Wednesday, July 20, 2016

5 Old Testament Books

In my CV, I listed 5 OT books that I would like to teach - Genesis, Psalms, Song of Songs, Zechariah and Daniel. I could have included Isaiah and Ezekiel but I won't push my luck too far since people think I am an NT person and therefore should stick to NT books. My background is totally biblical. I have never divided the Bible into two Testaments, as if one can be taught apart from the other or that if you are an expert in one, God forbid that you should venture into another's domain. This is where the reformers come in handy. Luther and Calvin were biblical scholars. They would be surprised if not annoyed to see the current division between OT and NT. Luther lectured and preached from the Psalms for years and Galatians was his Katherine (Luther's wife) and Romans his crown.
I could say the same, as for me the first three books that made a major impact in my Christian life are Galatians, Romans and John's Gospel and Psalms I had begun to read in my first days as a new born Christian. Genesis I have read and reread countless times as if the patriarchs are my fathers and ancestors and their stories my history and lineage. From 1984 to 1993 I read commentaries on every book of the Bible before entering first year theological study for a BTheol. And I kept reading commentaries. Now in my break between jobs I am reading a monograph on Zechariah, Johannine Theology by Paul Rainbow, Marvin H Pope's 700 page commentary on Song of Songs (wow what a book!) and Patricia Tull's Isaiah 1-39 commentary. When one gets up before 4am one can start to work before 6am after 2 hours of quiet time and one accomplishes much before the clock strikes 9am.

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