The following is my first draft of the preface of my fifth book, “The Torah of Jesus.”
This book will probably find its most receptive readers among those who are dissatisfied with simplistic questions, such as whether the Torah is obsolete—a question common in some Christian circles—or the assumption that any Christian engagement with Torah must be supersessionist. The fault does not lie completely with us Christians, for, as Rabbi Berel Wein once wryly observed, while most Christians weren’t particularly interested in a Jewish perspective [of Jesus], most Jews weren’t particularly interested either. If you are among the minority interested in digging deeper, this book is for you.
I will argue in this book, hopefully with some success, that Christians are called to obey the ethical principles and abide by the moral values of the Torah: not to earn salvation, but to honor God by living according to His intention that His people flourish and so become a living example, a light, to all the nations.
Before you slam the book shut, let me be perfectly clear about the two claims advanced in this book.
First, I will show that the Torah, as described in the Bible, is not a list of rules, regulations, and practices that must be observed to gain eternal life. It is not a merit system. It is not a divine obstacle course designed to expose human failure or earn God’s favor.
Second, and related to the first, I will show that the Torah is God’s gracious guide, enabling a covenant people to live righteously. By righteous living, I mean people who live selflessly, not selfishly. In this sense, following the Torah promotes the flourishing of the covenant’s people. In no way is Torah obedience required as a means to one’s salvation. Instead, the covenant ratified by Moses and the Israeli people on Mt. Sinai (the Mosaic Covenant). This covenants reflects a shared way of life that expresses God’s justice, mercy, and compassion, especially toward the vulnerable. Its purpose is not individual salvation, but the formation of a society in which goodness becomes habit, selflessness becomes normal, and its blessings flow outward to the world.
But these claims raise the question of how the Torah has historically been construed, incorrectly by most Christians. One of the most effective ways to answer that question is to compare the Torah with the Constitution of the United States. Both documents are foundational to their respective nations: the Torah for Israel and the Constitution for the United States. However, the value in this comparison, as you will see, emerges from a very fundamental difference between the two, and that difference is illuminating.
The Torah and the Constitution are foundational documents meant to order a people toward flourishing. Yet each begins with different assumption about human nature and freedom. The Constitution exists because human institutions do not naturally protect individual liberty. Thus, the authors of the Constitution sought to restrain government power, secure rights, and create an environment in which citizens could pursue their own happiness. Its genius lies in safeguarding freedom from tyranny and coercion. The Torah, by contrast, takes individual liberty as a given. Because genuine moral and ethical choice is impossible without freedom, God does not begin with coercive rules designed to force goodness. Instead, He addresses a redeemed people who are already free and says, in effect, “Now that you are free, here is how you should use your freedom.” The Torah then offers a comprehensive set of moral values, ethical principles, and concrete behaviors—positive commands to do justice and mercy, negative commands to refrain from harm and exploitation—so that a free people might flourish together in covenant community.
In short:
- The Constitution protects liberty as an end in itself, trusting that free individuals will generally produce a good society.
- The Torah treats liberty as a necessary but insufficient prerequisite. It assumes freedom and then provides the moral and ethical vision needed to direct that freedom toward communal flourishing rather than self-destruction.
For the Constitution to function more like the Torah, it would need to do what the Founders could not fully do: assume liberty as the starting point and then boldly articulate the shared moral values and ethical behaviors required for a truly flourishing society. The Torah does exactly that. It does not merely restrain evil; it positively forms a people who reflect God’s character — doing justice, loving mercy, walking humbly with God, and loving their neighbor as themselves.