THE HEARTBEAT OF OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY: THREE CREEDAL EXPRESSIONS, by Mark J. Boda

A Brief Book Summary from Books At a Glance

by Benjamin J. Montoya, PhD

 

About the Author

Mark J. Boda (PhD, University of Cambridge) is professor of Old Testament at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario. He is the author or editor of more than twenty-five books, including the Dictionary of the Old Testament: Prophets (coedited with Gordon McConville) and commentaries on Haggai, Zechariah, 1-2 Chronicles, and Judges.

 

Introduction  

Just as we each have a heartbeat, so also the Old Testament has a heartbeat that we can measure as our exercise machines measure ours. This heartbeat has three rhythms that explain who God is, what he has done, what he is like, and what our relationship is with him. Although the primary focus of this book is on the OT, an importance is felt no less in the NT. As a result, it ought to be seen in the Church and in the Christian life. 

 

Table of Contents

Chapter 1  Taking the Pulse of Old Testament Theology: Past and Present
Chapter 2  The Narrative Rhythm: God’s Historical Action
Chapter 3  The Character Rhythm: God’s Active Character
Chapter 4  The Relational Rhythm: God’s Relational Identity
Chapter 5  Integrating the Creedal Rhythms
Chapter 6  Creation and the Creedal Rhythms
Chapter 7  Taking the Old Testament Pulse in the New Testament
Chapter 8  Taking the Old Testament Pulse in the Christian Life
Chapter 9  Postscript: Calling for Response

 

Summary

 

Chapter 1: Taking the Pulse of Old Testament Theology: Past and Present

Nowadays most exercise equipment allows us to take our pulse. We can see exactly where our heartbeat is. So also, we can look at the heartbeat of the Old Testament’s theology. This sort of thing has been done before and even referenced within the OT itself. Throughout the history of interpretation, the trends in Old Testament Theology (OTT) have tended to mirror the developments within hermeneutics. 

All interpreters are people of their times, in one sense, and as the culture has developed philosophically, politically, and hermeneutically, so also have the various phases of OTT gone. More recent approaches have tended to go in the direction of thematic approaches, canonical approaches, and diachronic approaches. But one of the key questions that this book seeks to answer is this: What lies at the core of OTT?

The method in this book is a selective intertextual-canonical approach that seeks to identify core expressions of who God is that appear throughout the OT. It is believed that there are certain topics that provide an inner structure to OTT and they also provide cohesion from the OT to the NT. It is this approach that will be used to take the heartbeat of OTT focusing on the nature, character, and relational creeds. . . .

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