Date

5-20-2026

Department

Rawlings School of Divinity

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Bible Exposition (PhD)

Chair

Jeff Kennedy

Keywords

Leviticus, God’s holiness, Holiness Code

Disciplines

Practical Theology | Religion

Abstract

Leviticus introduces the concept of God’s holiness—his unique, innate, and ontological otherness—and calls his people to reflect that holiness in their own lives. While scholarship has traditionally focused on Israel’s sacrificial cult practices, it has often neglected the theological trajectory of holiness within the broader canonical framework of the Torah. This dissertation seeks to reframe the Holiness Code (Leviticus 17–26) not merely as a set of ritual prescriptions, but as a theological narrative that exposes the limits of human effort and invites reflection on divine grace.

Chapter 1 surveys the history of interpretation and critiques the limitations of historical-critical and ritual-centered readings of Leviticus. Chapter 2 explores the origins and nature of sin, building on the theological metaphor of “missing the mark” and offering a canonical-confessional reading of Genesis 3. Chapter 3 presents a detailed exposition of the Holiness Code, analyzing its sacrificial, communal, ethical, and ritual dimensions within Israel’s covenantal context and their implications for grace. Chapter 4 traces intertextual echoes of the Holiness Code in the New Testament—particularly in Mark 10, Luke 10, and Romans 7—demonstrating how these texts reflect the law’s function in revealing human insufficiency and pointing toward grace. Chapter 5 concludes by synthesizing the findings and affirming that while the Holiness Code functioned as legislation within Israel’s historical life, its literary and canonical shape reveals more; it operates as the theological witness to divine holiness, human limitation, and, within Christian interpretation, the grace of God fulfilled in Christ.

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