Return back to Biblical Theology
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“Almost without exception the whole teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ was founded on Old Testament declarations.”
John ‘Rabbi’ Duncan
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Order of Contents
About
On the Discipline 2
Old Testament Theologies 10+
History of the Kingdom of God in the O.T. 4
Theology of the Prophets 1
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About
‘Old Testament Theology’ is not different than the theology found in the whole of Scripture, but rather it emphasizes those characteristics of theological teaching that are prominent in the writings of the Old Testament.
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On the Discipline of Old Testament Biblical Theology
Article
1900’s
Young, E.J. – “What is Old Testament Biblical Theology?” 6 pp. in The Evangelical Quarterly 31.3 (1959), pp. 136-42
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Book
1900’s
Young, E.J. – The Study of Old Testament Theology Today (Fleming Revell, 1959) 112 pp. ToC
Young (1907-1968) was one of the great, early, Westminster Seminary scholars. This is an intro level sketch, organized around four lectures given at London Bible College.
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Old Testament Theologies
Simple
1900’s
De Graaf, S.G. – Promise & Deliverance, vol. 1 (Creation to Conquest), 2 (Failure of Israel’s Theocracy) (P&R, 1977) ToC 1, 2
De Graaf was a Dutch Reformed minister.
“De Graaf studies the Old Testament with an eye on the covenant and the kingdom of God. The book is written in an easy-to-undrstand style.” – Tremper Longman III, 4 out of 5 stars
Goldsworthy, Graeme – Gospel & Kingdom: a Christian Interpretation of the Old Testament (Exeter: Paternoster, 1981) 125 pp. ToC
Goldsworthy (b. 1934) is an Australian evangelical Anglican theologian specialising in the Old Testament and biblical theology. He earned his PhD from Union Theological Seminary.
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Intermediate
1800’s
Jones, Charles Colcock – The History of the Church of God During the Period of Revelation (NY: Charles Scribner, 1867) 570 pp. no ToC
Jones was an American, Southern Presbyterian.
“Published posthumously, it was intended to be the Old Testament volume in a two volume set, but poor health and then death prevented Jones from writing/publishing his work on the New Testament. Jones walks through the Old Testament story of grace, showing in detail the unfolding plan of God’s covenant with His people.” – Log College Press
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1900’s
Vos, Geerhardus – The Eschatology of the Old Testament Buy (P&R, 2001) 186 pp.
Vos (1862-1949) was one of the last conservative theologians at Old Princeton, and is known as the father of reformed Biblical Theology.
Vriezen, Theodorus – An Outline of Old Testament Theology 2nd ed. rev. enlarged trans. from Dutch (1958; 1970) 465 pp. ToC
Vriezen (1899–1981) was a Dutch, Biblical scholar who taught at the University of Utrecht and the State University of Groningen.
Dr. Richard Muller call’s Vriezen’s work ‘brilliant’, though disagrees with some of its methodology. Muller, The Study of Theology (Zondervan, 1991), 88.
“Of all the [O.T.] theologies published during this period [the 1950’s], one of the fullest, the most methodologically oriented, and the most substantive in content is that by the Dutch Old Testament scholar Vriezen… ‘we start from the view that both as to its object and its method Old Testament theology is and must be a Christian theological science’ (p. 147)… In explicating the content of Old Testament theology, Vriezen focuses on the idea of communion with God… In the final edition of his work, he intensified his stress on the unity of the Old Testament at a time when this was being challenged…
Although a strong Christian emphasis is asserted in his methodological section, perhaps a reflection of his background in reformed dogmatics, little of this appears in his discussion of the contents of the theology. He was still concerned with the substantive issues involved in the debates of the 1920’s and 1930’s over confessional and descriptive matters without opting for an easy solution. He came as close as any to claiming a normative role for Old Testament theology in the whole of the theological enterprise…” – Hayes & Prussner, Old Testament Theology: its History & Development, pp. 222-4 See this for a fuller review.
Payne, J. Barton – The Theology of the Older Testament (Zondervan, 1962) 556 pp. ToC
Payne (1922-1979) a reformed Old Testament scholar and a student of John Murray. Here are Payne’s other works at TheologicalStudies.org.
Professor John Murray, in speaking to Payne in 1948, had ‘suggested an organization of Old Testament theology around the theme of the testament.’ This medium-in-depth book is the result.
“An impressive work in the field of Biblical theology. Written from a thoroughly Reformed point of view.” – Cyril J. Barber
Robertson, O. Palmer – The Christ of the Covenants Buy (P&R, 1981) 308 pp.
Robertson (b. 1937) has been a reformed, Bible scholar who has taught at Reformed Theological Seminary, Westminster Seminary, etc. This work for decades held the title of the modern classic on the progressive unfolding of Covenant Theology. This theme also happens to be a (if not the) major theme of the Old Testament.
“Robertson gives an accurate and incredibly clear account of the concept and development of the covenant idea through the Old Testament and into the New. This treatment is the best description of this important biblical concept that a reader can buy.” – Tremper Longman III, 5 out of 5 stars
Dumbrell, William J. – Covenant & Creation: A Theology of the Old Testament Covenants (Thomas Nelson, 1984) 215 pp. ToC
Dumbrell (1926–2016) was an Australian, Anglican minister and biblical scholar.
