Theology of the Old Testament
Overview
Gustav Oehler’s Theology of the Old Testament is helpful to ministers and biblical students due to its subject, its wide range of thought, the thoroughness with which the topics are examined and discussed, and the positive results to which the author arrives. Oehler focuses on the supernatural character and gradual progress of revelation in the Old Testament. He is able to embrace the whole field of Israel’s history in its connection with the founding of a kingdom of God among men and weaves the whole into a thorough unity of which the final expression is Christ. The paramount character of the Theology of the Old Testament is the clear exhibition of God’s revelation of Himself and the divine manner in which men were educated for the coming of Christ and the truths which He came to teach. In the careful tracing of these thoughts, as revealed in facts and by words in the Old Testament, Oehler has presented the theology of the Old Testament in a form which at one and the same time meets the demands of theological science and the practical wants of the Christian believer. He has produced a work which stands, as Dr. Schaff has said, “at the head of this department of biblical study.”
Top Highlights
“The reason can only be found in the different states of heart of the two offerers, which in ver. 3 f. is shown in the fact that Cain offers his gift of the fruit of the ground without selection; while Abel, on the other hand, brings the best of the flock. Thus, in this narrative, the Old Testament testifies at the outset that offerings when presented as a mere external service are rejected, and that only a pious disposition makes the offering well-pleasing to God (comp. Heb. 11:4).” (Page 54)
“Thus the avenging of blood becomes a divine command; it is not merely a matter of honor, but a duty of religion” (Page 237)
“Here the creation is not a necessitated emanation from his essence, or from wild chaos, but something brought into existence by the free will of the Absolute One.” (Page 51)
“Thus the work of Satan is to question the forgiveness, the justification of the church, in which sense he is called, Rev. 12:10, ‘the accuser of our brethren.’” (Page 450)
“fear, resting in the feeling of guilt, dominates from this time forward his position toward God” (Page 52)
- Title: Theology of the Old Testament
- Authors: Gustav Friedrich Oehler, George Day
- Publisher: Funk & Wagnalls
- Print Publication Date: 1883
- Logos Release Date: 2009
- Pages: 579
- Era: era:modern
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subject: Bible. O.T. › Theology
- Resource ID: LLS:THEOOTOEHLER
- Resource Type: text.monograph.biblical-theology
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-01-31T19:23:13Z
Gustav Friedrich Oehler (1812-1872), a German theologian, taught at Tübingen Seminary and was a pastor of a church in Schonthal. He eventually became the seminary’s director as well as the university’s professor of Old Testament theology. His works include Gesammelte Seminarreden and Lehrbuch Symbolik, both published posthumously, and wrote numerous articles for Herzog’s Realencyklopädie.
