Abstract
In its basic meaning, the term theology denotes a scholarly reflection on God that comprises a critical survey of the biblical tradition to ascertain basic ideas about the deity and its revelations. And while the theology has long been seen as the crowning task of an academic’s career, compared with the other three sub-disciplines in Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (Introduction, History of Israel, and History of Israelite Religion) its outline has somehow become a more contested and ‘diffuse’ task. Being a prolific expert in historical-critical scholarship and having published widely on theology and literary history of the Hebrew Bible, the Zürich professor, Konrad Schmid undertakes a fresh approach to a theology that brings the theological dimension ‘into accord with the changing literary-historical and historical state of the discussion’ (p. xiv).
In his preface, he describes this approach to a historical theology as a reconstructive undertaking that evaluates, where the Hebrew Bible tradition allows for the recognition of ‘reflexive and synthesizing efforts that could be described at least rudimentarily as theology’ (p. xvi). This definition entails three dimensions: Schmid first thinks that a descriptive approach is more appropriate than a normative line, and he secondly starts from the orientation towards the Hebrew Bible, thus avoiding a clear ‘Christian’ or ‘Jewish’ perspective. Finally, he takes a distinct historical stand, which means that a present-day application recedes in favour of the reconstruction of the inner-biblical discourse.
This historical approach governs the outline of the volume that comprises nine chapters (A–I), divided into 42 paragraphs. Following the introduction (A), Schmid starts from a chapter that offers an overview of the concept of theology with a focus on German-speaking (Protestant) scholarship (B). He then proceeds to discussing the concepts of Hebrew Bible and Old Testament (C) and demonstrates that the historical-critical approach is appropriate to the subject matter (D), as it allows a scholarly responsible interpretation (p. 113). He then starts from the theologies of the extant forms, distinguishing between the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament. The following parts F–H are the heart of the volume. Outlining first the theologies of the three major parts Torah, Nevi`im, and Ketuvim (F), section G then addresses the principal theological developments in the literary history. However, the centrepiece of Schmid’s theology is the topical section (H) that offers a systematisation of theological themes. While selection and arrangement of the topics overlap in many ways with traditional ‘normative’ theologies, Schmid makes a point that they are guided by the materials themselves. In this question, the reader might have wished for a more detailed rationale. Classic topics such as the doctrine of God (§ 30) or anthropology (§ 39) are still identifiable, but their presentation in their literary and theological development adds depth and fresh insights. Each paragraph starts from a history of research, while the final section in this part (§ 40) returns to the question of diversity and unity. Acknowledging primarily the diversity of theologies, Schmid nevertheless establishes an idea of a unity, when he directs the reader to the redactional connections between the texts. Against this backdrop, he makes the case for ‘not an interest in plurality itself, but rather in a structured, functionally diverse, and interpretable plurality’ (p. 443). While he rejects the quest for a ‘Center’, he acknowledges the fundamental position of the torah as headpiece in the Hebrew Bible, and the end position of the prophets in the Christian canon. The volume closes with an overview of the different reception of theology in Christian and Jewish tradition (I).
There is no doubt that Schmid has presented a seminal work that revivifies the genre of an Old Testament theology on the basis of current critical research. While not everyone will agree with his literary-historical models, he offers a lucid depiction and presents comprehensible decisions, which allow the reader to judge for themselves and to adapt his topical overviews to their own understanding. There is something enjoyable about historical-critical research when it makes its assumptions clear and thus paves the way for further discussions around the theologies of the Hebrew Bible. The only limitation for English-speaking audiences might be that the work is clearly recognisable as a translation of the German original (Theologie des Alten Testaments, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2019). While the bibliographies for each paragraph have carefully been supplemented with English translations where possible, the majority of titles and references are German, and the discussion with scholarship is clearly oriented towards the German-speaking landscape. This sadly impacts the use of the volume in English-speaking teaching contexts. However, it can only be hoped that this work will serve to generate further research and to produce greater interchange between the theologies of different scholarly traditions.