Preaching Through the Old Testament: Strategies and Challenges

Summary of the Argument

Overview of Key Arguments and Scholarly Positions

The Old Testament comprises three-quarters of the Christian Bible, yet many pastors preach from it infrequently and uncomfortably. The reasons are understandable: the Old Testament's cultural distance, its complex literary forms, its troubling texts (genocide, polygamy, ritual law), and the challenge of preaching it Christianly without resorting to allegory or ignoring its original context. The result is congregations that are functionally Marcionite — treating the Old Testament as a relic of a bygone era rather than as Christian Scripture that reveals the character of God and the story of redemption.

This review examines the major literature on Old Testament preaching, assessing both hermeneutical approaches and practical strategies for making the Old Testament accessible and formative for contemporary congregations. We argue that faithful Old Testament preaching requires both rigorous attention to the text's original meaning and theological reflection on how the text functions as Christian Scripture in light of Christ's coming. Pastors who can navigate this hermeneutical challenge provide their congregations with a richer understanding of God's character, a deeper appreciation for the continuity of God's redemptive purposes, and a more comprehensive biblical theology.

The literature reveals a consistent pattern: effective Old Testament preaching respects the text's genre, attends to its canonical context, and connects it to the larger biblical narrative without flattening its distinctiveness or forcing Christological readings that the text cannot bear.

The scholarly literature on Preaching Through Testament Strategies presents a range of perspectives that reflect both methodological diversity and substantive disagreement. This review examines the most significant contributions to the field, identifying areas of consensus and ongoing debate that shape current understanding of the subject.

The integration of spiritual formation and practical ministry skills represents one of the most important challenges facing pastoral education today. Seminaries and ministry training programs must equip future pastors not only with theological knowledge but also with the relational and organizational competencies needed for effective ministry.

The central argument advanced in this literature is that Preaching Through Testament Strategies represents a significant development in Christian thought and practice that deserves sustained scholarly attention. The evidence marshaled in support of this claim draws upon historical, theological, and empirical sources.

The development of healthy congregational systems depends on pastoral leaders who understand group dynamics, conflict resolution, and organizational change. Systems thinking provides valuable tools for diagnosing congregational problems and implementing sustainable solutions.

A comprehensive assessment of the literature reveals both the strengths and limitations of current scholarship on this topic. While significant progress has been made in understanding the historical and theological dimensions of the subject, important questions remain that warrant further investigation.

Effective pastoral leadership requires the integration of theological conviction, relational wisdom, and organizational competence. Pastors who cultivate all three dimensions are better equipped to navigate the complex challenges of contemporary ministry and to lead their congregations toward spiritual maturity and missional engagement.

A comprehensive assessment of the literature reveals that scholars have made significant progress in understanding the historical, literary, and theological dimensions of this subject, while important questions remain that warrant further investigation. The methodological diversity of the existing scholarship, which ranges from historical-critical analysis to narrative theology to social-scientific approaches, reflects the multifaceted nature of the subject and the need for continued interdisciplinary engagement.

The scholarly literature on Preaching Through Testament presents a rich and varied landscape of interpretation that reflects both the complexity of the subject matter and the diversity of methodological approaches employed by researchers. This review examines the most significant contributions to the field, identifying areas of emerging consensus, persistent disagreement, and promising avenues for future investigation. The breadth and depth of the existing scholarship testifies to the enduring importance of this subject for pastoral studies and Christian theology.

A comprehensive assessment of the literature reveals that scholars have made significant progress in understanding the historical, literary, and theological dimensions of this subject, while important questions remain that warrant further investigation. The methodological diversity of the existing scholarship, which ranges from historical-critical analysis to narrative theology to social-scientific approaches, reflects the multifaceted nature of the subject and the need for continued interdisciplinary engagement.

Critical Evaluation

Assessment of Strengths and Limitations

Walter Brueggemann's The Prophetic Imagination has been profoundly influential in recovering the prophetic voice of the Old Testament for contemporary preaching. Brueggemann argues that the prophets offer an alternative consciousness that critiques the dominant culture's assumptions and imagines a different future grounded in God's justice and mercy. Preachers who engage the prophetic literature learn to speak truth to power, lament injustice, and envision God's coming kingdom. However, Brueggemann's approach has been criticized for prioritizing the prophets' social critique while underemphasizing their call to personal holiness and covenant faithfulness.

Sidney Greidanus's Preaching Christ from the Old Testament provides the most comprehensive treatment of Christocentric Old Testament preaching. Greidanus identifies seven ways to preach Christ from the Old Testament: redemptive-historical progression, promise-fulfillment, typology, analogy, longitudinal themes, New Testament references, and contrast. His approach avoids both the allegorical excesses that find Christ in every detail and the purely historical approach that treats the Old Testament as ancient Near Eastern literature with no connection to Christian faith. Greidanus's work has equipped a generation of preachers to proclaim the Old Testament as Christian Scripture.

Tremper Longman III's work on Old Testament genres — narrative, law, poetry, wisdom, prophecy, apocalyptic — emphasizes that faithful interpretation requires attention to literary form. Preaching a psalm requires different interpretive moves than preaching a narrative or a prophetic oracle. Longman's genre-sensitive approach helps preachers avoid the common mistake of treating all Old Testament texts as if they function the same way.

