If you walk through the stacks in the New Orleans Baptist Library you'll find hundreds of Old Testament theological books. Within my seminar, I was required to read and know only a handful of theological works. In preparation for my oral exams, I'd like to offer a simple organization of the required reading. This is by no means a full list of theological works, nor a full list of methods of understanding OT Theology.
- The Cross-section method, which utilizes a single theme to explain the Old Testament contents (Eichrodt)
- The Diachronic method, which charts the use of basic traditions in the Old Testament (Von Rad)
- Genetic-Progressive method, this method charts the progression of theological eras throughout scripture. (Oehler, Lehman, Clements- these weren't required but I read them for my paper.)
- Critical method, question whether Old Testament Theology can be done at all (James Barr and John J. Collins)
- The Multiplex canonical method, Four main points: a canonical approach, a summary of concepts and themes, combination methodological schemes, analysis without following the specific order of Hebrew canon. (Hassel)
My preference of Theological methods is the Cross-Section method. Due to my training under several theologians and pastors, I've accepted that covenant is the most central theme to understand the whole of Scripture. Though many call this type of theology "Covenantal theology," it is indeed Cross-Section method. The next post will deal with this method and what many consider to be their "meta" or theme utilized in this method.
For a fuller study on these and other types of Old Testament theologies see: Paul R. House, Old Testament Theology: https://www.amazon.com/Old-Testament-Theology-Paul-House/dp/0830815236
