Old Testament Theology: The Former Prophets

The overall objective of this course is to lay the foundation for a lifetime of work in the Former Prophets, introducing the student to all of the essential processes and resources necessary to frame in a biblical theology of the Former Prophets and to a process of moving from biblical theology to theology in culture.  Specifically, this means that each person studying the course will:

• Develop an overall understanding of the Former Prophets—including the development of a canonical intent statement that integrates the overall intention and literary design for the Former Prophets as a canonical section and the role the Former Prophets play in relation to the other sections of the Old Testament canon.

• Develop skill in handling the special literature of the Former Prophets—majoring on the unique concept of theological history as well as dealing with chronological material.

• Develop an author’s intention statement for each book—that pays careful attention to the literary design; develop a theology of each book—that develops the author’s emphasis of crafting his theological ideas.

• Develop a theology of the Former Prophets as a whole—that again, respects the literary design of the Former Prophets as a section of the Old Testament canon and identifies the careful crafting of the author’s theological ideas, identifying both themes and rhemes.

• Develop a framework for beginning to use the Former Prophets in both life and ministry—including framing in a couple of ideas for preaching from the Former Prophets in future series.