Old Testament Theology

In this volume, Moberly defines the theological use of a biblical text as something "intrinsically contextual and provisional." He writes, "Theology is not a once-for-all exercise in finding right words and/or deeds, but rather a continuing and ever-repeating attempt to articulate what a faithful understanding and use of the biblical text might look like in the changing circumstances of life." For Moberly, the contemporary creationsim-evolution and science-religion debates, the (ab)use of natural resources in a warming world, interfaith dialogue among Jews, Christians, and Muslims, and new-atheist critiques of religious faith--specifically of the God of the Old Testament--are some of the contextual issues and challenges that shape his theological agenda in investigating the text and theology of the book of Genesis.

In his first chapter, Brueggemann discusses the critical issues surrounding the book of Jeremiah and how these issues impact any attempt to examine the theology of the book. The second chapter explores the theology of the book, particularly focusing on the sovereignty of God in light of the personal and national tragedies experienced by the prophet and the nation of Judah. In the third chapter, Brueggemann situates the book of Jeremiah in between the theology of books like Deuteronomy, Hosea, Psalms, and Proverbs on the one hand, and Obadiah, Jonah, Ezra, Chronicles, and Daniel on the other. In his fourth and final chapter, he discusses the book of Jeremiah in relation to the NT and the present day.

Using a history of religions approach, Barton distinguishes what he identifies as authentic sayings of Amos and distinguishes these from layers of redaction subsequently added to the prophet's message. Both the authentic Amos material and the additions are addressed theologically, after which Barton addresses various ways in which one might understand the final form of Amos. He also treats the reception of the theology of Amos and the contemporary significance of the book.

Terrien uses the theme of presence—which ultimately amounts to the presence of God—to approach the theology of both Testaments, overcoming the bias toward covenant and the marginalization of wisdom (or aesthetics) that had characterized much work in Old Testament theology up till its publication. In this vein, Terrien develops numerous dialectics at work in the text which he traces to different ideologies (northern covenantal; southern royal).

Balentine investigates the general idea of the hiddenness of God in the Old Testament. The expression "hide the face" (פנים + סתר) provides the basis on which Balentine approaches the more general motif. He concurs with past scholarship that hiddenness has dimensions of judgement, but discovers that this is not always the case, particularly in Psalms of lament where the supplicants protest their innocence. This has implications for Balentine when discussing innocent suffering and the biblical writers attempts to offer a theodicy. The discussion also engages broader questions of doubt and skepticism and their legitimate expression within the worshiping community.

Written as a biography of the life of God as told in the story of the Tanak, the biographical story that Miles tells of God's life shares a similar character to other works that explicitly address the motif of divine absence. God, according to Miles' telling, becomes a figure for whom Israel acts, he is no longer a figure who acts for Israel. When Ezra reads the scroll to the people, it contains all that God needs to say, and thus God speaks no more. Finally, his story concludes with a chapter that asks a distressing question, Does God lose interest? This literary investigation into the character of God reflects theologically on Miles's own reading of the Tanak.

Also published in paperback by HarperSanFranscico under the title, "The Hidden Face of God" (1997) Friedman's book explores three mysteries. The first mystery of the book concerns the disappearance of God that takes place two thousand years ago in the pages of the Old Testament. He sees this disappearance taking place over the course of the biblical narrative. His insights into this mystery are placed alongside what Friedman regards as contemporary forms of this phenomenon—Nietzsche, Dostoevsky, the mystical system known as Kabbalah on the one hand, Big Bang cosmology on the other.

Burnett's study introduces the ancient Near Eastern world to the discussion of divine absence. In part 1 "Relational Worlds," he examines the structures of human-divine relationships in the ancient Near East, the religious function of divine epithets in personal names, and the role of origin traditions in developing and maintaining the divine-human relationship. In part 2 "Boundaries of Divine Presence and Absence in the World," Burnett attends to the spacial dimensions of the theme of divine absence. Part 3 focuses on the sacred city and how the sacred center of divine presence in Israel becomes the center of divine absence during the Babylonian exile.