Introducing the Old Testament

John Drane

Description

Continuously in print for over 30 years, and available in many different languages, John Drane's Introducing the Old Testament has long been recognized as an authoritative and accessible survey of the subject. This new edition has been fully revised and updated with fresh material on a range of topics, especially the political and cultural context that influenced the compilation of its books and the development of the faith of ancient Israel and Judah. Specific issues that will be of particular interest to students are highlighted in special boxed feature sections, along with an extensive glossary of technical terms and key maps and diagrams. This book is the ideal starting point for readers who wish to explore the Old Testament and its world in the light of recent scholarship, and its relevance to life in the twenty-first century.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Christianity

Informations

• Publié par: Lion Hudson
• Date de parution: 23 août 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781912552146
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

INTRODUCING THE OLD TESTAMENT
FOURTH EDITION
John Drane
 
Text copyright © 2019 John Drane
This edition copyright © 2019 Lion Hudson IP Limited
The right of John Drane to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Published by Lion Hudson Limited Wilkinson House, Jordan Hill Business Park Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 8DR, England www .lionhudson .com
ISBN 978 1 9125 5213 9
e-ISBN 978 1 9125 5214 6
First hardback edition 1987 First paperback edition 1989
Acknowledgments
Unless otherwise stated, scripture quotations are taken from the Good News Bible © 1994 published by the Bible Societies/HarperCollins Publishers Ltd UK, Good News Bible © American Bible Society 1966, 1971, 1976, 1992. Used with permission.
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised. Copyright 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. “NIV” is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.
Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from The Authorized (King James) Version. Rights in the Authorized Version are vested in the Crown. Reproduced by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.
Scripture quotations marked ‘author’s own translation’ are taken from the author’s own translations.
Unless otherwise stated, all maps and diagrams by Richard Watts, Total Media Services.
Map p. 212 by Tony Cantale Graphics, with additions.
Cover image: The Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel the Elder © Imagno/Getty
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
 
