Waltke on Theological Positions

Part One of Waltke and Yu's An Old Testament Theology: An Exegetical, Canonical, and Thematic Approach is given over to introductory matters relating the study of OT theology, Biblical theology, and hermeneutics. I found the closing section of chapter two to be particularly helpful. The sections is titled "CHRISTIAN" ATTITUDES TOWARD THE BIBLE (pp. 73-77).

Granted, the authors describe their categories as "simplistic" and a "cartoonish presentation;" however, these broad definitions are very helpful in that they provide a clear, and I think accurate, view of each theological position in relation to the others.

I have tried to identify the theological positions of authors for the TheoSource book lists and have found this to be a difficult task. Cyril Barber and John Glynn have also attempted to label authors according to their most obvious theological position, and sometimes I have to disagree with them. Sometimes their assessments disagree with each other. All in all, this is a difficult and some times dangerous task. But, we must attempt to determine the theological positions of the authors we read. As I said, I think that Waltke offers some very good help in this matter. Here is an outline of his view of the various theological positions:

• Liberal Theologians Stand above the Bible

"...those who put reason above revelation and...embrace historical criticism..."

• Neoorthodox Theologians Stand before the Bible

"These...[expect] that through preaching of the words of the Bible will become the word of God as the Bible's audience encounters them in the written "witness" to Jesus Christ."

• Traditionalists Place Traditions/Confessions alongside the Bible

"...find their authority in both the text and in the tradition that accompanies it."

• Fundamentalists Stand on the Bible

"...those who presume the Bible does not stray from their standards of accuracy, especially in matters of science and historiography. They presume their interpretive horizon represents truth and that the biblical writers...will not stray from the "accuracy" of their modern horizon."

• Evangelicals Stand under the Bible

"...accept[s] the inerrancy of Scripture as to its Source and its infallibility as to its authority." "[He] consider[s] the Bible utterly trustworthy, and [he] commit[s] [his] life to it, but [he] do[es] not presume to know beforehand the exact nature of its parts. With this posture, [he] continue[s] to learn and allow [himself] to be taught and corrected by the Bible."

What follows is my attempt to graphically display these labels.

Waltke, Bruce and Charles Yu. An Old Testament Theology: An Exegetical, Canonical, and Thematic Approach. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007. Hardcover, 1024 pages.

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Waltke on Theological Positions

What Did the OT Writers Know?

In the comments to my post, Mediating Between Dispensational and Covenant Theologies, Don Johnson brought up the issue of Kaiser's position on what the OT writers (particularly the prophets) understood as they wrote. I thoroughly agree with Don that "this conception of what the OT writers knew (and when did they know it) is an important part of understanding the whole."

Kaiser addressed this issue when interviewed by Andy Cheung. He made the point that he believes that the OT writers had an "adequate" understanding of what they were writing. "Adequate" doesn't imply that the writers had a full understanding of all of the details (especially concerning eschatology), but rather that they knew what was essential. This is key to the view of progressive revelation and to Kaiser's argument and methodology in both Toward and Old Testament Theology (1978) and The Promise-Plan of God (2008). It is also key to Eugene Merrill's argument and methodology in Everlasting Dominion (2006).

What follows are a few excerpts from the three aforementioned books that address (and hopefully) clarify this issue.

Eugene Merrill –

[T]he true prophet was a vehicle of divine revelation, one who declared not his own word but also that of God. (Everlasting Dominion, p. 92)

In line with our frequently reiterated method, we shall attempt to blend both a canonical and a chronological approach in an attempt to be sensitive to the impetus lying behind the present (Hebrew) canonical order as well as to the principle of progressive revelation of which, one would think, the prophets themselves were consciously aware.#[see Kaiser, Toward an Old Testament Theology, p. 11] That is, later prophets were in possession of the works of their predecessors and used them, even if not explicitly, as a matrix within which they formulated their own contributions to the emerging collection of inspired works. (Everlasting Dominion, p. 492, emphasis mine)

Walter Kaiser –

Even more crucial, can it be shown form the claims of the original participants in the events and thoughts of these OT texts that they were conscious of a continuing stream of events, meanings, and ideas which preceded them and that they felt themselves obligated to acknowledge some type of permanent, normative demands laid on their beliefs and actions?

