The God of the Old Testament: Encountering the Divine in Christian Scripture

by R. W. L. Moberly

Overview

Walter Moberly is a top Old Testament theologian known for his creative, accessible, and provocative writing. His Old Testament Theology has been well received. This book, written in a similar vein, combines biblical criticism with constructive theology and engages both Jewish and Christian interpretations. Moberly offers robust readings of eight pivotal Old Testament passages that unpack the nature of God in Christian Scripture, demonstrating a Christian approach to reading the Old Testament that holds together the priorities of both scholarship and faith.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493428380
Publisher:	Baker Publishing Group
Publication date:	11/17/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

R. W. L. Moberly (PhD, University of Cambridge) is professor of theology and biblical interpretation at Durham University in Durham, England. He is the author of numerous books, including Old Testament Theology and The Bible in a Disenchanted Age, and is an ordained priest in the Church of England.

Table of Contents

Contents
Introduction
1. The Wise God: The Depths of Creation in Proverbs 8
2. The Mysterious God: The Voice from the Fire in Exodus 3
3. The Just God: The Nature of Deity in Psalm 82
4. The Inscrutable God: Divine Differentials and Human Choosing in Genesis 4
5. The Only God: Surprising Universality and Particularity in 2 Kings 5
6. The Trustworthy God: Assurance and Warning in Psalm 46, Jeremiah 7, and Micah 3
Epilogue
Indexes

Editorial Reviews

08/24/2020

In this cogent work of biblical criticism, Old Testament theologian Moberly (The Bible, Theology, and Faith), through creative hermeneutical interpretations of Old Testament scriptures, qualifies them theologically as fully consistent with Christian scripture. In six chapters, each corresponding to a different passage, Moberly sets out to delineate a “grammar” of God: “ground rules for appropriate speech and action in relation to the Lord.” Key narratives from Proverbs, Exodus, 2 Kings, and Psalms are chosen for their consideration of the nature of wisdom, judgment, and the mystery of the Tetragrammaton—the Hebrew name for God: YHWH. For instance, through reading Psalm 82 against the story of Cain and Abel, in Genesis 4, Moberly shows a God who is “intrinsically just,” but must also act unfairly: “recognition of certain inequities as intrinsic to life in God’s world is no excuse for being heedless of the need for justice.” Replete with the ideas of thinkers throughout history, such as Erasmus and Pascal, as well as contemporary scholars like Robert Carroll, John Gray, and Thomas Nagel, Moberly explores many diverse, novel interpretations of Old Testament lessons in light of Christian scripture. Any Christian scholar of the Old Testament will find persuasive ideas here. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly