John W. Rogerson

W. M. L. de Wette (1780-1849) was not only one of the founders of modern Old Testament criticism. His loss and recovery of Christian faith, his dismissal from his post in Berlin in 1819 on political grounds and his long subsequent exile in Basel left their mark upon his work in New Testament ethics, dogmatics and aesthetics. This first modern critical study of de Wette's life and work evaluates his achievements in the context of his own times and asesses their importance on modern biblical scholars.

The remarkable thing about the Old Testament is the persistence of its visions of a better humanity and a better world. Rather than seek to establish "what people may or may not once have believed in ancient Israel," John W. Rogerson addresses "the human condition in today's world," asking what interpreters are doing today when they invoke the biblical texts. He draws on the insights of modern thinkers, including Benjamin and Bloch, Adorno and Horkheimer, Assmann and Habermas, to explore the dynamics of cultural memory in human communication. In the texts of ancient Israel, Rogerson distinguishes "hot" cultural situations, alive to the remarkable potential of narratives that describe unfulfilled human aspirations to open up horizons of change, from "cold" cultural situations, where those potentialities are closed down to reinforce the institutional structures of the status quo. Moving throughout narrative, legal, wisdom, and prophetic corpora and offering fresh and compelling insights at every step, A Theology of the Old Testament draws out powerful visions of human nature and of the world's future. Throughout Rogerson poses the challenge: Do these visions require a theological basis to be compelling in today's world, or can they speak as powerfully beyond the confines of religious belief?

This book contains the F. D. Maurice lectures for 1992 and six Gifford lectures of 1994. The Maurice lectures present the first account of Maurice as an Old Testament interpreter. The lectures on Smith concentrate upon his theological interests as an interpreter of the Bible, as well as the first account based on unpublished material of Smith's activity as a preacher. There is also a close investigation of Smith's links with Germany, and the influence upon him of Richard Rothe is investigated in some detail for the first time. One of the aims of the book is to show how, in their different ways, Maurice and Smith tried to relate the Old Testament to the two different periods of Victorian Britain in which they lived. The book also is intended as a further contribution to our knowledge of the history of biblical criticism in Britain.

In the last two decades, there has been a resurgence of interest in the value of the Old Testament for modern ethical questions. John Rogerson is a scholar who has dedicated much of his academic life to probing the possibility of the abiding significance of the Old Testament for moral issues today. This volume brings together for the first time many of his contributions - both published and unpublished - to Old Testament social ethics. Rogerson's essays cover a wide range of modern social issues including: using the Bible in the debate about abortion; the Old Testament and nuclear disarmament; and the use of the Old Testament with reference to work and unemployment. Several essays examine the contribution of philosophical ethics to the study of Old Testament. Rogerson also offers a brief account of his pilgrimage in Old Testament ethics and outlines the basic framework of his perspective. The introduction by the editor provides a summary and survey of Rogerson's work. This is volume 405 in the Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement series.

Written by two leading Old Testament scholars with wide ranging expertise, this unique introduction describes the historical, social and cultural setting in which the Old Testament was written, and provides a description of the major genres of literature that it contains. it seeks, therefore, to Illuminate the literature of the Old Testament by showing how it was shaped by the events, social structures, and religions and intellectual ideas of the ancient civilizations and cultures in which it was produced. Unlike most introductions, this book does not build largely on the traditional formats. Rather than a conventional canonical-theological approach, it offers an approach for those interested in the Old Testament as a monumental cultural achievement. It is therefore ideal for students of ancient history and religion in general as well as theology, and requires a minimum of prior knowledge or expertise.

The highly popular Sheffield Old Testament Guides are being reissued in a new format, grouped together and prefaced by one of the best known of contemporary biblical scholars. This new format is designed to ensure that these authoritative introductions remain up to date and accessible to seminary and university students of the Old Testament while offering a broader theological and literary context for their study. John Goldingay introduces Genesis and Exodus as a whole, illuminating their distinctive literary and theological features and their importance for modern theological reflection.