ERIC A. SEIBERT. Enjoying the Old Testament: A Creative Guide to Encountering Scripture. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Press, 2021. Pp. 234. $28.00 (US)
As a biblical scholar who specializes in Hebrew Bible/Old Testament studies, I always appreciate coming across other Anabaptists who have an obvious love for the Old Testament. Eric Seibert’s enjoyment for this section of the Bible comes through quite clearly in this volume, and his passion for encouraging others echoes off the pages. Seibert writes this book primarily for those who are unfamiliar with, confused by, or troubled with the contents of the Old Testament. He then provides a wonderful collection of suggestions and resources for laypersons, Sunday school teachers, Bible study leaders, and pastors alike who desire to learn from these passages.
In Part 1, Seibert addresses important questions about why he sees a need for this book, drawing on his years of teaching undergraduate students at Messiah University as well as trends in the broader American Christian community. He makes the case for why the Old Testament still has value today and concludes with clarifying assumptions about how to approach this testament. Within these introductory chapters, Seibert’s fourth chapter, “Developing Realistic Expectations,” stands out as significant in helping the reader to understand the Old Testament on its own terms. He helpfully delves into topics such as the literary and theological diversity of the Old Testament, the cultural distance between ancient Israel and twenty-first century North America, and the reality that the Old Testament contains “challenging elements” that may “precipitate a faith crisis [or] a lack of desire to read more” (56). This forthright assessment helpfully prepares the reader who may be unaware of the more difficult and even violent passages contained in the Old Testament.
In Part 2 of the book, Seibert transitions to offering techniques for reading the Old Testament, with one chapter dedicated to the narrative genre, another to prophetic texts, and a third to legal material. These chapters provide a somewhat theoretical approach to reading strategies and techniques, such as learning to recognize the purpose of repetition in narrative and using maps to understand the significance of places named in the Old Testament. The final chapter of this section addresses head-on one of the challenges that often faces Christian readers of the Old Testament: what to do with the parts of the Old Testament that don’t appear to support contemporary Christian views of God. These passages include those that are especially violent (of particular concern for pacifist Anabaptists), those that offend modern moral sensibilities, and those that have been used to harm others. Seibert offers both theoretical and practical ways to reconcile these issues, while at the same time being honest about the challenges that these passages present.
Part 3 turns from theoretical suggestions to practical hands-on methods for engaging the text. Seibert suggests a variety of learning activities that could work equally well for individuals and groups. There are a few charts, lists, and diagrams that could be adapted for use in Sunday school or other teaching situations. This section deals generally with a variety of approaches that could be used with any type of Old Testament passage, and also includes a chapter on how to structure the study of individual Old Testament books, with examples from the books of Jonah and Exodus. This section concludes with some words of encouragement and advice. I particularly appreciated the reminder to resist the desire to arrive too quickly at a “right” meaning, at a correct interpretation (220) but rather to enjoy the experience of reading and the journey of interacting with the biblical text and opening oneself to being changed by that encounter.
Throughout the book, the delights of the Old Testament are evident. However, at times Seibert seems too apologetic for the Old Testament that he so clearly loves, conceding the point that the Old Testament is boring and spending an entire chapter explaining why the Old Testament has fallen by the wayside for many Christian Bible readers. Using that space to tell engaging stories of the Old Testament or provide examples of how the Old Testament is used in churches today may have done more to help the reader see the pleasure and reward of reading the Old Testament. The places where Seibert reveals his own love for the Old Testament were highlights, and even more of that personal sharing would have been welcomed.
My one hesitation with the book is its view of Israel, and by extension, Judaism. In providing Jesus as an interpretive lens for a Christian reading of Scripture Seibert follows a familiar pattern of interpreting the Old Testament through the New Testament: “If Jesus is the fullest and clearest revelation of God’s character, then it stands to reason that Old Testament portrayals most in line with the God Jesus reveals are the most accurate” (142-143). However, lines such as “To put it bluntly, Israel didn’t always get God right” (142) beg for more sensitivity to Jewish readers of the Hebrew Scriptures, and a more nuanced understanding of the many representations of God in the pages of the Old Testament. This challenge of how to understand Israel and the view of God in the Old Testament in light of Jesus is not unique to Seibert, but rather one that Anabaptists/Brethren in Christ readers, and maybe all Christians, need to wrestle with in serious ways.
Overall, this is an excellent book for laypersons and pastors who feel more confident in their knowledge and approaches to the New Testament than the Old Testament. Seibert provides a diverse range of reading strategies and approaches that allows readers to journey through the Old Testament and be blessed by the richness of these texts. The goal to “increase our interest in the Old Testament by demonstrating how reading it can be both pleasurable and rewarding” (8) is achieved quite well.
