Spring 2005
Professor:
Book review Mission in the Old Testament
CRITICAL BOOK REVIEW
Bibliographical Data: Kaiser, Walter C. Jr. Mission in the Old Testament – Israel as a Light to the Nations. Baker Books: Grand Rapids, MI. January 2004.
Information about the Author: “Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. is president and Colman M. Mockler Distinguished Professor of Old Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.” He has a Doctorate. He is also the author or coauthor of several books. He is a strong advocate for Christians making God’s missionary purpose a central theme in their lives. “Missions cannot be an afterthought for the Old Testament: it is the heart and core of the plan of God” (38). Walter desires for the church, to not only participate in blessing to the greatest of ability, but also to receive the supreme blessings the Lord has to offer us.
Purpose of the Author: “God’s eternal plan was to provide salvation for all peoples; it was never intended to be reserved for one special group, such as the Jews, even as an initial offer! It is the history of this offer and the way it was carried out in Old Testament times that will form the heart of our study here” (10). Through this book Kaiser wants his reader to understand the correlation or the connecting point between the Old Testament and New Testament pertaining to missions. Kaiser wants the reader to understand that Genesis is the beginning for the call of missions, not the New Testament. He yearns for the reader to reflect on what he has to say and not only share his burden, but act on it. Kaiser’s main purpose and focus is to fully define, expound, and elucidate the Old Testament mission in a way that his readers’ could have a better understanding. “Mission points to a central action: the act of being sent with a commission to carry out the will of a superior. It is God who commissions and God who sends” (11). “Israel was to be God’s missionaries to the world-and thereby so are all who believe in this same gospel” (20). Kaiser puts things into simple terms and charges us or challenges all of us “ Who will go?”
Plan of the book: Walter Kaiser’s main theme or plan, if you will, of the book is to refute the notion that the theme of missions inaugurated with the Great commission, but instead missions is a main theme throughout the Bible’s entirety. “ Thus this theme of a mission to the whole world for...
... middle of paper ...
...After reading this book I now have a greater knowledge and understanding for missions. As I said earlier it is God’s will that we are all called to be some form of missionary. When people think “missionary” they automatically think foreign land, but that’s not what the word missionary means. Going to a foreign land is just one form of being a missionary. We are all called or charged by God to be some form of a missionary.
Recommendation: I personally have benefited greatly from reading Mission in the Old Testament. At first when assigned this book I assumed it was a book only for those who are preparing to go into the mission field to be used as a guide and a tool, but as I later discovered that my assumption was wrong. Instead this book was written for anyone who desires to know God’s plan, God’s purpose, God’s will, and God’s call for their personal life. I also recommend it to be used in small study groups such as youth groups or a prayer meeting. I think every new and old Christian, if you will, should read this book. I myself have a greater knowledge and understanding of the Old Testament mission and like I said have a greater burden for God’s missionary plan and purpose.
N.T. Wright: During my first semester at Northwestern College, I was assigned the book, “The Challenge of Jesus” by N.T. Wright for one of my Biblical Studies courses. This book and every other book Tom Wright has written has dramatically impacted my Christian faith. Dr. Wright has not only defended the basic tenants of the Christian faith, but also has shown how an academically-minded pastor ought to love and care for his or her congregants. N.T. Wright was previously the Bishop of Durham and pastored some of the poorest in the United Kingdom. His pastoral ministry has helped shape his understanding of God’s kingdom-vision which he is diagramming within his magnum opus “Christian Origins and the Question of God”. This series has instructed myself and countless other pastors to be for God’s kingdom as we eagerly await Christ’s return. Additionally, I have had the privilege of meeting with N.T. Wright one-on-one on numerous occasions to discuss faith, the Church, and his research. I firmly believe Tom Wright is the greatest New Testament scholar of our generation and he is the primary reason why I feel called into ministry.
Carson, D. A. New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition. 4th ed. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994.
...ht and the damnation of the Children of Darkness. Much like the eschatological traits found in John, this message is one of hope and perseverance. Where John emphasizes the role of hope for the near future in which salvation was within reach, the War Scroll focuses on perseverance in the hope for the dawning of the battle between the Sons of Light and Sons of Darkness culminating in the abolition of evil and dualism. These thematic parallels are of significant value to the understanding of the influence of the community at Qumran on the author of the Fourth Gospel; so impressive are these parallels that they can not simply be attributed to the concept of a common Jewish milieu of late Second Temple Judaism. In eschatological terms, the corresponding ideals of the two communities are suggestive of a Johannine author who was influenced by the society at Qumran.
1. Carter’s book focuses on the diverse ways the Early Christians dealt with their world, where imperial politics, economics, culture, and religion were mixed together (x). Furthermore, the author organized his book around important imperial realities that New Testament writings negotiate (x). The audience for Carter’s book includes high school or college students, Bible study groups, Sunday school students, clergy, and scholars interested in insights about passages in the New Testament to study.
Gundry, Robert H., Ph.D. A Survey of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1970.
New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1997. Osborne, Grant R. Revelation. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002.
The Breakfast Club demonstrates the interpersonal concepts “I-It” and “I-Thou” as it follows students whose immediate reaction is to treat each other as nothing more than the stereotypical person their titles assume them to be; however, as the film progresses and the characters begin to develop friendships, the characters abandon the stereotypes and begin to look at each other as individuals who have unique personalities and stories.
LaSor, W., Hubbard, D., Bush, F., & Allen, L. (1996). Old Testament survey: The message, form, and background of the Old Testament (2nd ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans
The Bible student, laymen, or pastor will find the principles presented by Fee and Stuart helpful despite the weaknesses presented. The author’s contribution on how to interpret each of the different genres is especially beneficial. The Bible Student will have more knowledge of how to interpret God’s Word when finished with the work. Fee and Stuart achieve their goal helping the reader not only with interpretation, but with application.
In the days of Christ’s life on this earth, believers did not have access to the Bible in its entirety as we know and are familiar with today. Believers in this ancient time period only had access to the Old Testament. However, through their access to the Old Testament, believers were provided a foundation for New Testament times. This foundation provided New Testament believers with the Lord’s established principles of right and wrong they were expected to follow. In addition, the Old Testament is overflowing with accounts of people whose lives exemplified the future life of Christ on this earth. These pictures allowed the Israelite nation to begin to have an understanding of why Christ needed to come as their Messiah and the work He needed to do on earth. Finally, there are common themes that are interwoven throughout the entire Old Testament. Three of these themes: transgression, redemption, and consummation point to the purpose of Christ’s atoning death on the cross. These themes portray God’s work both in the lives of Old Testament believers, but they also foreshadow God’s desire and plan for believers in New Testament times and beyond.
New Revised Standard Version. New York: American Bible Society, 1989. Print. The. Russell, Eddie.
New Testament. Vol. 2. Edited by Gerhard Kittel. Translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1964.
The New Interpreter's Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version with the Apocrypha. Nashville: Abingdon Press, ©2003.
Levine, Amy –Jill and Douglas Knight. The Meaning of the Bible: What Jewish and Christian Old Testament Can Teach Us. New York: HarperOne, 2011
My call to ministry came in response to a question from the book of Isaiah: “When I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’” (Isaiah 6:8 NIV). Isaiah’s book is one of the more quoted books of the New Testament in Jewish history. The book speaks of the coming of Jesus and his second coming. It also talks about the prophecy on the fall of Babylon. Most of the prophets had visions, as did Isaiah.