Old Testament Theology: Basic Issues in the Current Debate

by Gerhard F. Hasel

Revised, updated, and enlarged, this edition of a standard survey clearly sets forth and analyzes the major trends in contemporary Old Testament scholarship, concluding with seven basic proposals for doing Old Testament theology. In this revision Hasel has incorporated significant scholarship since 1982; his bibliography of Old Testament theology, with nearly 950 entries, is the most comprehensive published to date.

Genres: Theology, Biblical Studies, Old Testament, Christian, Religion

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1977

Reviews

[Spencer R · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good overview of the history of OT theology, along with a look at different methodologies and a proposed scheme for reading and studying the OT. However, it is dense, boring, dry, and often obtuse.

[Daniel Supimpa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hasel is a good introduction to the field. In a manner typical of classical german scholarship, he is all about mapping the field and cataloguing exemplars (which is somehow helpful for those engaging the unending ramifications in the area of biblical studies).

It is quite updated now. His views on Brueggemann and Childs are based on early stages of their writings, way before both authors' masterful and field-defining works in the 90s.

For starters, I believe this is a quite helpful book in terms of learning/time spent in reading. It is short and straight-to-the-point. I would, however, highly recommend a more recent treatment and, obviously, try to read primary sources on people such as Brueggemann, Childs, Von Rad and Goldingay.

[Josiah Young · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first half (ch 1-2) is really only valuable as a reference work or resource for someone with a very vested interest in the intricacies of various viewpoints on the subject. It’s an extended, annotated bibliography.

The second half (ch 3-6) is more engaging, relatively speaking. There are some helpful conclusions about the shortcomings of most attempts at OT theologies, and some excellent guidelines for forays in the field.

This book is very tedious. A extended summary of his conclusions would be good enough for most.

[Canny Tay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just finished reading this book "Old Testament Theology: Basic Issues in the Current Debate" which I highly recommend for those that interested in this sort of study. The late Dr. Gerhard Hasel, a German Adventist theologian, was well-known not only within the Adventist circle but also in the mainline Protestant field. The book shows that he had done extensive study on Old Testament Theology by comparing different views from American and European scholars. A Chinese version is also available in a Christian book store or in the internet.

[slaveofone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Revised and Expanded Fourth Edition. An excellent survey of a majority of the players and their arguments throughout what Hasel calls the “Golden Age” of OT Theology, primarily 1930-1980, while also tracing these lines of thought all the way back to their beginnings in the modern era. You really get a sense, as you work through this book, how scholars were all trying to answer many of the same questions and how many of their answers remained the same no matter what particulars and insights they provided. So it will not be long before you also find yourself entering the various tug-of-wars between issues like the purpose and place of history and faith in the discipline of Old Testament theology. If discussing the thoughts and perspectives of such a huge mass of scholars during this Golden Age within no more than 200 pages were not, itself, a marvelous and enlightening feat, the bibliography alone for this period and subject-matter may very well be the most thorough of any other in print. The footnotes themselves are magnificently comprehensive. The book's overwhelming interest in German scholarship has the advantage of sharing with us the author's own familiarity with German scholars and their work, which we might not otherwise receive, as well as his own English translations, directly from sources being discussed, to bring those scholars' thoughts and arguments to life.

This is, however, no survey of the drastically different present of OT Theology. As exhaustive as the book may seem, and as willing as it may appear to deal with the different perspectives that have come along, this is really an exploration of a previous age. Hasel has only begun to appreciate some of the newer (from his time frame) literary methods like New Criticism and Structuralism, which were among the first great cracks in the structure of the past age before it collapsed. Hasel's thoughts and arguments are situated firmly within and defined by that past age. In a very real sense, therefore, this book is behind the times and out of date. As an example, we see that Hasel is still mired by the Romanticism and Positivism of that Golden Age when he believes we may indeed come to a theology “without in the least distorting the text” because we “avoid a superimposition of external points of view or presuppositions” (p. 114) by doing OT Theology “without in the least distorting the original historical witness” (p. 207).

