Contours of Old Testament Theology

The approach proposed here reflects my teaching experience over a period of years at the Theological School of Drew University, Princeton Theological Seminary, and the Boston University School of Theology. This period, the second half of the twentieth century, witnessed the aftermath of World War II, the turbulent sixties with the ‘death of God’ and crisis in biblical theology, the theological crosscurrents of the seventies, and the beginning of the so-called postmodern period in the eighties and nineties. The outline of this Old Testament theology, tested in these cascading experiences, had taken shape penultimately at the climax of my teaching at Princeton Theological Seminary, as indicated by the course summary of 1982 found in Appendix 1.

The reader will not be surprised to hear in these pages echoes of what I have written in Understanding the Old Testament (4th ed., 1987; paperback revision, 1997), which also considers theological matters, though in a story/history context. While such a general introduction would be helpful, it is not prerequisite for this theological study.

The biblical quotations in this work are taken from the NRSV unless otherwise noted. My own translations are marked BWA. —from the Preface