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Tradition and theology in the Old Testament
Book by Knight, Douglas A
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1977
3 people want to read
About the author
Douglas A. Knight
14 books5 followersDouglas A. Knight is Drucilla Moore Buffington Professor of Hebrew Bible and Professor of Jewish Studies in the Divinity School, College of Arts and Science, Graduate Department of Religion, and Program in Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.
He received a B.A. from Ottawa University (Ottawa, KS), M.Div. from California Baptist Theological Seminary (Covina, CA), and ThD from Georg-August-Universität (Göttingen, Germany). He has been awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Fulbright Program, the National Science Foundation, the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada, and the German Academic Exchange Service. He also received the Thomas Jefferson Award from Vanderbilt University.
Professor Knight has been visiting professor or scholar at universities in Jerusalem, Kyoto, Hong Kong, Göttingen, and Tübingen. For six years he was director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Culture, which received funding of almost $3.5 million. He also served as chair of Vanderbilt’s Graduate Department of Religion.
Former officer of the Society of Biblical Literature, Professor Knight has been editor of the Society’s Dissertation Series and editorial board member of the Journal of Biblical Literature. He also directed the Society’s five-year project, “The Bible in the American Tradition,” supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. He has participated in archaeological excavations in Israel and has been a member of the editorial board of Near Eastern Archaeology. He cofounded ETANA, Electronic Tools and Ancient Near Eastern Archives.
Professor Knight’s most recent books include The Meaning of the Bible: What the Jewish Scriptures and Christian Old Testament Can Teach Us, coauthored with Amy-Jill Levine (HarperOne); Law, Power, and Justice in Ancient Israel (Westminster John Knox Press), and Rediscovering the Traditions of Israel, 3rd edition (Society of Biblical Literature). He is also general editor of the Library of Ancient Israel series (Westminster John Knox Press). He is currently working on a commentary on the book of Joshua (Cambridge University Press).
He received a B.A. from Ottawa University (Ottawa, KS), M.Div. from California Baptist Theological Seminary (Covina, CA), and ThD from Georg-August-Universität (Göttingen, Germany). He has been awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Fulbright Program, the National Science Foundation, the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada, and the German Academic Exchange Service. He also received the Thomas Jefferson Award from Vanderbilt University.
Professor Knight has been visiting professor or scholar at universities in Jerusalem, Kyoto, Hong Kong, Göttingen, and Tübingen. For six years he was director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Culture, which received funding of almost $3.5 million. He also served as chair of Vanderbilt’s Graduate Department of Religion.
Former officer of the Society of Biblical Literature, Professor Knight has been editor of the Society’s Dissertation Series and editorial board member of the Journal of Biblical Literature. He also directed the Society’s five-year project, “The Bible in the American Tradition,” supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. He has participated in archaeological excavations in Israel and has been a member of the editorial board of Near Eastern Archaeology. He cofounded ETANA, Electronic Tools and Ancient Near Eastern Archives.
Professor Knight’s most recent books include The Meaning of the Bible: What the Jewish Scriptures and Christian Old Testament Can Teach Us, coauthored with Amy-Jill Levine (HarperOne); Law, Power, and Justice in Ancient Israel (Westminster John Knox Press), and Rediscovering the Traditions of Israel, 3rd edition (Society of Biblical Literature). He is also general editor of the Library of Ancient Israel series (Westminster John Knox Press). He is currently working on a commentary on the book of Joshua (Cambridge University Press).
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January 19, 2020
From the Preface: “Each author was invited to write a new article—explicitly for this project and not previously in print. …There was no opportunity for a common forum or open discussion in which all could participate. …In certain individual cases where it seemed highly advisable because of overlapping topics a few of the [13] authors read one or more of the other chapters. …Every discussion is self-contained and can be read separately. …It is hoped that the result of this collaboration, with its points of diversity and its areas of consensus, will stimulate further reflection on these important issues.
From the Introduction: “In the essays in this book the term tradition is usually used in the sense of oral and written literature, although in certain discussions it embraces other aspects as well. …Considerations and research in other disciplines lend legitimacy and importance to the modern effort to recover the traditions of Israel. …It has become entirely common to assume that the Old Testament is not the literary creation of authors working at their desks but is the result of a centuries-long, intricate process of development. …These traditions … are the life expressions of various groups. …What does it mean if the theological ‘message’ of the Old Testament was always growing, in flux, adapting to new situations?”
That question (as well as a number of other very significant related questions) is dealt with in a competent and well-balanced way by the contributors/collaborators. Not for the beginner, however; a more-than-casual acquaintance with “the traditio-historical method, which has been refined considerably since the 1930s,” (p. 4) would be most beneficial.
From the Introduction: “In the essays in this book the term tradition is usually used in the sense of oral and written literature, although in certain discussions it embraces other aspects as well. …Considerations and research in other disciplines lend legitimacy and importance to the modern effort to recover the traditions of Israel. …It has become entirely common to assume that the Old Testament is not the literary creation of authors working at their desks but is the result of a centuries-long, intricate process of development. …These traditions … are the life expressions of various groups. …What does it mean if the theological ‘message’ of the Old Testament was always growing, in flux, adapting to new situations?”
That question (as well as a number of other very significant related questions) is dealt with in a competent and well-balanced way by the contributors/collaborators. Not for the beginner, however; a more-than-casual acquaintance with “the traditio-historical method, which has been refined considerably since the 1930s,” (p. 4) would be most beneficial.
Displaying 1 of 1 review