The Old Testament and God
- Biblical Studies & Commentaries
- Publisher: Baker Academic (Baker Publishing Group)
- Published: 2022
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Publisher's Description
Southwestern Journal of Theology 2022 Book Award (Biblical Studies)Craig Bartholomew's The Old Testament and God is the first volume in his ambitious four-volume project, which seeks to explore the question of God and what happens to Old Testament studies if we take God and his action in the world seriously. Toward this end, he proposes a post-critical paradigm shift that recenters study around God. The intent is to do for Old Testament studies what N. T. Wright's Christian Origins and the Question of God series has done for New Testament studies. Bartholomew proposes a much-needed holistic, narrative approach, showing how the Old Testament functions as Christian Scripture. In so doing, he integrates historical, literary, and theological methods as well as a critical realist framework. Following a rigorous analysis of how we should read the Old Testament, he goes on to examine and explain the various tools available to the interpreter. He then applies worldview analysis to both Israel and the surrounding nations of the ancient Near East. The volume concludes with a fresh exegetical exploration of YHWH, the living and active God of the Old Testament. Subsequent volumes will include Moses and the Victory of Yahweh, The Old Testament and the People of God, and The Death and Return of the Son.
Endorsements (5)
“Only Craig Bartholomew could have written this book! The range of interlocutors is vast; Old Testament scholars mingle with philosophers, literary theorists and historians of the Ancient Near East, and Bartholomew’s immensely creative and constructive mind orchestrates a powerful symphony by means of a running commentary upon the scholarship. At the heart of the matter is the possibility – indeed the firm conviction – that the living God has revealed himself to Israel. A joy to read, this book should fund a new and multifaceted conversation grounded in the question of God.”
“In this far-reaching and ambitious work, Bartholomew compellingly contends for an audacious notion: the Old Testament needs God and, above all else, enacts deific truth. This claim stands in sharp contrast with modernity reinforced by its tacit atheism and sardonic rejection of the supernatural. Consequently, the most central aspect of the Scriptures is absent in most post-Enlightenment biblical criticism. The Old Testament and God models an alternative, post-critical approach that is both overtly theistic and particularly Christian.’ H. Hardy II, Associate Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary ‘In this introductory volume, Bartholomew makes an impressive start to a project that seeks to do for the Old Testament what N. T. Wright has done for the New Testament. A great strength of his approach is an in-depth philosophical and methodological awareness. This enables him to provide a sharp critical evaluation of a number of traditional scholarly views. His careful attention to the historical, literary and theological dimensions of the Old Testament sheds new light on many disputed issues, as well as illuminating the rich Old Testament portrayal of the living God.”
“Within the sometimes bewildering world of Old Testament scholarship, with its modern and postmodern presuppositions, Craig Bartholomew charts a new way forward, one that takes fully seriously the historical, literary and theological dimensions of the Old Testament, and above all takes the God of the Old Testament fully seriously as one who acts and reveals. For anyone who finds the Old Testament irrepressibly fascinating, this will be an exciting as well as a learned and coherently argued book.”
“Craig Bartholomew brings his wide knowledge and insight to the question of God in the Old Testament. His training and sensibilities as both an Old Testament scholar and a philosopher are on full display here. This book, the first of four, is a big book in the best sense of the term. He considers the most important questions and utilizes the best approaches to study of the Old Testament. In my opinion, Bartholomew sets the study of God in the Old Testament on its proper foundation, which makes this essential reading for all scholars and serious students alike.”
“In this far-reaching and ambitious work, Bartholomew compellingly contends for an audacious notion: the Old Testament needs God and, above all else, enacts deific truth. This claim stands in sharp contrast with modernity reinforced by its tacit atheism and sardonic rejection of the supernatural. Consequently, the most central aspect of the Scriptures is absent in most post-Enlightenment biblical criticism. The Old Testament and God models an alternative, post-critical approach that is both overtly theistic and particularly Christian.”
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