Two Testaments, One Bible: The Theological Relationship Between the Old and New Testaments

by David L. Baker

Do we need the Old Testament today? Is this collection of ancient writings still relevant in our postmodern and increasingly post-literary world? Isn't the New Testament a sufficient basis for the Christian faith? What does the Old Testament God of power and glory have to do with the New Testament God of love whom Jesus calls 'Father'? Are these two very different Testaments really one Bible? In this thoroughly revised, updated and expanded edition of Two Testaments, One Bible , David L. Baker investigates the theological basis for the continued acceptance of the Old Testament as Christian Scripture, through a study of its relationship to the New Testament. He introduces the main issues, surveys the history of interpretation, and critically examines four major approaches. He then considers four key themes, which provide a framework for Christian interpretation of two Testaments in the context of one 'typology,' 'promise and fulfilment,' 'continuity and discontinuity,' and 'covenant.' He completes his study with a summary of the main conclusions and reflection on their implications for the use of the Bible today.

Genres: Theology, Biblical Studies, Christianity, Old Testament, Nonfiction

362 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

Reviews

[Jay Vellacott · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read a lot and have nearly perfect grades in university, and I found this book very difficult to comprehend. Like I understand all the words, but it is difficult to grasp the intended thought of the author based on the combination of words that he chooses. I know what he wrote, but I often have very little idea what he means.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's rare that I fond a book that completely re-orients things for me, and this book may have done it. I had ever had a complete or comprehensive way of viewing the OT in relationship to the NT, and this book mwalks through multiple ways of understanding that relationship, and provides an analysis of both the strengths and weaknesses of each.

Easily written and particularly contemporary (so many OT Books are 100 years old or older), this is a great book for anyone working, from a Christian perspective, with old and New Testament texts and trying to understand various ways the texts work together. Chapter 5 was particularly helpful :).

[Jacob O'connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This summer I'm taking a course on the Old Testament. Guess what I got on my pretest. 4 out of 10, and those were lucky guesses. for whatever reason, I just haven’t spent near the time studying the Old Testament as the New, and you're probably the same way. If you'd like the break that trend, you could do worse than Baker's book. You'll get a rundown of some of the approaches to reading the Old Testament, and he looks to present both books as a unified whole. Time for us to start listening to ALL of what God has to say.

[Felicity Chen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Notes to myself to remember what this book was about:

Theme: there is continuity between the testaments

1.1 New Testament historically has been accepted more widely than OT
-“the historical and theological basis for the writing of the NT was the OT”

1.2 Marconianism: heretical guy said OT not necessary. Also found in Nazi Germany as they tried remove Jewishness from the Bible. Marcion saw 2 testaments as belong to 2 different religions with 2 different G/gods.

Bervard Childs in 1970: biblical theology and exegesis should be done in the context of the Christian canon of Scripture

Rudolf Bultmann
-commonly thought to have rejected OT, didn’t actually
-claimed you either need both OT and NT or neither. Bases this on the common way that both T show the human existence, but doesn’t need the NT historical facts to have evolved from the OT. Grace and Law antithesis…he shows OT has both but Grace in OT is different than NT. To sum up: OT is important, not as important as NT.

Vischer:
Christ is found throughout the OT.

Van ruler:
OT is fundamental, NT is interpretative glossary

Von Rad:
Salvation history ties testaments together.

[Josh Westerlund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not an easy read, but full of great information. I will likely continue to use this as a reference resource.

[Hany Abdelmalek · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book examines the theological problem of the relationship between the Old and New Testaments. The author concentrates on major aspects of the theological issue. Baker divides his volume into four parts.
In the first part, Baker describes the theological problem, he proceeds, in the second, to the study of four major solutions to the problem. The third part is concerned with four major themes in the relationship between the Testaments, and the final part is a conclusion that summarizes the outcomes of his book and the author’s thesis.

[Ben Smitthimedhin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Baker was a little dry to read. The conclusion chapter was very beneficial since the book was so dense and had so many names and hypotheses from many theologians that I often got lost in the vortex. Nonetheless, this book was beneficial to understanding the connection between the Old and the New Testament.

[Jordan J. Andlovec · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good general introduction to the issue of a two testament Bible, but falls short of exactly "how" to do a whole Bible theology.