The most promising approaches integrate historical-grammatical exegesis, canonical-theological reflection, and Christocentric interpretation. Preachers who can explain what the text meant in its original context, how it functions within the larger biblical story, and how it points toward or is fulfilled in Christ provide congregations with Old Testament preaching that is both historically responsible and theologically rich.

A critical assessment of the scholarly literature on Preaching Through Testament Strategies reveals both significant achievements and notable gaps. The strengths of the existing scholarship include rigorous historical analysis, careful theological reasoning, and attention to primary sources. However, several areas warrant further investigation and more nuanced treatment.

The integration of spiritual formation and practical ministry skills represents one of the most important challenges facing pastoral education today. Seminaries and ministry training programs must equip future pastors not only with theological knowledge but also with the relational and organizational competencies needed for effective ministry.

The methodological assumptions underlying much of the scholarship on this topic deserve careful scrutiny. Different methodological commitments lead to different conclusions, and a responsible evaluation must attend to the ways in which presuppositions shape the interpretation of evidence.

The development of healthy congregational systems depends on pastoral leaders who understand group dynamics, conflict resolution, and organizational change. Systems thinking provides valuable tools for diagnosing congregational problems and implementing sustainable solutions.

One of the most significant contributions of recent scholarship has been the recovery of perspectives that were marginalized in earlier treatments of this subject. These recovered voices enrich the conversation and challenge established interpretive frameworks in productive ways.

Effective pastoral leadership requires the integration of theological conviction, relational wisdom, and organizational competence. Pastors who cultivate all three dimensions are better equipped to navigate the complex challenges of contemporary ministry and to lead their congregations toward spiritual maturity and missional engagement.

The methodological assumptions underlying much of the scholarship on this topic deserve careful scrutiny, as different presuppositions about the nature of the biblical text, the relationship between history and theology, and the role of the interpreter inevitably shape the conclusions that are drawn. A responsible critical evaluation must attend to these methodological commitments and assess their adequacy for the interpretive tasks at hand. Scholars who make their presuppositions explicit contribute to a more transparent and productive scholarly conversation.

Relevance to Modern Church

Contemporary Applications and Ministry Implications

Contemporary congregations need the Old Testament more than they realize. The Old Testament provides the theological vocabulary for understanding sin, atonement, covenant, holiness, and justice. It offers models of lament, praise, and prayer that expand the emotional range of Christian worship. It presents complex characters whose failures and faithfulness provide realistic portraits of the life of faith. Without the Old Testament, the New Testament is incomprehensible — Jesus's identity as Messiah, the church's identity as the people of God, and the hope of resurrection all depend on Old Testament foundations.

The challenge for contemporary preachers is making the Old Testament accessible without domesticating it. The Old Testament's strangeness — its ancient cultural context, its unfamiliar literary forms, its troubling texts — is not a bug but a feature. The Old Testament confronts contemporary assumptions, expands our imagination of what God is like, and reminds us that God's ways are not our ways. Preachers who help congregations engage the Old Testament's strangeness rather than explaining it away provide a richer, more textured understanding of Scripture.

Preaching through entire Old Testament books — rather than cherry-picking favorite passages — is one of the most effective ways to help congregations engage the Old Testament. A sermon series through Genesis, Psalms, Isaiah, or Daniel immerses the congregation in the Old Testament's world, builds biblical literacy, and demonstrates the preacher's confidence that the Old Testament is worth sustained attention. Such series require significant preparation but yield long-term dividends in congregational formation.

The contemporary relevance of Preaching Through Testament Strategies extends far beyond academic interest to address pressing concerns in the life of the church today. Congregations that engage seriously with these themes are better equipped to navigate the challenges of ministry in a rapidly changing cultural landscape.

The integration of spiritual formation and practical ministry skills represents one of the most important challenges facing pastoral education today. Seminaries and ministry training programs must equip future pastors not only with theological knowledge but also with the relational and organizational competencies needed for effective ministry.

The practical applications of this research for pastoral ministry are substantial. Pastors who understand the historical and theological dimensions of this subject can draw upon a rich tradition of Christian reflection to inform their preaching, teaching, counseling, and leadership.

The development of healthy congregational systems depends on pastoral leaders who understand group dynamics, conflict resolution, and organizational change. Systems thinking provides valuable tools for diagnosing congregational problems and implementing sustainable solutions.

The ecumenical significance of Preaching Through Testament Strategies deserves particular attention. This subject has been a point of both convergence and divergence among Christian traditions, and a deeper understanding of its historical development can contribute to more productive ecumenical dialogue.

Effective pastoral leadership requires the integration of theological conviction, relational wisdom, and organizational competence. Pastors who cultivate all three dimensions are better equipped to navigate the complex challenges of contemporary ministry and to lead their congregations toward spiritual maturity and missional engagement.

The practical applications of this research for pastoral ministry are substantial and wide-ranging. Pastors who understand the historical and theological dimensions of this subject can draw upon a rich tradition of Christian reflection to inform their preaching, teaching, counseling, and leadership in ways that are both intellectually honest and spiritually nourishing. The integration of scholarly insight and pastoral wisdom produces ministry that is characterized by both depth and accessibility.

Implications for Ministry and Credentialing

Understanding Preaching Through the Old Testament equips pastors and church leaders for more effective and faithful ministry. For credentialing in pastoral ministry, Abide University offers programs recognizing expertise in this area.

For ministry professionals seeking to formalize their expertise, the Abide University Retroactive Assessment Program offers a pathway to academic credentialing that recognizes prior learning and pastoral experience.