Old Testament Ethics: A Guided Tour - by John Goldingay (Paperback)

About the Book

How might we learn ethics from the Old Testament? Trusted guide John Goldingay urges us to let the Old Testament itself set the agenda. Topically organized with short, stand-alone chapters, this volume takes readers through the Old Testament's teaching about relationships, work, Sabbath, character, and more, featuring Goldingay's own translation and discussion questions for group use.

Book Synopsis

What is ethics?Ethics is not merely about tricky situations or hot topics. Instead, ethics asks questions about what sort of people we are, how we think, what sort of things we do and don't do, and how we ought to live our everyday lives.How might we learn ethics from the Old Testament? Instead of searching for support for our positions or pointing out problems with certain passages, trusted guide John Goldingay urges us to let the Old Testament itself set the agenda. In this volume, readers will encounter what the Old Testament teaches about relationships, work, Sabbath, character, and more.Featuring Goldingay's own translation and discussion questions for group use, Old Testament Ethics: A Guided Tour is a resource for ethics like no other. Topically organized with short, stand-alone chapters, this book is one to keep close at hand.

Review Quotes

"Goldingay opens a window to the Old Testament that has the potential to shape not only ethics but our understanding of the ancient Hebrews' culture and experience of God. Like a good rabbi, at times Goldingay seems to raise more questions than he answers, which makes the book both challenging and stimulating. Old Testament Ethics: A Guided Tour offers a new lens through which to encounter the Old Testament."

"Textually comprehensive, wonderfully conversational, immensely practical, and sensibly direct--all the qualities we expect from Goldingay are on display in Old Testament Ethics: A Guided Tour. The Old Testament matters for life, and Goldingay engages the breadth of that canonical resource to encourage readers to embody God's will today. Each chapter ends with questions for continued reflection and conversation. An immensely helpful guide in a time when many disparage the ethical value of the Old Testament."

About the Author

John Goldingay (PhD, University of Nottingham; DD, Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth) is professor of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, but lives in Oxford, England. He was previously principal and professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at St. John's Theological College in Nottingham, England. His books include An Introduction to the Old Testament, A Reader's Guide to the Bible, Reading Jesus's Bible, and commentaries on Psalms, Isaiah, and Daniel. He has also authored a Biblical Theology, the three-volume Old Testament Theology and the seventeen-volume Old Testament for Everyone series, and has published a translation of the entire Old Testament called The First Testament: A New Translation.