Walter C. Kaiser

This has been my main study Bible for the last year. The text is the standard NIV. What makes this Bible special are the footnotes, charts and write-ups about the archaeological and historical discoveries concerning biblical times. These extras provide the reader with a fairly good grasp of the basics of this area of biblical scholarship in short, concise chunks. There is no fluff--only information. What's more, you don't have to be an expert to understand; it's written at a layman's level. show more The book even pulls source information straight from extra-biblical material to show the similarities and dissimilarities of the text of Scripture with other documents from the time.

If you're looking for a study Bible that will provide "devotional" material or lots of application help, this isn't for you. But if you are interested in the historical context of the Bible and would like to learn about archaeology and the role it plays in biblical criticism, then I would highly encourage you to check this Bible out.

Note: This Bible does come with a supplemental CD containing many of the book's charts in PDF form, as well as many pictures of biblical areas today. I personally did not find it very helpful or useful. show less

It is rare for me to rate a book as 5 stars even when it was written as recently as 20 years ago; it is even rarer for me to rate a non-fiction book so. For me, five stars means a book is not only good now, but it will be good for fifty or a hundred years. Yet Walter Kaiser's book 'The Messiah in the Old Testament' will be regarded as a standard apologetic work on Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament at least 50 years from now.

Dr. Kaiser begins by examining different methods of show more prophetic interpretation and settles on: '1) the meaning of the OT references to the Messiah must reflect the author's own times and historical circumstances, and 2) the meaning must be a meaning that is reflected in the grammar and syntax of the OT text'. Using these criteria he filters out many OT messianic references.

Dr. Kaiser then goes through the Messianic scriptures in chronological order, from Genesis 3:15 to Malachi 4:2. His second criterion necessarily requires him to delve extensively into Hebrew grammar. This is where his writing may become difficult for the lay reader of the Bible.

Persistence through these grammatical sections will lead the reader to a deeper understanding of the progressive revelation of the Messianic theme through the OT and how it unites the OT and NT. Detail upon detail concerning the coming Messiah will be revealed until the conclusion is inescapable: Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. show less

I've read the Bible through several times, but I found reading this one interesting. The historical connections and discussions of archaeological finds enlightened my reading. I took 2 years to read this time so I could read all the notes and articles. I read the New Testament last year and the Old Testament this year.

New Atheists like Richard Dawkins and the late Christopher Hitchens have argued that the God of the Old Testament is a moral monster, 'the most unpleasant character in all of fiction' (15). Many Christians also struggle with the portrait of God they find in its pages, assuming He is more wrath than mercy, and more law than grace. But is this an accurate picture of the God we find in the Old Testament? How do we read the Old Testament faithfully as scripture in light of difficult passages? show more

9780825443763Renowned Old Testament Scholar Walter Kaiser walks us through some of the difficulties. A short book, reminicent of his Hard Sayings of the Old Testament (IVP 1988), Tough Questions about God and His Actions in the Old Testament tackles some of the thorniest questions that plague readers of the Old Testament. These include:

Is the God of the Old Testament a God of Love or a God of wrath and judgement?
Is He the God that ordered the Canaanite genocide or a God of peace?
Is He a God of truth or deception?
Is He the God of creation or evolution?
A God of grace or law?
Does He approve of polygamy?
Does God rule over Satan or must he overcome him in battle?
Is God Omniscient or does he limit his knowledge of the future to guard human freedom like the Open Theists posit?
Does the Old Testament subordinate women or give them equal status and authority?
What about food laws?
Kaiser surveys the relevant texts and gives a reasoned defense of God's goodness, God's mercy and God's sovereignty. Kaiser is a Reformed evangelical and gives a scriptural-based response to each quesiton. Given that this is a relatively short book, some of his responses were perhaps too brief for a skeptic or serious scholar; however the general reader (and even the skeptic and serious student) will find plenty to chew on and some direction on where to dig deeper.

Kaiser is an adept reader of Hebrew scripture and I found many of his answers compelling. He points out that God's anger and wrath are related to his care for us and His kindness and mercy are more central to who he is (24-25). In general Kaiser asserts the traditional evangelical positions (i.e. Creationism is incompatible with evolution, Open Theism is wrongheaded), but his chapter on women is fairly egalitarian. His chapter on the law challenges the anti-nomianism of dispensationalism on the one hand and theonomy on the other.

My own love for the Old Testament was stoked by a former pastor who had been a student of Kaiser's at Gordon Conwell. I have even had the privilege of hearing Kaiser preach. When I went to seminary I pressed into the Old Testament and wrestled with many of the issues that Kaiser presents here. I read this book with interest but I was clearly not his target audience. Kaiser wrote this book for people who find the Old Testament difficult and are not quite sure what to do with it. He is a good guide. I don't agree with him on every point and would answer some questions differently than he, but I appreciate the way he thoughtfully engages the Bible and seeks to interpret the text faithful to the God he serves. I give this book four stars.

Notice of material connection: I received this book from Kregel Academic in exchange for my honest review. show less