Make the Old Testament Live: From Curriculum to Classroom

by Richard S. Hess (Editor)

The Old Testament makes up three-quarters of the Bible and has had an incalculable influence on Western civilization and culture. Yet it often is largely unread in the church, neglected by preachers, and avoided by students. This volume, written by experienced scholars and educators from five continents, offers fresh perspectives on teaching the Old Testament today. Addressing the problems of curriculum, context, and communication, these essays discuss such topics as which parts of the Old Testament should be taught, what approaches work best with each level of students, and what modern educational methods can be applied to teaching the Bible. Practical, insightful, and based on years of classroom experience in institutions ranging from seminaries to secular universities, this book will enable all teachers of the Bible or theology to make the Old Testament more vital for their students.

228 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1998

About the author

Richard S. Hess (PhD, Hebrew Union College) is Earl S. Kalland Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages at Denver Seminary in Littleton, Colorado, and editor of the Denver Journal. He is the author or editor of more than twenty-five books, including Israelite Religions, Song of Songs in the Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms, and the commentary on Joshua in the Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries series.

Reviews

[Ryan Linkous · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first several essays in the book are more general and thus more helpful overall. However, it was neat to see how each author thought through their pedagogy in their specific context (seminary, university, American, 2/3’s world, Islam, secular, etc.). This is more geared for someone teaching OT in an undergraduate or higher setting, less than for a church or a high school. Still valuable. Craig Bartholomew’s essay, “Toward a Post-Liberal Agenda for OT Study” pointed in a good direction, and I’d be interested to see how his own work and other OT studies have developed in that line in the past twenty years.

Also, the annotated bibliography of OT resources at the end is fantastic. It’s dated, but will be a sort of reference guide for me.

The essays are a bit dated and some of the references are to systems that technology has changed radically such as accessing information and resources.