The book is further faulted by Hasel's own narrow perspective, which is, unfortunately, part and parcel of that Golden Age, and which also directly contradicts his own Positivistic claims and assumptions (also part and parcel of that age). Though the analysis gives an illusion of inclusiveness, Hasel's view of Old Testament theology is strictly conservative, Christian, and Protestant (perhaps even Neo-Orthodox). And thus what we end up with is a book and an OT Theology that is really only for conservative, Protestant Christians.

As examples, we may note that even though Hasel admits that systematic theology is reductionistic and not a part of biblical theology, he still believes it is necessary and complimentary (p.195-196) although no reason is given why this should be so. And though Hasel believes we can have a presupposition-less theology, he nevertheless says that OT Theology requires the presupposition of various Christian doctrines like a belief in the Christian canon of scripture and its inspiration (“The presentation of the individual theologies of the OT books, or blocks or writings, will preferably not follow the sequence of the Hebrew canon or the Septuagint” - p. 113, “It is founded exclusively on materials taken from the OT. The OT comes to him through the Christian church as part of the inspired Scriptures” - p. 201, “One can indeed speak of such a unity in which ultimately the divergent theological utterances and testimonies are intrinsically related to each other from the theological viewpoint on the basis of a presupposition that derives from the inspiration and canonicity of the OT as Scripture” - p. 206). Unfortunately, this only leaves us with the same problems we were left with when the Golden Age gave us the same answer: if OT theology is only properly done by those of faith to serve their faith on the basis of their faith, why couldn't any other religion or faith say the exact same thing about their perspective and what is it that makes Christian faith “normative” other than its own claim to do so? This perspective in the Golden Age was unable to provide us with any reasonable answer to those questions and Hasel is similarly unable to do so. And although a hundred and more years may have passed since biblical theology was widely considered the handmaiden of faith instead of the other way round, this is still its goal according to Hasel (“the historical-theological interpretation is to be at the service of faith” - p.201). It becomes evident that OT Theology is, for Hasel, only a Christian discipline when he begins speaking of and towards the “Christian theologian” (see, for instance, p. 114 and 172) instead of the mere “Biblical theologian” who could be from any background or religious persuasion.

The greatest contribution Hasel makes in this book is by arguing that OT Theology should not be an either/or, but a both/and enterprise. Instead of limiting it to the historical or to the theological, it should be both: a “historical-theological” discipline.

[Alix Dalinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

For those somewhat familiar with theology and willing to tackle the complex subject of 'Old Testament theology', this is a solid, thoroughly researched introduction with numerous relevant references (at the time of writing) and critical evaluations. However, it is now very outdated and does not discuss newer hermeneutical paradigms and approaches (with the exception of the literary approach). For complete newcomers to the subject, the book may seem rather dry and overwhelming.

[Felicity Chen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was good but seemed poorly structured. Good reference for methods of theology, overall history, and specific people.

Review/notes for myself:

Eichrodt: center of OT is covenant

Von Rad: no center of OT. God reveals himself through history. But that the Bible isn’t (or is??) a history book (salvation history …heilsgeschichte
Pro typology
Bultmann….”miscarriage of history”. Complete disunity between OT and NT.

[Benjamin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dated by now (the work is 30 years old), but useful for a survey of the situation up until 1991. Many of the issues have not changed, at least as far as critical biblical theology is concerned. But evangelical biblical theology has flourished in the intervening years, and this flourishing the book doesn't touch on, nor does it really foresee.

[Andy Nance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Summary of the Field

Hasel makes a concise summary of the field in his own terms. Makes the various approaches to OT theology easy to understand. Gives his own opinions at the end of each chapter after summarizing other scholars opinions.

[Samuel G. Parkison · Rating 4 out of 5]

The four stars are because of the overall usefulness. If it were strictly Hasel's editorializing, I'd knock of a couple more stars, but his laying out the landscape as a whole is tremendously helpful.

