Toward Rediscovering the Old Testament

By Walter C. Kaiser Jr.

Toward Rediscovering the Old Testament gives an up-to-date, concise, and challenging presentation of several major areas of Old Testament study. After defining the problems, the author proposes models and solutions for some age-old dilemmas. Here are just some of the more than two dozen major questions that are discussed: What makes the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament authoritative for the church? How much continuity and discontinuity is there between the Old and New Testaments? Did the Old Testament writers consciously anticipate the Messiah? Were the object and method of salvation the same in both Testaments? What was the Old Testament believer's experience of the Holy Spirit? How can Christians teach or preach form the prophetic portions of the Old Testament? What is the challenge of the Old Testament for missions? According to Dr. Kaiser, understanding the Old Testament is the crucial problem for the Christian. Hardly an area in the Christian life, Christian doctrine, and biblical studies is not affected by one's understanding of the Old Testament. This book is a forceful demonstration of that truth. It deals with some of the crucial topics necessary to a proper and practical interpretation and application of the Old Testament and discusses them in three parts: (1) The Old Testament and Scholarship, (2) The Old Testament and Theology, and (3) The Old Testament and Life.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 031037121X
• ISBN13: 9780310371212
• Release Date: September 1991
• Publisher: Zondervan Academic
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

a good primer on old testament biblical theology

This book is part of the "Toward" series that Kaiser has written. He takes somewhat of a middle road between dispensationalism and covenant theology by his promise-fulfillment method. The book has 3 parts: an overview of the history of OT theology, an overview of the "promise" concept in OT theology and thirdly an overview of how to apply the OT today. Basically this book would make an excellent textbook for an introduction to Old Testament biblical theology. One weakness is his strange insistence that Evangelicals must use higher-criticism (pg. 75), albeit in a modified way. Also, his insistence that "promise" is the dominant over-arching theme of the OT is somewhat weak as well. Though somewhat dated in the area of current trends in OT biblical theology, it is an excellent exposure to important questions and issues.