Author(s): James Franklin*
Modern Old Testament theology can be traced back to Johann Gabler, a German Enlightenment scholar, in the latter part of the 18th century. He disagreed with the prevalent view that the Bible's function was to present divine truths for the discipline of church dogmatics to arrange in systematic order. Instead, Gabler attempted to find a middle ground between biblical theology as a method of systematic theology and biblical theology as a historical exercise with the goal of reconstructing the history of Israelite religious ideas and using the Bible's most important, universal ideas to address contemporary issues. (Classical Old Testament Theologies) Until the latter part of the 20th century, this distinction dominated biblical theology, allowing for the distinction between ancient belief and contemporary faith. The historical-critical model of biblical interpretation's undeniable dominance and the primacy of human reason as a knowledge source have, however, been severely undermined in recent years. Gabler's long-standing dichotomy began to dissipate, and the two areas began to collaborate on a common project. In Old Testament theologies that emphasized the role of creation, history came to be at least partially eclipsed, and some canonical approaches displaced it almost entirely (The Transition from History to Creation and Canon). Newer approaches, such as feminist, liberation, and postcolonial strategies, that originate from historically underrepresented cultural contexts, have only accelerated this trend (New Approaches to Old Testament Theologies). Even though scholars varying worldviews, ethnic identities, and shifting cultures have always been reflected in theology, this has only recently been explicitly acknowledged. We have moved beyond the exciting times of the search for a single biblical theology in an irreversible manner. The field of Old Testament theology is now flooded with numerous approaches and descriptions. This extensive variety, which exemplifies the diversity of human communities and cultures, has the potential to offer fresh perspectives on what it means to be human.
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