Creation and covenant in a via media position: The example of J.J.P. Valeton Jr

Abstract

The year 2012 marked the centenary of the death of the Utrecht Old Testament scholar J.J.P. Valeton Jr (1848–1912). He was a representative of the ‘via media’ approach of Dutch theology, which aimed at joining critical scholarship and piety, by avoiding the pitfalls of modernism as well as orthodoxy. Valeton accepted the critical analysis of Graf, Kuenen, and Wellhausen, but meanwhile remained a pious person. This article will discuss Valeton’s contributions to critical scholarship of Genesis 1–3 as well as his profound ideas on ‘covenant’ as an expression of ‘friendship’. Loader’s distinction between ‘knowledge open to faith’ and ‘knowledge open for scientific approach’ is very helpful in understanding the works and ideas of Valeton.