'He began with Moses...': Preaching the Old Testament Today
Dr. Grenville Kent, lecturer in Wesley Institute's School of Theology, and a team of scholars, theologians and writers from every continent except Antarctica have recently released the Inter-Varsity Press publication, ‘He began with Moses…’: Preaching the Old Testament Today (titled Reclaiming the Old Testament for Christian Preaching in the U.S.A.). The text features a collection of essays from leading Christian scholar-preachers from a range of church traditions who seek to reveal the relevance of the Old Testament in life today.
“[The Old Testament] is ancient, sometimes dark, gritty, gory, sexy, and very challenging, but it's fascinating and surprising to most church audiences,” said Grenville. ‘He began with Moses…’ encourages readers to tackle the often-neglected 78% of the Bible.
As co-editor, Grenville and the editorial team, including Dr Laurence Turner (London) and Dr Paul Kissling (Vienna), chose chapter topics and the authors, critiqued articles, worked with the writers to strengthen their first drafts, and wrote the introduction and title. One of Grenville’s favourite chapters, written by a Pentecostal pastor-scholar in Manila, discusses how to connect audiences with the psalms of lament and complaint.
Speaking on Old Testament literature, Grenville commented, “Above all, it presents the same amazing God as we see in the New Testament, and His various covenants of grace with people in radically different cultures. It shows the gospel of salvation by grace alone in the sacrifice of Christ alone - as symbolised by lamb sacrifice. “
A project over 18 months in the making, the book is now being sold all around the world.
Reviews:
"We are fortunate to be studying and preaching on the Old Testament at a time when critical study has produced many approaches to the Old Testament that will aid the preacher. That would have been inconceivable a few decades ago. This volume is a most useful guide to the way those approaches resource preaching on different kinds of texts in the Old Testament."
—John Goldingay, David Allan Hubbard Professor of Old Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary
"InterVarsity Press and the team of pastors and scholars who worked on Reclaiming the Old Testament are to be congratulated on producing a much-needed monograph with some very practical suggestions on how to understand the message of the Old Testament. While not every suggestion will be adopted by all, the conversation is extremely important if we are ever going to get back to teaching and preaching the full counsel of God. Laypersons will profit from reading this text as much as the clergy, for each of the chapters hits on some of the major issues of our day."
—Walter C. Kaiser Jr., President Emeritus, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
"This book offers a thorough discussion of the various tasks facing the Christian preacher in proclaiming the gospel from the pages of the Old Testament. Particularly unique among recent treatments of this sort is the fact that each of the contributors is a noted Old Testament professor, scholar and proven preacher in his or her own right. Also, each seeks to encounter the gospel not only within the New Testament but from within the Old Testament as well. The contributors are thus much more inclined to look for their answers to Old Testament problems and hermeneutical guidelines from within the Old Testament itself. Also helpful is the example sermon included with each chapter."
—John H. Sailhamer, author of The Meaning of the Pentateuch
"There has never been a better time to preach. We have more resources available to guide our understanding of the text than any generation of preachers in human history. But sometimes it feels like we're drowning in information while starving for wisdom. This volume will help create a generation of genuinely thoughtful preachers who can teach people to love God with their minds. It can guide us to preaching that has integrity, power and authority."
—John Ortberg, pastor, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, California
"I have found that nothing brings greater joy than preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ from the Scriptures of the Old Testament. This masterful collection of essays will help contemporary preachers understand, proclaim and apply all the genres of Old Testament literature with greater depth and clarity."
—Philip Graham Ryken, president, Wheaton College
To purchase, ‘He began with Moses…’: Preaching the Old Testament Today, please visit http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9781844744480/He-Began-with-Moses...
