How should Christians read prophetic literature? Questions abound both in the academy and the church as to how to engage the prophets, particularly in light of the New Testament. The Gospel writers and the church fathers all read and appealed to the Old Testament, but are we as modern-day readers supposed to take the same approach? The Prophets and the Apostolic Witness is a dialogue among scholars that identifies the interpretive methods used throughout history while also charting a constructive way forward for our own approach to reading the Major Prophets.
This comprehensive volume brings together experts on Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel to illuminate the following topics:
- How the Apostles Read the Major Prophets as Christian Scripture
- Limits on Reading the Major Prophets as Christian Scripture
- Reading the Major Prophets in the Footsteps of the Apostles
- The History of Interpretation of the Major Prophets as Christian Scripture
- Preaching the Major Prophets as Christian Scripture
This collaborative endeavor offers fresh and helpful insights to scholars, students, and pastors alike as they engage with the text of the Major Prophets.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Andrew T. Abernethy
Abbreviations
1. How the Apostles Read Isaiah as Christian Scripture
Nicholas G. Piotrowski
2. We Are Not Apostles: Another Way of Reading Isaiah
Paul D.Wegner
3. Emulating the Apostles: Reading Isaiah as Christian Scripture in the Footsteps of the Apostles
Andrew T. Abernethy
4. The History of Interpreting Isaiah as Christian Scripture: A Selection
Mark S. Gignilliat
5. Preaching Isaiah as Christian Scripture
John N. Oswalt
6. How the Apostles Read Jeremiah as Christian Scripture
Dana M. Harris
7. We Are Not Apostles: Limits on Reading Jeremiah Like the Apostles
Gary E. Yates
8. Emulating the Apostles: Reading Jeremiah as Christian Scripture in the Footsteps of the Apostles
Lissa M. Wray Beal
9. The History of Interpreting Jeremiah as ChristianScripture: Patristic Interpretation and Its Modern Legacy
Andrew G. Shead
10. Preaching Jeremiah as Christian Scripture
Philip Ryken
11. How the Apostles Read Ezekiel as Christian Scripture
Alicia R. Jackson
12. We Are Not Apostles: Limits on Reading Ezekiel as Christian Scripture
John W. Hilber
13. Emulating the Apostles: Reading Ezekiel as Christian Scripture in the Footsteps of the Apostles
WilliamR. Osborne
14. The History of Interpreting Ezekiel as Christian Scripture
Iain M. Duguid
15. Preaching Ezekiel as Christian Scripture with Focus on Ezekiel 37:1-14
Daniel I. Block
Conclusion
William R. Osborne
Select Bibliography
Contributors
Name Index
Scripture Index
About the Author :
Nicholas G. Piotrowski (PhD, Wheaton College) is the president and academic dean at Indianapolis Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he also teaches hermeneutics and New Testament studies. Piotrowski is the author of Matthew'sNew David at the End of Exile.
Andrew G. Shead is head of Old Testament at Moore College, Sydney, where he lectures in Hebrew, Old Testament and music. He is the author of The Open Book and the Sealed Book: Jeremiah 32 in Its Greek and Hebrew Recensions (Sheffield Academic Press) and numerous articles, essays and reviews.
Iain M. Duguid (PhD, University of Cambridge) is professor of Old Testament at Grove City College and pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Grove City, Pennsylvania. He has also served as a missionary in Liberia, taught at Reformed Seminary andWestminster Seminary California, and planted churches in Fallbrook, California, and Oxford, England. Some of Duguid?s other work includes books such as Living in the Gap Between Promise and Reality and Hero of Heroes, as well as commentaries on Ezekiel, Daniel, Ruth, Esther and more. He was a translator for the Holman Christian Standard Version of the Bible and is a contributor to the New Living Translation Study Bible, the HCSV Study Bible and the ESV Study Bible. He and hiswife Barb have five children.
Daniel I. Block (D.Phil., Liverpool) is Gunther H. Knoedler Professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College in Illinois. He is the author of many books, including several commentaries, most recently on the book of Ezekiel in the NewInternational Commentary on the Old Testament.
Andrew T. Abernethy (PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is Professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College. He has written several books, including Eating in Isaiah (Brill, 2014), The Book of Isaiah and God's Kingdom (IVP, 2016), God's Messiah in the Old Testament, with Greg Goswell (Baker, 2020), Discovering Isaiah (Eerdmans, 2021), and Savoring Scripture (IVP, 2022).
William R. Osborne (PhD, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) is Associate Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri. He is the author of Trees and Kings (Eisenbrauns/PSU, 2018),Divine Blessing and the Fullness of Life in the Presence of God (Crossway, 2020), and co-edited with Mark Boda and Russell Meek Riddles and Revelations (T and T Clark, 2018).
Paul D. Wegner is Distinguished Professor of Old Testament at Gateway Seminary, Ontario, California, with a specialty in the study of Isaiah. Previously he taught at Phoenix Seminary and Moody Bible Institute. His books include A Student's Guide to Textual Criticism of the Bible and the Tyndale Old Testament Commentary on Isaiah.
Review :
"The Prophets and the Apostolic Witness is a real treat of a book. It wrestles in healthy dialogue with the content and relevance of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. It examines questions about how they work canonically as well. The book shows we should not ignore these prophetic voices, and it makes us think carefully about how to do that well."
"This volume provides a delightful overview of ways Old Testament and New Testament scholars engage the issue of how to interpret the Major Prophets, especially in light of how the apostles handled those texts. Each author writes with clarity and fairly interacts with their conversation partners. In this one volume, readers can enjoy exposure to different views on key interpretive questions."
"These essays offer a range of answers to a foundational question of biblical hermeneutics: How are the apostles reading their Bible, and ought we to follow suit? Here readers have the privilege of listening in as thoughtful exegetes formulate their answer to this timeless question in conversation with others who disagree. The result is both enlightening and useful. Readers will gain not only an understanding of the complexity of the hermeneutical question but also a greater appreciation forthe fundamental theological truths that draw the volume's contributors together."
"The Prophets and the Apostolic Witness is an outstanding book and is extremely helpful for Christians seeking to interpret and apply the Old Testament Prophets. The editors have assembled many of the top scholars in this field (most of whom preach this material as well), each bringing expertise and insight into the issue of Christian interpretation of the Prophets and engaging not only with the prophetic text but also with the use of the Prophets in the New Testament and in the earlychurch. This is a great book and I recommend it wholeheartedly."
