Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 66:3 (Sep 2023)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

JETS 66:3 (September 2023) p. 575

Book Reviews

Introducing Old Testament Theology: Creation, Covenant, and Prophecy in the Divine-Human Relationship. By W. H. Bellinger Jr. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2022, 200 pp., $24.99 paper.

Those seeking a brief introduction to and summary of OT theology have been given a creative new option by W. H. Bellinger Jr., professor emeritus at Baylor University. Given his long-term focus on the book of Psalms, it is not surprising that he would select the Psalms as his “starting point” (not his center, p. 47). Bellinger offers a persuasive rationale for his selection: If (OT) theology is about confessed faith, then the Psalms are the primary textual source for identifying the worshiping community’s declarations about YHWH.

Bellinger distinguishes three “theological streams” in the OT:

Regarding these, the author asserts, “Together, these perspectives form the three-legged stool on which the message of the Hebrew Scriptures rests” (p. 53).

This tripartite heuristic structure for organizing OT theology allows Bellinger to cover a remarkable breadth of content in relatively few pages. In his introduction, he sets forth his basic approach and explains how the OT “narratives and poetry become parts of the frameworks readers carry in their collective memories and shape their perspectives, their attitudes, and their lives” (p. 13), since he is convinced that reading the Older Testament th...