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The Promise

Reviewed by Chris Skilton.

This is a reprint of a book first published in 1980. The author has had a long and distinguished career as an academic theologian in London and Oxford. The book is exactly what it says it is - an imaginative retelling of the Pentateuch prefaced with a short introduction by the author. These first three pages are an important account of the principles by which Ward has written. He sees the Pentateuch as neither the product of divine dictation to Moses nor simply a collection of ancient legends, but rather that “it contains without error all that God wishes to be recorded for the sake of human salvation. Yet it is incomplete or limited in some ways and needs to be interpreted or qualified in the light of later biblical writings and of tradition.” Whilst Ward has written more fully on this elsewhere, it would have been very interesting if he had expanded on this in the context of this book.

Ward is an excellent storyteller, although he does have some of the best narratives in the world as his raw material! His narratives work best with the accounts in Genesis and Exodus and less effectively in the slightly more fragmentary (and less well known) narratives in Numbers. Inevitably some of the judgements about narratives seem idiosyncratic - why conflate the Noah story and expand the account of Babel? I am sorry that the key material in Exodus 19 which puts the giving of the Law firmly in the context of the grace and call of God is omitted.

Ward has taken the conscious decision to put most of the legal material into a separate appendix and to codify if thematically. While it’s easy to see the logic of this in a book that seeks to tell the story, I do, however, see this as a significant weakness as it divorces the material from the narrative in which it belongs and it should be seen as an integral part of the text.

The author makes clear in the preface that he did not set out to replace the biblical text, but rather to draw attention to it and take people back to it. It will be important that his book is read in this spirit. Ministers may find it helpful in preparing to teach from the Pentateuch (which they should be doing!) to read Ward’s narrative alongside their commentaries. Thoughtful Christians may find fresh insights into some of the more familiar narratives, and others might be introduced to the Pentateuch through reading this first, but it should never become a substitute (good as it is) for the real thing.