Shannon, Strathearn, Gaye, Pierce, & Sears”Covenant of Compassion: Caring for the Marginalized and Disadvantaged in the Old Testament” (Reviewed by Dan Call)

A Covenant of Compassion: Caring for the Marginalized and Disadvantaged in the Old Testament by Avram B. Shannon, Gaye Strathearn, George A. Pierce, Joshua M. Sears | NOOK Book (eBook) | Barnes

Review

Title: Covenant of Compassion: Caring for the Marginalized and Disadvantaged in the Old Testament
Editors: Shannon, Avram R.; Strathearn, Gaye; Pierce, George A.; Sears, Joshua M.
Publisher: Deseret Book
Genre: Essay Collection/Sperry Symposium
Year Published: 2021
Number of pages: 514
Binding: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-9503-0414-1
Price: $31.99

Reviewed by Dan Call for the Association of Mormon Letters

Too often, we hear the Law of Moses shamefully reduced to “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” Although I always suspected that this was a gross over-simplification, and I am quite familiar with many of the great narratives and individuals throughout its pages, there is so much more going on in the Old Testament than the stories. The law contains the conditions of God’s covenant with his people, as well as his commitment to them. Focusing on stories at the expense of an understanding of the law narrows our comprehension about why God was so often upset with his people, sending prophets to call them to repentance.

Without a doubt, some aspects of the law are more relevant than ever before, and if we take the Old Testament seriously, we should feel committed to enacting God’s justice as taught through these words.  In Covenant of Compassion: Caring for the Marginalized and Disadvantaged in the Old Testament, readers will find a bounty of biblical perspectives on the obligation that covenant people have to people marginalized by our society. The introduction of this book takes care to observe that these issues and causes have existed for far longer than the recent polarizing politics of our day. As such, the authors aim to establish a common ground (p. ix) from which we can begin to approach the issue, and they call for the policy disagreements which will likely arise to not get in the way of the higher cause of building Zion.

Quoting Frances Taylor Gench, Amy Easton-Flake begins her contribution in this volume by reminding us that “Biblical texts… do not exist to make us comfortable. They exist to make us think, to be engaged by God, and to affect our transformation” (p. 127). Covenant of Compassion succeeds with this aim, citing Old Testament scriptures that reveal to us how God intended for Israel to care for those on the margins through doctrine as well as institutions. At the same time, our reading of this book is never meant to be an intellectual exercise performed from a safe objective distance: we need to see ourselves on its pages and weigh ourselves, our practices, our institutions against the portrait painted herein. What are we doing well? Where can we do better? What can we do without?

Every chapter of this collection pushed me to reflect deeper on the scriptures. I took longer than normal to read this book because I found myself cross-referencing so many quotes and scriptures to the larger ideas. After Sharon Eubank’s potent connection of Moses’ witnessing of the suffering of his people to his eventual prophethood, readers will find chapter after chapter of deep dives into Old Testament scripture, culture, and perspectives that likewise invite us to be transformed by the work of social justice. An arsenal of opportunities to engage in serious scripture study awaits any reader throughout the remaining pages. For example:

  • In addition to our relationship to God, how do our covenants put us in relation to our neighbors, particularly those on the margins?
  • What differences are there between justice as understood in Judaic law versus how we interpret it in the twenty-first century? How ought we correct our course?
  • How might cultural preferences for softening atrocities through the use of euphemisms actually entrench injustice and silence victims? What alternatives do we have?
  • Why is relentless pursuit and glorification of wealth so spiritually dangerous, both on a personal and a societal level?
  • What divine warnings and consequences are we in danger of incurring when we turn our backs on refugees?

For all the care demanded in approaching these pages, I couldn’t help but read with a stack of holy books, an electronic device, and my journal handy, and I can see how anyone who cares about God’s world might do the same. This book could easily serve as the foundation for a more widespread church curriculum that reaches a generation of readers crying for the Gospel to engage with the issues overwhelming our politics and civics. At a deeper and more eternally significant level, Covenant of Compassion helps us see the brilliance and relevance of Jesus’ summary of God’s law into two simple commandments that we would still do well to observe with all our might.