That I May Dwell Among Them: Incarnation and Atonement in the Tabernacle Narrativeby Gary A. Anderson, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2023. xvi + 254 pp. 35. 99 (hardbound). ISBN: 978‐0‐8028‐8306‐3

Gary Anderson is the Hesburgh Professor of Catholic Thought at the University of Notre Dame. His previous publications have focussed on the intersection of Christian doctrine and biblical exegesis, particularly in regard to the Old Testament. Anderson's goal in this book is to acquaint Christian readers with a neglected and misunderstood scriptural text, the tabernacle narrative, and to demonstrate the relevance of this text for the history of Christian thought and its pertinence for certain theological debates today. The book is commendably marked by sustained respectful engagement with Jewish scholarship alongside a commitment to producing a Christian canonical reading. In Chapter 1, the author succinctly and persuasively shows how reflection on the Old Testament tabernacle informed the incarnational theology of the Gospel of John (1–2) and of Athanasius (6–8). In addition to textual evidence, Anderson also provides images and analysis of ancient Christian art which illustrate the concepts under discussion (5, 9). He argues that these early Christian exegetes did not regard the Old Testament as a source text that could be treated however it suited them, but that it provided genuine force and control on the development of Christian doctrine. The problem today, according to Anderson, is that the tabernacle narrative is usually ignored by readers as second only to genealogy in being the ‘most tedious portion of the entire bible’ (1). To counter this view, he briefly analyses some literary features of Exodus 26 and 27 to demonstrate that the descriptions therein are not simply ‘utilitarian’ but show literary artistry and theological significance (12–16). The next five chapters (2–6) comprise Part One, on ‘The Priestly Narrative’. In Chapter 2, Anderson observes that the tabernacle narrative contains two theophanies (19): the first on completion of the tabernacle (Ex. 40:34) and the second after the first sacrifices (Lev 9:23–24). He argues that these two events should be understood to happen on the same day (following the exegesis of the Pesikta Rabbati and Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum) and are narrated in this extended manner as an example of ‘sacred time’ which operates outside the conventions of historical time. In support of this later point, he quotes Mircea Eliade and discusses a passage from the Protoevangelium of James. Then in the next chapter, Anderson argues that a ‘very real, palpable presence of the invisible God within his shrine is linked in some way to the attending furniture’ (58). He discusses in support, Numbers 4, the Epic of Gilgamesh, Psalm 48, and coinage from the Bar Kokhba revolt. In Chapter 4, Anderson discusses the significance of the daily tamid offerings. Along the way he adduces evidence from a 5th c. synagogue mosaic from Sepphoris, Ben Sira, Psalm 51, Jonathan Klawans, anthropologists Marcel Mauss and Valerio Valeri, Ephrem the Syrian, the Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael, and William Shakespeare (this chapter is the most eclectic in the book). All of this is to argue that the tamid was not an atoning sacrifice, addressing sin, but served to instantiate the relationship between Israel's God and his people (99–100). Finally in this section, Chapters 5 and 6 consider the two priestly infractions in Leviticus 10 and interpret the differences in punishment and the responses from Aaron. Anderson argues for a ‘textual chasm’ between Leviticus 8 and 9 which separates Moses overseeing every detail from where Aaron and his sons now have autonomy and responsibility (117). The puzzling narrative of Leviticus 10 shows how a ‘veil is drawn between reader and sacerdotal experts’ (119), and illustrates the danger of temple service in proximity to the unknowable and uncontrollable holiness of God. Part Two widens the scope to discuss the priestly tabernacle narrative in its canonical setting and the theological issues that arise in this setting. Chapter 7 discusses the (non-priestly) incident of the Golden calf and in conversation with Brevard Childs performs a canonical reading of the composite narrative, showing how the redactor connected both narratives and demonstrating the thematic significance of both Israel's sin and God's guiding presence. Chapter 8 considers the Binding of Isaac (Akedah) and its canonical connection to the tamid sacrifice. In conversation with Leviticus Rabbah, Aramaic Levi and the Sepphoris synagogue mosaic, Anderson argues that the tamid is scripturally linked to Abraham's offering of Isaac and so serves as a daily repetition and representation of the Akedah. We finally arrive at the first titular topic of the book in Chapter 9. Here the author traces the Old Testament temple as a figure for the incarnation through the Gospel of John and Athanasius, describing how the Nestorian controversy led to rejection of that temple metaphor for the incarnation. That development then allowed Mary to become associated with the Temple, however, as evident in the sermons of Leo the Great and the Mariology of the Protestant reformers. Anderson's thesis here is that the doctrine of the incarnation in the early church was not simply the product of the New Testament but was also based on Old Testament scripture. The tenth and final chapter, on atonement, argues that ‘the Old Testament can be a powerful witness to a means of understanding the incarnation and atoning work of Christ that avoids the cruel picture of God that emerges from theories of sacrifice built upon the model of penal suffering alone’ (228). It begins with Benedict XVI's critique of penal substitutionary atonement, critically converses with the Orthodox doctrine of deification as presented by Andrew Louth, and continues with further discussion of the Akedah aided by Jon Levenson's scholarship. For Anderson, neither the sacrificial cult of Israel, nor the incarnation of Christ, should be understood as ‘contingent on an act of rebellion against God’ (228) but rather have their own positive theological and relational meaning in terms of faithful obedience and self-giving (With regard to this last topic, Andrew Rillera's recent Lamb of the Free Cascade 2024, has attempted a far more robust and comprehensive refutation of penal substitutionary atonement, but from a Protestant perspective.). The book is completed by a bibliography, and author, subject and scripture indices. Anderson thus provides his reader with a number of stimulating and generative exegetical insights and theological discussions. His engagement and creative synthesis of ancient and modern, Jewish and Christian (Protestant and Catholic), biblical scholarship is highly commendable. His employment of wide-ranging sources is not always surefooted (e.g., his uncritical use of Mircea Eliade) but keeps things interesting. There is much in this book to consider and some of the discussions are genuinely eye-opening. That said, the book is uneven and reads as a collection of connected essays rather than a focussed argument (which is not to say that the book lacks an overall argument). Some chapters laboured over pages to make seemingly straightforward points and there was significant repetition of evidence, arguments, and of defence of the canonical approach, from chapter to chapter. Conversely, Anderson's patient explanations and illustrations mean this book should be accessible to a non-specialist reader. The last two chapters were the most stimulating for this reviewer, but they could have been developed much further in terms of fleshing out Anderson's conclusions and their theological ramifications. That I May Dwell among Them points compellingly to the theological importance of the tabernacle narrative, but leaves room for others to explore more fully its implications. This book will be of interest to those engaged in Jewish-Christian theological dialogue, theological and canonical approaches to scripture, and theologians considering the doctrines of the incarnation or atonement.