The Old Testament and God – Parts 1 & 2

In late 2022 Craig Bartholomew’s The Old Testament and God was published, the first in a projected four volume series on Old Testament Origins and the Question of God. Designed as something of a companion to N. T. Wright’s big series on the New Testament, in this book Craig calls for a paradigm shift in OT studies, and charts a course in this direction. In this Part 1 of 2 live Zoom events, Dr Bartholomew introduces us to the main arguments of the book.

This Part 2 is a continuation of the discussion of the book begun in Part 1: Introducing the Book. In this video Dr Bartholomew sits down with Dr Chip Hardy and together they take a deep dive into the content of the book. Among other things, they discuss the history of the study of the Old Testament and of the Ancient Near East in the academy; Craig’s exploration of Ancient Near Eastern worldviews in the book; the similarities and differences between Israel’s worldview, as expressed in the OT, and their Ancient Near Eastern neighbours; the importance of Israel’s ancient context for understanding the OT; why Craig believes Old Testament studies needs philosophy; as well as his employment of a critical realism framework when approaching the question of the Old Testament and God.