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BY ROBIN ROUTLEDGE
– A CRITICAL INTERACTION
by
Elke B. Speliopoulos
Downingtown, PA
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
SETTING A FRAMEWORK..........................................................................................................1
DISCUSSION..................................................................................................................................2
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................................7
1
INTRODUCTION
Involving the writings of many authors utilizing many literature genres during many time
periods, the Hebrew Scriptures present the challenge of gleaning a biblical theology from its
pages for those seeking deeper meaning. Understanding what God meant to convey to his people
In addition, the 21st century Western church has been rather neglectful of fostering
biblical literacy, which has led to a decline in overall Bible knowledge, but to an even larger
extent of the Old Testament. Due to its profound yet understandable insights, Routledge’s book
is a welcome addition to the offering of scholarly work on the biblical theology of the Old
Testament, and can serve as an excellent tool in equipping pastors and Bible students to better
SETTING A FRAMEWORK
Routledge does not wait too long to tell us about how he will organize the information he
seeks to convey: the title of the book itself tells his readers that he will use a thematic approach.
Before exploring these themes, however, Routledge takes a somewhat lengthy excursion into the
scholarly work done in the area of Old Testament theology. Of some importance to the reader are
two 20th century German theologians highlighted who serve as major contributors of ideas and
counter-ideas in the remainder of the book: Walter Eichrodt and Gerhard von Rad, both of whom
reacted with a return to biblical theology to the history of religions approach, which was largely
From the historical review of the development of Old Testament theology, Routledge
proceeds to investigate the themes of the Old Testament via the vehicles of the depiction of God,
creation, election and covenant, worship and sacrifice, prophetic and wisdom instructions,
1
Robin Routledge, Old Testament Theology: A Thematic Approach (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic,
2008), 32-37.
2
kingship in Israel, ethical considerations, eschatology and mission to the nations. While offering
great insights into the message of the Old Testament, Routledge stays at a level of writing that
even those who are not deeply engrossed in Old Testament studies can gain great value, yet
offers an (almost over-)abundance of footnotes to allow for follow-up studies to a much deeper
level.
DISCUSSION
From the very first pages, Routledge provides insights into the Old Testament that propel
the reader to immediately pay attention. Reviewing the canonical order of the Christian Old
Testament vs. the Hebrew Scriptures and discussing the willingness by Jewish scholars to live
with the tensions in the text, Routledge gives an insight into why Jewish scholars are less willing
to enter the discipline of biblical theology than their Christian counterparts: just as the New
Testament is critical to Christian understanding, the Mishnah and Talmud are inseparable from
For his readers coming from an evangelical Christian mindset, it appears important to
Routledge to remind them that when the Old Testament is spiritualized or Christianized, or
simply serves as backdrop for sermons, the danger arises that meaning might be imposed on it
that the original text does not bear. Routledge thus fears that the Old Testament is not allowed to
Yet focusing on the text alone also poses a challenge as external ideas might yet be
applied to it and since, according to Routledge, it is critical that “we also recognize that God
exists as a theological entity outside the text: he is not merely a character in a literary
construction”.3 To provide a framework for the derivation of a biblical theology, three critical
1
Ibid., 20.
2
Ibid., 26.
3
Ibid., 63.
3
elements need to be considered: author, text and reader. At the same time, there are three
‘worlds’ behind the text: the one behind the text, representing the world of the author, the one
within the text and the one in front of the text, which represents the world of the reader.4 In
laying out this framework to investigate the text, Routledge stays in the generally accepted
Regrettably, while Routledge offers insights along the way in his book into viewpoints
other scholars express, he tends to not differentiate sufficiently whether he agrees with the cited
scholar’s opinion or not, leaving the reader to come to his or her own conclusion of whether
Routledge aligns with the expressed thought. An example here is the dating of the book of
Daniel, which Routledge states to be dated by many scholars around 165 BC5. There is no
indication to the reader whether or not Routledge agrees with this late dating, which would be a
critical element in evangelical thought, as Daniel’s prophecies speak of rulers and events dating
much into his future and therefore speak to the omniscience of God as expressed in the words of
Daniel. Likewise, in Routledge’s discussion of the afterlife, he makes a similar statement about
the dating of Daniel, again with no qualifier of when he sees the writing or whom he sees as the
author.6
On the other hand, Routledge does offer an opinion on the interpretation of certain
elements of the text, such as when he discusses Wisdom and expresses his conclusion that the
idea of a personification of Wisdom fits better within the context of the Old Testament than the
alternate view of a hypostasis, or Wisdom approximating a separate divine being7. For a student
4
Ibid., 64.
5
Ibid., 300.
6
Ibid., 307.
7
Ibid., 221.
