Interpreting the Old Testament Theologically: Essays in Honor of Willem A. VanGemeren

by Andrew T. Abernethy

Overview

How should Christians read the Old Testament today? Answers to this question gravitate between two poles. On the one hand, some pay little attention to the gap between the Old Testament and today, reading the Old Testament like a devotional allegory that points the Christian directly to Jesus. On the other hand, there are folks who prioritize an Old Testament passage's original context to such an extent that it is by no means clear if and how a given Old Testament text might bear witness to Christ and address the church.

This volume is a tribute to Willem A. Van Gemeren, an ecclesial scholar who operated amidst the tension between understanding texts in their original context and their theological witness to Christ and the church. The contributors in this volume share a conviction that Christians must read the Old Testament with a theological concern for how it bears witness to Christ and nourishes the church, while not undermining the basic principles of exegesis.

Two questions drive these essays as they address the topic of reading the Old Testament theologically.

• Christology. If the Old Testament bears witness to Christ, how do we move from an Old Testament text, theme, or book to Christ?
• Ecclesiology. If the Old Testament is meant to nourish the church, how do scriptures originally given to Israel address the church today?

The volume unfolds by first considering exegetical habits that are essential for interpreting the Old Testament theologically. Then several essays wrestle with how topics from select Old Testament books can be read theologically. Finally, it concludes by addressing several communal matters that arise when reading the Old Testament theologically.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780310535058
Publisher:	Zondervan Academic
Publication date:	12/18/2018
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.35(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Andrew Abernethy (Ph D, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is associate professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College (Illinois). He is the author of Eating in Isaiah: Approaching Food and Drink in Isaiah’s Structure and Message, The Book of Isaiah and God’s Kingdom, and coeditor of Isaiah and Imperial Context: The Book of Isaiah in Times of Empire.

Table of Contents

[Some topics and contributors are TBD.] Introduction—Andrew Abernethy Section I: Exegetical Habits for Interpreting the Old Testament Theologically 1. Historical Context and Reading the Old Testament Theologically—John Monson 2. Genre and Reading the Old Testament Theologically—Andrew Abernethy 3. Individual Book Context when Reading a Passage Theologically—Richard Schultz 4. Canonical Arrangement of the Old Testament and Reading the Old Testament Theologically—Stephen Dempster 5. Reading the Old Testament as Part of a Two-Testament Witness to Christ—? Section II: Theological Witness in Select Old Testament Books 6. Genesis: The Implications of the Abrahamic Narrative for the Mission of the Church—Carol M. Kaminski 7. Reading Ritual Law in Exodus and Leviticus Theologically—Richard Averbeck 8. Reading Wisdom in Deuteronomy Theologically—Daniel Block 9. 1 and 2 Kings—Lissa Wray Beal 10. Isaiah—Bo Lim 11. Divine Presence and Absence in Jeremiah—James Hoffmeier 12. Messianic Expectations in Zechariah—Anthony Petterson 13. Psalms—? 14. Proverbs—Hee Suk Kim 15. Ecclesiastes—Craig Bartholomew 16. Daniel—Ron Haydon Section III: Theological Witness Amidst Community 17. Social Ethics and Reading the Old Testament Theologically—Danny Carroll 18. The Missional Impact of Old Testament Ethics on the New Testament—Christopher J. H. Wright 19. The Family in the Old Testament as a Theological Model for the Covenant Community—Richard Hess 20. Who Is “Israel”? Social Theory-Informed, Systematic Theological Interpretation of the Old Testament in the Contemporary Global Context—Elizabeth Yao-Hwa Sung 21. A New Testament Scholar’s Take on Reading the Old Testament Theologically—Dana Harris 22. A Systematic Theologian’s Take on Reading the Old Testament Theologically—Kevin J. Vanhoozer 23. Interpreting the Old Testament within the Church—Gregory Waybright Indices Scripture Author