There is an inner center or plan to which each writer consciously contributed.(Toward an Old Testament Theology, p. 11, emphasis mine)

The accumulation of the total message was never far from most of the writers’ minds as they chose the words or connected their experiences with what had been their religious and revelational heritage up to that point in time. Notice, this is not the usual Analogy of Faith procedure in which the NT or later theology is allowed to set the pace for earlier passages. On the contrary, it is what we will call the Analogy of Antecedent Scripture where chronologically antecedent canonical theology must be checked to see whether it informed the theology under investigation. (Toward an Old Testament Theology, p. 16, emphasis mine)

Thus the prophetic promise was not a group of scattered predictions that only later made sense after Christ appeared and others had reinterpreted many of the old prophetic words. If the prophets merely had been prognosticating or foretelling the future, then the focus of their message would have fallen only on two things: (1) the word spoken before the event, and (2) the final fulfilling event itself. While this view of prophecy may be proper and legitimate in itself, at least according to some students of prophecy, it fails to capture precisely that aspect that had captivated the hearts and minds of the Old Testament writers and saints the most.

The prophets’ messages were not heterogeneous and disconnected predictions, randomly announced throughout an otherwise dull drone of chastisements. Nor was prediction even the main feature of prophecy. Rather, the prophets were proclaimers of righteousness, preaching both law and promise, grace and judgment, to motivate the people to repentance and a life of obedience in the will and plan of God. Their predictions were often given as incentives to their contemporaries for holy living in that day, seeing that the future belonged to their God and to his righteous reign.

More was to be found in these predictions, of course, than novel glimpses of the future scattered as bits of candy to whet the appetite of a sensate or occult mentality that hungered to be the first to know what would be in tomorrow’s headlines in the newspapers. Instead of any such whimsical purpose as this, the prophets often deliberately cast their words about the future in the phraseology and conceptual patterns of past prophecies. There was a deliberate borrowing and supplementing from the previous words of the Abrahamic-Davidic promise. Hence, for them, the future was part of God’s single, cumulative, ongoing promise from the past as well as a pointer to the future. (The Promise-Plan of God, pp. 152-53; compare with Toward an Old Testament Theology, pp. 183-84, emphasis mine)

What Did the OT Writers Know?

Waltke's An Old Testament Theology Wins ECPA Award

In the Bible Reference & Study category Bruce Waltke's An Old Testament Theology: An Exegetical, Canonical, and Thematic Approach (Zondervan, 2007) is the winner of the ECPA Christian Book Award.

View the other Winners

As I have been reading through this massive tome, I have found it to be encyclopedic in nature. The book is outlined very clearly with nary a pertinent issue left undiscussed. It is a treasure trove on Biblical Theology (focused on the OT but with eyes wide-open to the NT).

I am glad to see that it is receiving such recognition. Unlike some OT Theologies that will only collect dust, this volume is sure to repay bountifully the student who carefully and frequently puts it to use.

Congratulations Dr. Waltke!

Waltke's An Old Testament Theology Wins ECPA Award

The Unifying Theme of the Bible | Bruce Waltke

Waltke unpacks this issue more fully in chapter 6 of An Old Testament Theology: An Exegetical, Canonical, and Thematic Approach, but I have only made it into chapter 2. However, Waltke has already provided a sense of direction by addressing the issue of the unity of the Bible in chapter 1.

