Old Testament Theology. Volume 1. Israel's Gospel. By John Goldingay. Pp. 940. Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press, 2003. isbn 0 8308 2561 4

Abstract

On any reckoning this is a weighty volume and, as the first of three, it will, no doubt, be widely read and reflected on for several years to come. As a subject Old Testament theology has undergone a significant revival of interest, with substantial volumes from H. D. Preuss, W. Brueggemann, R. Knierim, E. Gerstenberger, and Rolf Rendtorff all appearing in recent years. At the same time the centenary celebration for the work of Gerhard von Rad has reopened the debate whether the idea of a salvation-history approach to the subject, which is adopted by Goldingay, provides a new solution to old problems, or simply adds a new one. The large differences between these various recent presentations show that the subject has not been able to settle arguments about methodology which coloured its introduction in the first half of the twentieth century. In many respects this volume from John Goldingay makes a relatively straightforward and uncomplicated contribution to the subject, only marginally engaging directly with the issue how it possesses an independent academic status. Readers of his earlier preliminary survey of its basic themes, Theological Diversity and the Authority of the Old Testament (1987), will already be prepared for its strongly conservative approach and for its adoption of a salvation-historical understanding of the nature of biblical theology. The theologian's task is seen essentially to be that of showing how the being and nature of God has been revealed through very specific historical events. These are made known through the record of them in biblical narrative, the doctrine of creation serving as a prelude and introduction to their unfolding sequence.