Biblical Theology: Past, Present, and Future (II)
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 56, No. 1 – Fall 2013
Managing Editor: Terry L. Wilder
Edited by Grenville J. R. Kent, Paul J. Kissling, and Laurence A. Turner. Downer’s Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2010. 256 pages. Softcover, $23.00.
This book begins with the noteworthy goal of reclaiming the 78% of the Bible that is often neglected in the pulpit (11). To the detriment of the church, the Old Testament is frequently merely cherry-picked for Sunday School favorites, while much of the text remains neglected in our preaching and teaching. This work presents a clear and consistent focus on the relevance of the Old Testament for contemporary Christian proclamation. It effectively and consistently reminds the reader of the riches and resources of the Hebrew Bible.
The book consists of a collection of articles by an impressive list of contributors on various literary genres of the Old Testament. The articles cover narratives, laments, poetry, wisdom, apocalyptic, and prophecy. In addition, three of the articles are based on individual books (Songs, Isaiah, and Ezekiel). These articles are all well-written, but tip-toe into the arena of “one of these is not like the other,” as it is not established why these three books were chosen as opposed to others. Since the rest of the chapters are genre-based, a brief explanation behind the selection of these books, which would not be difficult to justify, would have been helpful. The last two articles cover difficult texts in the Bible and preaching Christ in the Old Testament.
Organizationally, the chapters are similar. Each chapter contains a discussion of the genre or section under consideration, important considerations for preaching, and concludes with a representative sermon outline. Especially noteworthy is Longman’s article on wisdom, with several extended sections of practical applications and preaching helps on theology, exegetical issues, organization of the books, and even authorship.
There are a number of noteworthy features of this book. The articles accentuate the strengths of the various contributors, yet focus the readers’ attention on practical tips for preaching. Critical issues are addressed toward the goal of their exposition. The emphasis of focusing on the genre of the passage under consideration as key for its interpretation is well-taken. In addition, the practical applications highlighted by many of the authors make the work valuable and the Biblical text current.
Perhaps the most helpful of the articles is by Wenham on preaching from difficult texts. He tackles the thorny issue of preaching such passages as genealogies, sacrifice, slavery, talion, Genesis 1, violence, and imprecatory psalms. Curiously, the sermon outline that he included did not come from any of those difficult passages, but the chapter provided useful guidelines.
The article by Turner may not have been the strongest start for the book. In his article, Turner makes some effective points about the importance of understanding the plot in Old Testament narrative. In addition, his point about preaching a pericope within its context is solid (18). However, those who affirm the literal historicity of the text will likely find unpalatable his suggestion that such a belief is “extreme” (14). Further, he seems to set up a straw man argument based on a misrepresentation of Hadden Robinson’s Big Idea principle, and then proceeds to espouse a strategy that is oddly similar (22). The use of citations and the bibliography section are somewhat inconsistent among the authors. Several of the articles make significant use of footnotes (Turner, Kissling, Villanueva, Wenham, and Moberly), with Wright’s article making only sparse use of them (and only referencing his own works), while Williamson’s article had none.
Overall, the book is a very good resource for students and Christian servants. It would be useful as supplementary reading in a preaching course or even an Old Testament theology course.