Having set forth his conservative presuppositions regarding revelation, inspiration, and illumination, Waltke lays out "four ideological and methodological stances...critical to the discipline of biblical theology...assumed in this book" (p. 39). The fourth implication of his presuppositions is his belief in the unity of the Bible. In terms somewhat similar to those of Oehler's definition of special revelation, Waltke reveals what he believes to be the common theme of the Bible, namely,

that God is establishing his kingship over a hostile world to establish his glory. The bond that unites the testaments is the sense of God's divine activity in revelatory history in progressively establishing his rule in heaven on earth from the creation of the cosmos (Genesis 1) to his creation of the new cosmos (Revelation 21-22). (p. 45)

I am compelled to add that in this section Waltke directs the reader via a footnote to Christopher J. H. Wright's Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament (IVP, 1992) calling it "a superb work" (p. 45, fn. 50). I have not yet read this book, but I recently finished reading Wright's latest book, Salvation Belongs to Our God (IVP, 2008) which seeks to present a cosmic view of God's saving work. Wright, an Old Testament scholar too, is a must read for those interested in Biblical Theology.

Also,

...for his glory God is breaking into this hostile world with his rule... (p. 51)

The Unifying Theme of the Bible | Bruce Waltke

The Biblical Idea of Revelation | Gustav Friedrich Oehler

The Biblical idea of revelation has its root in the idea of Creation. Revelation is the development of the relation in which God has placed Himself to the world in bringing it into existence. The basis of revelation is laid in the fact that the world was called into existence by the word of God, and was animated by His Spirit. The production of different classes of beings advances teleologically, and reaches its goal only when God has created man in His own image. In this progression the foundation of revelation is laid. For revelation is, in general, God's witness and communication of Himself to the world for the realization of the end of creation, and for the re-establishment of the full communion of man with God. ...

It is only by God's stooping to man in personal testimony to Himself, and by the objective presentation of Himself, that a vital communion is actually established between Him and man. This is the special revelation, which first appears in the form of a covenant between God and a chosen race, and the founding of a kingdom of God among the latter, culminates in the manifestation of God in the flesh, advances from this point to the gathering of a people of God in all nations, and is completed in the making of a new heaven and a new earth (Isa. 65:17, 66:22; Rev. 21:1ff.), where God shall be all in all (1 Cor. 15:28).

(Gustave Friedrich Oehler, Theology of the Old Testament, revised and translated by George E. Day. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, n.d., pp. 14-15, emphasis mine.)

NOTES:

• You can view/read this volume online at Christian Classics Ethereal Library: Theology of the Old Testament by Gustav Friedrich Oehler

• Here is another reason to consider purchasing and getting started with the Libronix Digital Library System. Logos Bible Software has added this volume to their Community Pricing Program. Place your bid here.
  

The Biblical Idea of Revelation | Gustav Friedrich Oehler

Fasting, Family & Reading

I wonder how your summer is going. This summer has brought about a number of unforeseen turns for me and my family. I can't complain. We've been enjoying good health and I have a steady job.

I'm still working hard at the book reviews; mostly directing books to reviewers and preparing reviews to be posted. I have a growing stack of books I'm reading and some I've read and need to review. I'm still maintaining the TheoSource recommendation lists. I have not posted any of the updates, but I have been adding new book recommendations to the database. I received some very brief instruction on converting my Access database to an SQL database, but I need to spend more time trying to figure out this process. I believe that this would make these lists more user-friendly.

I'm also trying to put some quality time into a review copy of Logos Scholar's Library (ND). I have found this software package to be fantastic. It has taken a good bit of time to feel comfortable with it (mostly because my time in front of the computer on which the software is installed has been limited), but from what I've seen I'm hooked. The Libronix platform is powerful and capable of searches that previously took hours. I highly recommend serious students to get started building their digital libraries on the Libronix platform. I have promised to review this package and this is weighing heavily upon me.

Finally, I have been burdened to spend more time with the family rather than in front of the computer. I do a lot of different things on the computer, mostly ministry related, but I want to keep that time to as much of a minimum as is possible.

Along with this, I have purposed to hit the books even harder. I am currently reading through a handful of Old Testament Theologies for personal growth and for the purpose of reviewing them. Within the past few years three solid evangelical OT Theologies have been published, namely An Old Testament Theology: An Exegetical, Canonical, and Thematic Approach by Bruce Waltke with Charles Yu (Zondervan, 2007), Everlasting Dominion: A Theology of the Old Testament (B&H Academic, 2006), and the two-volume Old Testament Theology by John Goldingay [Israel's Gospel, vol. 1 (IVP Academic, 2003) and Israel's Faith, vol. 2 (IVP Academic, 2006). I've not yet purchased the volumes by Goldingay, but they are on my shopping list.

