Buchanan has unlocked an interesting conflict that took place in Scripture and has important ethical implications that continue until today. There are only two passages in Scripture that report something that God reckoned to anyone as righteousness. One of these is the covenant made with Abraham that included the promises of prosperity, posterity, and the land if the people obeyed, but curses of famine, disease, wild beasts, and the sword, if they disobeyed. The other covenant was made with Phineas. It also expected to receive the promises but demanded different behavior. It was designed to repudiate the covenant made with Abraham. Buchanan has traced the results of these covenants as they were followed by the parties to the contracts from Abraham to Jesus, Paul, and Marcion in antiquity, and as far as Martin Luther King today. Originally these conflicts were played out within the borders of Palestine and according to the character of life that the contracts directed and the righteousness associated with their fulfillment.
George Wesley Buchanan is a clergy member who spent fourteen happy years in the parish before becoming a professor in a theological seminary. He is known for his familiarity with Near Eastern languages and literature. He located the northern boundaries of the Promised Land and the Jerusalem temples. His writings include church school materials, articles for pastors, poetry, sixteen books, and sixty-five articles for academic journals. He writes for scholars, pastors, and church schoolteachers.
"[This is] a bold rereading of Scripture as the story of the conflict between the covenant of Abraham and the covenant of Phineas, and a summary reading of their fateful trajectories within Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Again and again, I am challenged to reconsider the meaning of texts I had thought I understood."
--J. Gerald Janzen, Christian Theological Seminary
"With this book, a venerable scholar of covenant has reentered the academic discussion with insights not to be ignored . . . His presentation of the exile as Israel's own debt slavery in a 'treasury of merits' theology, and his contrast of the open hospitality of the Abrahamic corporate family with the aggressive Phineas conquest theology, are provocative models."
--Robert D. Miller II, The Catholic University of America
"Buchanan's journey through the contracts of Abraham and Phineas challenges readers to revisit their presuppositions and reevaluate their conclusions. His reframing of the Jewish, Christian, and even Muslim faiths discloses the flawed thinking that undergirds today's militaristic world and provides a radical and sorely needed alternative."
--M. Robert Mulholland, Jr., Asbury Theological Seminary
"Buchanan brings a lifetime of experience and expertise to the foundational and far-reaching theme of the covenant. Exploring the legal, historical, theological, social, ethical, political, and eschatological dimensions of this scriptural concept, he brings light to issues that have long taxed the experts. In seeking understanding of such a complex subject, the reader can be in no better hands."
--William R. Telford, St John's College