[John Paul Arceno · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative. Tackles the history of the OT Theology, issues, connection with dogmatic theo, OT and NT relationship, and more.

Loaded of scholars' names and works. Such a great effort to make it all in one dialogue. Amazing.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gerhard Hasel's helpful conclusion made his book a worthy read for me.

[Samuel Bierig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Very worth your time if you are into the field.

[Garhett Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good information, but very technical.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only read this book if you are interested in the depths of theological discussion. It is certainly a calling to brave the waters of theological methodology. But if you're up to date on your in-house theological terms (and your German) then this book is actually extremely helpful. It summarizes the recent issues in the methodological debates of Old Testament Theology and has some extremely helpful thoughts on how to see the Old Testament for what it really is. I am thankful for people like Gerhard Hasel who are willing to do this work so that seminary students like me can have a good idea of what people are talking about!

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A useful introduction to Old Testament Biblical Theology and different methods, but there are some mischaracterizations such as the assumption that federal theology/covenant theology is synchronic and flattens out the Bible, this is not the case for some forms of paedobaptist federal theology such as John Owen, and definitely not the case for 1689 federalism as in Pascal Denault's book, the Distinctivness of Baptist Covenant Theology & Nehemiah Coxe & John Owen, from Adam to Christ, published by RBAP refuting this false assumption and demonstrating that the particular baptist covenant theology of the 1689 is a diachronic OT biblical theology.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

A thorough but ultimately unsatisfying review of where Old Testament theology stood 20 years ago. Hasel thoroughly deconstructs the idea that there is a center to OT theology, only to resurrect it with the uselessly broad notion that God is the center of OT theology and, further that there is a hidden unity to the texts that he doesn't bother to name or even explore. There's no reason for anyone to read this book, given the time that has passed since its publication and given Hasel's own inability to reach the conclusions that follow naturally from his arguments.

[Emil Bredahl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Challenging book that is not a book for my taste . sentences used is really complicated and if you do not have a special interest or focus on Old Testament theology, this book is going to be tough reading through. Personally the last two chapters of the book was more interesting and it was less technical and more user friendly and more practical in nature. Not a book for me though, but My conclusion is that some people really enjoy this kind of book. It's super personal, which is why I will not tell people not to read it.

[Juan David Correa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is designed to inform the reader with insight about the history of Old testament Biblical theology. As a reader, I feel like the author gives too much information in a short time. There are multiple sources cited every 3 sentences making it difficult to connect the logical framework of the development of the discipline. Nonetheless, its an amazing overview and a good start to get deeper. Prepare a good coffee in the methodology section!

[Michael Walker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overview of the Old Testament scholarly landscape up to the mid-1980's by a Seventh-Day Adventist theologian. It is claimed that Hasel's book is a standard in universities. I could envision this one used in lower division theology programs, but it is too slight for upper division work: there are more comprehensive written reviews of the history of the theological OT debates out there. I'd pass on this one....

[Shawn Brace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a marathon and not for the faint of heart. It's some heavy scholarly lifting. Even though the last printing is over 20 years old now, it is still an important and critical read. One could only wish that Dr. Hasel was still alive to update it yet again - spending more time on post-liberal and literary approaches to Scripture and OT theology.

[Andrés Vera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely a dense introduction to the subject. Only a few of the issues addressed seem to be "current" although there is still much discussion on the "center" of OT Theology and the debate continues on appropriateness of the historical-critical method. In my opinion the author over-cites and pulls too much from the outside too quickly so that his actual argument and thought is easily muted.

[Ivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is helpful in many ways as it lays out the "current issues" in OT theology. However, it's a bit dated and unnecessarily dense in certain sections. Theological writing, even of the academic sort, should be fresh, alive, and on fire!

[Lauren Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a helpful survey of the different views and approaches to Old Testament Theology. Hasel himself does not provide an in depth view to his beliefs, but rather he explains what others have written and provides some commentary.

[Daniel Scheiderer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely thorough, and thus an invaluable resource for getting your bearings on the discipline of doing Old Testament theology, but also very dry.