I happily purchased Waltke's AOTT and graciously received a review copy of Merrill's ED:ATOT. I have been reading these two along with a review copy of The Promise-Plan of God: A Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments by Walter C. Kaiser, Jr (Zondervan, 2008). For greater perspective, I am also reading in Walther Eichrodt's two-volume Theology of the Old Testament (Westminster, 1967), Gustave F. Oehler's two-volumes-in-one Theology of the Old Testament (rev. ed.), and Gerhard von Rad's Old Testament Theology (I am using the two-volume HB edition, but this has been republished by WJK Press, 2001 in paperback.). Also, I have purchased and am awaiting the arrival of the paperback edition (with CD-ROM that works on the Libronix platform) of Walter Brueggemann's Theology of the Old Testament: Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy (Fortress Press, 2005). I have found Brueggemann's work to be very thought provoking and I am eager to compare his approach with the others I am reading.

I hope to be able to post more soon, but for now I am "fasting" from the computer when at home in order to enjoying more time with my family and to dig into the books.

Fasting, Family & Reading

An Old Testament Theology | Waltke & Yu

I've been enjoying Dr Waltke's lectures on the Psalter and had heard that he was working on an OT Theology. Well here it is.

Waltke, Bruce and Charles Yu. An Old Testament Theology: An Exegetical, Canonical, and Thematic Approach. Zondervan, October 2007. Hardcover, 1024 pages.

ISBNs: 0310218977 / 9780310218975

Features: Thumb Indexed, Index Included

List Price: $44.99 (USD) $53.99 (CAD) £26.99 (GBP)

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Purchase: WTS ($29.24) | CBD ($32.99) | Amazon ($29.69)



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Synopsis (from Zondervan's website):
An Old Testament theology by a leading Old Testament scholar who combines a technical with a spiritual understanding of the Old Testament.

Description:
The Old Testament is more than a religious history of the nation of Israel. It is more than a portrait gallery of heroes of the faith. It is even more than a theological and prophetic backdrop to the New Testament. Beyond these, the Old Testament is inspired revelation of the very nature, character, and works of God. As renowned Old Testament scholar Bruce Waltke writes in the preface of this book, the Old Testament’s every sentence is “fraught with theology, worthy of reflection.”

This book is the result of decades of reflection informed by an extensive knowledge of the Hebrew language, the best of critical scholarship, a deep understanding of both the content and spirit of the Old Testament, and a thoroughly evangelical conviction. Taking a narrative, chronological approach to the text, Waltke employs rhetorical criticism to illuminate the theologies of the biblical narrators. Through careful study, he shows that the unifying theme of the Old Testament is the “breaking in of the kingdom of God.” This theme helps the reader better understand not only the Old Testament, but also the New Testament, the continuity of the entire Bible, and ultimately, God himself.

Dr Bruce K. Waltke (PhD, Dallas Theological Seminary; PhD, Harvard Divinity School) Professor of Old Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida, and professor emeritus of biblical studies at Regent College in Vancouver. www.brucewaltke.com

Other Works:
Finding the Will of God: A Pagan Notion? (Regent Publishing, 2002) [WTS]
Genesis: A Commentary (Zondervan, 2001) [WTS]
Introduction to Biblical Hebrew and Syntax (Eisenbrauns, 1990) [WTS]
NICOT: The Book of Proverbs, 2 volumes (Eerdmans, 2004, 2005) [WTS: volume 1 | volume 2]
A Commentary on Micah (Eerdmans, 2007) [WTS]

Companion Volume:
You may also want to note that Zondervan has previously published a NT companion volume.

Thielman, Frank. Theology of the New Testament: A Canonical and Synthetic Approach. Zondervan, September 2005. Hardcover, 800 pages. (WTS Bookstore $28.79)

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An Old Testament Theology | Waltke & Yu