CONTENTS
Introduction
The story
Escape from Egypt
National decline
Understanding the story
The story and the faith
How many books?
Literary style
History
Law
Poetry
Stories
Visions
Liturgies
Philosophy and ethics
Faith stories
Organization and structure
The Law
The Prophets
The Writings
Stories and dates
Part 1
Nations and Peoples
1.  Ancient Mesopotamia
Digging up the past
From hunter-gatherers to city-dwellers
Interpreting the evidence
New ways of organizing
Collaborating and trading
Origins and meanings in Sumerian culture
Primeval times
Biblical connections
Religion, politics, and law
Priests and kings
Power struggles and social evolution
Nomads and urbanites
Kings and lawmakers
2.  Egypt
Politics and society in ancient Egypt
The early pharaohs
Wisdom and art
Uncertain times
Biblical connections?
Slaves and nomads
Moses and the exodus
Culture, religion, and lifestyles
Later Egyptian history
3.  Canaanites, Israelites, and Everyday Life
Tribal identities
Origins and ethnicity
The religion of Canaan
Faiths in conflict
Everyday life in Israel and Judah
Village life
City living
The individual and the community
Culture
4.    Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, and Greeks
Assyria
Israel under siege
Assyria and Judah
Babylon
Nebuchadnezzar in Jerusalem
Glory and decline
Persia
New ways of thinking
Threats from the West
Greece
After Alexander
Part 2
The Books and the Stories
5.  The Founding of a Nation
National identity
The founders
Fact, fiction, or…?
Early expressions of faith
The birth of the nation
The exodus
Times and places: exodus and ‘conquest’
The covenant
The form of the covenant
The ark of the covenant
To the promised land
6.  New People in an Old Land
Canaan and the emergence of Israel
Armed struggle
Peaceful infiltration
Social revolution
Canaanites and Israelites
The Judges
Laws and customs
Religions in conflict
Making history
7.  ‘A King Like Other Nations’
Samuel and the ark
Saul
Saul as prophet
Saul as judge
A tragic end
David
David’s rise to power
A new king and new ways
Old ways and new ideas
The need for new structures
Solomon
The empire and its allies
The temple
Arts and science
Economic realities
Culture, faith, and literature
The Psalms
The nature of wisdom
The family, the village, the royal court
Court apologetics
The wisdom literature
8.  Two kingdoms
A kingdom divided
Back to the old ways
Political changes
Religious diversity
New alliances
Prosperity again
Decay and collapse
Elijah
Insecurity and upheaval
New prosperity and false security
National revival
Amos: prophet of doom
Judgment and hope
Hosea: prophet of grace
God and Israel
9.  Judah and Jerusalem
Danger and uncertainty
Politics
Religion
False confidence
New thinking in Jerusalem
The Assyrian backlash
Reform, renewal, and challenge
A lost book
Three prophets
Jeremiah and the fall of Jerusalem
False confidence
The end is coming
Dark days in Jerusalem
Baruch and the Letter of Jeremiah
Jeremiah and the Lachish Letters
Understanding prophets and prophecy
A history of religions approach
A psychological approach
A literary approach
A theological approach
A canonical approach
10.  Reflecting on the Past, Imagining a Better Future
Dealing with disaster
The book of Lamentations
Divided opinions
By the rivers of Babylon
Creating community
Ezekiel
Revisiting the past
Compiling the Pentateuch
Making connections
11.  New Possibilities and Old Temptations
A new beginning
Isaiah of Babylon
Back to Jerusalem
More prophets: Haggai and Zechariah
Confusion and despair: Obadiah, Joel, and Malachi
Renewing the covenant
Building the walls
Handing on the Law
Signs of dissension: Ruth and Jonah
Reimagining the past: the work of the Chronicler
The wider dispersion
The temple in Egypt
Translating the Bible
12.  The Challenge of a New Age
Jews and Greeks
Emerging tensions
National pride and religious zeal
Telling the story: the books of the Maccabees
Keeping the faith
Esther
Judith
Tobit
Facing hard questions: the book of Daniel
Daniel and his friends
Visions of the future
The book and its message
The book in its context
The end of the story
Part 3
The Faith Behind the Story
13.  The Living God
Who is God?
God is invisible
God and the forces of nature
God and the philosophers
What is God like?
An active God
Finding God in the realities of life
Giving God a name
Other names for God
When God is absent
Personal alienation
National despair
Wrestling with a hidden God
How might God be known?
God’s grace
God’s word
14.  God and the World
Discovering God in nature and history
The stories of Genesis
The stories as literature
A ‘Babylonian Genesis’?
The meaning of human life
In relation to the earth
In relation to God
In relation to other people
Broken relationships and new beginnings
The root of the problem
Searching for answers
Looking to the future
15.  Living as the People of God
Belief and behaviour
The Wisdom literature
Understanding ‘wisdom’
Putting it into practice
Wisdom and faith
Is wisdom secular?
Wisdom and natural law
Wisdom and social ethics
Wisdom and covenant
The Law
The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1–17)
The Book of the Covenant (Exodus 20:22 – 23:33)
Deuteronomy
Laws about worship
From theory to practice
Criminal law
Civil law
Family law
Social law
Structures and systems
Explaining God’s will
A theological ethic
Elders, Judges, Kings, Priests
A dynamic ethic
A social ethic
A personal ethic
16.  Worship
Worshipping a holy God
God is infinite
God is good
God is love
Places of worship
The tabernacle, or ‘tent of Yahweh’s presence’
Local sanctuaries
The temple
The synagogue
The character of worship
The psalms
Singing and music
Prayer
Dance and drama
Offering sacrifices
Understanding sacrifice
Times for worship
Sabbath
Passover
Harvest
Leading worship
Kings
Priests
Prophets
17.  From Hebrew Bible to Old Testament
Questions of belief
Searching for solutions
Making connections
Living as God’s people
Questions of behaviour
Revisiting history
Moral tensions
Texts and their readers
Glimpses of a different future
New covenant
Messiah
New world
Other resources on the Old Testament
Glossary
Index
 
INTRODUCTION
It is easy to get excited about the Bible – and many people are. By any measure, it is one of the great classics of world literature, and though its most recent parts were written something like 2,000 years ago it is still a bestseller, while an online search for the word ‘Bible’ identifies not far short of a billion sites. It has been translated into more languages than any other book, and its entire text can be found online in multiple versions. Men and women have died for the privilege of being able to read it, and even today millions throughout the world avidly read it as a source of personal guidance for daily living. There is no doubt that it has had a profound influence on the whole history of world civilization, and it is easy to highlight how it has inspired many of the most radical social reforme