Method and Old Testament Theology: Barr, Brueggemann, and Goldingay Considered

Abstract

In the past several years two of the English speaking world’s most influential Old Testament scholars, Walter Brueggemann and John Goldingay, have produced lengthy volumes of Old Testament theology. In the same period James Barr has produced a comprehensive methodological reflection on Old Testament theology. Barr raises a number of key issues which continue to inform the discipline. The theologies of Brueggemann and Goldingay each in different ways illustrate these methodological issues, and may be critiqued in their light. What emerges when this is done is an appreciation of two Old Testament theologians whose rigorous readings of the final form of the text produce significant insights for both the church and the academy. In the opinion of this reviewer the particular methodological strengths of Goldingay are those that are most likely to prove helpful both for the ongoing development of Old Testament theology and for the church’s reading of the Old Testament.