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This course will provide an introduction to the the main groups of texts that comprise the Old Testament, and introduce the arc of the Old Testament narrative by exploring four central themes: creation, covenant, prophecy and kingship. At times the themes overlap, but in general, the course follows the biblical narrative from Genesis to the Book of Kings. We will see that these four themes are open-ended; they shaped the theological imaginations of later biblical writers, who adapted them to their own historical time and style of writing.
Each week there will be a range of suggested readings that can be used to prepare for the sessions; then in the seminar itself, the tutor will explore the biblical texts, and their context, meaning and use – and ask what we can make of them today.
Week 1: Overview of the Old Testament
The aim of this first week is to help us get a sense of the Scriptures as a whole and the Old Testament in particular. The main sections of the Old Testament are identified and outlined.
Week 2: Creation
We begin our exploration of the Old Testament by turning to the Book of Genesis. We explore the two Creation stories and the story of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 1-3). We reflect on how the Creation accounts and the story of the Garden shed light on our circumstances today.
Week 3: Covenant
What is a covenant? We examine the covenant with Noah after the flood, the covenant with Abraham, and the covenant at Sinai.
Week 4: Prophecy
Who and what were the Prophets? How do we interpret their message? We take an overview of Prophecy in the Old Testament by identifying six key features of Biblical Prophecy.
Week 5: Kingship We look at the historical period of kings that is recounted in the Bible, particularly in the books of 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings. We explore the meaning of Kingship and the term "Messiah".
This week we will be working on a roadmap of the Christian Old Testament and the Hebrew Tanach. We’ll start thinking about the history of its compilation – when and why the authors wrote what they did - and begin to consider the different ways of reading the varied genres of writing found in it.
To prepare for this session just leaf through a copy of the Catholic version of the Old Testament (we’d recommend the Jerusalem Study Bible version) and see what you notice. Read Brian Purfield’s introduction. You can use the other two readings either as preparation or follow-up.
Reading
Brian Purfield Introduction to the Old Testament
Lawrence Boadt, Reading the Old Testament, 2nd ed. revised & updated by Richard Clifford & Daniel Harrington, (Paulist Press New York 2012) p.11-25
John Barton, A History of the Bible: The Book & Its Faiths (Penguin Random House, UK 2019) p.311-326.
This week we will explore creation narratives in the Old Testament. We’ll see that the theology of the creator God emerges from an intercultural dialogue with other traditions in the Near and Middle East, and in a specific historical context. We’ll explore the relationship between the themes of the Genesis creation narrative and the subsequent history of God’s people.
Reading
Genesis 1:1 – 2:4a
Psalm 89 (88): 5-16
Isaiah 40: 12-26
Genesis 2:4b-25
Pontifical Biblical Commission, The Inspiration & Truth of Sacred Scripture (CTS London, 2014) n.67.
Michael Coogan, The Old Testament. A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2008, pp.33-42
Hermann Spieckermann, “Creation: God and World” in John Barton (ed.), The Hebrew Bible. A Critical Companion, Princeton University Press, Oxford, 2016, pp.271-292.
The God of the Old Testament is above all the God who enters freely into a special relationship with God’s people. The term used frequently throughout is ‘covenant’ – a contract, or formal undertaking. In this session we will explore some of the different covenant-making scenes. We’ll notice the way the meaning of the word ‘covenant’ shifts between the formal expression of a contract and a deeper expression of personal relationship in a dynamic and often difficult history.
Reading
Genesis 6-9 The covenant with Noah
Genesis 15 & 17 The covenant with Abraham
Exodus 19-24 The covenant at Sinai Jeremiah 31:31-34 The new covenant
Dominik Markl, “God’s Covenants with Humanity and Israel” in John Barton (ed.), The Hebrew Bible. A Critical Companion, Princeton University Press, Oxford, 2016, pp.312-337.
Christians are used to reading or hearing extracts from the Old Testament prophets as ‘about’ the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth. But some of the earliest oldest text in the Bible derives from them and indeed shapes the theology of the Bible’s history writers. So who were the prophets in their own time? What were they responding to and what were they doing with their words? We’ll be looking at prophetic writings in their historical context and then exploring how those writings were received by some in the Jewish world of Jesus’ time.
Reading
Jeremiah 1:4-19
Amos 7:14-16
Isaiah 40:1-11
Luke 4:16-21
Pontifical Biblical Commission, The Inspiration & Truth of Sacred Scripture (CTS London, 2014) n.13-14.
William Sanford Lasor, David Allan Hubbard, Frederic William Bush, “Prophets and Prophecy” in Old Testament Survey (Eerdmans, Cambridge, 1996) pp.221-230.
R.G. Kratz, “The Prophetic Literature” in John Barton (ed.), The Hebrew Bible. A Critical Companion (Princeton University Press, Oxford, 2016) p.133-159.
For just over 500 years the peoples of the territories known as Israel (or Samaria) and Judah were ruled by kings. The ruler was marked by a rite of anointing with oil as ‘Mashiach’: the ‘anointed one’, or (to use the Greek word) ‘Christos’. The archetypal, legendary monarch was David, whose story is told in the books of Samuel and the first book of Chronicles. Many of the Psalms attributed to him speak of a special, covenant relationship between God and King, as the chosen rescuer of the people. But how does this narrative of kingship relate to the other theological narratives of the Old Testament? We’ll explore the ambiguities of kingship in the ancient Biblical texts, set against some of the new Jewish Messianic expectations that emerged at the time of Jesus.
Reading
1 Samuel 8 1 Kings 19
2 Samuel 7 Jeremiah 7:29-8:3
Ezekiel 34 2 Kings 24: 8-17; 27-30.
Pierre Grelot, “King” in Dictionary of Biblical Theology, Xavier Leon-Dufour (ed.), London: Chapman 1978, pp.288-292.
Garrett Galvin, David’s Successors: Kingship in the Old Testament, Liturgical Press, Collegeville Minnesota 2016, pp.5-12
John Barton, The Bible – The Basics, 2nd ed., Routledge, London, 2019.
Lawrence Boadt, Reading the Old Testament, 2nd ed. revised & updated by Richard Clifford & Daniel Harrington, Paulist Press, New York, 2012.
Andrew Davis, Exploring the Old Testament, Twenty Third Publications, New London CT, 2018.
John Drane, Introducing the Old Testament, 4th ed., Lion Hudson Ltd, Oxford, 2019.
Adrian Graffy, Alive and Active: The Old Testament Beyond 2000, Columba Press, Dublin, 1998.
The Bible Timeline Course (devised by Jeff Cavins) delivered by Mauro Iannicelli over 8 weeks – for more information go to www.comeandsee.org
With thanks to Brian Purfield, who has compiled the reading material for this course.
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
John Moffatt SJ works at the London Jesuit Centre. His first degree was in Classics. He taught in London secondary schools intermittently between 1985 and 2016 and has worked briefly in University Chaplaincy. He has been involved with teenage and adult faith education in Britain and South Africa and has recently completed a doctorate in medieval Islamic philosophy.