As a biblical scholar who specializes in Hebrew Bible/Old Testament studies, I always appreciate coming across other Anabaptists who have an obvious love for the Old Testament. Eric Seibert’s enjoyment for this section of the Bible comes through quite clearly in this volume, and his passion for encouraging others echoes off the pages. Seibert writes this book primarily for those who are unfamiliar with, confused by, or troubled with the contents of the Old Testament. He then provides a wonderful collection of suggestions and resources for laypersons, Sunday school teachers, Bible study leaders, and pastors alike who desire to learn from these passages.
In Part 1, Seibert addresses important questions about why he sees a need for this book, drawing on his years of teaching undergraduate students at Messiah University as well as trends in the broader American Christian community. He makes the case for why the Old Testament still has value today and concludes with clarifying assumptions about how to approach this testament. Within these introductory chapters, Seibert’s fourth chapter, “Developing Realistic Expectations,” stands out as significant in helping the reader to understand the Old Testament on its own terms. He helpfully delves into topics such as the literary and theological diversity of the Old Testament, the cultural distance between ancient Israel and twenty-first century North America, and the reality that the Old Testament contains “challenging elements” that may “precipitate a faith crisis [or] a lack of desire to read more” (56). This forthright assessment helpfully prepares the reader who may be unaware of the more difficult and even violent passages contained in the Old Testament.
In Part 2 of the book, Seibert transitions to offering techniques for reading the Old Testament, with one chapter dedicated to the narrative genre, another to prophetic texts, and a third to legal material. These chapters provide a somewhat theoretical approach to reading strategies and techniques, such as learning to recognize the purpose of repetition in narrative and using maps to understand the significance of places named in the Old Testament. The final chapter of this section addresses head-on one of the challenges that often faces Christian readers of the Old Testament: what to do with the parts of the Old Testament that don’t appear to support contemporary Christian views of God. These passages include those that are especially violent (of particular concern for pacifist Anabaptists), those that offend modern moral sensibilities, and those that have been used to harm others. Seibert offers both theoretical and practical ways to reconcile these issues, while at the same time being honest about the challenges that these passages present.
Part 3 turns from theoretical suggestions to practical hands-on methods for engaging the text. Seibert suggests a variety of learning activities that could work equally well for individuals and groups. There are a few charts, lists, and diagrams that could be adapted for use in Sunday school or other teaching situations. This section deals generally with a variety of approaches that could be used with any type of Old Testament passage, and also includes a chapter on how to structure the study of individual Old Testament books, with examples from the books of Jonah and Exodus. This section concludes with some words of encouragement and advice. I particularly appreciated the reminder to resist the desire to arrive too quickly at a “right” meaning, at a correct interpretation (220) but rather to enjoy the experience of reading and the journey of interacting with the biblical text and opening oneself to being changed by that encounter.
Throughout the book, the delights of the Old Testament are evident. However, at times Seibert seems too apologetic for the Old Testament that he so clearly loves, conceding the point that the Old Testament is boring and spending an entire chapter explaining why the Old Testament has fallen by the wayside for many Christian Bible readers. Using that space to tell engaging stories of the Old Testament or provide examples of how the Old Testament is used in churches today may have done more to help the reader see the pleasure and reward of reading the Old Testament. The places where Seibert reveals his own love for the Old Testament were highlights, and even more of that personal sharing would have been welcomed.
My one hesitation with the book is its view of Israel, and by extension, Judaism. In providing Jesus as an interpretive lens for a Christian reading of Scripture Seibert follows a familiar pattern of interpreting the Old Testament through the New Testament: “If Jesus is the fullest and clearest revelation of God’s character, then it stands to reason that Old Testament portrayals most in line with the God Jesus reveals are the most accurate” (142-143). However, lines such as “To put it bluntly, Israel didn’t always get God right” (142) beg for more sensitivity to Jewish readers of the Hebrew Scriptures, and a more nuanced understanding of the many representations of God in the pages of the Old Testament. This challenge of how to understand Israel and the view of God in the Old Testament in light of Jesus is not unique to Seibert, but rather one that Anabaptists/Brethren in Christ readers, and maybe all Christians, need to wrestle with in serious ways.
Overall, this is an excellent book for laypersons and pastors who feel more confident in their knowledge and approaches to the New Testament than the Old Testament. Seibert provides a diverse range of reading strategies and approaches that allows readers to journey through the Old Testament and be blessed by the richness of these texts. The goal to “increase our interest in the Old Testament by demonstrating how reading it can be both pleasurable and rewarding” (8) is achieved quite well.