October 25, 2007

Book Recommendations - Introduction to the Old Testament

When someone sets out to study a Testament, Old or New, there are five areas that will make up a well-rounded study:

Background (Geography, Political, Social, Economic, Religious)

Historical-Critical (Methodology, Textual, Sources, Literary, etc.)

Content (Books of the Bible: Genre, Author, Themes, Structure, Audience, Theology, etc.)

Biblical History (The Development of Periods, Story Line, Chronology)

Biblical Theology (The Development of God's Redemptive Plan: Unifying Principles, Covenants, Kingdom of God, etc.)

Various Old (and New) Testament introduction resources will address all, a few, or only one of these areas of study. But your personal independent study should include all these elements.

The following are a few selected resources that I suggest for the beginning student of Old Testament studies.

(1) If someone such as a new believer has had no exposure to the Old Testament and does not know it from Adam (pun intended) then I highly recommend the CASKET Study Guide by C. Kaminiski. This is an excellent primer on the Old Testament story. It is not intended to take you through all 39 books of the Old Testament. Rather it is a thematic approach--six periods of OT history. "CASKET" stands for C=Creation, A=Abraham, S=Sinai, K=Kings, E=Exile, T=Temple.

After someone works through this study guide, they will have a solid grasp of the "big picture" of God's redemptive plan--which will then help them fit the trees in the forest in subsequent studies. Also to complement this study guide, Kaminski has produced four graphic laminated charts that aid in seeing the flow of OT events.

These two resources will be available for sale on the Internet next year. But at this time you can order them from the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary Bookstore (1.888.252.4287).

(2) The next resource, which I think every believer should have in their library is a good Bible Atlas. My suggestion is the Holman Bible Atlas. It is the best all-around Bible Atlas. It includes the Old Testament, New Testament, as well as the Intertestamental era. I really would suggest reading this Atlas from cover to cover at some point. We are all visually wired to some degree, and to visualize these events and place them on physical landscapes will do wonders for a memory.

The maps have superb explanations on each page, and explanations of some background and historical events, places, and cultures. The maps are anything but boring, being professionally done--even some in 3D.

(The standard academic scholarly Atlas is The Macmillan Bible Atlas by Aharoni, Y. & M. Avi-Yonah).

(3) A comprehensive (and classic) introduction to the Old Testament is Introduction to the Old Testament by R. K. Harrison. The first half of the book is devoted to most of the five areas I mentioned at the beginning of this article. The latter half treats each book of the Old Testament. It is a bulky book, but it covers, by far, most of what you should learn in a holistic study on the OT.

(4) The final resource I recommend is A History of Israel From the Bronze Age Through the Jewish Wars by Walter C. Kaiser. This is the standard conservative Biblical history of the OT. At some points it can be a bit technical, yet, overall it is still an introduction to the historical periods of Israel's history.

I realize these recommendations are brief. But if you want to learn more about them, I am sure you can easily find reviews of some of these works on the Internet. But I wanted to suggest this handful of resources for those who would like to cut their teeth on the Old Testament.

(Do I even have to mention that the best way for studying your Old Testament is just reading it!)