Canonical Criticism and Old Testament Theology

Abstract

AbstractThis is the third of five chapters on the Old Testament and the reader, and discusses canonical criticism and Old Testament theology. Canonical criticism can be understood as a relatively recent proposal for reordering exegetical priorities, while Old Testament theology is usually seen as a summarizing discipline as old as modernity itself. The two areas of research could be treated separately but the juxtaposition is instructive: both are in some sense orientated towards the readers of biblical texts, both have been charged with under‐valuing historical research, both are involved in seemingly intractable arguments about the relationship between descriptive and normative claims in biblical studies, and both are implicated in debates about the role of biblical research within the larger religious traditions of Christianity and Judaism. The discussion in this chapter highlights only the most important issues addressed in these overlapping programmes of research setting out to provide only an orientation to the key issues in current research. The chapter is arranged in three sections: Canonical criticism; Old Testament theology and readers’ commitments; and Biblical studies and theology.