Knowing Jesus Through The Old Testament Analysis
LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
A CRITIQUE OF CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT’S
“KNOWING JESUS THROUGH THE OLD TESTAMENT”
AN ESSAY SUBMITTED TO DR. CURTIS FITZGERALD
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
THE COURSE OBST 591
LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
BY
MARTA N. LUNA
LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2013
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 3
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE BOOK 3
CRITICAL INTERACTION 5
CONCLUSION 9
BIBLIOGRAPHY 10
INTRODUCTION
Dr. Christopher J. H. Wright, (Ph.D., Cambridge), author of Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament,1 is an academic scholar of Old Testament ethics, who taught at the Union Biblical Seminary (1983-1988) and served as Director …show more content…
The writings of the Old Testament take central importance as the author elaborates the concepts of the promise, Jesus’ identity, His mission, and the values found in the Old Testament, while taking the reader from father Abraham to the lineage of David, continuing with the exile account, and climaxing with Jesus’ era. It is the intent of this essay to convey, in agreement with the author, the value of the Old Testament in understanding the life, purpose and scope of the ministry of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and how devaluated the study of the Old Testament has been in many of the Christian churches.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE BOOK
Dr. Wright’s book begins by presenting his position and reason for writing the book, focusing on the life of Jesus and the purpose for His coming.2 It is immediately followed by a presentation of Jesus’ humanity (Matthew 1-4)3 seen as member of the house of David, raised in the ways of the traditional Jewish upbringing. First, the history and genealogy of the Hebrews is utilized to explain the importance of God’s decision in choosing Abraham, to whom He issued the promise to …show more content…
Wright’s strengths in his argument: as he discusses the Old Testament and Jesus’ identity, Wright manages to dissolve the erroneous belief of foreshadows or pre-figurations of Jesus that many find in the Old Testament; yet, it is known that there are types, but their objective is not to pre-figure.14 He advises Christians not to consider typology an exegetical tool “…because it is selective in the texts it uses form the Old Testament…” and “…it is limited in the meaning it extracts from those selected texts”, but as study tool to understand who Jesus is in “light of the Old Testament.” 15 Another argument is the belief that Israel had all merits necessary to be the chosen people,16 and that this is the reason why God chose them among all nations. To this misconception, Dr. Wright responds stating that Israel’s reason for being is concealed in the promise given to Abraham, which included being a blessing to other nations.17 He also makes a good defense on the matter of salvation being attained by the mercy of God and His over abundant grace towards men, not attained by works.18 Wright’s prominence on the theme of obedience provides a clear understanding of its benefits to whosoever follows it.19 Finally, great defense was presented in his explanation of holiness as being more than a ritual, rather it is to love your neighbor as you love yourself.20 In discussing the fulfillment of the promise, the reader
A CRITIQUE OF CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT’S
“KNOWING JESUS THROUGH THE OLD TESTAMENT”
AN ESSAY SUBMITTED TO DR. CURTIS FITZGERALD
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
THE COURSE OBST 591
LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
BY
MARTA N. LUNA
LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2013
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 3
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE BOOK 3
CRITICAL INTERACTION 5
CONCLUSION 9
BIBLIOGRAPHY 10
INTRODUCTION
Dr. Christopher J. H. Wright, (Ph.D., Cambridge), author of Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament,1 is an academic scholar of Old Testament ethics, who taught at the Union Biblical Seminary (1983-1988) and served as Director …show more content…
The writings of the Old Testament take central importance as the author elaborates the concepts of the promise, Jesus’ identity, His mission, and the values found in the Old Testament, while taking the reader from father Abraham to the lineage of David, continuing with the exile account, and climaxing with Jesus’ era. It is the intent of this essay to convey, in agreement with the author, the value of the Old Testament in understanding the life, purpose and scope of the ministry of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and how devaluated the study of the Old Testament has been in many of the Christian churches.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE BOOK
Dr. Wright’s book begins by presenting his position and reason for writing the book, focusing on the life of Jesus and the purpose for His coming.2 It is immediately followed by a presentation of Jesus’ humanity (Matthew 1-4)3 seen as member of the house of David, raised in the ways of the traditional Jewish upbringing. First, the history and genealogy of the Hebrews is utilized to explain the importance of God’s decision in choosing Abraham, to whom He issued the promise to …show more content…
Wright’s strengths in his argument: as he discusses the Old Testament and Jesus’ identity, Wright manages to dissolve the erroneous belief of foreshadows or pre-figurations of Jesus that many find in the Old Testament; yet, it is known that there are types, but their objective is not to pre-figure.14 He advises Christians not to consider typology an exegetical tool “…because it is selective in the texts it uses form the Old Testament…” and “…it is limited in the meaning it extracts from those selected texts”, but as study tool to understand who Jesus is in “light of the Old Testament.” 15 Another argument is the belief that Israel had all merits necessary to be the chosen people,16 and that this is the reason why God chose them among all nations. To this misconception, Dr. Wright responds stating that Israel’s reason for being is concealed in the promise given to Abraham, which included being a blessing to other nations.17 He also makes a good defense on the matter of salvation being attained by the mercy of God and His over abundant grace towards men, not attained by works.18 Wright’s prominence on the theme of obedience provides a clear understanding of its benefits to whosoever follows it.19 Finally, great defense was presented in his explanation of holiness as being more than a ritual, rather it is to love your neighbor as you love yourself.20 In discussing the fulfillment of the promise, the reader