain mere armchair theology. In addition to the specialised Hebrew sources, approximately 300 works -- according to my files -- in various languages, concerned solely with the Messianic idea, have left their mark on the creation of the background.

In my original Hebrew book on the Old Testament I refer to the traditional Jewish account of Nahshon, according to which a man of that name was the first to jump into the Red Sea when the Israelites crossed over at Moses' command -- followed then by the rest. This ROOTS study is a similar kind of leap of faith into an area which is both very broad and, in actual fact, comparatively unknown. At the same time, I know that I am stepping into the lions' den of the Rabbis and into the fiery furnace of the liberal theologians -- but, to use a figure well understood by learned Jews, a 'fourth' is by my side, and 'the wise shall understand'. 3

This book is not, however, meant only for the 'wise'. We will try to write in such a way that the non-specialist too will be able to read it with profit -- research does not necessarily have to be baffling in order to be scientific. If the reader should wish to go into some of the details in more depth he will find accurate references in the footnotes.

We will follow procedures peculiar to the Rabbinic literature, methods which will be discussed at the outset, and which may seem very strange. However, the New Testament itself was written while rules of a similar nature obtained. Part of this tradition is that persons whose sayings are quoted are always mentioned by name, thereby enabling the reader to assign the arguments to the correct quarters.

Precisely this may well be a stumbling block to those who are fastidious in the wrong way. St.Paul says, "If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ."4 He had learned this attitude from his Master, who exclaimed, "How can you believe if you accept praise from one another?"5  The Church is at present weathering a severe crisis of doctrine, and only by taking a resolute stand one way or another can the situation be made any healthier. Too often we consider very carefully what to say so that we won't say what we mean. In this way we hedge round inconsistencies and leave them for others to solve. Although the Church of today has been accused of many things, we can hardly charge it with being too forthright or of taking too uncompromising a stand. Theology for its part often retreats into the discussion of subjects so arcane that they have no relevance to the world at large, thus obviating the need to declare one's position regarding the fundamentals of the faith.

But what then are those fundamentals? Luther gave the answer that we should "promote Christ"; that is, Christ ought to be the centre of all our teaching and preaching. In theology that will lead us to the study of the roots of Christology, in other words to the study of the Messianic prophecies. In practice the Gospel is no more than Who Christ is and What He has done for us. Even the Revelation of John reminds us that "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy".6

And so shall we return together to the roots of our faith? A tree receives nourishment from its roots. They keep it firmly anchored during the storm. The deeper they bite into the soil the better chance the tree has of withstanding the winds. Surely we can perform our own 'Nahshon's leap' together, although it will require a little effort on our part. The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Colossians, speaks of "Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge". For this reason he exhorts us further with the words, "just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith... "7

This I wish for my readers.

                                            Kukkila, January 22nd 1992

                                                RISTO SANTALA
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1.    Is.34:16 and Jer. 6:16
2.    2Pet.1:20-21.
3.    Daniel 3:25 an the tree men in the fiery furnace tells us there was also a fourth "whose form was like the Son of God". See also Dan 12:10
4.    Gal. 1:10.
5.    Joh.5:44 and 12:43
6.    Rev.19:10
7.    Col. 2:3, 6-7.


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