Themes in Old Testament Theology

by William A. Dyrness

Book Overview

Studying the New Testament without a background in the Old is like listening to only the last movement of a great symphony. Unless we begin at the beginning, we miss the sense of developing themes and their subtle variations. To fully appreciate the music of the Bible, we need to listen to its early movements. William Dyrness helps us by providing a set of program notes to important Old Testament themes: the self-revelation of God, the nature of...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0877847266
• ISBN13: 9780877847267
• Release Date: February 1980
• Publisher: IVP Academic
• Length: 252 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

making sense of the old testament's themes

this is a helpful book dealing with the many themes found in the old testament. If you are trying to come to grips with the main concepts of the old testament, give this work a try.

Still Valuable Semi-Introduction

If you are looking for a concise overview of Old Testament theology from a conservative Protestant perspective, this book by William Dyrness might fit the bill. Dyrness discusses the material thematically, with attention paid to the historical progression of various concepts. The approach is quite conservative, particularly as concerning the dating of texts, sources, and the like. I should mention that this book presupposes a fair amount of knowledge of the history of ancient Israel as well as theology, so it isn't for those lacking a basic knowledge of these subjects. The book was published in the late 70s, making it a bit dated, but the subject matter is, as they say, timeless.

Helpful and recommended

I recently began looking at the Old Testament with greater vigour. My focus has historically been on the New Testament, as I venture is the case for most Bible reading and studying Christians. Sure, I reference the O.T. when reading the N.T., and spend time in the Psalms and other well-known passages like Isaiah 52 and 53, Daniel, Job, (particularly the first few and final few chapters), Genesis and Exodus, etc. And I read through the O.T. regularly. However studying the O.T. is another thing. I just wanted to advise you laymen out there who have a similar desire to dig in to the other two-thirds of God's Word that this book was a significant help to me. It 'broad-brushed' the issues in such a way as to make it a most enlightening read.

Insightful overview

In this well-written overview of Old Testament themes, Dyrness seeks to redress an imbalance he sees in modern evangelical theology that emphasizes the New Testament almost to the exclusion of the Old. In contrast to this practical minimization of the relevance of the Old Testament in the modern church, he declares that "there is real movement of God toward humankind and a real fellowship between them" (18) in the Old Testament. As he explores such overlapping themes as God's self-revelation, sin, the covenant, piety, worship and the hope of Israel, Dyrness draws attention to this movement of grace and fellowship between God and humanity. Although he is a systematic theologian by training, he takes the Old Testament at its own words, rather than trying force a systematization on it. In so doing, he generally avoids sectarian dogmatism, although on rare occasions something he says could be controversial for an evangelical Christian (e.g., his dismissal of theistic evolution (79)). What shines through on nearly every page, however, is his erudition and deep insight into Old Testament theology. I highly recommend this books to students of the Bible.

A Relational Loving God

A theology of the Old Testament has always been an encyclopedic subject to tackle for theologians. The wide variety of theological themes are as diverse as day and night, and yet they are as connected with each other as light and shadow - one theme leading to another. William Dyrness' book does just that. Although he does cover many different themes from the Old Testament, his treating seems to flow together in harmonious song. It is not difficult to perceive that Dyrness sees the God of Israel as one who has an affinity for relationship with His people. This appears to be one of the major threads that unifies not only the author's book but that of the Old Testament itself. It was interesting to read that Israel's God, as opposed to the contemporary pagan gods of the day, identifies Himself not through His territory - this is assumed - but through His relationship(s) with human-beings and the events which characterize His dealings with them. It is through these relationships that God reveals himself to humanity. Therefore, the author suggests that God's revealing Himself through major encounters with humankind is " . . . clearly the foundation upon which the patriarchal history rests." (29) God in the Old Testament is identified through His activity among men, not by some forensic definition alone. God is intricately involved among the people of whom He has chosen to reflect His holiness in the earth. The author goes on to say that at issue is not God's existence but man's faith. It is this faith that allows man to enter into relationship with God. In this relationship which is characterized by a Suzerain covenant, "there is a particular behavior that is appropriate. . . ." (28) This is expressed through God's will which " . . . was revealed at Sinai" and is the basis of all judgement concerning the relationship. (56) Although many of the contemporary pagan gods were feared of bringing destructive judgement upon a less than obedient constituency, the God of Israel's judgement is different. God is the true judge whose judicial appraisals become redemptive in nature - again, the relationship aspect of God is present even in His judgement. The author expresses the difference between the pagan myths of creation and the creator God of the Old Testament. Unlike the pagans, the Hebrews saw this God as being intricately involved with all of His creation. It is not a myth for the Hebrew but history taking its natural course. Therefore, nature is not seen as existing independent of God. He (Dyrness) is careful to express the Old Testament's belief of God's somewhat metaphoric interaction with nature which is against pantheism. (74) I was somewhat dismayed at this statement however. What exactly is metaphoric (or not) about God's interaction with His creation? The author does not appear to clearly outline his meaning here. Even so, God's creation of human-beings is completely different fr