Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 76:1 (Spring 2014)
Article: Reviews Of Books
Author: Anonymous

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WTJ 76:1 (Spring 2014) p. 219

Reviews Of Books

Biblical Studies

Mark S. Gignilliat, A Brief History of Old Testament Criticism: From Benedict Spinoza to Brevard Childs. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012. Pp. 186. $16.99, paper.

The history of OT studies has become a burgeoning sub-discipline in recent decades. There are no signs this flowering of scholarship will abate, from the massive Hebrew Bible/Old Testament: A History of Its Interpretation, published by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (a projected 5 volumes) to the journal articles and essays continually streaming out. This area of scholarship has much to offer all students of religion, from systematic theologians to intellectual historians. Professor Gignilliat’s slender volume fits into this growing body of literature as an attempt to warm evangelical students to the subject before they venture into the wilderness of doctoral studies (pp. 11–12). He recounts his own insecurity during his days as an evangelical post-graduate student at a non-evangelical university. Beyond his goal of generally informing students, his purpose in writing is to help others avoid a similar experience.

The book’s title is slightly misleading. The title implies that its pages contain the history of a thing. In reality, the book focuses on seven luminous persons (one per chapter): Baruch Spinoza, W. M. L. de Wette, Julius Wellhausen, Herman Gunkel, Gerhard von Rad, William Foxwell Albright, and Brevard Childs. This “portrait gallery” approach runs the risk of flattening the overall history of OT studies; the author admits as much on page 13. Little effort is made to overcome this difficulty, placing the burden on the reader (p. 13). On the other hand, this approach helps one appreciate that critical methods often begin as schools of interpretation originating around inspiring intellects. Each chapter includes a biographical section locating the figure in the broader history of ideas, a description of the respective scholar’s contributions to OT interpretation, and a review of the figure’s most relevant monograph.

The discussion of Baruch Spinoza elaborates on Spinoza’s contribution to the divorcing of revelation and exegesis. The biographical narrative in this chapter implies that Spinoza may have resented ecclesiastical interference in interpretation. Having been raised under the gaze of a Jewish subculture in Amsterdam, Spinoza sought to set himself apart from his heritage. The religious community of his youth took the books of Moses to be the word of God, but with “Spinoza the Hebrew Scriptures are henceforth understood as a source for the critical retrieval of Israel’s past and/or religious outlook” (p. 36).

In the life and work of W. M. L. de Wette, the usual ...

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