I am aware that may appear like a self-serving post, but I will plow on. Lately I have been considering which books are worthy of re-reading and I thought it may be interesting to see which have a better “replay” value (at least subjectively).
Tag: Dominion and Dynasty
I’m a bit late to the game on this one, but I just finished reading Stephen Demspster’s JETS article “Canons on the Right and Canons on the Left: Finding a Resolution in the Canon Debate” (PDF) and it was a fascinating argument for an early established Old Testament canon (before Jesus’ time), and also gave some theological bases for the Hebrew OT order. For readers of Dominion and Dynasty (my review), some of this is familiar territory – though he does go in more depth here. However, I would like to share some interesting parallels Dempster drew between Psalms 1 and 2 serving as a dual-opening to the Writings collection.
» Read the entire post: Reverberations in Psalms 1 & 2 (Stephen Dempster) »
Is the Old Testament just a collection of loosely related books? Or is it fair to consider it a ‘book’ in its own right, with discernible plot, characters, and recurring themes tying together the individual ‘books’? In Dominion and Dynasty Stephen Dempster attempts to illustrate the latter, believing that, “the Hebrew Bible, despite being composed of many texts, is not for that reason precluded from being a Text” (21). Seeing the OT canon as a carefully composed Text, Dempster attempts to read it in a literary manner, emphasizing the unity. A unique element in this book is Dempster’s reliance on the Hebrew canonical order, rather than the one we find in our English Bibles today. He holds that this is how the OT would have appeared to Jesus (36), and therefore it is important for us to see it as He did.
» Read the entire post: Review: Dominion and Dynasty by Stephen Dempster »
This post is long overdue, since I’ve read and written reviews of both Dominion and Dynasty and Paul and Judaism Revisited! But I like to a) keep readers up to date, and b) keep publishers in the loop with the books that I’ve received so that everything is above board.
Our Bibles today follow a different order than that found in the Hebrew Bible. Why? Is there a correct order, and if so, which is it? In this post I would like to present a few unfinished thoughts on this question and hopefully spark some discussion.
» Read the entire post: Do We Read the Old Testament in the Right Order? »
