Reading the Old Testament as Christian Scripture: A Literary, Canonical, and Theological Survey

FORTHCOMING TITLE, ETA MAY 2025

This survey textbook by two respected Old Testament scholars is designed to meet the needs of contemporary undergraduate students. The book effectively covers the Old Testament books and major topics in the Old Testament, assuming no prior academic study of the Bible.

Mark Gignilliat and Heath Thomas pay attention to the subject matter of the Old Testament: God's revelation of himself. Their focus is on the triune God and God's engagement with the world. The authors attend to the Old Testament's literary, theological, and historical dimensions and explore how these texts are received and interpreted in Christian (and Jewish) tradition. The book is organized according to the Hebrew structure of the Old Testament: Law, Prophets, and Writings. The authors utilize this structure to generate numerous interpretive and theological insights as well as fresh avenues of discovery for Christian readers who may lack familiarity with the Hebrew ordering of the Old Testament documents. Chapters can be assigned in any order, making this an ideal textbook for one-semester courses.

Beautifully designed in full color, this addition to the Reading Christian Scripture series offers a full array of pedagogical aids that hold interest and aid learning: photographs, sidebars, maps, time lines, charts, glossary, and discussion questions. Additional resources for instructors and students are available through Textbook eSources.

1. Introduction to the Old Testament as Christian Scripture
2. Introduction to the Pentateuch
3. Genesis
4. Exodus
5. Leviticus
6. Numbers
7. Deuteronomy
8. Introduction to the Prophets
9. Joshua
10. Judges
11. 1-2 Samuel
12. 1-2 Kings
13. Isaiah
14. Jeremiah
15. Ezekiel
16. The Minor Prophets or the Book of the Twelve--Hosea through Malachi
17. Introduction to the Writings
18. Psalms
19. Job
20. Proverbs
21. Ruth
22. Song of Solomon
23. Ecclesiastes
24. Lamentations
25. Esther
26. Daniel
27. Ezra-Nehemiah
28. 1-2 Chronicles
Glossary
Index

448 pages.

"In their Reading the Old Testament as Christian Scripture, Mark Gignilliat and Heath Thomas brilliantly illustrate the layered complexity of interpreting the Old Testament as Christian Scripture. Drawing on the full range of commentary, from Jerome and Augustine to the present, they engage both the beauty and the challenges of the Old Testament, always with an alertness to the questions posed by the modern Christian reader, and with helpful pointers to application. Their book-by-book introduction is enhanced by lavish illustrations from Christian art, informative sidebars, elegant and cultivated writing, and above all a deeply learned sensitivity to the particularities of the Old Testament books understood as witnesses to Christ."

J. Gordon McConville, professor emeritus of Old Testament theology, University of Gloucestershire