From the Back Cover
"A gift for both the classroom and the church!"
This survey textbook offers an accessible introduction to the Old Testament, assuming no prior academic study of the Bible. The authors pay attention to the Old Testament's subject matter--God's revelation of himself--and focus on the triune God and God's engagement with the world. They attend to the Old Testament's literary, theological, and historical dimensions and explore how these texts are received and interpreted in Christian (and Jewish) tradition. The book is organized according to the Hebrew structure of the Old Testament: Law, Prophets, and Writings. This structure generates numerous interpretive and theological insights.
"Sadly, the Old Testament remains a stumbling block for many. Gignilliat and Thomas make what could easily be a crooked way straight, deftly attending to, and balancing, each book's literary integrity, place in the canon as a whole, and relation to Christ. Highly recommended!"
--Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
"This is one of those textbooks that won't be discarded at the semester's end but will be cherished as a valuable, lifelong resource. A gift for both the classroom and the church!"
--Elizabeth H. P. Backfish, Jessup University
"Gignilliat and Thomas brilliantly illustrate the layered complexity of interpreting the Old Testament as Christian Scripture. Their book-by-book introduction is enhanced by lavish illustrations from Christian art, informative sidebars, elegant and cultivated writing, and above all a deeply learned sensitivity to the particularities of the Old Testament books understood as witnesses to Christ."
--J. Gordon McConville, University of Gloucestershire (emeritus)
"A clear and well-structured overview. This textbook will help to reinvigorate the witness of the Old Testament for the church through the classroom."
--Aubrey E. Buster, Wheaton College
"A beautifully produced volume, with artwork, diagrams, maps, sidebars, key verses, and discussion questions. It will have wide appeal and, one hopes, extensive use."
--Stephen B. Chapman, Duke University
"If only I'd had this as my Old Testament textbook at university, I would have realized much earlier how to integrate theology and biblical studies, been more sensitive to and informed about the relationship between Jewish and Christian traditions, and become more nuanced in my understanding of scholarly discussions. Gignilliat and Thomas offer all these in a clear, helpful, accessible, and aesthetically pleasing format."
--Brittany N. Melton, Regent College
"An outstanding resource. This book is sure to be seen in undergraduate and seminary classrooms. Bravo."
--Christopher Seitz, Wycliffe College, University of Toronto
"This theologically attuned and literarily sensitive introduction demonstrates how to read the Old Testament as Christian revelation. Highly recommended!"
--Scott C. Jones, Covenant College
Gignilliat, Mark S.: - Mark S. Gignilliat (PhD, University of St. Andrews) is professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School, Samford University, and theologian in residence at St. Peter's Anglican Church in Birmingham, Alabama. He previously taught at Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford. Gignilliat is the author of several books, including Reading Scripture Canonically, A Brief History of Old Testament Criticism, and Karl Barth and the Fifth Gospel.
Thomas, Heath A.: - Heath A. Thomas (PhD, University of Gloucestershire) is president and professor of Old Testament at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Oklahoma, and associate fellow of the Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology in Cambridge, England. He has served on staff at churches in Oklahoma, Texas, North Carolina, and the United Kingdom and is the author or editor of several books, including The Minor Prophets: A Theological Introduction, Habakkuk: A Commentary, and The Gospel of Our King (with Bruce Riley Ashford).