4
of the Bible, these interpretations are important, especially since Routledge offers a much
The discussion of human personality by Routledge is impressive and offers deep insights
into what exactly makes up this creature called man, according to the writers of the Old
Testament9. Even more profound is Routledge’s statement that “the OT does not view human
personality as tripartite (body, soul and spirit), or even bipartite (flesh and spirit); in the OT
human personality is a unity”.10 This shows how far Routledge seeks to truly find the biblical
theology of the Old Testament, rather than pressing a Christian New Testament perspective on
the text, which considers much more than the Old Testament the aspects of an afterlife and what
implications this has for the unity of nepeš, rûaH, lëb and bäSär.
One surprising and new element are Routledge’s highlighting of the connection between
the various covenants, but even more so what makes them critical to a Christian reader’s
understanding. Discussing God’s promises to Abraham, Routledge underlines that already here
God’s desire to expand the reach of his blessings, as “the divine blessing will extend to the whole
world” 11. He continues that in order “to share the blessing, the nations must also be brought to
share the relationship”12. As to the relationship between the covenants, Routledge brings
examples of partial fulfillment of one in another, such as the Sinaitic covenant partially fulfilling
the Abrahamic by calling Israel to serve as a nation of priests, and therefore offering a
8
Ibid, footnote 44.
9
Routledge, Old Testament Theology: A Thematic Approach, 143-47.
10
Ibid., 146.
11
Ibid., 167.
12
Ibid.
13
Ibid., 324.
5
Routledge takes great pain to emphasize that “covenants have to with relationship”14,
bringing with them by default a conditional element. Likewise, not just for the Israelites, but for
all people and people groups stepping into a relationship with God, while “the promises and their
ultimate fulfillment are sure, …people can choose whether or not to be part of them.”15
Likewise, when discussing blessings that have been pronounced, such as the blessing in
Genesis 1:28, Routledge contrasts and compares this with other passages, in this case the
blessing pronounced to Noah in Genesis 9:1-3. Here, highlighting that the “second command, to
subdue the earth, is entirely missing, suggesting that the task has by now become impossible”16,
is elementary in understanding the toll sin has taken on mankind already at this early stage in
man’s history. Again, these are critically important insights into ultimately understanding why
sin grieves God so severely and why God’s plan for the redemption of mankind had to account
Turning to eschatological hope, Routledge discusses the concept of the Messiah at great
lengths. To the Christian reader, Routledge provides a thorough and convincing summary that,
while the depiction and understanding of the Messianic figure evolved from the Old Testament
and the intertestamental period to the time of Christ, Jesus nevertheless fulfilled messianic
expectations.17 This is one example of Routledge taking great pain to pull the evangelical reader
back into a level of comfortable understanding after digesting the sometimes confusing
development of elements within the Old Testament (especially those sometimes eerily
reminiscent textual similarities from the ANE world’s writings) to what he or she understands
14
Ibid., 171.
15
Ibid.
16
Ibid., 156.
17
Ibid., 298.
6
CONCLUSION
Old Testament Theology: A Thematic Approach can leave the reader spellbound (even if
this seems like a poor choice of a word in the realm of biblical studies) with the richness of the
Old Testament. While Routledge is not afraid to highlight difficulties in the evaluation of the
biblical text or to cite scholars whose opinion he may not share, he pulls the reader back to
orthodoxy, but now with a much enriched appreciation of both the nature of God’s Hesed and the
beauty of his Word. As Reid writes in his review of Routledge’s book, “the evangelical tone of
the work distinguishes it from the volumes of Walter Brueggemann and H.D. Preuss.”1
Routledge’s work left this reader with an exceedingly deep appreciation of the
continuation of God’s character from the Old Testament to the New, but also drove home the
very important point that God holds the same expectations for his covenant people today as he
did during the time of the writing of the Old Testament. As he writes, “God’s people cannot
fulfil their calling to be a nation of priests, to bring God’s blessing to the nations, unless they are
renewed, and God has provided the means by which that renewal may take place.”2
While Routledge nowhere in the book promotes a works-based salvation, his peeling
back the layers of Old Testament theology for his readers lets them realize for themselves that
God’s salvation by its sheer nature will result in his people “holding up their end of the bargain”.
With this, however, comes the assurance that God is the only God of the universe, who does not
act capriciously as the gods depicted in ANE writings, but rather that he has high regard both for
1
Garnett Reid, “Book Reviews,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 52, no. 4 (December
2009): 838.
2
Routledge, Old Testament Theology: A Thematic Approach, 325.
7
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Reid, Garnett. “Book Reviews.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 52, no. 4
(December 2009).
Routledge, Robin. Old Testament Theology: A Thematic Approach. Downers Grove, IL: IVP
Academic, 2008.