The Old Testament Between Theology And History

From its inception at the time of the Enlightenment until the mid-twentieth century, the historical-critical method constituted the dominant paradigm in Old Testament studies. In this magisterial overview, Niels Peter Lemche surveys the development of the historical-critical method and the way it changed the scholarly perception of the Old Testament. In part 1 he describes the rise and influence of historical-critical approaches, while in part 2 he traces their decline and fall. Then, in part 3, he discusses the identity of the authors of the Old Testament, based on the content of the literature they wrote, demonstrating that the collapse of history does not preclude critical study. Part 4 investigates the theological consequences of this collapse and surveys Old Testament and biblical theology in its various manifestations in the twentieth century. An appendix includes a history of Palestine from the Stone Age to modern times, constructed without recourse to the Old Testament.

Looks at theological writings from the Reformation to the present, offers profiles of important scholars, and discusses neo-orthodoxy, the impact of archaeology, and the church

Gustav Friedrich Oehler was an Old Testament scholar and professor at Tübingen in Germany. At this time, he was among the foremost proponents of theological conservatism with regard to the Old Testament, rejecting the rationalism of Schleiermacher and the liberal school arising from his work. For Oehler, the Old Testament is an account of real history and divine revelation, rather than a product of mere human development. This two volume set, published after Oehler's death by his son in 1874, contains the contents of Oehler's three decades of lectures on his area of expertise. This early work of Biblical Theology explains the progressive revelation of divine truths from the first chapters of Genesis through the end of the Old Testament. It contains both a history of God's people, and an examination of the theological convictions of the Old Testament authors as moved by the Spirit.

In this informative and keen look at contemporary trends in Old Testament theology, Perdue builds on his earlier volume The Collapse of History (1994). He investigates how a variety of perspectives and methodologies have impacted how the Old Testament is read in the twenty-first century including: literary criticism; rhetorical criticism, feminist, womanist, and mujerista theologies, liberation theology; Jewish theology; postmodernism; and postcolonialism. Perdue provides a sensitive reading of the aims of these approaches as well as providing critique and setting them in their various cultural contexts. In his conclusion, the author provides a look at the future and how these various voices and approaches will continue to impact how we carry out Old Testament theology.

This book, the second of two volumes, offers a comprehensive profiling of the theology contained in the Old Testament. The Old Testament Library provides fresh and authoritative treatments of important aspects of Old Testament study through commentaries and general surveys. The contributors are scholars of international standing.

This book presents the teachings of the Old Testament in a systematic arrangement so that pastors, students, and professors may grasp the relationship of the major themes of the Old Testament to Christian doctrine. Dr. Smith interacts constantly with other scholars to show various interpretations of major Old Testament teachings such as God, humanity, salvation, covenant, and ethics.

The discipline of Old Testament theology seeks to provide us with a picture of YHWH and his relationship to the world as described in the Old Testament. But within this discipline, there are many disagreements about the key issues and methodologies: Is the Old Testament unified in some way? Should the context of the theologian play a role in interpretation? Should Old Testament theology merely describe what ancient Israel believed, or should it offer guidance for the church today? What is the relationship between history and theology? All these considerations and more result in so many different kinds of Old Testament theologies (and so many publications), that it's difficult for students, pastors, and laity to productively study this already complex field. In Understanding Old Testament Theology, professors Brittany Kim and Charlie Trimm provide an overview of the contemporary approaches to Old Testament theology. In three main sections, they explore various approaches: Part I examines approaches that ground Old Testament theology in history. Part II surveys approaches that foreground Old Testament theme(s). Part III considers approaches that highlight different contexts for doing Old Testament theology. Each main chapter describes both common features of the approach and points of tension and then offers a test case illuminating how it has been applied to the book of Exodus. Through reading this book, you’ll hopefully come to see the Old Testament in a fresh light—as something that’s alive and active, continually drawing us into deeper encounters with the living God.