Old Testament Theology: Canon or Testimony

Old Testament Theology: Canon or Testimony

For Brueggemann, the Old Testament is an invitation to explore the rich pluralism and diversity of Israel's testimony of faith in Yahweh, the central figure of the Old Testament. This faith was expressed in a core testimony of nouns, verbs, and adjectives that characterized God. But Brueggemann also sees a counter-testimony, which quarrels and puts the core testimony to test. For Childs, the Old Testament is an invitation to consider the deep unity and coherence of Israel's faith as found in the canon. Childs explores the sweeping canonical role of each of the individual canonical witnesses to discover a symphony of concord. Here, in one place, the positions of Brueggemann and Childs are contrasted and compared. Walter Brueggemann was William Marcellus McPheeters Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary until his death in 2025. An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, he is still regarded as the premier Old Testament interpreter and biblical theologian. Among his many publications are Prophetic Imagination and Old Testament Theology Brevard S. Childs was Sterling Professor of Divinity, Emeritus at Yale Divinity School (New Haven, Connecticut). He was the author of several Fortress Press books: Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture (1979), Old Testament Theology in a Canonical Context (1989), and Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments (1993).