The Old Testament Documents: Are They Reliable and Relevant?
Overview
In this thought-provoking book Walter C. Kaiser Jr. makes the case that the Old Testament documents are both historically reliable and personally and socially relevant. He begins by looking at the origins of the Old Testament books and how well their texts were preserved. Next he explores Old Testament history, giving close attention to the book of Genesis, the patriarchal narratives, and the chronicles of the kings of Judah and Israel. He then surveys the larger questions of the trustworthiness and authority of the various Old Testament genres: historical narrative, wisdom, and prophecy. Lastly, Kaiser probes the relevance of the Old Testament for Christian faith today. And in an epilogue he asks—and answers—the question “What is the Old Testament all about?”
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Key Features
- Surveys the trustworthiness and authority of various Old Testament genres
- Examines the biblical narratives, psalms, and prophetic texts of the Old Testament
- Makes the case that the Old Testament documents are reliable and socially relevant
Contents
- How Did the Old Testament Originate?
- Which Books Belong to the Old Testament Canon?
- How Well Was the Text of the Old Testament Preserved?
- How Reliable Is Genesis 1—4?
- How Reliable Is Genesis 4—11?
- Are the Historical Accounts of the Patriarchs Accurate?
- Does Archaeology Help the Case for Reliability?
- Are the Stories of the Exodus & Conquest Reliable?
- Are the Chronologies of the Old Testament Kings Trustworthy?
- How Reliable Is the Message of the Torah?
- How Reliable Are the Wisdom Writings?
- How Reliable Are the Prophets?
- How Relevant Is Old Testament Narrative for Us?
- How Relevant Is Old Testament Torah for Us?
- How Relevant Is Old Testament Prophecy for Us?
- How Relevant Are the Wisdom Materials & the Psalms?
Top Highlights
“This time God revealed the contents of Exodus 21–23, the Book of the Covenant. This time, ‘Moses … wrote down everything the Lord had said’ (Ex 24:4). Accordingly, both the Ten Commandments and the Book of the Covenant came as divine utterances as Moses communed with God ‘face to face.’” (Page 18)
“The point we will argue here is that there was progressive recognition of certain books as being canonical right from their inception by readers and listeners who were contemporaneous with the writers and who were thereby in the best position to determine the claims of the writers. This view stands in juxtaposition to the more current view that the formation of the canon required progressive growth, time, and veneration before they were received as canonical.” (Page 31)
“Based on the arguments from ceramic typology, stratigraphy, radiocarbon dating, and scarab dating, a strong case for the destruction of Jericho around 1400 b.c. can be made.” (Page 113)
“The state of purity in some of the DSS is nothing short of spectacular. For instance, in one complete Isaiah scroll, only three words exhibiting a different spelling were found for a book that runs about one hundred pages and sixty-six chapters in our English texts.7 That is the state of high quality preservation from texts that derive from 100 b.c. and were not witnessed for an intervening period of a thousand years until we come to our next Hebrew text as witness to our present text of Isaiah.” (Pages 45–46)
“This history usually begins by affirming that the most important witnesses to the original text of the Old Testament are found in the Hebrew manuscripts. There are three major sources for these Hebrew witnesses: (1) the Masoretic Text, a Hebrew text preserved by a group of Jewish scholars known as the Masoretes (a.d. 500–1000); (2) the Samaritan Pentateuch; and (3) the Dead Sea Scrolls found in the Judean Desert at Qumran.” (Page 42)
- Title: The Old Testament Documents: Are They Reliable & Relevant?
- Author: Walter C. Kaiser Jr.
- Publisher: IVP Academic
- Print Publication Date: 2001
- Logos Release Date: 2014
- Pages: 239
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Bible. O.T. › Evidences, authority, etc; Bible. O.T. › Canon
- ISBNs: 9780830889648, 9780830819751, 9780851115580, 0830889647, 0830819754, 0851115586
- Resource ID: LLS:LDTSTMNTDCMNTS
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T01:08:16Z
Walter C. Kaiser (1933–) is an evangelical Old Testament scholar, writer, speaker, and educator. He earned degrees from Wheaton College and Brandeis University.
Kaiser taught Bible and archaeology at Wheaton College and taught at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in several capacities. He currently serves as the Colman M. Mockler Distinguished Professor of Old Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in 2006 retired as their President.
Kaiser has contributed to numerous publications like Journal for the Study of Old Testament and Westminster Theological Journal. He has also written over 30 books including Toward an Exegetical Theology and A History of Israel: From the Bronze Age through the Jewish Wars.