Kaiser, Walter C. – Toward an Old Testament Theology (Zondervan, 1991) 320 pp.
“Evangelical. Emphasis on promise themes.” – Denver Seminary Journal
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2000’s
Waltke, Bruce & Charles Yu – An Old Testament Theology: An Exegetical, Canonical, and Thematic Approach (Zondervan, 2007) 1,024 pp.
“A great conservative Evangelical journey through the Old Testament.” – Denver Seminary Journal
“…by a leading Old Testament scholar who combines a technical with a spiritual understanding of the Old Testament.” – BestCommentaries
Part 1 focuses on the task, method, and overview of Old Testament biblical theology. Part 2 moves through the Old Testament book by book.
ed. Vanhoozer, Kevin – Theological Interpretation of the Old Testament: A Book-by-Book Survey (Baker Academic, 2008) 336 pp. ToC
“An Evangelical survey of each book of the Old Testament, briefly considering the history of intepretation, the book’s role in the canon, and its major theological themes.” – Denver Seminary Journal
Contributors of articles include: Daniel I. Block, Tremper Longman III, J. Gordon McConville, Walter Moberly, Richard Schultz, and Gordon J. Wenham.
All of the 36 articles were previously published in ed. Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible (Baker, 2005).
House, Paul – Old Testament Theology (Biblical Training, 2015) 250 pp. Transcribed from lectures
House (b. 1958) was a baptist and a professor at Wheaton. The tone of these lectures is often casual, though they have helpful information in them.
“A work that outlines God’s nature and acts in each book of the Old Testament. A narrative approach designed for college and seminary students.” – Denver Seminary Journal
“…the… poles of my theology have been the Anglican church and right-wing dispensationalism [laughs] so somewhere… out there have… kind of been the boundaries…” – p. 10
ed. Van Pelt, Miles – A Biblical-Theological Introduction to the Old Testament: the Gospel Promised Buy Pre (Crossway, 2016)
van Pelt has been a minister and a professor of Old Testament and Biblical languages at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, MS. He has published extensively in the area of Hebrew and Aramaic language instruction.
This volume done by a number of Reformed Theological Seminary professors is an attempt to do Old Testament Introduction through the lens of Biblical Theology. That is, they answer the regular questions on each book of who, what, when, where & why, while giving a Biblial theology on each book of the O.T.
The work is done well, and it is reformed and conservative in outlook (see a review here and the Preview linked above), though do note that Biblical Theology is much more expansive than simply Biblical theologies of each book of the Bible, and hence this volume by no means exhausts its subject.
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Advanced
1800’s
Oehler, Gustav F. – The Theology of the Old Testament 2nd ed. (Funk & Wagnalls, 1873) 569 pp. ToC
Oehler (1812-1872) was a conservative, German, Lutheran, pastor and Old Testament scholar. This work is at a scholarly level.
“A classic study.” – Cyril J. Barber
“He admitted the composite authorship of the Pentateuch and the Book of Isaiah, and did much to counteract the antipathy against the Old Testament that had been fostered by Schleiermacher… He opposed the union of the Lutheran and Reformed churches, and while declaring in favor of confessional Lutheranism, he held aloof from the old Lutheran party.” – Wikipedia
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2000’s
Gamble, Richard – The Whole Counsel of God: God’s Mighty Acts in the Old Testament, vol. 1 Buy (P&R, 2009) 864 pp.
Gamble has been a reformed professor at RTS, CTS, PRTS and WTS.
Gamble attempts to give a Systematic Theology through the methodology and layout of a Biblical Theology. The coherence of the result is not ideal, and is precisely the reason why Biblical Theology and Systematic Theology are different genres.
Schmid, Konrad – A Historical Theology of the Hebrew Bible (Eerdmans, 2019) 456 pp. Review
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Liberal
1900’s
Davidson, A.B. – Theology of the Old Testament (NY: Charles Scribner’s, 1910) 592 pp. ToC
Davidson (1831–1902). This work is not recommended, but is here for historical interest, for those who may be interested in seing a specimen of liberal theology from the horse’s own mouth. Notwithstanding, there are some good things that can be gleaned from the work.
“A moderately liberal work which can be consulted with profit.” – Cyril J. Barber
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History of the Kingdom of God in the Old Testament
There were numerous histories of the Kingdom of God in the Old Testament written in the late-1800’s which served as Old Testament theologies, as they saw the progressive develpment of the Kingdom of God to be the central, uniting principle through Biblical revelation. See Delitzsch, Hengstenberg and especially Edersheim, as well as the 1900’s De Graaf:
On the Historical Passages of the Old Testament
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The Theology of the Prophets
Many of the above works include a section on Prophetism also.
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Robertson, O. Palmer – The Christ of the Prophets Buy (P&R, 2004) 502 pp.
Robertson (b. 1937) has been a reformed, Bible scholar who has taught at Reformed Theological Seminary, Westminster Seminary, etc. This work is a sequel to his work, Christ and the Covenants.
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Related Pages
Whole Old Testament Commentaries
Old Testament Background, Survey, Authenticity & Introduction