“Old Testament Theology and the Digital Age” will explore the ways in which the thinking and learning is changing in the digital age and the manner in which these changes influence Old Testament theology. The rise of digital natives and digital immigrants has introduced new cultural perspectives and means of communication that may inform the presentations, if not the methods, of Old Testament theologians. Digital natives have a seemingly limitless amount of information at their fingertips. The potential benefits and pitfalls of such access are explored in this final chapter.
Old Testament Theology provides an often undervalued role in the life of the church. The Old Testament’s portrayal of God provides a rich picture of God’s interactions with his fallen creation while anticipating the redemption of that creation in the New Testament. Any treatment of Old Testament theology must surely acknowledge the unique witness of Old Testament, as well as the Old Testament’s connection to the New Testament. As Seitz notes, “The Old Testament tells a particular story about a particular people and their particular God, who in Christ we confess as our God, his Father and our own, the Holy One of Israel. We have been read into a will, a first will and testament, by Christ.”10 The Old Testament is not a book foreign to the Christian faith, but an integral part of that faith. It is not a book set apart, but an essential chapter in the full story of God and His people. In this sense, the study of Old Testament theology must maintain a highly Christian character deeply rooted in the contemporary church.
Bibliography for Continued Study
Adam, Peter. Hearing God’s Words: Exploring Biblical Spirituality. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2004.
Kaiser, Walter C., Jr. “A Principlizing Model.” In Four Views on Moving beyond the Bible to Theology, 19–50. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009.
Goldingay, John. Old Testament Theology: Israel’s Gospel. Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity, 2015.
Goldsworthy, Graime. Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics: Foundations and Principles of Evangelical Biblical Interpretation. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2010.
Olick, Jeffrey K. States of Memory: Continuities, Conflicts, and Transformations in National Retrospection. Durham: Duke University Press, 2003.
Ollenburger, Ben C. Old Testament Theology: Flowering and Future. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2016.
Sheriffs, Deryck. Friendship of the Lord. 1996. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2004.
Seitz, Christopher R. Figured Out: Typology and Providence in Christian Scripture. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2001.
———. Word without End: The Old Testament as Abiding Theological Witness. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.
Vanhoozer, Kevin J. The Drama of Doctrine: A Canonical Linguistic Approach to Christian Doctrine. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2005.
Williams, Rowan. On Christian Theology. Oxford: Blackwell, 2000.
Zimmerli, Walther. Old Testament Theology in Outline. Translated by Davied E. Green. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1978.
1. Zimmerli, Old Testament Theology, 12. For examples of the various methods used in the production of Old Testament theology up to the early 2000s, see Ollenburger, Old Testament Theology.
2. While principles do arise from the biblical text, there can be a tendency to separate principles from the theological context of the broader Israelite narrative. For instance, the rationale behind the prohibition against muzzling oxen while they are treading grain is that Israel has a God willing and able to supply for the needs of the community. Allowing oxen to eat while treading grain is a theological act which recognizes and proclaims God’s sufficiency. There is not so much a general principle here as there is an understanding of God that has implications for particular acts within the context of the Israelite community and, later, for the church in Corinth (1 Cor 9:9–12). Contrast this reading with that offered by Kaiser, “A Principlizing Model,” 7–8.
3. Williams, On Christian Theology, xiii.
4. Barr as quoted in Seitz, Figured Out, 5.
5. Goldsworthy, Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics, 19.
6. Goldingay, Old Testament Theology, 28.
7. Vanhoozer, The Drama of Doctrine, 31.
8. For a helpful analysis and survey of Old Testament spirituality, see Adam, Hearing God’s Words, 47–80. Note also Sheriffs, The Friendship of the Lord.
9. Olick. States of Memory, 15.
10. Seitz, Word Without End, 11.
1
Creation
Russell L. Meek
Introduction
Creation undergirds the Old and New Testaments. If Yahweh did not create the heavens and the earth—and all within them—then we should abandon the rest of the Bible as well. If Yahweh is not creator, then he also is not redeemer. If Yahweh is not creator, then there is no exodus, no giving of Torah, no judgment through exile, no restoration through repentance, no future hope in the Messiah, no incarnation, no cross, no resurrection. If Yahweh is not creator, then indeed, “we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Cor 15:19b ESV).
This chapter will look primarily at the creation accounts in Gen 1–2 to illustrate the Old Testament’s view of creation. We will also examine creation texts in the wisdom and prophetic books in order to demonstrate how Genesis’s creation account informs the theology of the Old Testament, particularly with regard to its description of Yahweh’s character and the connection between creation and redemption in the Old Testament. Next, this chapter examines how the New Testament, in particular the good news of Jesus’s death, resurrection, and ascension, informs the Old Testament’s creation theology. We will find that the Bible begins with God’s creating the universe and placing humans in the garden of Eden and ends with God’s recreating the universe and placing humans in a new garden of Eden—a place of perfect fellowship with him. This redemption—and new creation—occurs through the work of Christ on the cross and is founded on Yahweh’s creative work in the first chapters of Genesis. Before that time, though, we will see that Christians wait longingly for Jesus’s ultimate redemption and work to restore the created order through reclaiming humanity’s role as priest-kings. The church would not properly understand this responsibility without a clear understanding of the Old Testament’s theology of creation. First, however, we will briefly contemplate the relationship between creation and the gospel.
Creation and the Gospel
My faith tradition has no problem recognizing the personal implications of Jesus’s death and resurrection and the consequent sanctification that occurs as Christians continually submit to Christ’s lordship. We likewise stand strong on the doctrine of Yahweh’s creation ex nihilo of the universe as depicted in Genesis. We preach Christ crucified, urge sinners to repent, promise new life in him—both in this world and the next—and yet often fail to acknowledge the implications of the gospel on our doctrine of creation. I don’t mean that the gospel should impact our view of how God created or that God created or